tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75738961010049469852024-03-01T00:40:24.482-05:00Base Set Callingcome in card collector, this is Base Set calling, come in card collectorBaseSetCallinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05508114484929386332noreply@blogger.comBlogger265125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7573896101004946985.post-18729961752196513562024-02-14T22:47:00.001-05:002024-02-14T22:47:05.455-05:00It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year<p><span style="font-size: large;">Christmas is great and all, but if you collect Baseball Cards, then, nomsayn?</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Am working out on the road again but fortunately today finds me in a town with a Baseball Card store. And although they had already sold "several cases" of boxes before I arrived earlier this evening, I was the first purchaser of a regular ole pack of Baseball Cards.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I resisted temptation to rip the pack in the store, somehow, for some reason. Maybe I wanted a more comfortable chair before I discovered what random scrub, errr, uhh "common" I would forever connect to the 2024 Topps Baseball set and then have to follow around in my packs of cards for 2-3 more years until their inevitable unknown card in Update, letting you know that their career had fizzled but not before one more try with their 2nd or 3rd team you never knew they had been traded to. I always just hope it is a player from a Central Division team, in either League, so there would be some better than even chance I hear their name called on my old time old guy radio broadcast some random evening this coming summer.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Every year I attempt one singular goal with the Topps Baseball set: I try diligently to not see an image of the cards until — Today. This year was a partial FAIL in that a banner ad on the Internet suggested I would enjoy the "Neon" as seen on the top of the card. So that probably definitive feature was known to me already, but the rest of the card was not, so I had just, some, design anticipation left for First Card, 2024 Topps Baseball:</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJNFjLGBr3PB8psvO8jwEvTCyGU9tEKWMS0nM08xStsEy7eWMMmPIHru4FqcCXpHV-7vukP2hjEUNqtPcyP77Ap3o5DlNWHclRr69KAsxtv3POqDtXuhDOADQqTwsD8cUSFUVGY8OLnK_Y4Aie7y5zGELXXqHd4dJXlnEyS-lco5pIrCiUGXOJVaF1HA/s4032/IMG_9353.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJNFjLGBr3PB8psvO8jwEvTCyGU9tEKWMS0nM08xStsEy7eWMMmPIHru4FqcCXpHV-7vukP2hjEUNqtPcyP77Ap3o5DlNWHclRr69KAsxtv3POqDtXuhDOADQqTwsD8cUSFUVGY8OLnK_Y4Aie7y5zGELXXqHd4dJXlnEyS-lco5pIrCiUGXOJVaF1HA/s320/IMG_9353.jpeg" width="240" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="text-align: left;">Heckz Yeahz!!</span></span></div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">A memorable set of Baseball Cards to be sure.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">One that is rapidly making me forget several recent sets - well done! And I type that after opening just one whole pack of Baseball Cards - 12 cards, this year, at least in Hobby boxes.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I like basically everything, here. Clean, elegant, no frilly stuff thrown on there just because frilly stuff can always be thrown onto a Baseball Card design, whether that is well advised, or not. And usually, it is not. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The Neon. Yes. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Team logo, player name, and thankfully a readable Position indicator, all crisp and to the point, but without any pointy bits pointlessly pointing at things. <i>Player Name </i>in <i>Italics</i>, it appears. <i>Nice. </i>A partial black border, so card quality nutz can have their fun hunting up cards with absolutely positively no hint of chipping. But also a mostly white border, so color parallels will look purdy, too. And the image wrapped in a perfectly minimalist inner-frame adding team color to The Neon. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">This pack of Baseball Cards will have to be served up to your eyes via iPhone camera. Best I can do. Hope it works ok for the back, man, we gotta see the back -</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhveWAcKIm4Px9xdAOSoBqGogAoQlg7v3Pvb1bPBGlxf9d2Ed4xp0FuMklRWvgsjngLhva9Lc297glEZbp8IZnR3QkF4qzezkDQhsb219RdRWgmGNQtG05QA9MCgUc0M3bmZrAdkEZQpdjdb-skRTlkDg47ARF-2uGaFS4PoSfl9t7f8ZvDiea5MFbRgg/s4032/IMG_9354.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhveWAcKIm4Px9xdAOSoBqGogAoQlg7v3Pvb1bPBGlxf9d2Ed4xp0FuMklRWvgsjngLhva9Lc297glEZbp8IZnR3QkF4qzezkDQhsb219RdRWgmGNQtG05QA9MCgUc0M3bmZrAdkEZQpdjdb-skRTlkDg47ARF-2uGaFS4PoSfl9t7f8ZvDiea5MFbRgg/w640-h480/IMG_9354.jpeg" width="640" /></a></span></div><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Another quality effort. A nice looking stat bar, with a little segmentation-innovation. A nod to the front of the card with the circle element around the team icon. Many elements that are centered - pleasing. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">One demerit on this particular card: Topps can never figure out that white-on-yellow just doesn't usually work, and this one struggles, in-hand, but is improved by taking a picture of it. Nor does yellow-on-white. A topic of a future post. But I don't expect there will be too many cards with yellow on the back, as few teams ever have that selected as their Team Color by Topps.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">One amusing feature of this card back: somehow, Topps still knows which side of the plate each Pitcher will bat from. Just in case, I guess, so you can be prepared for the possibility. Devin Williams Bats: Right. Anything can happen, in the game of Baseball.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">One sad demerit on this particular card back: Topps quotes "teammate" Corbin Burnes on this one, who will be pitching for the Orioles in 2024. Rebuild time in Milwaukee, which will probably make this extra-memorable First Card yet more memorable at the Trade Deadline in 2025. Probably for the best, methinks, but never a fun process to start, particularly for the fans who are fans every year. Onwards:</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv8BT4n6s_qHNRJ1hLySPqST9tT-AL5UqZgWI0BHZDh6nj6q_E904OiBpNiaJoGnQ2DJ_V9rpW-8DAl7UOJgldY4P0bCbt90Flfb_XvIIgFF2C9dBJZU_WmmgkJ6p_YfQf17H9VT7waWVI1gYLQlRqVidB-yy14wM5XzC7ewVQEuIws53bigCNQVrZjQ/s4032/IMG_9355.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv8BT4n6s_qHNRJ1hLySPqST9tT-AL5UqZgWI0BHZDh6nj6q_E904OiBpNiaJoGnQ2DJ_V9rpW-8DAl7UOJgldY4P0bCbt90Flfb_XvIIgFF2C9dBJZU_WmmgkJ6p_YfQf17H9VT7waWVI1gYLQlRqVidB-yy14wM5XzC7ewVQEuIws53bigCNQVrZjQ/s320/IMG_9355.jpeg" width="240" /></a></span></div><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">A 'dandruff' card. One of those cards where the digital photography capturing on-field dirt flying around makes you wonder if your shampoo is actually working as advertised. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">And how about that compression sleeve? A super early contestant for Most Style on Baseball Card, 2024. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">No yellow on the back of this card, sensibly enough; everything in yellow on the Devin Williams card is blue on this one. And it only took 2 cards to find a classic Topps compound stat: "In 2023, CJ became just the 10th shortstop to post a season with at least 15 homers and 40 steals." I know you can't wait to discover who will become SS #11 to accomplish this, even though you already forgot who the 9th one was. Let's learn more Baseball -</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCSxpv_EvOmKCU36IJR5OQ6RZjBHLna-swQeUEYdyLG0BcBlY8VTljpf1ProhQkET2GezSCC0vrWdKKAzEnsIUZz__1bcFmIp2NjTv6AB8fImMw7aFcYtBo3zetxzhQFZF2eG0bGLvDy0sIBJhpOeRh1zOaTjghI33e_ijLpcmPl5r_cZ_IGDbVQ3l8w/s4032/IMG_9356.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCSxpv_EvOmKCU36IJR5OQ6RZjBHLna-swQeUEYdyLG0BcBlY8VTljpf1ProhQkET2GezSCC0vrWdKKAzEnsIUZz__1bcFmIp2NjTv6AB8fImMw7aFcYtBo3zetxzhQFZF2eG0bGLvDy0sIBJhpOeRh1zOaTjghI33e_ijLpcmPl5r_cZ_IGDbVQ3l8w/s320/IMG_9356.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Ahh, only took till my 3rd card of the year to get a Rookie Card card. What a relief. And surprise, surprise, it's another Rookie Middle Infielder for the Pirates. I think Pittsburgh must have a rule lately that only Rookies can play 2B or SS, at least according to my Baseball Cards the last so many years. It also sometimes seems to be a rule that Topps does not like to buy photographs from the dale of Pittsburgh; I think the Pirates might easily lead the leagues in players shown in their road uniforms on Topps products. Topps does, however, still like Throwbacks:</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhzljOwVhdbrDE74t2KA97bwgdEKGWw43-Udtkt3Q4Cq_OdDRXpznNeSf3X0hFbfHGBirTwjv0P2YJLJdXCKQWnJ12zyz-BYmgn6TlVlY4fN5irmqExCvDxgdy6uMxRCIHk2jOZvd181bk7ihAicEW7hwyNmM8ep6KnraU85RA2Rk-S_DXDlvbYkPSJg/s4032/IMG_9357.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhzljOwVhdbrDE74t2KA97bwgdEKGWw43-Udtkt3Q4Cq_OdDRXpznNeSf3X0hFbfHGBirTwjv0P2YJLJdXCKQWnJ12zyz-BYmgn6TlVlY4fN5irmqExCvDxgdy6uMxRCIHk2jOZvd181bk7ihAicEW7hwyNmM8ep6KnraU85RA2Rk-S_DXDlvbYkPSJg/s320/IMG_9357.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Not the most memorable look at Atlanta's classic 70s garb but quite apropos for 2023's National League Leader in Home Runs; yes </span><span style="color: red;">League Leaders are still in Italics (and red ink)</span><span style="font-size: large;">. This is card #350 by the way, the final card in Series One and a first indicator that maybe Hero #s are in use this year. And here comes another Topps like -</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGNiNoS8Fbfzj2U3fBWym6VIzkZMFwVAPpAJV_idHtvkK3GLqqpfFM5u6t3N2KJMoZe9_EJhtCIqvSj5C02dFz3s2taCiYYDsGkNiej73d1N9unSw0_sz_ayvGNdVv3m-bf-xAdtdZMDLXf_8D1s8_viW53-op2W5W8gwddBt6JVhOhfLBu1ToG1T-Ow/s4032/IMG_9358.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGNiNoS8Fbfzj2U3fBWym6VIzkZMFwVAPpAJV_idHtvkK3GLqqpfFM5u6t3N2KJMoZe9_EJhtCIqvSj5C02dFz3s2taCiYYDsGkNiej73d1N9unSw0_sz_ayvGNdVv3m-bf-xAdtdZMDLXf_8D1s8_viW53-op2W5W8gwddBt6JVhOhfLBu1ToG1T-Ow/s320/IMG_9358.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">If a player has long hair, they will get a base-running card more seasons than not. And what's up with "Reds" not being printed in the color red? Buckle up kids, The Neon is full of surprises:</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOdr0W019Q605kGc8qvShIjyHuJEwlnOACGGPKTY3WkTP-Jo0l11dojRECRf0blktfvt9eHB8eakVwa-3wWWHlQrwHsCMRP3eWk1QP27UH8-WhSZ33UpoZBjJ7DaIMvXUcTztyeH96DKUBe65WCxncDbiQLdx0-EqTPgH_r0C0ajAMdcEsC0XDadWJ4w/s4032/IMG_9359.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOdr0W019Q605kGc8qvShIjyHuJEwlnOACGGPKTY3WkTP-Jo0l11dojRECRf0blktfvt9eHB8eakVwa-3wWWHlQrwHsCMRP3eWk1QP27UH8-WhSZ33UpoZBjJ7DaIMvXUcTztyeH96DKUBe65WCxncDbiQLdx0-EqTPgH_r0C0ajAMdcEsC0XDadWJ4w/s320/IMG_9359.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Blue Phillies? It is their secondary color, usually. This card is just making me want to rip some more packs, cuz this electric blue will look so coool with Philadelphia's Powder Blue uniforms. And that's what Baseball Card design is supposed to do: make you want more Baseball Cards. Like this one -</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUv45MQnKa5dtTXq7Pvj-OZfNaFLzoZt4XeGVmlj3fYPcdg9BWWIrtYnxuxUur9IdQ8-gz14H1Um0V32ayH-9qpx81YT48pKHWaQPoIpm50chJay5Dj1luohqJwr7-DwdiHvW7MPyfex419stkvo2vQkpbjqglu56xH7jjjkztnvNtdBLzS5dSqf8b7g/s4032/IMG_9360.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUv45MQnKa5dtTXq7Pvj-OZfNaFLzoZt4XeGVmlj3fYPcdg9BWWIrtYnxuxUur9IdQ8-gz14H1Um0V32ayH-9qpx81YT48pKHWaQPoIpm50chJay5Dj1luohqJwr7-DwdiHvW7MPyfex419stkvo2vQkpbjqglu56xH7jjjkztnvNtdBLzS5dSqf8b7g/s320/IMG_9360.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">When these bold prediction cards work out in terms of the player truly becoming a Star, in the Future, these 2024 Future Stars cards will be the Shizzle. And ooooohhh, Shiny might be even more dazzling in 2024 Topps Neon Chrome. They already make pretty darn nice Rookie Cards:</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWJhFnC0SRtAkzPEWya5IZPj7-rO1skYUjQSYH8KIByYBodTDSFmQ6XkLPrNeUnSB37mpt_WwEh1xr9cn4JKCLDKWoT7yKDOlHBQ5ooqzG0WW9eY7IbhYw89hIKGE1tZ6mzDKy21R4PKWnO7x5YglNCa1ruolXgKetiWrY12ad2592cNhDGnbXaZmgYg/s4032/IMG_9361.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWJhFnC0SRtAkzPEWya5IZPj7-rO1skYUjQSYH8KIByYBodTDSFmQ6XkLPrNeUnSB37mpt_WwEh1xr9cn4JKCLDKWoT7yKDOlHBQ5ooqzG0WW9eY7IbhYw89hIKGE1tZ6mzDKy21R4PKWnO7x5YglNCa1ruolXgKetiWrY12ad2592cNhDGnbXaZmgYg/s320/IMG_9361.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">What's not to like? I feel so modern. There could be some dots that could be connected to the font selected for The Neon, and what decade that might bring to mind, but I pretty much can't think of the dots. I am just living in the year 2024 on these cards, not the past. And that's a great thing. Even the players seem happy with The Neon up there, right Andy -</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1Ae0IxbCFtjchi04dLuiACeD9HdkqcJoO0g2cbka_5zz_vsFGCDKq_lenS-TtcDoneqnHjJ0rErvqTK0DcgYA98dbgg1Onlrmj6j4ND9WSVuiyh2CeE6_5Mr2H1QI82LjtwiEUF0BCVElrYE6ckM7a9raIgd6PVXXoPUTSoHfDk60Hh9zbROnZdGo2Q/s4032/IMG_9362.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1Ae0IxbCFtjchi04dLuiACeD9HdkqcJoO0g2cbka_5zz_vsFGCDKq_lenS-TtcDoneqnHjJ0rErvqTK0DcgYA98dbgg1Onlrmj6j4ND9WSVuiyh2CeE6_5Mr2H1QI82LjtwiEUF0BCVElrYE6ckM7a9raIgd6PVXXoPUTSoHfDk60Hh9zbROnZdGo2Q/s320/IMG_9362.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">First Tigers Card!</span></span></div><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">This was a sweet pull - this is also Ibáñez' First Tigers Card after a tough career in Topps Baseball so far. He started out with the Rangers, and in typical Topps Texas coverage, they forgot to grant Andy the coveted RC logo on his First Topps Card in 2022 Series Two. He then moved on to the Tigers, where in typical Topps Detroit coverage, he didn't receive a card despite a 2.0 WAR season in over 100 games for the Tigs last year. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I don't know just what the heck that thing is hanging from his thumb there, but I am glad to get a new Tiger's new Tiger Baseball Card, every time. Go, Neon!</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht-6CM_OJK2MEZW0OKwCqprdNNQAxSQ_LfW2lbSfnDQU_tjTnRvN8Tb7RBkm313puT_0SR6b2Z07Lr2P91m574xBSLJTm3oxlzsWcV2ACtuPMJWcXn6UhMzIBkot_IuBuRm-8Eg-B7ZaURZviQPvLmjMJaYXZC9zEVIPtXjH1wsfIfFedq5TiCAoMHSw/s4032/IMG_9363.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht-6CM_OJK2MEZW0OKwCqprdNNQAxSQ_LfW2lbSfnDQU_tjTnRvN8Tb7RBkm313puT_0SR6b2Z07Lr2P91m574xBSLJTm3oxlzsWcV2ACtuPMJWcXn6UhMzIBkot_IuBuRm-8Eg-B7ZaURZviQPvLmjMJaYXZC9zEVIPtXjH1wsfIfFedq5TiCAoMHSw/s320/IMG_9363.jpeg" width="240" /></a></span></div><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Or, something. That there is a 2024 Rainbow Foil card. Seems like a great concept, Neon + Foil, but methinks this one needs some good ole time Summer sunshine to really shine. And is my official one-per-pack "insert" I guess, in this Hobby pack. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">This may or may not be Joey Votto's last Topps Baseball card; at press time Votto had just invoked a classic Dylan Thomas poem on the X/Twitter to indicate his desire to play, somewhere, in 2024. Could go either way, I suppose. This is, however, quite certainly Votto's last Topps Baseball Reds card, so is a "Team Sunset" card if you wish. Fittingly, it is card #19 — are we headed towards Uniform Hero #s, a la 2013 Topps Baseball? Let's flip another card over:</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF5UAtURC5YcoOu4VtCIl105gX_Ud3dloUOT5H20x5_INBsj7HaiDLBI9t0uYqeZ1f_7wpfANsr2-Y64R-8nDYhFqck5lMLoP3BwzrKqinawqJ7OVNqGc4DE9XE3NV0fGPt6eF3H6xAxIULbWs2Cjp5N6GPgc6u84lgt5AvjGYFHbqrTUKVEph8nXIMg/s4032/IMG_9366.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF5UAtURC5YcoOu4VtCIl105gX_Ud3dloUOT5H20x5_INBsj7HaiDLBI9t0uYqeZ1f_7wpfANsr2-Y64R-8nDYhFqck5lMLoP3BwzrKqinawqJ7OVNqGc4DE9XE3NV0fGPt6eF3H6xAxIULbWs2Cjp5N6GPgc6u84lgt5AvjGYFHbqrTUKVEph8nXIMg/w640-h480/IMG_9366.jpeg" width="640" /></a></span></div><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Who is Enmanuel Valdez? Not even Topps Card Back Writer seems to know much.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">And why is he card #300? The mysteries, the mysteries. I do like one thing I see on this card back: Valdez achieved a perfect 0.0 WAR figure for the 2023 season. I have been thinking about making up a set of, naturally, 9 such perfect players - the WAR Heroes. Neither good, nor bad. These 2024 cards look so nice on the fronts...</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuYyNkAioljshpLJ6FcuOAykBJWGtLi3ld4pFG3awaa2hHnFS5RXfP2DMpC-SLHtX_sedsm3ww98dANeaUmpEKEdKVKgw-TYEIRnHAUC4jpuw51w7NmwAsZ2uvTNltRjpR4UAXtIYRf8XamU_HW2KMpPbGmRmVdKTa1Xa3COI9kM6SEWXWNItKx3V8lA/s4032/IMG_9364.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuYyNkAioljshpLJ6FcuOAykBJWGtLi3ld4pFG3awaa2hHnFS5RXfP2DMpC-SLHtX_sedsm3ww98dANeaUmpEKEdKVKgw-TYEIRnHAUC4jpuw51w7NmwAsZ2uvTNltRjpR4UAXtIYRf8XamU_HW2KMpPbGmRmVdKTa1Xa3COI9kM6SEWXWNItKx3V8lA/s320/IMG_9364.jpeg" width="240" /></a><span style="text-align: left;">...that I think this is the year I will finally do it. Welcome to The Show, Enmanuel.</span></span></div><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Sometimes, a First Pack is as memorable for the last card as the first. This was one of those packs -</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuLcRjJo8DG0bfGx_YtZ-z1_iEjV2o66livOrolJZkuCAFMz4n0T6GEKAiA2l5atOYp06LL_hji4jRB-9Ghiqh3HjM6fzAr7yFUhpPZpzBzhFJw4x23In_GK8JuxYrVaTROdgXsWxYWYvlmAXoec1DGQ05JSzBE6xQ_zywi-sRKR4rB4ylD71Pth2uUg/s4032/IMG_9365.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuLcRjJo8DG0bfGx_YtZ-z1_iEjV2o66livOrolJZkuCAFMz4n0T6GEKAiA2l5atOYp06LL_hji4jRB-9Ghiqh3HjM6fzAr7yFUhpPZpzBzhFJw4x23In_GK8JuxYrVaTROdgXsWxYWYvlmAXoec1DGQ05JSzBE6xQ_zywi-sRKR4rB4ylD71Pth2uUg/s320/IMG_9365.jpeg" width="240" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="text-align: left;">A worthy entry in my very modest Salvador Perez collection, which is probably already too large for just one Nifty Nine page, so I likely need a 2nd copy of this one. Cuz it looks like this set will be going into some binder pages, and I'm thinking I need some more groceries, tomorrow night, so....</span></span></div><p></p>BaseSetCallinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05508114484929386332noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7573896101004946985.post-18445362012127233492024-02-03T22:50:00.001-05:002024-02-03T23:35:47.181-05:00You need old Jazz to make new Jazz<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA__iu2JqcRcn30ykzJj1Kf5574nLXxINj1e4NefJD2SXsa7LpvqoZ3_xynf0pBMjryD5GBz375Y1Oz144jaIl0YNrPwzik5AAi5Cu8XYxm6yJrYU8YgRolhcS6Ot23Z7-Ft7jSI9d57poFkch1VpfMOxKPWWq8oWUGbaHvK6yMOfPDcaqGjwTrdn9GQ/s1688/2022%20rip%20mini.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1688" data-original-width="1026" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA__iu2JqcRcn30ykzJj1Kf5574nLXxINj1e4NefJD2SXsa7LpvqoZ3_xynf0pBMjryD5GBz375Y1Oz144jaIl0YNrPwzik5AAi5Cu8XYxm6yJrYU8YgRolhcS6Ot23Z7-Ft7jSI9d57poFkch1VpfMOxKPWWq8oWUGbaHvK6yMOfPDcaqGjwTrdn9GQ/w390-h640/2022%20rip%20mini.jpeg" width="390" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I love listening to Jazz. Much like enjoying Baseball Cards, I figure Jazz will reliably entertain me basically forever. And as with the subject of this blog, an essential part of enjoying it is knowing the history of the art form. If you find Jazz a little perplexing but you would like to figure it out a little better, I can definitely recommend a sort-of local radio station where I live, which broadcasts Jazz every day after 10 pm Eastern, with live human DJ Lazaro Vega explaining all the new and old Jazz for you on: <a href="https://bluelake.org/radio/listen/">"Blue Lake Public Radio."</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As with music history being the essential building block for musicians to make new music, the same is true in graphic design in a general sense but also on Baseball Cards in a specific sense. Recently I stumbled (<a href="https://basesetcalling.blogspot.com/2024/01/10-cards-from-dollar-box-flcs-review-4.html">my previous post here)</a> across a new-ish Baseball Card that clearly borrowed inspiration from a famous graphic of the past. I knew I had to haves an example of it, and one arrived recently, as seen above in "extra large" detail. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That is not the card I saw first, which was a 2022 Topps Rip mini (i.e. the cards that come out of the Ripped card) /25 Orange card featuring Derek Jeter, with a price in the high 2 figure range, iirc. Leaving aside my lack of desire to own Derek Jeter Baseball Cards, especially expensive ones, the card I saw first with this design had a different, very problematic flaw - in my opinion: the serial number was stamped on the front of the card. I have never liked seeing this on numbered cards, which seems to arrive just, occasionally, at random. I suspect a random employee at the printing plant determines when this will happen, randomly - who knows?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">When I went to the ever useful resource that knows Everything® to figure out what set the Jeter card was from, I made the unhappy discovery that every single version of the card, across 7 or 8 different colors of parallels, all had the serial number stamped on the front. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But I also made a happy discovery: every card on the checklist has an "image variation" without any color parallel, and no serial number stamped on the front, or the back. A strategy by Topps to make the short printed variations more mysterious, I guess?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So when I continued on down this particular rabbit hole, the natural next step was checking eBay, which illuminated another handy thing about these cards: not all of them are for superstars. And thus, some of them are quite affordable - just a couple-three dollars and one could be mine. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Even better, one of the cards available that day was for a player for whom I now have a modest Player Collection: <a href="https://basesetcalling.blogspot.com/2024/01/10-cards-from-dollar-box-flcs-review-4.html">Jazz Chisholm Jr.</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now collectors never know which Topps employee designs which card, but I wouldn't be surprised if the same Card Designer first tried out this inspiration-theme in 2021 Gallery:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiilHjjZJGNVKPAXn4t1Myb0TeXnDRb84WleQn8hX5wLv174IBzndU84kY4FwyXI555gX8gv0NGDTjgOWvd5oSNT4MQTesk3qpLiHAjUAo7fP1_HPSRZpgRJTacYuxnw38BsTyylzTJWTLZrApcMS6ZfakTSh14DRFWbJzeu9tlgUSFORe_JpsJxoI=s320" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="229" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiilHjjZJGNVKPAXn4t1Myb0TeXnDRb84WleQn8hX5wLv174IBzndU84kY4FwyXI555gX8gv0NGDTjgOWvd5oSNT4MQTesk3qpLiHAjUAo7fP1_HPSRZpgRJTacYuxnw38BsTyylzTJWTLZrApcMS6ZfakTSh14DRFWbJzeu9tlgUSFORe_JpsJxoI=s320" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This was an insert set I admired in a basic sense for "going-for-it" somewhat with a simple colorful design, though it never quite inspired me to put together even 9 of them. I liked the more pleasingly colorful Bo Bichette card from the checklist much better than this Soto card that I pulled first and have a digi image more quickly available. This design also seems to have a further descendent in Topps Cosmic Chrome sets, perhaps. Those have eluded my collecting effort, so far, or I would comparison one up for you right here.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That Soto card there has the key word clue for where that Jazz Chisholm mini clearly pays homage:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a5/Tsunami_by_hokusai_19th_century.jpg/800px-Tsunami_by_hokusai_19th_century.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="538" data-original-width="800" height="269" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a5/Tsunami_by_hokusai_19th_century.jpg/800px-Tsunami_by_hokusai_19th_century.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Which of course has been heavily re-used by graphic designers for many decades, though I can't recall any nods to it in the world of Baseball Cards, before this one; here is the Chisholm card again -</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZzIuY_93jWwVbb7wkNI7PvQizi_PVqF4NtRS-gcd7b_eL1LfoKCTLYnr9yPG79IA1-2EfevFa762yODb69hThun-ijG2eO5D6YzAQhjMXfHNDwcyMNi4dLzo4JVfgVvX0HCjx2z_kL0fU9fS3D9KVfARvmSySHX6TOvKGCTr09UPu2Pbl59SPhyphenhyphenjPpw/s1688/2022%20rip%20mini.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1688" data-original-width="1026" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZzIuY_93jWwVbb7wkNI7PvQizi_PVqF4NtRS-gcd7b_eL1LfoKCTLYnr9yPG79IA1-2EfevFa762yODb69hThun-ijG2eO5D6YzAQhjMXfHNDwcyMNi4dLzo4JVfgVvX0HCjx2z_kL0fU9fS3D9KVfARvmSySHX6TOvKGCTr09UPu2Pbl59SPhyphenhyphenjPpw/w195-h320/2022%20rip%20mini.jpeg" width="195" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That's the mini version of the scan, I guess. Back up at the top of this post on the extra large version you can clearly see how Jazz' left shoe says "Road" on it, probably a handy aid for the team's equipment manager; have never seen that on a Baseball Card before. Of course I also quite like that it is almost a Powder Blue shoe; the Marlins have some stealthy connections to that soothing 70s Baseball paint scheme we might see here on the blog some future day.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now of course I have a new challenge with this beautiful little Baseball Card: where do I keep it? I doubt Jazz even has 9 different mini/"cigarette" size cards yet though perhaps he is getting close. But binder pages for these cards hold 15 entries so a mini-Jazz collection probably won't work out. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Collecting 14 more from this 100 card checklist certainly will, though; I see many more of these little Great Waves in my future.</div><br /></div></div><br /><p></p>BaseSetCallinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05508114484929386332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7573896101004946985.post-4239339615306364202024-01-23T01:24:00.007-05:002024-01-23T01:38:04.851-05:0010 Cards from the Dollar Box / FLCS review #4<p><span style="font-size: medium;">A truly wonderful thing happened in my home town a few years ago, and it is way past time for me to put up a post on this. I guess I didn't want to jinx anything but things are definitely looking great for Baseball Cards in my little ole home town of 8,000 souls. For the first time in my entire life, I have been enjoying the wonderfulness of having a Friendly Local Card Store! </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_deIbuhuchPLAK-TsgWQi0g50nYhahZ0i8kU2J3MAAXZl0r73S_nZWTVGX1DpJpfSFQ21n0t2sXnYua3XD5mKrwRzV7ImUf0TdsjvbDpEqEU7u6ldlJKrj7E29Fewcv7CRfhDCSNjPae0I0kwjlVziOm_4kVHqenkM1ixBee8rQTfVUcN9sw06BiTLQ/s4032/IMG_8586.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_deIbuhuchPLAK-TsgWQi0g50nYhahZ0i8kU2J3MAAXZl0r73S_nZWTVGX1DpJpfSFQ21n0t2sXnYua3XD5mKrwRzV7ImUf0TdsjvbDpEqEU7u6ldlJKrj7E29Fewcv7CRfhDCSNjPae0I0kwjlVziOm_4kVHqenkM1ixBee8rQTfVUcN9sw06BiTLQ/s320/IMG_8586.jpeg" width="240" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">As much reflection as image I guess, but an authentic picture. Let's see the inside...</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4hT7w1yOqCWW4aT8kjJ_wipuT_nAw8F7o8mhZkaCvNiT6_O06F1roGGdblDBoNKIo8EtNASD3KL-e1xaUsfYj6aLPnlqnC9geUtyoWR9JKtwcG5cxEIfyg8sssJDc7hPR7rXeZHekZES6BfQVqwo7GAkJDM4c_Dg6q4nkbUDYmZkOog9aCZQnYYgBsQ/s4032/IMG_8584.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4hT7w1yOqCWW4aT8kjJ_wipuT_nAw8F7o8mhZkaCvNiT6_O06F1roGGdblDBoNKIo8EtNASD3KL-e1xaUsfYj6aLPnlqnC9geUtyoWR9JKtwcG5cxEIfyg8sssJDc7hPR7rXeZHekZES6BfQVqwo7GAkJDM4c_Dg6q4nkbUDYmZkOog9aCZQnYYgBsQ/s320/IMG_8584.jpeg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Another exciting pic, I know. But I wanted to include the key feature there - tables and chairs. That is the one thing I always most want to see in a card store as then you know you can sit down and either shop cards, or enjoy opening your brand new cards.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Shop: </b>Up North Collectors</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Where: </b>339 River St. Manistee, MI</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Website: </b><a href="https://upnorthcollectors.com/">https://upnorthcollectors.com/</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Owner: </b>Luke</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Card Inventory: </b>Just exactly perfect. The row of items on the back wall are all boxes for sale, those display cases are full of singles, and not seen in this photo is a set of shelving holding $1 boxes and team sorted $5-ish singles.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Collecting Supplies: </b>Plentiful. Ultra•Pro for the win.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Space to Rip Your Purchases: </b>As seen above.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Baseball Cards : other cards — </b>about 30:70 I think. But that's - a good thing.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>21st Century Survival Strategy: </b>Basically, all of them. Luke and his father have a small but active breaking service with its own YouTube channel, are very active selling cards on eBay, and also now semi-routinely set up at card shows within moderate distances. Additionally Luke is clearly an expert not just at all varieties of sports cards, but is probably the most knowledgeable person I have ever met when it comes to gaming cards, about which I know absolutely nothing except one thing: they are a big business and running a Baseball Card store for me to enjoy immensely probably would be a lot more challenging without knowing gaming cards inside/out.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Cool Customer Service: </b>Oh yes. Aside from routinely dispensing excellent, ethical advice while explaining cards to people all day, every day, Up North offers a wonderful service - submission of cards for grading. They get a bit of a bulk discount, passed along to you, and handle all the shipping & receiving for you - no Porch Pirates to worry about, everything insured, etc. This is a ginormous help compared to doing-it-yourself.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Memorable Quote #1: </b>"Oh I hit my number at the casino last night, so I figured I would put it into cards for fun." — A couple months back I watched someone sequentially rip 3 full boxes of Topps Chrome Update, hoping for hits. It was pretty cool to see the whole product at once like that, and a lot of cards I would just never see in-person, otherwise.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Memorable Quote #2: </b>"Damn, another Pitcher Auto." — Same guy as above who did indeed hit a relatively unknown Rookie Pitcher for every single autographed card he pulled.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Treasure Wistfully Not Obtained: </b>Every time I am in this store I see something I would like to own. Today's visit showed me this card:<img class="lb-image" src="https://img.comc.com/i/Baseball/2022/Topps-Rip---Mini---Orange/MRIP-DJ/Derek-Jeter.jpg?id=01840aae-ffae-4a0c-a412-ee88438a7a96&size=zoom" style="height: 600px; width: 340px;" /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Which I just cribbed from COMC for you, and for me, to get a better view of it. This is a mini from inside a rip card in the "Topps Rip" product last year.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I quite like this design with a clear nod to Hokusai's immortal "Great Wave" print. Unfortunately because the vast majority of collectors care more about the value of x in the /x serial numbering of rare cards than any bit of imagery on a card, that serial number was stamped on the front of the card which really detracts from such a nice compact little bit of graphic-ness. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">There are no less than 9 different versions of that little card, each with a different production quantity - but each and every one has that serial # stamped on the front. Except one version - the probably even more extra rare "Image Variation" version which swaps out the player photograph for a different tiny photo (exciting, woo) & then drops the serial numbering to make the "Variation" more mysterious. So maybe I can score a couple of those, some day, somewhere.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Treasures Obtained: </b>This year has been wonderful visiting Up North Collectors. They have been increasing their presence at card shows and thus have built up an excellent set of dollar and 50-cent boxes. When I get a rare day off in my very own hometown I can stop by the shop in the morning, bring in an excellent cup of coffee from the coffee shop next door, and sit down with a four-row dollar box jam-packed with random fun. I seriously doubt I could shop for Baseball Cards in a more relaxing setting; certainly not at a card show with a cup of coffee at hand and no one else waiting to see the cards. It makes for an incredible hour+ solidly inside the world of Baseball Cards - real Baseball Cards, held in my hands, not stared at on a screen, with no worries about work or elderly family or the bottomless To Do list, just, Baseball Cards.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Some of the cards in the box I could possibly attain for less than one dollar, if I very carefully shopped for them - but some I definitely could not. But I don't care; they usually cost only 75¢ when the day's bill is read off at the cash register, and I want this store to be within just a few minutes drive away from me forever and ever, basically, so I shop there whenever I can, and probably have about 100 cards purchased this way already.</span></div></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: medium;">So I thought I would scan ten cards from today's Dollar Box morning, selected randomly, and share them with y'all; this will make for a nice set of blog posts in the weeks ahead because you don't know what's in those dollar boxes - & neither do I. Let's take a look:</span></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP2epUPkU4GWNSUpHaMSJZP9Lni1-U5VI5_rQhwqCMVOxBU1QonNFBxDjG1sPQxYKTHGXb1g0DPsKPIx-WP8n1NB2yilTSDiOBuwTGuC3CYjWrdYSI1nvdoSAxGWajzCr68U3QbeYXcn_3J3kxhiYuE6aaaNiIgnhcaUxOCBBmk0_vNla9lLinu9Jk3g/s2096/Royce%20Lewis.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2096" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP2epUPkU4GWNSUpHaMSJZP9Lni1-U5VI5_rQhwqCMVOxBU1QonNFBxDjG1sPQxYKTHGXb1g0DPsKPIx-WP8n1NB2yilTSDiOBuwTGuC3CYjWrdYSI1nvdoSAxGWajzCr68U3QbeYXcn_3J3kxhiYuE6aaaNiIgnhcaUxOCBBmk0_vNla9lLinu9Jk3g/s320/Royce%20Lewis.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I love Pink baseball cards. They pleasantly remind me of when pink Bubble Gum came with the cards. I wish the parallel in Topps Baseball had a higher print run than /50, but that will never change. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I used to quite like purchasing hangers of Topps Chrome with their bonus pack of 4 Pink cards, for just $12 or so. But that was olden times. These days, Chrome Pinks arrive just 2 per blaster and those blasters cost $40 where I live - & I only really want the Pink cards. Farewell, Topps Chrome.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So I might or might not put together a "set" of just 9 Pink cards each year; any more I am leaning towards "not." But I do think I will instead assemble an even easier collection: just one Pink card from Chrome every year. I already know that's what I am going to do with those goofy Sapphire versions of these very same cards. If that's what happens between me and 2023 Topps Chrome Pink, this will be the perfect card for the effort. Pink & Powder Blue - quite the combo. Show me another Baseball Card featuring Pink socks. I'll wait.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwP_atEsGk67hajc09W8Ad31uAi9sihLKPKP-46ijnZVEamnRNqe151dWz2pASw8m5fvbfcFrGT4zB7PGT8v8rKmZA0wmFDvb1Z3LaOXvsbazDhjuXjSdBRvR71ODKSOEsHTeq4_xMoNG2r05WDJlT0Al_UVbN26JptwPQcGLGG_pRWm6fEt5K7iFDPw/s2300/Paula%20'56.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1598" data-original-width="2300" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwP_atEsGk67hajc09W8Ad31uAi9sihLKPKP-46ijnZVEamnRNqe151dWz2pASw8m5fvbfcFrGT4zB7PGT8v8rKmZA0wmFDvb1Z3LaOXvsbazDhjuXjSdBRvR71ODKSOEsHTeq4_xMoNG2r05WDJlT0Al_UVbN26JptwPQcGLGG_pRWm6fEt5K7iFDPw/s320/Paula%20'56.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Deciding to collect any Baseball Cards I like, just 9 at a time, has really freed me to start some collections I would otherwise be far too afraid of. I would immensely enjoy completing a set of 1956 Topps, but that is simply never going to happen in my life unless maybe if I dropped all other hobbies, most particularly enjoying modern Baseball Cards as they appear, brand new, and that is simply never going to happen, either.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But I can certainly aspire to completing a purdy binder page of just 9 1956 Topps Baseball Cards, so I just bought my first one, for one whole dollar, sorta. Although, this is card #4 in the set, so we'll see what happens, later, when I win the Lottery. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">For this card though, I was happy to learn about this player, who hit .299 in 1955 - very respectable. Additionally I learned that Paula was born in Havana and thus I began to wonder about the history of Cuban baseball players; I would not have guessed they started reaching the Bigs in the mid-1950s already. I was also happy to obtain an original Washington Nationals card.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc8dd6UmX_fB8DitSIVkn2IWST895k0VVTy_CTTHYeiO7YHt4JV4ZCiPCHLPNeFA6OPJbexP9aT8n4Yznx01_gmu3w7A9vhrPwrstFTlnKl8kzyM3krI4tbcnU9pU8P2oIF4KMYIdiFjUnt6t_0XlV2lGT0qikE6LaDwzNRB0M9BmutWMfB8MksQre3w/s2100/Harper%20RC%20reprint.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc8dd6UmX_fB8DitSIVkn2IWST895k0VVTy_CTTHYeiO7YHt4JV4ZCiPCHLPNeFA6OPJbexP9aT8n4Yznx01_gmu3w7A9vhrPwrstFTlnKl8kzyM3krI4tbcnU9pU8P2oIF4KMYIdiFjUnt6t_0XlV2lGT0qikE6LaDwzNRB0M9BmutWMfB8MksQre3w/s320/Harper%20RC%20reprint.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This was a less triumphant purchase but will help fill a binder slot, for a while. For the most expensive RCs, I look for a reprint to keep with all the 59 At Bat RCs around them on the checklist. I think there are other reprint versions of this card, or the "Factory Set" version, or that 3rd version, that won't have TOPPS ROOKIE HISTORY stamped on the front for no real purpose - stamp up the reprints on the back, dummies. But for now this will help keep me from forgetting why there is an empty slot in the binder, which always makes me think I need to track down yet another one of those 59 AB RCs that I forgot about, instead of forgetting that superstars have Rookie Card cards, too.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMgchtWQa9eMxUpb1vdl-PMKN340ecTWbwMVsG8tXjVHpBkU082Sl8yZsMqRQbJt59sTK9BKRjkv3AKy6j-nLbPT2G_XpEfcV0dWaFFO3h3sN5n2Z0WBf1MbEWJbC7gxgQasm-MiBjUQVQfl4TxRltlwHFny2Rp-tbHDtVBbhnvIFZ7eqq_Z7ZH3UgxA/s2132/Tasby%20Rookie%20Cup.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1502" data-original-width="2132" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMgchtWQa9eMxUpb1vdl-PMKN340ecTWbwMVsG8tXjVHpBkU082Sl8yZsMqRQbJt59sTK9BKRjkv3AKy6j-nLbPT2G_XpEfcV0dWaFFO3h3sN5n2Z0WBf1MbEWJbC7gxgQasm-MiBjUQVQfl4TxRltlwHFny2Rp-tbHDtVBbhnvIFZ7eqq_Z7ZH3UgxA/s320/Tasby%20Rookie%20Cup.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I very casually collect Topps Rookie Cup cards. By casually I mean I almost never buy them, deliberately, but soon have to order a few from 2012. So I never really thought about collecting the inaugural run of them - until today. To start out at just a buck, sure, what the</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsv3vv4c-BP3cctAOp36MNd6FWEliSaWUsfH9ewbxstYoJeTjMVuNPHBE4thj_qzxdPKrz_0q1h2RKHwBbIsTJcKj6jcvV98d2PEtI-J5TckL-khk481P5lbj-0EHT0zZr1YUqApWdPbKglMCWQOrN8QKLlRZnM-AdDUSBWg83ML6zdjsUTEzfFLTOdg/s2098/Pfaadt%2088%20RC.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1502" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsv3vv4c-BP3cctAOp36MNd6FWEliSaWUsfH9ewbxstYoJeTjMVuNPHBE4thj_qzxdPKrz_0q1h2RKHwBbIsTJcKj6jcvV98d2PEtI-J5TckL-khk481P5lbj-0EHT0zZr1YUqApWdPbKglMCWQOrN8QKLlRZnM-AdDUSBWg83ML6zdjsUTEzfFLTOdg/s320/Pfaadt%2088%20RC.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">2023's "Mr. Mysterious," as I think of him. After a rookie campaign so not memorable I first learned who this player was in the first week of October, it seemed like pitching very well in the playoffs was just another whatevs for this guy. So this card's 100% nonchalant expression seemed to fit him perfectly and you can probably guess about how many 1988/2023 Topps cards I am going to collect. I always like seeing what Topps has to do with the longest team name on designs that didn't originally contend with it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj60ATux0EFGQ2TJb-W1VWe4gctQQtd0ECXQ6K3iyAlQMD2nNQF_1OAcfOk3Prvq9bGG4mnSlDztZRnMnpQWbZ-B_seMH0H28t10xDkCFDe0ZvMAN7kJEy1RWjBwlpuQEcdzR6Ix_r4HqR8nxOv_Wpfd19158EN4T0jBHAH1aGRxDj-0f7AQN09dVB6WQ/s2102/Torkelson%203B.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2102" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj60ATux0EFGQ2TJb-W1VWe4gctQQtd0ECXQ6K3iyAlQMD2nNQF_1OAcfOk3Prvq9bGG4mnSlDztZRnMnpQWbZ-B_seMH0H28t10xDkCFDe0ZvMAN7kJEy1RWjBwlpuQEcdzR6Ix_r4HqR8nxOv_Wpfd19158EN4T0jBHAH1aGRxDj-0f7AQN09dVB6WQ/s320/Torkelson%203B.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A Bowman card? There is probably no other way I would ever obtain any more Bowman Baseball Cards than this. Maybe I would try a few more of them if I could still buy "packs" of them instead of $25 mini-boxes, but the days of basically cheap hanger packs are probably never going to return.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There is a pretty good chance this might be the only "Third Baseman" Baseball Card for Torkelson, so I thought it would be neat to see a reminder of that, many years from now. Torkelson has never played a single 1/3 of an Inning at Third Base in the Major Leagues, and never will. But the Tigers thought it could happen, & on Bowman Baseball Cards, things like this do happen.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioFso-7rlALiID_2TFRVhaODP0hIvRnyJYWCxZLqFPcO87mjtMz4vRcVa1GriFeLl80zgxasEIpuxD7hSNGHF2nt54LP9oM6_z0xQ82JGn2Uj_mr5KhWclw6-8-D9XVTtGMTynUYeax02LA-qu9ml9NEKqrwKh1SjI8p0TwnZO9LR83tfhue9J6k4NKg/s2098/Berrios%2083.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioFso-7rlALiID_2TFRVhaODP0hIvRnyJYWCxZLqFPcO87mjtMz4vRcVa1GriFeLl80zgxasEIpuxD7hSNGHF2nt54LP9oM6_z0xQ82JGn2Uj_mr5KhWclw6-8-D9XVTtGMTynUYeax02LA-qu9ml9NEKqrwKh1SjI8p0TwnZO9LR83tfhue9J6k4NKg/s320/Berrios%2083.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">My almost-but-not-quite thinking on 2023 Topps Baseball really made me appreciate 1983 Topps all the more, so I recently decided to collect the full run of them issued in 2018. This card would only cost me 20¢ on Sportlots, which is where I will head to finish the little (150 cards) project, someday. But not today.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheVJx2VAYTgMU-Kk3c1XCjJ2V73aT3SP9wjKWpb5Fu4CQjyGgH3Kl3NT5KIdOZQtcX6yyyNMVIHuOuOI-PzpGSHSYEN_oXPEEbuFaygZCZ3g2NCh9_WSqUg-9AlPozKXrMIZOwysWEAhEG_zGm0mIjnsR8cLRlzPlQjJid6SNlO020DrFbuoxqshRcAw/s2096/Brooks%20Robinson%20reprint.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2096" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheVJx2VAYTgMU-Kk3c1XCjJ2V73aT3SP9wjKWpb5Fu4CQjyGgH3Kl3NT5KIdOZQtcX6yyyNMVIHuOuOI-PzpGSHSYEN_oXPEEbuFaygZCZ3g2NCh9_WSqUg-9AlPozKXrMIZOwysWEAhEG_zGm0mIjnsR8cLRlzPlQjJid6SNlO020DrFbuoxqshRcAw/s320/Brooks%20Robinson%20reprint.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The modern topps logo up there should make you realize as quickly as the perfect whiteness that this is just a simple re-print. Thankfully the only thing added to the front of this 2010 card is the word topps. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But that shoulder patch - that I had to have on a card.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikbrqbJnb3ULYKO0oNgw3mN53AfBcAZgsh02dLWa9tC5wlDiPyKOWLR-mzlm46aj7tNG4zsy0PxJ8rjTAYwCUBazm3c8UbKI-iOu_Vz7vm8yC9VkTYo3pR4yIEvJE-mPSnZSoP7pEU1nyc-TUp8fa4Pk_cEKuZEoQgV7wWDKTES8OowYku5bX2vbiwjg/s2098/Trout%2088.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1502" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikbrqbJnb3ULYKO0oNgw3mN53AfBcAZgsh02dLWa9tC5wlDiPyKOWLR-mzlm46aj7tNG4zsy0PxJ8rjTAYwCUBazm3c8UbKI-iOu_Vz7vm8yC9VkTYo3pR4yIEvJE-mPSnZSoP7pEU1nyc-TUp8fa4Pk_cEKuZEoQgV7wWDKTES8OowYku5bX2vbiwjg/s320/Trout%2088.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Another day, another Mike Trout card. At least it's a basically brand new Mike Trout card where he doesn't look Un-happy. And there aren't too many Red, White, and Blue Mike Trout cards. So for a brief look at 1988, this will fit quite pleasingly.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0fPzutnINgSKx3Cv0gbbCRWMKnjij576WLpcljVWOhbrkaF4MRoluzo4nwdYK_33PRH8UnykQk_wtZxeujR2soNlnj5Fb5rLq8LIabYBgQXWJVIyl8i5Y5RHVL0q3lx63PmTlG0LZYWK05sZZByDMTc_Zfql4uBv5sgClmV5x5qAce7BjNNEgeOY4AQ/s2110/Riley%20Greene%20Bowman%20RC.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2110" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0fPzutnINgSKx3Cv0gbbCRWMKnjij576WLpcljVWOhbrkaF4MRoluzo4nwdYK_33PRH8UnykQk_wtZxeujR2soNlnj5Fb5rLq8LIabYBgQXWJVIyl8i5Y5RHVL0q3lx63PmTlG0LZYWK05sZZByDMTc_Zfql4uBv5sgClmV5x5qAce7BjNNEgeOY4AQ/s320/Riley%20Greene%20Bowman%20RC.jpeg" width="227" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">More Bowman, what up? Riley Greene had one of the most disappointing Topps Baseball Rookie Cards I can recall in a minute - he looks like he just banged one straight into the ground in front of home plate and he is definitely going to be Out. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So I decided I needed many other Riley Greene Rookie Card cards to help wash the memory of that one right a ways away from me. With my recent success at creating a page of 9 different Jazz Chisholm RCs, I realized I could easily do the same for Riley. Thanks, Bowman.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGd_MT1E2AAUfcbW9rHM-isPXObI3sItV-w4_Wdyh0b-kmNqdUb2FkJO1CFlWX2o3OwEIz1elc6bWbu8KkxBuRS9OfNtWtRD6vYrSW22TF-zfIPnyXiBSSEsQ94MYPSZPu5pTGvmRuigDkWUhXlR9rLkuSPFj3v-zeBy3ctN48D86JjvvQ1Ph8LqKKKQ/s2092/Aaron%20puzzle.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2092" data-original-width="1502" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGd_MT1E2AAUfcbW9rHM-isPXObI3sItV-w4_Wdyh0b-kmNqdUb2FkJO1CFlWX2o3OwEIz1elc6bWbu8KkxBuRS9OfNtWtRD6vYrSW22TF-zfIPnyXiBSSEsQ94MYPSZPu5pTGvmRuigDkWUhXlR9rLkuSPFj3v-zeBy3ctN48D86JjvvQ1Ph8LqKKKQ/s320/Aaron%20puzzle.jpeg" width="230" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So I had such a pleasant Baseball Card day (more treasures to share with you some other evening), I can't count right, tonight. This isn't just a card showing the poor little children how to fit their Hank Aaron puzzle pieces together - it is an actual die-cut puzzle at regulation Baseball Card size of 2.5" x 3.5" which is something I can't recall ever owning before. I know somewhere I have a Clemente card showing what the Donruss puzzle pieces are supposed to look like all assembled, but that one isn't an actual working puzzle. Though this one would probably take longer to take all apart than it would to put back together. This "card" might or might not fit into a little Hank Aaron project I have on my perpetually expanding Baseball Card horizon, we'll see. But for just a buck...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">...Life is good when you have a good LCS like Up North Collectors.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /> </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><br /></span></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><br /><p></p>BaseSetCallinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05508114484929386332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7573896101004946985.post-65715105500318828592024-01-20T21:44:00.007-05:002024-01-20T21:52:18.035-05:001992 Redux, redacted<p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0xXNYhcsmVp2Y2fXzGIlwV1LBl9909wbvJN1CSkD62tXm0R42J2RO2csz17aCxR0l_cCs6FH61O1er136tYwaMLy2Q-2LUEFgvlkO29q7iboOBsJtg_J4FxqEhV9HnRQ10AYYQBAWcMJigixiZnDjQg2xyaNW9K7BumfHVE7c60P2Prv52hoyzJ2VEg/s2100/Trout.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0xXNYhcsmVp2Y2fXzGIlwV1LBl9909wbvJN1CSkD62tXm0R42J2RO2csz17aCxR0l_cCs6FH61O1er136tYwaMLy2Q-2LUEFgvlkO29q7iboOBsJtg_J4FxqEhV9HnRQ10AYYQBAWcMJigixiZnDjQg2xyaNW9K7BumfHVE7c60P2Prv52hoyzJ2VEg/s320/Trout.jpeg" width="228" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I quite like the 1992 Topps Baseball design. Clean, efficient, colorful. Maybe a feint ehco of Art Deco with the rounded ends on the smaller 'fader bars,' for lack of an accurate term to describe them. Nicely double framed image but with the image given permission to break that inner frame. I never did care for the weirdly pointless, stretched rectangle photo of a baseball diamond on the very plain-jane card back though.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Back at the time I did not collect this one; I was still casually working on the beautiful 1991 Topps design and 1992 was a peak summer of my touring with a famous band — Baseball Cards are eternal, so I knew I could always come back to these, if I wanted. I occasionally dream of buying a "vending box" of these, which would not be difficult. There is a massive supply of the cards and no expensive ones in that set. So, maybe, someday.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In 2017, 1992 finally made it to Archives but few noticed, probably because of some guy named Judge. I look forward to extracting that box of cards from a stack and working on those 92s — again, someday, but that day is probably closer than some attempt at doing 1992 Topps Baseball up completely right.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">So in the fall of 2021 I was quite pleased to see that 1992 had been selected for the 3rd installment of these "Redux" sets after 1952 and 1965 had graced packs of S1 and S2 that year. I quickly dreamed of putting the 50 card checklist together as I was still slowly placing cards in stacks of those first two. All the sweet players were there, it seemed...</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1xT7qpUcyj-_6MDuM7BHHuG2VcCI7Esa0SYFOIhsMfqWSoY4z-YsqoVwYl74Dfw5QV4OumREtOi0itsGUU-_OsHVptiv98EVPiAWMvc1wrz-LOCmGp_82U_DtvkLogYGMWmRecoZZtey3Y0D2xwbqjlOI5wpuNoDTXDfbOFCcSIwHuA0SK33hp8Drpw/s2096/Kershaw.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2096" data-original-width="1502" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1xT7qpUcyj-_6MDuM7BHHuG2VcCI7Esa0SYFOIhsMfqWSoY4z-YsqoVwYl74Dfw5QV4OumREtOi0itsGUU-_OsHVptiv98EVPiAWMvc1wrz-LOCmGp_82U_DtvkLogYGMWmRecoZZtey3Y0D2xwbqjlOI5wpuNoDTXDfbOFCcSIwHuA0SK33hp8Drpw/s320/Kershaw.jpeg" width="229" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">...but things got off to a very slow start as I was purchasing "hanger packs" to build up a nice stash of 2021 Update. Those yielded four of these redux cards per "pack" - so far, so good. Except I then proceeded to hit the same four cards - four times in a row. I had 16 of these cards, but really I only had 4.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Strike one on completing this checklist. Nevertheless, I persisted:</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgliR2aX1jLcKoVcOBmVFVODVyMQiPKfba2_Dp8kEEWmM8w6VXyt3TXZQcoXdmJanTVl2NONFzdA2kpZzahCOHcAN-UCSKifyH9u97QiKVVO1Zs_6Bu6Ww6ma7cbvShZ3gIYJOgpC3i6CikLff6UxeWD-XOSTwUtzeKRa8I8YWbENlFAZdkAFzUvT4sRA/s2102/Miggy.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2102" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgliR2aX1jLcKoVcOBmVFVODVyMQiPKfba2_Dp8kEEWmM8w6VXyt3TXZQcoXdmJanTVl2NONFzdA2kpZzahCOHcAN-UCSKifyH9u97QiKVVO1Zs_6Bu6Ww6ma7cbvShZ3gIYJOgpC3i6CikLff6UxeWD-XOSTwUtzeKRa8I8YWbENlFAZdkAFzUvT4sRA/s320/Miggy.jpeg" width="228" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">You didn't think I could let a Miggy entry on a checklist go by, did you? This would be just about the next-to-last time he appeared on an insert checklist.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">By the time a checklist theme is being used in Update after previous S1/S2 efforts, things start to get a little strange, and this checklist is no exception. The Super Stars have already been added to such lists, often multiple times, as with these first 3 players, who also have 1952 and 1965 cards, as well as probably 1986 style cards that year too. I am not collecting those, unfortunately — a pet accident wiped out the beginning of that particular effort and I doubt I will re-start it.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">So by Update we start seeing more B-listers:</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid7LcEkywAMehObWjcpqST_KfLYFUHhyVg95po1ROlic-VkscJuqIfd5ASwdhVYBIDy7hcsp9eunCtMvPGC7A6jh_A0nwGKfbX_kgkhC4s6JSx3exF1aVnabjwTbJOQWVTKiO-6ByeDRHqqaosLXPPQy_yCNBZrmdCXWQ4jaJ0j3p2lc3HeNhOW-VxcQ/s2096/Bryant.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2096" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid7LcEkywAMehObWjcpqST_KfLYFUHhyVg95po1ROlic-VkscJuqIfd5ASwdhVYBIDy7hcsp9eunCtMvPGC7A6jh_A0nwGKfbX_kgkhC4s6JSx3exF1aVnabjwTbJOQWVTKiO-6ByeDRHqqaosLXPPQy_yCNBZrmdCXWQ4jaJ0j3p2lc3HeNhOW-VxcQ/s320/Bryant.jpeg" width="229" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I still quite like this card with it's always apropos combo of red, white & blue.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The KB card is one of the four that I started out with four copies of. 'round about the time I got around to creating a final want list for the 1952 cards from Series One, I started reading the 1992 checklist more closely. Any checklist in Update is going to have the most Rookie Card cards because, Mike Trout, or something. This one features about 1/3 RCs and many a FAIL there. It also has some big Stars who just simply hardly play Baseball any more (Giancarlo Stanton, Jacob DeGrom) even though they still earn millions upon millions of dollars annually anyway; and then some post-checklist-creation FAILs such as cards for Trevor Bauer and Fernando Tatis.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The whole thing started seeming more like a deliberate send-up celebration of aging All-Stars now on sad, fan-disappointing fat chunky contracts - eh, Colorado? But then there are the Naturals, in this case the basic Trinity of Super Stars who debuted in 2018, who basically make every Topps checklist, ever, just as these players seen so far did in the mid-2010s. So, I went with the concept, and paid out an entire whole Dollar for a real deal 2020s ★ all these 2010 fade-aways could orbit -</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKTZvNMJnxBlbCOJ1gj31YctPZXSZPZGwTMuIzGegOjb3MEWmACc2LE5DlNlWxlqQ8qOZedtIqujavQmQF_eHnmBFHTriXVVLRYUSppF9gz1dndZGQnhjNEze16M-H2GmD7t95G2RxfBnQXwIzIM0v3q3N3NtcjjjW3lPoabYR60PA1vmNroTo0Cxtaw/s2098/Ohtani.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKTZvNMJnxBlbCOJ1gj31YctPZXSZPZGwTMuIzGegOjb3MEWmACc2LE5DlNlWxlqQ8qOZedtIqujavQmQF_eHnmBFHTriXVVLRYUSppF9gz1dndZGQnhjNEze16M-H2GmD7t95G2RxfBnQXwIzIM0v3q3N3NtcjjjW3lPoabYR60PA1vmNroTo0Cxtaw/s320/Ohtani.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: large; text-align: left;">Now this train is bound for glory. I like the perfectly placed Logo Man there, and it is also nice to see Shohei without the words "State Farm" scrolling through the background for the 129th time.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: large; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I passed on adding his regular mates named Ronnie and Juan; they get plenty of binder slots elsewhere. So I went back to the glory of the '10s:</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEM3VeCLG-FAPN4Sg8ZGSe_MUvsngJsf9KcuopljPHZMx_OY7pa3skAqn2cklEWGUnEc8YGTlXHsPdy4a_z_k9MKwmpQSbwYdgTHYPk9iUxIQLuMr3kr3rnLNYVPSNNcPD04FB0eVopJUENcUECcfs_U1YAZ_lY7tPr3uN7m1nQM7n4zMGhCMzBsYQJA/s2102/Baez.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2102" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEM3VeCLG-FAPN4Sg8ZGSe_MUvsngJsf9KcuopljPHZMx_OY7pa3skAqn2cklEWGUnEc8YGTlXHsPdy4a_z_k9MKwmpQSbwYdgTHYPk9iUxIQLuMr3kr3rnLNYVPSNNcPD04FB0eVopJUENcUECcfs_U1YAZ_lY7tPr3uN7m1nQM7n4zMGhCMzBsYQJA/s320/Baez.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I really want to declare this one "on the bubble" and I can tell you that the Mookie Betts card on this checklist is a perfect Baseball Card, though I do not own one. But I can't cut a Bubble Gum card from a Baseball Card collection, no matter how much it bums me out to watch my very own favorite team light 23 Million Dollars on fire annually. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Sometimes, you just gotta keep 'clectin -</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXZdkilUK4EbdZcT-HTF8c8GMMBUPT_wZkqOh5vYCZUCoEZejUpq2M5Rknrwb0JmAaAJbdhQphenymvfJcAUwQ7pOMjWb-QThKORHiKMPr-j6kNO1zU5S8tmOugnshhb0sXsxP8Au8y6C02FxrTNQ_ULLBmuphjpOdmH3DYN8ATdZRvXm7wE6QCJmLZQ/s2098/Cutch.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXZdkilUK4EbdZcT-HTF8c8GMMBUPT_wZkqOh5vYCZUCoEZejUpq2M5Rknrwb0JmAaAJbdhQphenymvfJcAUwQ7pOMjWb-QThKORHiKMPr-j6kNO1zU5S8tmOugnshhb0sXsxP8Au8y6C02FxrTNQ_ULLBmuphjpOdmH3DYN8ATdZRvXm7wE6QCJmLZQ/s320/Cutch.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: large; text-align: left;">Ahh, a nice Update to a nice career. This might be my only non-Pirates Cutch card to make it to my Hall of Binders, though maybe he will sneak onto another page in an Archives checklist from some other design I like, or on those nice 2018 cards, we'll see.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: large; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: large; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggh7GIDHEoWS2m_I9upHPQsSW-5fCeQVfMmnzJn0ZA_H2CVIVRZzjZYKAFrX3lOBgFtBUDR39tVZoQSoSGJZXi7xHD99P0E3yV62B1iqEWiyIQ0y5YhsGDKfFdSZBdT_Lqt95Nl7Q8XojCwVM1jhwGSoEiITCF9VlBO2DQAvKkPgnREbcLI08g14CpCA/s2096/Harper.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2096" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggh7GIDHEoWS2m_I9upHPQsSW-5fCeQVfMmnzJn0ZA_H2CVIVRZzjZYKAFrX3lOBgFtBUDR39tVZoQSoSGJZXi7xHD99P0E3yV62B1iqEWiyIQ0y5YhsGDKfFdSZBdT_Lqt95Nl7Q8XojCwVM1jhwGSoEiITCF9VlBO2DQAvKkPgnREbcLI08g14CpCA/s320/Harper.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: large; text-align: center;">Who you callin' faded?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: large; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqXHReLuNru7qu9qL3oSNdTuZFMXgJMaBcFK-xQtvM89_f544vnKKaFipPX4BW0Qw3gc385aYA6DMb7PEEdJDztCKbF8tf8r8NGScTDvIL315c60jdE23SPK6kgzAcDPdBcuWyR0MfjnAlo5bwA0CHPsHegs6oFfyWoZx7G2xbAHtuWZiyjEY2RTRAEw/s2094/Arenado.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2094" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqXHReLuNru7qu9qL3oSNdTuZFMXgJMaBcFK-xQtvM89_f544vnKKaFipPX4BW0Qw3gc385aYA6DMb7PEEdJDztCKbF8tf8r8NGScTDvIL315c60jdE23SPK6kgzAcDPdBcuWyR0MfjnAlo5bwA0CHPsHegs6oFfyWoZx7G2xbAHtuWZiyjEY2RTRAEw/s320/Arenado.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: large; text-align: left;">Another nice Update to close this one out, for a nice second act in a career. This was one of Arenado's first Cardinals cards; it would be nice to see him get some October playing time for a change but the Central Divisions have such an uphil climb to that concept any more.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: large; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">The Result</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmUrQq5aM5viwuDzXwbdJ3fOqjRrgV5egDai6Ya7khHHdU8llRGBbq8z55vehwnwa_Dr77_aE_okyKV07V_9G46zu4Z4PXe8eNn4x78cdx32D7PzDFL3-21XS5BqXEv0u1xJYZecMdli0TEiUgnFPLUYJRqNdb13sKbwcYtwCWWuLaKZ6V_9wHFOlFmw/s6836/full%20page.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="6836" data-original-width="4900" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmUrQq5aM5viwuDzXwbdJ3fOqjRrgV5egDai6Ya7khHHdU8llRGBbq8z55vehwnwa_Dr77_aE_okyKV07V_9G46zu4Z4PXe8eNn4x78cdx32D7PzDFL3-21XS5BqXEv0u1xJYZecMdli0TEiUgnFPLUYJRqNdb13sKbwcYtwCWWuLaKZ6V_9wHFOlFmw/w458-h640/full%20page.jpeg" width="458" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">1992 Redux</span></div><br /></b></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: large; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: large; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /></div><br /></div><br /></div><br /></div><br /></div><br /></div><br /><p></p>BaseSetCallinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05508114484929386332noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7573896101004946985.post-35010543314006118002024-01-17T23:14:00.009-05:002024-01-17T23:36:01.936-05:00Miggy Waves Goodbye / Nifty Nine #7<p><span style="font-size: medium;">Today I got started on a couple too-long-delayed projects, both of which were quite enjoyable. I built my first binder page of Miguel Cabrera cards from an impressive (to me) stack of the things I have accumulated; there will be many more of these in the future.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I also am composing this post on a brand new laptop. Hooray Me! Technology is always the most enjoyable when it is cutting-edge bright & shiny. This is my first laptop with a solid-state drive so I am hoping it will be an extra extra long time before I need to migrate into an expense like this one - I would rather be buying Baseball Cards, natch. This will also help out quite a bit with Blogger as I am back to using my preferred browser after The Google declared my preferred browser on my previous laptop to now be too old, for "safety."</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">OK, now that we have all hands and feet inside the vehicle again, let's see some cards!</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">The Card That Started It All</span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: large; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikBvvrUcwZ68EdIRiXQZR72PBnCBpSxEytWaganji4JCIOg2SsyNDzwbaMECbtdsGs_kkQ3oiycKzm2anJW2kzg8I9PLphRcSNGKuh80COeXyIIxIaijzvNZtgs95eCla0WcHqLv7_eIEX2Ud9AW0oB0gHIxXZ3-8BucD6rr5DQ0QByFu-p7EJ7s45yg/s2100/2012%20Topps.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikBvvrUcwZ68EdIRiXQZR72PBnCBpSxEytWaganji4JCIOg2SsyNDzwbaMECbtdsGs_kkQ3oiycKzm2anJW2kzg8I9PLphRcSNGKuh80COeXyIIxIaijzvNZtgs95eCla0WcHqLv7_eIEX2Ud9AW0oB0gHIxXZ3-8BucD6rr5DQ0QByFu-p7EJ7s45yg/s320/2012%20Topps.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: large; text-align: center;">2012 Topps</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: large; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This little project has a more uncertain origin in that it took me a while to build up the stack of Miggy cards enough to notice these; so there is no way to know which exact card I saw first. My best guess is this one. I knew this image was recurring in that stack and finally way back last year I managed to pull these cards from the stack and get started, though when I did that I discovered I was a few cards short of Nifty-Nine-ness so I snagged a couple more on Black Friday to get this one across the finish line. I'm looking forward to these results...</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisP-AQolHXVo-8bBDFTK74drYJeC8KM5lkzcnOexcbuxtDOQsylFUszixQsHUAx2IlzTB8RuJW7B8iNXzmsrIueL8AZ46bWmquxW2j3ERR6F_SUchrptNpyRR2gkJ8IHuJzvUNPTWOxV7RksluaFh5U9dHg-UJ8xdqMhV-l4UU9E5yMr6PJA7sm4XoGw/s2090/2006%20Updates%20&%20Highlights.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2090" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisP-AQolHXVo-8bBDFTK74drYJeC8KM5lkzcnOexcbuxtDOQsylFUszixQsHUAx2IlzTB8RuJW7B8iNXzmsrIueL8AZ46bWmquxW2j3ERR6F_SUchrptNpyRR2gkJ8IHuJzvUNPTWOxV7RksluaFh5U9dHg-UJ8xdqMhV-l4UU9E5yMr6PJA7sm4XoGw/s320/2006%20Updates%20&%20Highlights.jpeg" width="230" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">2006 Topps Updates & Highlights</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This was a lucky find as I have very few Miggy Marlins cards. This is a "Home Run Derby" card in case the lack of a batting helmet doesn't make that clear - scanner no like-y the foil printing, once again.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It was even a lucky acquisition - way back in the way back I pulled a /50 Yasiel Puig Rookie Card card of some kind right while I was simultaneously participating in my first (and so far, only) "group break," which worked out poorly - for me. However the breaker had a card I didn't want to keep but could sell for a few dollars credit towards another upcoming break and since that was way before I got into selling on COMC, having him sell it for me was a convenient little plan. Just as that trigger was about to be pulled, I pulled the Puig card and asked him to sell that also and then just as the credits were going to roll in for me, he offered me a lot from another customer: some 150-ish assorted Miguel Cabrera cards. So rather than us both fooling with sending electronic "money" back and forth it just became a simple trade. One Yasiel Puig card for 150 Miguel Cabrera cards, E-Z Pea-Z. I think I "won" that one pretty handily.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSbNjQ16NoaAuMG9qK6f_fIjy4dQSp2zHFKwzIKIpfgGY15jHfAbexdu9uAe3gf4V1M6jZL77eW_w1_AY4oE-PXtQT4YDg87WjqBOm9E8qvTN0KN8rn48hy0dedTzYAGardrcFSWNShDkA4HcDH3LCwSFllLfbYUTdBJI1-OZt5TU9y9dtx4xQwMCCNA/s2100/2011%20Heritage.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSbNjQ16NoaAuMG9qK6f_fIjy4dQSp2zHFKwzIKIpfgGY15jHfAbexdu9uAe3gf4V1M6jZL77eW_w1_AY4oE-PXtQT4YDg87WjqBOm9E8qvTN0KN8rn48hy0dedTzYAGardrcFSWNShDkA4HcDH3LCwSFllLfbYUTdBJI1-OZt5TU9y9dtx4xQwMCCNA/s320/2011%20Heritage.jpeg" width="228" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">2011 Heritage</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I'll bet you didn't know Miggy has a tattoo on his hand. It is pretty rarely photographed, I think, and I'm not sure it can be seen on any other Baseball Cards. The photographer sent to Lakeland for 2010 Photo Day must have hit it off well with Miggy that day, to get him to re-create his iconic Home Run pause like this.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRlOGSWAEz-Q8gZyuU7fEEhfxpW16-rVuR1lUzhVKbW30mG0N_oiGo1eRpUj1Txz50AiNLh3EXEiZjVGsE-zX7lv9Qr5MOdlfek7qkvT9lJHMyXqTTGgMAt2yiSPwIVAhXSflM7eme3Q8s85A0Z8O8WVLBxQThykF9Tki8Fsy4ZnjYQLSrRkTrsBUxVA/s2072/2013%20Opening%20Day.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2072" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRlOGSWAEz-Q8gZyuU7fEEhfxpW16-rVuR1lUzhVKbW30mG0N_oiGo1eRpUj1Txz50AiNLh3EXEiZjVGsE-zX7lv9Qr5MOdlfek7qkvT9lJHMyXqTTGgMAt2yiSPwIVAhXSflM7eme3Q8s85A0Z8O8WVLBxQThykF9Tki8Fsy4ZnjYQLSrRkTrsBUxVA/s320/2013%20Opening%20Day.jpeg" width="232" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">2013 Opening Day "Opening Day Stars"</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I was looking forward to scanning this one, has been a while since I put a 3-D card on the glass. I knew it wouldn't come out that great, but that's great - makes me appreciate the 3-D card in 3-D, all the more.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large; font-weight: bold;">Disqualified</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCReaCYdCHkkcp71GmoGmXpN1xHHegF_XclrdO9Cb6u-hIDAjG-WynywaJeGCkkofYkBVpXkhTX0y10JAPtnr6_eJinl8kquqldHj_Ua7Zjlkdk3Noit7ZVfPnXBNrZ79mj7NVTreKy2sdEwTKX90QlcqC5Uzw0dwTd7Q7d5xuv3YZB86atY6yDMXxAg/s2096/disqualified%2013Uinsert.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2096" data-original-width="1512" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCReaCYdCHkkcp71GmoGmXpN1xHHegF_XclrdO9Cb6u-hIDAjG-WynywaJeGCkkofYkBVpXkhTX0y10JAPtnr6_eJinl8kquqldHj_Ua7Zjlkdk3Noit7ZVfPnXBNrZ79mj7NVTreKy2sdEwTKX90QlcqC5Uzw0dwTd7Q7d5xuv3YZB86atY6yDMXxAg/s320/disqualified%2013Uinsert.jpeg" width="231" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">2013 Topps Update "Post-Season Heroes"</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This is going to happen from time to time building a little collection like this: repeats. Though I have to give this card props for the insert set theme more well revealing the World Series patch on Miggy's right shoulder there, something more difficult to notice on the 3-D card. Luckily I admired my 2 purchases so much before purchasing them that they got to me to 10 of these cards, so discovering that one had to go still worked out just exactly perfectly.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcpAUDEg7hbzAr1qqq1_YcRNrPRXUsXiTdfr-F36z-MqmTD3VQ3GeJ9u7NB9ocj2RfBHfog6N7cxAux1ai_Gjy-mGVEV__R0uHDeEtwLtmBMGCVx9fL-FNFVrgH_NH67VuNuL-OQUVWiOU5A3OPW1SsEehdGL2jIlFnL3A4XKtXDGWarIEGQW7dziSQw/s2098/2013%20Topps.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcpAUDEg7hbzAr1qqq1_YcRNrPRXUsXiTdfr-F36z-MqmTD3VQ3GeJ9u7NB9ocj2RfBHfog6N7cxAux1ai_Gjy-mGVEV__R0uHDeEtwLtmBMGCVx9fL-FNFVrgH_NH67VuNuL-OQUVWiOU5A3OPW1SsEehdGL2jIlFnL3A4XKtXDGWarIEGQW7dziSQw/s320/2013%20Topps.jpeg" width="229" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">2013 Topps</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipn-cynq96ErsWKxUlaIpnlP8q8850M4_lttV8DvgUQ_TKAK_dk3Ium9YF3IG9BKIOxo6yg0El19R9AERWd-7SpDp6fVRFm1pTj3Q9j6g08MrjD8H83qgX-dtQ0IHn7FriPsgrm01uNDDqmaE4cGzKCDAOaSUP7d2pAKUAwJvhtSQZkXZnqxv8vL4Dqw/s2098/2014%20Saber%20Stars.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipn-cynq96ErsWKxUlaIpnlP8q8850M4_lttV8DvgUQ_TKAK_dk3Ium9YF3IG9BKIOxo6yg0El19R9AERWd-7SpDp6fVRFm1pTj3Q9j6g08MrjD8H83qgX-dtQ0IHn7FriPsgrm01uNDDqmaE4cGzKCDAOaSUP7d2pAKUAwJvhtSQZkXZnqxv8vL4Dqw/s320/2014%20Saber%20Stars.jpeg" width="228" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">2014 Topps "saberstars"</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">One of Topps' very first efforts at using "sabremetric" stats in any way. They picked a big one for The Big Man.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnxcHq9pFIAx-8tf7i2Id5e8pisCtLS-bUlzGJkJzYqVD1c0KUIvMbgr76noTpSFwnlMqN_JU4YSa6B0g3Fn2m1KR-Tk6YdqhHRh1bbXU-aKIkdC7zCuUS-FekKTwjbm8KbOKvrfd3Har0AjNe4pse0Ipd48GTizzJ5rcuv1BLrrmaKc1F_2TUWliFew/s2100/2017%20Mother's%20Day.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1502" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnxcHq9pFIAx-8tf7i2Id5e8pisCtLS-bUlzGJkJzYqVD1c0KUIvMbgr76noTpSFwnlMqN_JU4YSa6B0g3Fn2m1KR-Tk6YdqhHRh1bbXU-aKIkdC7zCuUS-FekKTwjbm8KbOKvrfd3Har0AjNe4pse0Ipd48GTizzJ5rcuv1BLrrmaKc1F_2TUWliFew/s320/2017%20Mother's%20Day.jpeg" width="229" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">2017 Topps "Mother's Day"</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I thought about declaring this one "on the bubble" but it keeps growing on me. Even without the pink bat it is one of my better Mother's Day cards so I was tempted to hunt up another one of these and let this shine on a pink page someday. But eventually I did realize this different vantage on the action here is well worth keeping it included.</span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYovQmPAWmR_655wdpnxky9CeF8H9NuvOUxOnGUzOKKR6fKtbRkp3keznvEVIg68KTxFLFA8Cx07K-ZwjmxPFldq_bN64AqnBK7_m7vIQuVK03OiOdaKl_kvuVAFt5SDtlm9P62AIRXoTbgGZHY1vEweJBFuPsl598dJZW2oj2IvMPbVw5l3FqlRjZDw/s2098/2018%20Legends%20in%20the%20Making.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYovQmPAWmR_655wdpnxky9CeF8H9NuvOUxOnGUzOKKR6fKtbRkp3keznvEVIg68KTxFLFA8Cx07K-ZwjmxPFldq_bN64AqnBK7_m7vIQuVK03OiOdaKl_kvuVAFt5SDtlm9P62AIRXoTbgGZHY1vEweJBFuPsl598dJZW2oj2IvMPbVw5l3FqlRjZDw/s320/2018%20Legends%20in%20the%20Making.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">2018 Topps "Legends in the Making"</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">These inserts have been increasing their appeal to me some years after they appeared, particularly with the variety of colors they appear in, both on the different cards and then in different colored parallels of them. Unfortunately I already got rid of many of them. The overall result only works well, for me, with the younger/newer players - putting Shohei Ohtani on a couple (iirc) of these was a seemingly bold choice but then we all know Rookies are included in everything regardless of their chance of becoming a "Legend." Here, I think Miguel was a wee bit past the "in the making" part of the concept but the explosion of ink works pretty well for a Home Run pose. Am kicking the inkwell on a thought of maybe assembling 9 more of these, will probably depend on if any manage to appear somewhere around the card desk still; not sure that is still possible.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglxd0VuEscMDbYg1vwHm9ul-C5HOQjtgq-NPSv_SHLLVk5dC2Zj_SdH5eEmurgqrbUX0uycZsj5Q1BLBLcdFsMPEfaTneaqQYE4i8m50LtUj_eZH2CPtjxpOWPJmtrAIr5WnNs1Y-tHC78Aq-Z5jauOsMKwv7uVbZQJ67JojKuKjmbzPphXsnn_zsRuQ/s2098/2022%20To%20The%20Moon.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglxd0VuEscMDbYg1vwHm9ul-C5HOQjtgq-NPSv_SHLLVk5dC2Zj_SdH5eEmurgqrbUX0uycZsj5Q1BLBLcdFsMPEfaTneaqQYE4i8m50LtUj_eZH2CPtjxpOWPJmtrAIr5WnNs1Y-tHC78Aq-Z5jauOsMKwv7uVbZQJ67JojKuKjmbzPphXsnn_zsRuQ/s320/2022%20To%20The%20Moon.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">2022 Topps Fire "To The Moon"</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This was also a lucky find - on COMC, as was the Heritage card. Being able to scroll through every Baseball Card ever made can be purdy handy sometimes.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Odd trivia factoid about that last card there - it is the only one in this collection which repeats the same batting glove from another image.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="font-size: x-large;">The Result</b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR_ZltVJFniBh4LZjrPxiqYKFUerPLXtoCDd70_cIkjLu6P-YMQGjosXi5xSdDPj-XiRmIYanBd-nGJorlbeRC3fzx2s3Yzh0PybsaWmX-8ae89rHZ-z5f5Ug8dsaL5SDQCVkWAGWkdPl2a0RBowcBDzKeqOSil89WQtwFC2ePXIn7gofoxKOt4oIVLQ/s6902/full%20page.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="6902" data-original-width="4980" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR_ZltVJFniBh4LZjrPxiqYKFUerPLXtoCDd70_cIkjLu6P-YMQGjosXi5xSdDPj-XiRmIYanBd-nGJorlbeRC3fzx2s3Yzh0PybsaWmX-8ae89rHZ-z5f5Ug8dsaL5SDQCVkWAGWkdPl2a0RBowcBDzKeqOSil89WQtwFC2ePXIn7gofoxKOt4oIVLQ/w462-h640/full%20page.jpeg" width="462" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">511 Home Runs, one iconic image.</span></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><br /></div></div><br /><p></p>BaseSetCallinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05508114484929386332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7573896101004946985.post-85408576924022170132024-01-14T21:57:00.002-05:002024-01-14T23:10:03.099-05:00Nifty Nine #6<p>Baseball Card to the rescue! Day 2 of a good ole-time Blizzard here, where the Great Lakes keep dumping snow that doesn't even appear on radar screens at times. I am feeling a little better during my first visit with humanity's newest endemic corona virus, enough to pull binders from shelves and stick completed pages in them, so for today's get-some-exercise project, I completed a page. Still on tap is a wonderful bit of placing cards in empty slots in the Sea Turtle project, probably tomorrow, but that won't appear via Blogger for many many weeks, most likely.</p><p>Today's project grew out of a collecting theme I enjoy of simply keeping the cards from players that have appeared on the most total teams in their career - guys who put the journey in journeyman, like <a href="https://basesetcalling.blogspot.com/2013/03/bring-me-arm-of-octavio-dotel.html">Octavio Dotel</a> or Edwin Jackson. That little project will make it over a certain finish line and onto a Nifty Nine binder page sometime in the coming weeks; it just supplied a certain theme to this little effort.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-size: large;">The Card That Started It All</b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: large; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFW2U8dynesQCyEI8roeP57tjJyX9CROccEcGd0v-R6SiuKM1dxvaxwjPWysKlIGs4T4C7RaOKsLSOqjvZgvJVSDNo3UCa1ckFJ-hbtfS5vfACKQL6MgnYyzS07TS5sc9fEwG7wCLcEImZSNI02zJECYxAtD2iTpMyaQIeao8W2rH_cwbfL-7qmB7hEg/s2088/2013.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2088" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFW2U8dynesQCyEI8roeP57tjJyX9CROccEcGd0v-R6SiuKM1dxvaxwjPWysKlIGs4T4C7RaOKsLSOqjvZgvJVSDNo3UCa1ckFJ-hbtfS5vfACKQL6MgnYyzS07TS5sc9fEwG7wCLcEImZSNI02zJECYxAtD2iTpMyaQIeao8W2rH_cwbfL-7qmB7hEg/s320/2013.jpeg" width="230" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I definitely would have never figured out this little assemblage if it wasn't for this card. As a brand new issue of my favorite recent Topps design, I had to acquire this. It is one of 3 representatives of 2013 in 70 card sets inserted in 2021 Topps Baseball S1, S2, & Update, one card per Topps design.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I had no particular knowledge of Jazz Chisholm when I first learned of these cards and for the most part, I don't much care for this particular Sea Turtle card. The Marlins are a team never happy in it's own skin with their constant uniform and iconography changes, so the 2013 design is changed/updated here, with the most recent team logo and seemingly a new "team color" of basic black, though perhaps it is just a dark blue. I somewhat doubt even the Marlins know whether it is blue or black. The result of the black graphics + photo selected with a black batting helmet and black (or blue?) uniform is like looking into a miniature black hole of a Baseball Card. The best thing I can say about this card is that I like the view of the Pine Tar on the bat. Yet if this bonus Jazz Rookie Card card had been placed on one of the other 69 Topps designs instead, I might have never started following this player, though another of his cards caught my eye a year later -</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="font-size: large;">The Card That Started It All, Runner-Up</b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: large; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmCRGWyA8AFRMt4Q9UAsZzPMIsTE0wYXTQ_2SKUwLR6NypjnmSg3Nf0oVx3DdV0weCI3kQGPb_3cdx4cOREiGUZKGLxej8oF_aBQFQk6GAONkwPF76dz5CpqEaJyu4T4xGkMGzSArMgLCo7NOmKYpnhv4zXD1ksAQgdCnDPYdWaGmw0aIviJwpNQ7Bxg/s2090/Modern%20Artists.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2090" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmCRGWyA8AFRMt4Q9UAsZzPMIsTE0wYXTQ_2SKUwLR6NypjnmSg3Nf0oVx3DdV0weCI3kQGPb_3cdx4cOREiGUZKGLxej8oF_aBQFQk6GAONkwPF76dz5CpqEaJyu4T4xGkMGzSArMgLCo7NOmKYpnhv4zXD1ksAQgdCnDPYdWaGmw0aIviJwpNQ7Bxg/s320/Modern%20Artists.jpeg" width="230" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Art By: Jason Drumheller</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This card appeared in 2022, the final year of Topps Gallery - where Topps just ditched the original all artwork concept of the set and just slapped photos onto cards, some of them those turrible, just turrible fake backdrop photos plaguing multiple Topps products of late. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Except for this neat little "Modern Artists" insert checklist, which has a very interesting composition in that each card shares some fixed design elements, but each card is also different. I can't think of another checklist like it, and I am ever so slowly collecting it now. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The Jazz Chisholm card seen here drew me in with the graphics and the nice dynamic inset photo of a Shortstop about to "range to his left" as much as Jazz' unique look; before deciding to go for the whole small "set" I thought this card could just anchor a fun page of cards for such a visually interesting player. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It also has a fun basic write-up courtesy of Topps Card Back Writer: "The finish of Chisholm's swing is a thing of both ferocity and beauty. At contact, he keeps both hands on the handle while catapulting the barrel over his back shoulder so forcefully that it almost hits his backside. This full commitment to the cut helps Jazz produce elite exit velos despite his modest size."</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I'm telling yas, someday these Baseball Cards are going to finally make me pay up for a year of MLB TV. If, I could just slow down a little on buying the Baseball Cards, I guess?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I like that Modern Artists card so much I will definitely 'clect a 2nd copy of it, for that set - & a Jazz Chisholm page. Which, will be separate from this one. I will probably end up with a 3rd Jazz page too, because I like his horizontal cards a lot also. While looking for candidates to help with the horizontals in particular, I realized something about all the Baseball Card options available for him. And, it being Black Friday weekend when I discovered this, it was the perfect time to pull a trigger and create a unique page of Baseball Cards. I think you'll figure it out as we go:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3J_KpNJJ6UCUzwaw9wRr24WaRvAdn056RgnqfsPzV0iGopVFeSYm_C6nNgot5kL8cLZUBPYHAKCbP4dEaA_8Ummuj-Hk6YmV68_SA4vpJwF_nLxAiZzTlCUnvMoPgSGaNbOwAjjjkNbvmIt-fQZ3wQwdOWi-uZpFM19oAbTX8yZZKDZMkXtHtzctQjg/s2096/Living%20Set.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2096" data-original-width="1502" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3J_KpNJJ6UCUzwaw9wRr24WaRvAdn056RgnqfsPzV0iGopVFeSYm_C6nNgot5kL8cLZUBPYHAKCbP4dEaA_8Ummuj-Hk6YmV68_SA4vpJwF_nLxAiZzTlCUnvMoPgSGaNbOwAjjjkNbvmIt-fQZ3wQwdOWi-uZpFM19oAbTX8yZZKDZMkXtHtzctQjg/s320/Living%20Set.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Topps "Living Set"</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Art by: Mayumi Seto</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This was a bittersweet but still happy purchase for me; it is my first card from this ongoing project which I basically admire a great deal. Once upon a time I even wrote Topps a letter and sent it to 1 Whitehall St., asking them to produce a new 1953 set, "the right way" - just like this, with true/original/new hand-made illustration work for each player. I would surely enjoy having an ongoing complete collection of this. Except of course, at $5 and well upwards for each and every card in the set, I know that will never ever happen in my life, and that's just kinda depressing. Someday I will make a curated page of just these and again be both happy to have them, and simultaneously bummed out a little. Not the emotions one wants from Baseball Cards.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRitMt6rPuMRMSUKKAw1Nqn-QWEENzdpaCJ96jxSKAgcnf8Rq7koDY2jhPSa0NSBgmyHAa1y5LVC32GJR2snzYL1heQeXTw8e3-0KVV_NBjTGA56WuzJ-f0aVbRMtf2TBKyjLEnOY5rFN2GvJ3abnOR2OwUHNBUPorKTZ2z98ho8fxfcwklkd7GrcA9w/s2098/1962.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1496" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRitMt6rPuMRMSUKKAw1Nqn-QWEENzdpaCJ96jxSKAgcnf8Rq7koDY2jhPSa0NSBgmyHAa1y5LVC32GJR2snzYL1heQeXTw8e3-0KVV_NBjTGA56WuzJ-f0aVbRMtf2TBKyjLEnOY5rFN2GvJ3abnOR2OwUHNBUPorKTZ2z98ho8fxfcwklkd7GrcA9w/s320/1962.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">1962 Topps / 2021 Archives </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Sometimes he's Jazz Chisholm, sometimes he's Jazz Chisholm Jr.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This card also has a great entry from Topps Card Back Writer: "Jazz announced himself to the Baseball world as a rookie by taking Jacob DeGrom deep. And it wasn't on just any pitch, but a 101-mph fastball so high in the zone that no pitch like it was ever previously hit for a Home Run."</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8JyWWH0arTFIXuKBmgW82LEFbALseyraBVlUuRQCZbE9Ql150iDiK7qY2LND_VDP9YAHdUpnZO-CJ5qAUHlsji6zipeqouZdC-rkDMubYr3_RCohSv2rGIPD6oN4LB-1jooRMobGkaa8e3QNjmavh_xuTF3x316g0xzcRTMjB61TWKdFJNcogRKxsGw/s2094/1965.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2094" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8JyWWH0arTFIXuKBmgW82LEFbALseyraBVlUuRQCZbE9Ql150iDiK7qY2LND_VDP9YAHdUpnZO-CJ5qAUHlsji6zipeqouZdC-rkDMubYr3_RCohSv2rGIPD6oN4LB-1jooRMobGkaa8e3QNjmavh_xuTF3x316g0xzcRTMjB61TWKdFJNcogRKxsGw/s320/1965.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">"1965 Redux" / 2021 Series Two</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGIWnXdo2YQVnjzPGji7ENkX9VcboxG8qvazP4SnmjILdvVsSbQ7_RHz6_1_hocE2ioGLibUkLhUxxUnBgJ91w7TG8dir4eOkcFB0wcL9gE-jlF9M9rNMws2N5ZSoxSXApa0gilXJkcVPlMwQkJjBJdc70OlTUTSOzjovD65mTds6rRgyuxzqsgXOiPw/s2102/1972.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2102" data-original-width="1499" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGIWnXdo2YQVnjzPGji7ENkX9VcboxG8qvazP4SnmjILdvVsSbQ7_RHz6_1_hocE2ioGLibUkLhUxxUnBgJ91w7TG8dir4eOkcFB0wcL9gE-jlF9M9rNMws2N5ZSoxSXApa0gilXJkcVPlMwQkJjBJdc70OlTUTSOzjovD65mTds6rRgyuxzqsgXOiPw/s320/1972.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">1972 Topps / 2021 Heritage High Numbers</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As classic as the '62 image, this one made me start wondering if I could make it across the goal line without a repeat. Card #665 by the way, that was close.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMRna-tE1DtixR-NaJtGF4ZpkYFYJ-VguXyrnuuk2X5u4LWTI-kxGSFMxcahw3MxELvmIwhJdv_KbATTuZFvkyNgOd6YPNXPCvy-ctep9_fEhR_fFs7TNGJcWqmDhzsFffCkPQ9w5nQMFDuz025XxRoMHp46bPX385S902QwaCj4cjmr0YYZNsRNK-XQ/s2100/1980.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMRna-tE1DtixR-NaJtGF4ZpkYFYJ-VguXyrnuuk2X5u4LWTI-kxGSFMxcahw3MxELvmIwhJdv_KbATTuZFvkyNgOd6YPNXPCvy-ctep9_fEhR_fFs7TNGJcWqmDhzsFffCkPQ9w5nQMFDuz025XxRoMHp46bPX385S902QwaCj4cjmr0YYZNsRNK-XQ/s320/1980.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">1980 Topps / 2021 Throwback Thursday</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This one, along with the Living Set card, had to be more "deliberately" acquired - i.e. I had to explicitly purchase them for a few dollars more than a couple three quarters. But I love 1980 Topps. And hey, two different color compression sleeves and a two-tone glove — whaddya expect from a guy named "Jazz" anyway?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW5SI2ypQcemFx5Z_c7YxX8Cr_CUlamL4snOs8vUnTJv9AOI5rBFsAZVGaGEPR_xR2lfX1uC4kfp32jOKip32jrbiWcgbzS34Riuub6glNcEbIYnY2MhToX80ImB5ntS2pIJRCB3d59rfLjVbQrn5Cfo6u0nUe0HfZnwVtKEff525loUrp2rnkAxk47A/s2100/1986.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW5SI2ypQcemFx5Z_c7YxX8Cr_CUlamL4snOs8vUnTJv9AOI5rBFsAZVGaGEPR_xR2lfX1uC4kfp32jOKip32jrbiWcgbzS34Riuub6glNcEbIYnY2MhToX80ImB5ntS2pIJRCB3d59rfLjVbQrn5Cfo6u0nUe0HfZnwVtKEff525loUrp2rnkAxk47A/s320/1986.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">1986 Topps / 2021 Topps Series 2 insert</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A great fielding shot, though again getting nervous about repeats wrecking the plan...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC3svYn2L6cqHdVSYMr4xt7d_RRb9-to_7XMEjez8BI1x9oLPXacOhb-mmHDEIvfD7X82km7bjPc8FX_WiS9G0E_uWPr6syj08MuoJPWw34CX7oTJUcn9PoZVXHKQLbxcoFvjFNcYfYXszpqu_waXUMoj40QO-LAd8lUOCLSOns6xO_jHdVExEy1XnqA/s2100/1992.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC3svYn2L6cqHdVSYMr4xt7d_RRb9-to_7XMEjez8BI1x9oLPXacOhb-mmHDEIvfD7X82km7bjPc8FX_WiS9G0E_uWPr6syj08MuoJPWw34CX7oTJUcn9PoZVXHKQLbxcoFvjFNcYfYXszpqu_waXUMoj40QO-LAd8lUOCLSOns6xO_jHdVExEy1XnqA/s320/1992.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">"1992 Redux" / 2021 Update</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A "Tattooine" card just technically, but that is another small thing that caught my eye initially about Jazz Chisholm cards as I got this in a pack not long after his most traditional/regulation Rookie Card card -<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizClRqj1Dy-L-a7E1uXdrdZqtmEU-MNomY5tLXm86pT6xK7fbzijOjJJFJmDYzcUTCsTieDUqscWKIBPFraTjJdulL410DMUH5lSZw9vPkTv4Xt3uFDCZl_BCNgnYwjwF5a5OVMTL2i84_rqkEEp11SdqKbppQ24j-W5_zN85forCJoZTmTrnWoAXvYg/s2100/2021.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1502" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizClRqj1Dy-L-a7E1uXdrdZqtmEU-MNomY5tLXm86pT6xK7fbzijOjJJFJmDYzcUTCsTieDUqscWKIBPFraTjJdulL410DMUH5lSZw9vPkTv4Xt3uFDCZl_BCNgnYwjwF5a5OVMTL2i84_rqkEEp11SdqKbppQ24j-W5_zN85forCJoZTmTrnWoAXvYg/s320/2021.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">2021 Topps</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A great Rookie Card image, though I will never care for this design, which so routinely entangles itself in the image - the exact opposite of what graphic design added to photography is supposed to do, if you ask me. This is also a "Blowfish" card which are mostly famous on Shohei Ohtani cards, but probably an occasional other player, and could probably be collected that way, if you like to laugh at Baseball Cards.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">The Result</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIa2CoBW6xYCNOAwHAvZh2VFjGgXzJId3S0JKqPrYfkWmC_5VO4Jhwyl60WP8jp92bcecdo2w8xQZO6J579LRjMmP7aijJ24q1XAmZNsqaHM3HtrtxQfbMiDvfIjZ5zgGOhPnt-dgc75vDpcYl0T-fMkJVQBq2p7hlinfzB7mncdVf7ASIXBIFAszMmw/s6736/full%20page.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="6736" data-original-width="4854" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIa2CoBW6xYCNOAwHAvZh2VFjGgXzJId3S0JKqPrYfkWmC_5VO4Jhwyl60WP8jp92bcecdo2w8xQZO6J579LRjMmP7aijJ24q1XAmZNsqaHM3HtrtxQfbMiDvfIjZ5zgGOhPnt-dgc75vDpcYl0T-fMkJVQBq2p7hlinfzB7mncdVf7ASIXBIFAszMmw/w462-h640/full%20page.jpeg" width="462" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">So there you have it. 9 Rookie Card cards, 9 Topps designs, just one player.</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Baseball always loves a power hitting middle Infielder, and Baseball Cards love Rookie Card cards, so perhaps this result was inevitable for a Topps anniversary year even though Chisholm was not one of what I call "The Five" - the RCs that get photo variations issued with the complete Factory Sets. Those players will be on every Topps checklist of the entire year in most cases.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Still I would doubt this could be achieved for a player in any year aside from 2021, which featured those 70 Years of Topps sets as well as 3 of the "Redux" inserts (52, 65, 92 - JC Jr. did not make the 52 checklist which appeared with S1). There might could probably be some other 2021 Rookies this would be possible with via those "Redux" checklists though I am not going to repeat this particular effort.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A kinda nutty factoid about these 9 cards is that I could have done this without using the 2021 card at all as there actually is a 1952 Topps style Jazz Chisholm Jr. Rookie Card card as well - in 2021 Topps Chrome Platinum: 10 Topps RC designs. However I decided to complete this without selecting from Chrome versions of cards, or the "Mojo" version of the 1986s, nor by using photo variations - there are still quite a few more Topps Baseball design JC Jr. RC cards than just these.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Let's hope this sublime example of Rookie Card card mania might generate a little good news for Jazz this year, i.e. that he can avoid the injury bug, play > 140 games, and makes lots more checklists. Cuz Rookie Card cards are cool and all, but they will be even cooler if they are just the front-end to a long career in Baseball Cards. Here's hopin'</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /></div><div><b style="font-size: large;"><br /></b></div><br /><p></p>BaseSetCallinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05508114484929386332noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7573896101004946985.post-75228098338588059122024-01-12T17:20:00.000-05:002024-01-12T17:20:20.276-05:00The Waiting is the Hardest Part<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjId4bjM_MYvCe8dAHnpitH2FwIMypKcvc-es2FTpSMK4PLuISzYNr6iI3mDkGrjW51_nWgKOjUIQNkrgMk8-VOw66Jvzv2SaL2VYXx1wsZm5BAlb5-WDHbOdJGucdDSpGOtOchkct-oxikjzFXuf2SoO5l3S7a8EQU_EnEC3rUKXl15fXFVY2_JpgwQw/s4032/7EF21490-EE0E-43BD-A7AB-07C2123D036F.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjId4bjM_MYvCe8dAHnpitH2FwIMypKcvc-es2FTpSMK4PLuISzYNr6iI3mDkGrjW51_nWgKOjUIQNkrgMk8-VOw66Jvzv2SaL2VYXx1wsZm5BAlb5-WDHbOdJGucdDSpGOtOchkct-oxikjzFXuf2SoO5l3S7a8EQU_EnEC3rUKXl15fXFVY2_JpgwQw/s320/7EF21490-EE0E-43BD-A7AB-07C2123D036F.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><br />There is a lot of waiting involved in collecting cards. And even, multiple kinds of waiting. I am experiencing a whole bunch of them right, now.<p></p><p>The most routine wait in collecting is for the new Baseball Cards. I entered that wait yesterday, when I saw from a (fortunately) text headline that the 2024 Topps Baseball design has been released. I always try as hard as I can to avoid seeing that until I rip a pack of the cards, which is not always easy. So until I rip that pack, I have to be very much more careful about where I peek at online Baseball Card sites. And thus there will be a lot of waiting involved, until next month some time.</p><p>The 2nd most routine wait is the never-ending search for a not-so-new card you want for your collection. That’s just a permanent part of the collecting deal. Working on a project involving cards now > 10 years old involves a whole lot of waiting. Some of that waiting is about to end, but first, there will be more waiting.</p><p>The best way for me to work on that project is to send cards I don’t want to COMC to put them up for sale, and then use the proceeds to buy the cards I do want. But that involves a metric ton of waiting. First you send in the cards, but you have to wait a long time for them to be processed before you can put a price on them. Then, you have to wait for them to sell.</p><p>Now for me, always operating in cheapskate mode in an all-too-easily-becomes-expensive hobby, each year I add a whole lot more waiting to this whole process by only shopping during the Black Friday sale. The vast majority of the cards I want to buy aren’t going to sell to anyone else anyway, so I might as well wait till there is the best chance their price is reduced.</p><p>But after all that waiting, buying cards at the same time as oodles of other collectors means, you guessed it, more waiting. I really messed up this year by not requesting a shipment until well after dark on “Cyber Monday,” which put my shipping request at the end of a very long line.</p><p>So there has been a whole, whole lot of waiting involved in that package up there which I received yesterday, one which I was very, very glad to see. That package owes its existence to a bunch of collecting work I did an entire year ago, when I managed to get a package sent to COMC.</p><p>It had a lot of cards for my all-parallel set build of 2013 Topps Baseball:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG-jbr6K33b5ohbhyphenhypheno9rT4KuC573Zr-91nvf0liA8EIHJnbckARvzqVcIH5sA1nnhwJ0CC3dKbOJ0wl3vgux9lbcy_7jKfAI_hHXqtdNCqkhZF9lVJ1jiUr4RsNtki3iri3XTdUyw28HZNjGS7AavAFch_rCCeGtbLrXZmjwUJWd4EQQ4Qh6Jm4eUGPA/s4032/2CD6A5BD-8246-442E-A674-FA28C4163AC8.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG-jbr6K33b5ohbhyphenhypheno9rT4KuC573Zr-91nvf0liA8EIHJnbckARvzqVcIH5sA1nnhwJ0CC3dKbOJ0wl3vgux9lbcy_7jKfAI_hHXqtdNCqkhZF9lVJ1jiUr4RsNtki3iri3XTdUyw28HZNjGS7AavAFch_rCCeGtbLrXZmjwUJWd4EQQ4Qh6Jm4eUGPA/w480-h640/2CD6A5BD-8246-442E-A674-FA28C4163AC8.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;">That’s a lot of Sea Turtles.</p><p style="text-align: left;">That will make for a long enjoyable bit of binder page flipping and wantlist editing, very soon. Another big snowstorm is just firing up outside and the best thing to have for a snowstorm is some Baseball Cards, if you ask me.</p><p style="text-align: left;">If you squint, you just might be able to tell that some of those are not parallels. I have always been ever-so-slowly collecting the 2013 Topps Baseball photo variations as well. I took a serious plunge this year, when I picked up one of the, in my view, four most difficult (not just expensive) cards to acquire from the set. To give you at least one regulation Baseball Card to gaze upon in this post, here ‘tis:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid7e6PNvjwXsYx1HfiRmhvCeWuO8K30xpkORSlGJ0iJeK83TBo1oQMXju2JXf4LOCees1T0yfAwRkVL02YZGq3J9YmWKekhFrFKHXpHkICdjvAK7mdnzITlOPBCaq7Oh8kS9BL0rhuV1puXvkRfbD3I7-Ok5NFNLaNF1FbtVcl7KQvie7SIzsJgQnBJg/s4032/BE88BAC3-74DA-418A-A777-F8942A3D0F82.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid7e6PNvjwXsYx1HfiRmhvCeWuO8K30xpkORSlGJ0iJeK83TBo1oQMXju2JXf4LOCees1T0yfAwRkVL02YZGq3J9YmWKekhFrFKHXpHkICdjvAK7mdnzITlOPBCaq7Oh8kS9BL0rhuV1puXvkRfbD3I7-Ok5NFNLaNF1FbtVcl7KQvie7SIzsJgQnBJg/w384-h400/BE88BAC3-74DA-418A-A777-F8942A3D0F82.jpeg" width="384" /></a></div>This is a big step for me, because it kind of commits me to looking for the other most difficult cards, which I feel will be even more difficult to find or afford. (Those are the Gerrit Cole RC SSP, the Baby King George Card, and most especially the Teddy Kremmer card.)<p></p><p>Although this package sort of arrived at a very good spot in my life and cheered me up immensely, I have only partially been able to enjoy it, so far. I have been delightedly flipping through the contents and imagining all the holes it will fill in various collections, or new collections it will start. But I haven’t been able to start those delightful processes just yet. First, there will be a little more waiting.</p><p>That’s because I am on day 3 of my first experience having Covid. It seems like this will be a semi-routine part of our lives now, one I had managed to duck away from previously. Typing out this post is simple enough, but hauling binders off shelves and flipping through them and just generally moving around very much is more energy expenditure than I feel up for right now. My whole upper body feels like it got hit by a truck while simultaneously, I seem to be moving around in super slo-mo. The respiratory symptoms with this respiratory virus are barely evidencing themselves, but the bonus features with this are quite a doozy. At least the headaches of day 1 and day 2 are gone.</p><p>So, too sick to Baseball Card. Never thought I would experience that reality, but here I am. I know I am fortunate that this isn’t more serious, for me, or my loved ones. And I know the symptoms peak, and then taper off. So soon enough I will have my scanner in action, enabling some fun posts to share with you all.</p><p>Until then, there is still just a little bit more, waiting.</p>BaseSetCallinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05508114484929386332noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7573896101004946985.post-36206670201356529532024-01-01T11:12:00.001-05:002024-01-01T11:12:58.727-05:00Re-Arranging / Checklist Rule #2<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Happy New Year everyone! One of my favorite Baseball Card collecting things to do, </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">though decidedly in second place to finding brand new Baseball Cards, is to flip through my card binders. One of my favorite such flips is of a small binder that holds a single set: 2014 Stadium Club.</span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX6XqLls5whfQiZYaW-OtIO5UIATgJ7RhYStzluzTywsxvgkvPpQTGQZRknfmQ4qcSX1zALkmZQlxMTXFddBTGnl48mRrr5jiEVgpefdfQebBYhaqWfe8WEZ6RnFA6FzLvVWuhMpe-D33u6y6FopT_yVp2-9QwElQS34aTC5s93zaL7t5CLRrCOWS6iw/s2100/Babe.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1502" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX6XqLls5whfQiZYaW-OtIO5UIATgJ7RhYStzluzTywsxvgkvPpQTGQZRknfmQ4qcSX1zALkmZQlxMTXFddBTGnl48mRrr5jiEVgpefdfQebBYhaqWfe8WEZ6RnFA6FzLvVWuhMpe-D33u6y6FopT_yVp2-9QwElQS34aTC5s93zaL7t5CLRrCOWS6iw/s320/Babe.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">GOAT</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I can no longer recall if this was the first release in the product's "re-boot" after a hiatus of a little more than a decade or so. It might be it's first year back, or second, but that matters little. Nor do the particularities of the design, another matters little on this "full bleed" set that is all about the baseball photography. And usually, I don't even care for the design choices made for it, with it's seemingly permanent love affair with foil printing — which I like even less / dislike even more, with each passing year. These 2014 cards are one that improve greatly via scanner views. But that also, matters little. Squinting at tiny foil printing just isn't necessary for a Babe Ruth Baseball Card.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I somewhat wish I owned a run of Stadium Club sets from every year since it came back. Maybe if I did I would have figured out the project I have been working on recently, way earlier. But Stadium Club is not generally a cheap set to acquire, more of a 'mid-tier' set than a 'low end' set. Ultimately I do enjoy assembling a 9 or 18-best-of page(s) from the different sets, a kind of permanent collecting activity whenever I stumble across discounted Stadium Club cards, one or more years after release. Or when I (rarely) summon up the energy to deliberately scroll through the cards from years needing anywhere from 1 to 7 more cards to complete a page — which is most of them.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In 2014 however, I did a (rare) smart thing in acquiring brand new Baseball Cards: I simply purchased a copy of the whole Stadium Club set, all at once, in a single box, all correctly sequentially collated by someone else. Oh how simple Baseball Card life would be if I could just do that more often. And, possibly/probably cheaper.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And it was very enjoyable to place it in binder pages, a long time ago, and also enjoyable to do it all over again less long ago, in order to cut down the space the pages take up by doubling it up to 18 cards per page, despite the nice inset photo on the back of each card. And like a dutiful collector of Baseball Cards, each time I kept all the cards in their sequential checklist order, because, well, at this point ... because, Why? I can no longer answer that question, or even explain why I would keep Baseball Picture Cards in some sort of random order made up at Topps HQ.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Baseball is played with a definite "line-up" at all times, the teams have officially defined rosters and the teams are always in order in the "standings" as well, but the order of the cards themselves in a set are almost always just totally random, with just an occasional checklist where all the cards from each team are in sequentially numbered order — one would think that lots and lots of collectors would prefer things that team orientated way, but that is the exception, not the general rule. Random, the cards must be. Why?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I think it has been this binder in particular which really moved along my interest in re-building my binders based on several things. <a href="https://basesetcalling.blogspot.com/2014/12/binder-worthy.htmlhttps://basesetcalling.blogspot.com/2014/12/binder-worthy.html">Though when I first "bindered" it I even declared otherwise.</a> Firstly, the far, far better visual appeal of pages of all horizontal cards, and all vertical cards. And, some other concerns. Let's take a look at the starting condition:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5PQiR3GzOmNE_99kr11eYToBLb_6jeD0j7qeST8m1WRikBBfWKYlUAnZL4O4NU633KK9tJv4Og-tyZLCA8oJqZPfGsrZKzyhwcew-vDoQo29Ne14DQUyKEX-UKu1TW5XfGTZhwkRf6Q-mohPF9iYxx3J6ZqLUv9F7rZedJnkUkK_080bWvoe02H28-w/s6794/Page1.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="6794" data-original-width="4708" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5PQiR3GzOmNE_99kr11eYToBLb_6jeD0j7qeST8m1WRikBBfWKYlUAnZL4O4NU633KK9tJv4Og-tyZLCA8oJqZPfGsrZKzyhwcew-vDoQo29Ne14DQUyKEX-UKu1TW5XfGTZhwkRf6Q-mohPF9iYxx3J6ZqLUv9F7rZedJnkUkK_080bWvoe02H28-w/w444-h640/Page1.jpeg" width="444" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Page 1</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">6 verticals, 3 horizontals. Job one.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But even this first page in the set shows off odd things about checklist construction, such as a near instant Who Dat? problem and I don't mean the way it is virtually impossible to know which exact Boston Red Sock is individually named on the checklist. Rather my man Ricky Williams, err, uhh, I mean Jon Singleton, he of the <a href="https://basesetcalling.blogspot.com/2023/01/you-cant-do-that-to-baseball-card.html">GOAT RC Logo card</a> in my collection. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzToOEFlJx-AvQyMHZ0zgfzlZjxaw2LJwcV1bPX-CbuBWSzxeMgImEzMmXUq5N7X5PlIdcuN_I9Fg4mjia5Ux5BA0FihU-qr8S1IvrW9K7-Xcu6ZiLjpTDQ9zJcUFBnDfohxGLwby_nConAIll7dbb1TGkGf0YBk7Fsr4jXk2LvFRHFUzk_dPoe2OCjw/s2102/Singleton.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2102" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzToOEFlJx-AvQyMHZ0zgfzlZjxaw2LJwcV1bPX-CbuBWSzxeMgImEzMmXUq5N7X5PlIdcuN_I9Fg4mjia5Ux5BA0FihU-qr8S1IvrW9K7-Xcu6ZiLjpTDQ9zJcUFBnDfohxGLwby_nConAIll7dbb1TGkGf0YBk7Fsr4jXk2LvFRHFUzk_dPoe2OCjw/s320/Singleton.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Son of GOAT RC Logo card</div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This Stadium Club RC fits his Baseball oeuvre just exactly perfectly, telling us there's 2 Outs so he won't be needing his glove now. Singleton actually returned to the Major Leagues this year after a lot of hard work on his part, which lead to a rehabilitation in the Mexican Leagues (oh how I wish those had Baseball Cards as I expect they would be ¡fantastico!), but in yet more just exactly perfectness he played for two different MLB clubs in the 2023 season and did not receive a new Baseball Card for his efforts; more's the pity. Maybe this particular RC foreshadowed the future ingeniously.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But this combo of Babe Ruth, GOAT, at card #3 in the set and Jon Singleton, 488 MLB career At Bats RC Logo GOAT right next to him at card #4 also illustrates a key reason I want to re-arrange this set. Now I do like finding Babe Ruth Baseball Cards in new products mostly featuring contemporary players; however later on the incongruities inherent in these checklists just create LOLs rather than awe, check out this cool new Babe Ruth Baseball Picture Card I found back in the year 2014. I hate to dis my guy here, but Singleton's card simply lessens the enjoyment of The Babe card right (almost) next door.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Let's check out some more of these cards for a little more context -<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyPyE5W2ls5o5bLSMFtkbgGjll-7PFp6l8ucMltFBf2XwjSFopJ0DughjlkJwI-jlkJfSeim6OD3M-v_Tva5-z82spIu8jsEqmaJK0Y0-_2tnQ19auPKm0d46_PTfO3PsW6OG41wueo6uAcsO8L4bDRZqWEneuspAldUFZ5s1jCtDoFcjRWSe4i27jKA/s6720/Page2.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="6720" data-original-width="4948" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyPyE5W2ls5o5bLSMFtkbgGjll-7PFp6l8ucMltFBf2XwjSFopJ0DughjlkJwI-jlkJfSeim6OD3M-v_Tva5-z82spIu8jsEqmaJK0Y0-_2tnQ19auPKm0d46_PTfO3PsW6OG41wueo6uAcsO8L4bDRZqWEneuspAldUFZ5s1jCtDoFcjRWSe4i27jKA/w472-h640/Page2.jpeg" width="472" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Page 2</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Hey, there's The Babe again, with yet more all-wrong horizontal mixing. Although that is a fantastic Elvis Andrus card, an exciting player (named Elvis, how cool is that?) who had a very good MLB career, there is no possible way to connect him to Babe Ruth & Lou Gehrig. And we get a little more Who Dat? issue with the appearance of Matt Adams, who had a respectable but more Journeyman type career. While Andrus looks to have Triple in his eyes, Adams looks like he is the Outside Tackle setting up a Screen.</div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now I do quite like Stadium Club's inclusion of Black & White Baseball Cards without making them a foolish parallel nor printing them in a special set of online-sales-only, $3.89/card, buy now or forever be locked out of /412 cards if you don't order in the next 39 hours, so, hurry. Black & White cards are nice, but that particular fine example loses a fair bit of gravity there when Elvis is rockin' his great solid color Road (or Home, one can never tell with those sneaky Texas unis) Alternate Uniform there right alongside. The Babe and Lou Gehrig didn't have those.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So that's just some of the material I have to work with. Let's see how things turned out.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilCjYVZZ_JkY9FPP6x46taVLh13LqDDphjkid7XTGAr-OleVqKPM2VopXK90IliCKmUhEYYTGmirlNRq6UmD4AONC1uBY_JqWcsh2f3z7Ks8SEsElbWkkrYG7eLCSD4cBku3k1ehn2ga_zX8IGGAdrELIFBUJ5XWTk91mGQA65FF9e6c1Mf-v1nORQcg/s6784/horizontalpage1.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4878" data-original-width="6784" height="460" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilCjYVZZ_JkY9FPP6x46taVLh13LqDDphjkid7XTGAr-OleVqKPM2VopXK90IliCKmUhEYYTGmirlNRq6UmD4AONC1uBY_JqWcsh2f3z7Ks8SEsElbWkkrYG7eLCSD4cBku3k1ehn2ga_zX8IGGAdrELIFBUJ5XWTk91mGQA65FF9e6c1Mf-v1nORQcg/w640-h460/horizontalpage1.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">New Page 1</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Ahh, now that is sooooo much better.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I quite like that the set now starts with that Matt Holliday card which I have always found to be a painterly-like Picture Card. And I am a bit pleased that I didn't end up attempting to start a Horizontal collection for Anthony Rizzo; I have a few of those going for other players. Assembling 9 Horizontals on a specific theme is not easy. But pulling them all from a mixed Horizontal/Vertical set is very easy.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Note also that those are in a sequential checklist order. Just, because, I guess. I am actually fine with the contemporary players, i.e. the ones that actually played Baseball against each other (that year), appearing in random order on a checklist. That's how Baseball Cards arrive in packs after all.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And you may notice the nice Black & White Ruth/Gehrig card is not included in the sequence. That will re-appear a little later in the project. These assemblages of 9 Horizontal Stadium Clubs are so nice, let's check out Page 2:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsliHcU66SUaflRn8eFW5FSyhFdmDmn0NS7JdAunm6E1Zz7VGMcO_rHWRY34kUjY4TO7XOy9_VWZ98iqTmpvLN671BBVoEJm5ePmhFQnCZCrtS25PHwD_K_iwKkAv-AyXVxdhXhJErolzCDCc3RtZmDvdvVhDp6Pxn3jMXKlfZlcfRXqW4jRQjvd83Og/s6776/page%202%20hz.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4944" data-original-width="6776" height="466" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsliHcU66SUaflRn8eFW5FSyhFdmDmn0NS7JdAunm6E1Zz7VGMcO_rHWRY34kUjY4TO7XOy9_VWZ98iqTmpvLN671BBVoEJm5ePmhFQnCZCrtS25PHwD_K_iwKkAv-AyXVxdhXhJErolzCDCc3RtZmDvdvVhDp6Pxn3jMXKlfZlcfRXqW4jRQjvd83Og/w640-h466/page%202%20hz.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That's gotta be the happiest Mike Trout card I can recall. Don't see too many of those lately. Manny Machado is again Mr. Inscrutable while he is playing; that card is a like a re-run of his Rookie Card from a year earlier. And it sure seems like the Topps Setlist Constructor might have known I would be filing all the horizontals together with that fun look at the Giants' starting rotation there.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Regular 'ole vertical Baseball Cards are no slouches in Stadium Club either. How'd that go?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEIrNHDIiR3XFGQMhF9qGjoMcXHnlsWmViCG6JHR8YoDmTEcrFWeYfd93DoiKup2SE-rkrnH6MJVsZZFDeXHTREn_5xhWNaPEX3PVrNfKtmO4vn-8Qtb60ea8eiLRjHJq7t8OO4scva1pNwkwpqO6GkakaYTsc-SrvNsrP7EM3DC_dtW0Z2YaHSowx8Q/s6766/1st%20vertical%20page.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="6766" data-original-width="4934" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEIrNHDIiR3XFGQMhF9qGjoMcXHnlsWmViCG6JHR8YoDmTEcrFWeYfd93DoiKup2SE-rkrnH6MJVsZZFDeXHTREn_5xhWNaPEX3PVrNfKtmO4vn-8Qtb60ea8eiLRjHJq7t8OO4scva1pNwkwpqO6GkakaYTsc-SrvNsrP7EM3DC_dtW0Z2YaHSowx8Q/w466-h640/1st%20vertical%20page.jpeg" width="466" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Ahh.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But....what happened to The Kid, who quite nicely lead-off this famously 1990s-associated product?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_2CP76sdgTL6QxQc6JBIjTV-1Xe4EF2dkGmuwCED52eGcGOarkSRi3IvGrD27wiK18A8SgGpI-8VG1oCeXYP8cJbicZlhEYK81eBG5OG5Ir-fJ_4W0NkzZIHc4QRO9kQ8UNnP-qN-L_LyVFDTxohqN9mZIgkC3MBoM_N1xshPpjMFOYpXnxKsU4TelQ/s6716/Griffey%20page.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="6716" data-original-width="4928" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_2CP76sdgTL6QxQc6JBIjTV-1Xe4EF2dkGmuwCED52eGcGOarkSRi3IvGrD27wiK18A8SgGpI-8VG1oCeXYP8cJbicZlhEYK81eBG5OG5Ir-fJ_4W0NkzZIHc4QRO9kQ8UNnP-qN-L_LyVFDTxohqN9mZIgkC3MBoM_N1xshPpjMFOYpXnxKsU4TelQ/w470-h640/Griffey%20page.jpeg" width="470" /></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That is another bit of the Re-Arranging - I would rather see cards of players that played together, all together, on their binder pages. Mixing cards of players from different eras is a routine part of these re-booted Stadium Club checklists, but also happens in Archives and many insert checklists as well. I can't explain why I prefer this; it just seems more natural to look at Baseball Cards this way. For an effort like this I have gone with placing the cards by date of the players' debuts, so the baseball history kind of flows along on the page(s).</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On these new arrangements you might notice that I have the Todd Helton and Roy Halladay cards still there with the 2014 players though each played their last game in 2013. That could become useful as I work through this project. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Clemens > Bo page is actually the 2nd page of 20th Century color veterans; page 1 is also great -<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu_vZw2yVMOmu21KOsU-DaW1JNliQ59RyaBmQhyphenhyphenFYsnhCvRvR6C5Tfhp46NU1vBQVKOrBD1ghZYe3G8hAm95COJoLPs9xdHIjIQqLmuDN_fZ0qgg5YzlPPi_tWdnFkrA8O33XV8K0ilU9PM-WV6jBVSkKbJg3V47k1lKElKzXxAgEvb39LAApGIw1rlA/s6742/Willie%20Mays%20page.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="6742" data-original-width="4902" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu_vZw2yVMOmu21KOsU-DaW1JNliQ59RyaBmQhyphenhyphenFYsnhCvRvR6C5Tfhp46NU1vBQVKOrBD1ghZYe3G8hAm95COJoLPs9xdHIjIQqLmuDN_fZ0qgg5YzlPPi_tWdnFkrA8O33XV8K0ilU9PM-WV6jBVSkKbJg3V47k1lKElKzXxAgEvb39LAApGIw1rlA/w466-h640/Willie%20Mays%20page.jpeg" width="466" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I thought about spotting Tom Seaver there in between the of-a-pair Schmidt and Murray cards just for the giggles but I think I will leave that one for my next re-arrangement of these some other cold crappy day outside in the distant future. The Ripken card also seems to possibly call out for some Sunset Card neighbors, like the Helton card back up there on the first Horizontals page, or the Mariano Rivera card deep in the unscanned Verticals of contemporary players. More, options.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And what happened to The Babe? Don't worry, he is in very, very good company:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieJNlwRkRDs7cqJ5UoIudfnCDCnzcjOj28poOVjGf59t6hsBgov1j4wY0Tc1lrsEJWZp5ioktOoIthC0kOfhqLle4QoY1VNx57FAiO3GNRbeeZYgorCi7zTO1nFD9qOpo-gkLwBgv7Xyz5mcnkbJ_ZiIqmEoRW7J0e9lvWV7eW5d3ZtDKlSOj8v2PuzQ/s6804/B&W%20verticals.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="6804" data-original-width="4916" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieJNlwRkRDs7cqJ5UoIudfnCDCnzcjOj28poOVjGf59t6hsBgov1j4wY0Tc1lrsEJWZp5ioktOoIthC0kOfhqLle4QoY1VNx57FAiO3GNRbeeZYgorCi7zTO1nFD9qOpo-gkLwBgv7Xyz5mcnkbJ_ZiIqmEoRW7J0e9lvWV7eW5d3ZtDKlSOj8v2PuzQ/w462-h640/B&W%20verticals.jpeg" width="462" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There, no more young whippersnappers with their riotous color uniforms making Grandpa all upset in his non-technicolor memories. I quite like how the Babe Ruth and Jackie Robinson photos complement each other, something which would be lost mixing them in with 2014 All-Stars and some Rookies no one can remember now.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That page was actually the very first one I assembled for this project, and it quickly reminded me of a key problem with placing a set of Baseball Cards in binder pages: I have yet to find a checklist that is perfectly divisible by 9. There in a pocket in the inner cover surface of the binder, I found this card, #200, hanging out in a penny sleeve all by itself -<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEmmNN78zl0rmC8TG7XcKqbol3L5IbBEk7ThKEPY2jq1Kr0s6P7_PUi66zyTEpzgciY8lB4DJ9inNWsmqm3oaJ7UUwXRNzee0Px5NWDP5opWJIZDs_uv6684hdxDDgA8ANo6S4PF1RxcBS2uafWMaGd7Vaw91rrUnhUkJ538GwhBbzCP4GIe78ae_1kA/s2102/Gehrig.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2102" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEmmNN78zl0rmC8TG7XcKqbol3L5IbBEk7ThKEPY2jq1Kr0s6P7_PUi66zyTEpzgciY8lB4DJ9inNWsmqm3oaJ7UUwXRNzee0Px5NWDP5opWJIZDs_uv6684hdxDDgA8ANo6S4PF1RxcBS2uafWMaGd7Vaw91rrUnhUkJ538GwhBbzCP4GIe78ae_1kA/s320/Gehrig.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Where have you gone?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Shazzzz-bot. Now I have 10 wonderful Black & White Baseball Cards. What to do?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I have a few options here. Being a Tigers collector, I have what feels like piles and piles of Ty Cobb and Al Kaline cards, from sets that I am not going to be placing in binder pages. (Topps: 1984 Tigers? Who Dat?) But, neither am I going to put those in a find-a-new-home-somehow-somewhere, else box, either. That Cobb card looks suspiciously familiar in that if I were to crack open the box of Tigers cards needing attention, I think I might see that picture again in there, possibly in a colorized version. And if I pull the Cobb card so I can put Joltin' Joe in there between The Babe and Bob Feller, I won't have quite the harmonious Ruth/Robinson duo in the middle of the page any more either. So maybe Al Kaline's many pages (yet to be built) might could use a B&W card. Hmmm. It's also not a terrible thing to leave Your Team's cards mixed in with the rest of MLB in a set, either. A Stadium Club "Team Set" is only going to be a handful of cards anyway and it is nice to see Your Team in every binder.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This all reveals a key problem with keeping a Complete Set while also generally always building Team &/or Player collections. Sometimes, the solution is simple: use a duplicate card, one in each particular binder page. But for this set, I have zero duplicates — a slight disadvantage of just purchasing a set, if you ask me.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And....wasn't there another cool Babe Ruth Black & White card on the original page 2 for this set?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">There was. How'd that work out?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTAcCdkuAzRdV4XGiuuLU3fsx72_BsdxHsRUMdJ8ha5QfPKAW_JfV1Qso3wd0MO75B1_N6Q3OzFSs6_ESmtFqBUBVddtyYH0gaw-lqwc0NfjP4Vg24pQ6KLoXQnNq7RI6kkrSTeC45RO4fj2axC5D1-bR8hf6Y5y9QiDsbef60ghHR1vh99ib3hBpMhg/s6726/3%20horizontals.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2222" data-original-width="6726" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTAcCdkuAzRdV4XGiuuLU3fsx72_BsdxHsRUMdJ8ha5QfPKAW_JfV1Qso3wd0MO75B1_N6Q3OzFSs6_ESmtFqBUBVddtyYH0gaw-lqwc0NfjP4Vg24pQ6KLoXQnNq7RI6kkrSTeC45RO4fj2axC5D1-bR8hf6Y5y9QiDsbef60ghHR1vh99ib3hBpMhg/w640-h212/3%20horizontals.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Not too good.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now that will be a perfectly good looking triumvirate of classic mid-Century Baseball, eventually. But in the short run, this it-was-a-simple-plan bit of Baseball Card re-arranging has gotten complicated in a hurry. Those are the only 3 Horizontal B&W cards in 2014 Stadium Club.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">For that dilemma I have a most excellent, simple solution, one no collector would disagree with:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">More Baseball Cards<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyLMyG-m-4pzCGAZly9GvCTQByPYy9dMHDi0CxXzas1WC2c5gT8j8EoMHLTyOLm6Mxt43JbmDrWAXS1DhT9hPMEwHbbbWT-j-k8hygKKjCJKrfD_hKSQsjfVNLAoPNmGqSKl9Bf61r04r-KfxRAkpUsQvvJ7SNBytMWPJLhat5LdoXmmBpirueQhKLfA/s6752/later%20year.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="6752" data-original-width="4926" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyLMyG-m-4pzCGAZly9GvCTQByPYy9dMHDi0CxXzas1WC2c5gT8j8EoMHLTyOLm6Mxt43JbmDrWAXS1DhT9hPMEwHbbbWT-j-k8hygKKjCJKrfD_hKSQsjfVNLAoPNmGqSKl9Bf61r04r-KfxRAkpUsQvvJ7SNBytMWPJLhat5LdoXmmBpirueQhKLfA/w466-h640/later%20year.jpeg" width="466" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">(mostly) 2018 Stadium Club</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That is another page that lead to some of the conclusions I am now putting into practice here with 2014 SC; it was my first pass at selecting 9 favorites from miscellaneous purchases of '18 SC. All 9 cards I quite like, but not a binder page I quite like. That Nolan Ryan plus B&W? Nope. And I am really going to need to find another Horizontal Yankee Stadium card, somehow, somewhere.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Those Black & Whites plus the ones I have assembled here back in 2014 made me realize I just want to collect all (as in: all of them) B&W Stadium Club Baseball Cards. Problem solved. I don't know exactly how I will flow them along from one year's set to another, but that will be a pleasant chore for another day, probably not long after a fresh box of funzies arrives from COMC.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So that takes care of bindering the vintage photos in SC at least - a perpetually growing set of pages of them. This post is now making me start to regret not snagging a pair of $17 blasters of 2022 SC I saw on the shelves recently during another B1G1 50% off sale, which would have made the pair cost just $12.75 each. Bummer. Discounted Stadium Club cards never last long and I won't make that mistake again. But then it still will be cheaper to just cherry pick the singles I want from '22 SC. When will I ever learn?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This set might have helped show me The Way, however. Part of the reason I say that is the Rookie Card cards. How could I get this far into a post about a Complete Set and still have shown only one RC? The only cards people collect, right?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I did find some quite endearing Rookie Card cards in 2014 Stadium Club:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLuHjRSbqv_ldh89Kn7v6C9N6alT5P6BqmsGqEKEzYyxDLU-KGJF0bjqAPtY8nJEO3FAlMBb2l2Q31Cidre5mu7mOI61-0D0mpVnfZw-mAtuaUK0pQ0FB1m-QpCqp_y3ytOl3lp-ekr4wAox6ri3-U5UVVBw0635W-RmJfw4v-Dn4mBFViJzm5lzh5-Q/s2100/d'Aurnaud%20RC.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLuHjRSbqv_ldh89Kn7v6C9N6alT5P6BqmsGqEKEzYyxDLU-KGJF0bjqAPtY8nJEO3FAlMBb2l2Q31Cidre5mu7mOI61-0D0mpVnfZw-mAtuaUK0pQ0FB1m-QpCqp_y3ytOl3lp-ekr4wAox6ri3-U5UVVBw0635W-RmJfw4v-Dn4mBFViJzm5lzh5-Q/s320/d'Aurnaud%20RC.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A classic Baseball Card, seemingly posed in an old-time dug-out, probably in Port St. Lucie. d'Arnaud has been a bit of a late bloomer, compared to the breathless chase of Rookie Card cards of 20 year old phenoms. A bit like his Mets RC team-mate in the set -<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiIyCo0lKmxM4YTx6fj7KFn_j8nId4st62smoryI_5Nb3rfyVuxPNzdGn912BZzzwfFVpP2h1AKoSpVS041XNT8dRtyekxC3J5-IiHoF7-HuZzl5sBMY2fG_loxEa8p4TZhEWshMDhNjw7AceZxXseeG11Q7PL_u02aN9Tiw2WUosdyYu5GQnoFrxJYQ/s2098/W.Flores%20RC.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiIyCo0lKmxM4YTx6fj7KFn_j8nId4st62smoryI_5Nb3rfyVuxPNzdGn912BZzzwfFVpP2h1AKoSpVS041XNT8dRtyekxC3J5-IiHoF7-HuZzl5sBMY2fG_loxEa8p4TZhEWshMDhNjw7AceZxXseeG11Q7PL_u02aN9Tiw2WUosdyYu5GQnoFrxJYQ/s320/W.Flores%20RC.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This Flores card is headed towards another fun page, made up of interesting Mets uniforms. I can't recall Mr. Met making such a great shoulder patch appearance on any other card, just yet at least. That goes back to the angst of holding a Complete Set together --- but also making fun side collections. This next card magnified that quite a bit as well:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMRue0ypY9Y-M-NXrQ1esNlWfsxNt31FH0odaOEGOfRkQ3eKXkcv3I3wDdeQ9mDHJ1MwOPsEL3KQgt_Vk1Dl9xVO8oChzsgiMfqezFkyCVZb9wgc7gbs4A1qjZKN3JjUwR4vxnersLltKpiOqgFIbJ5do1d6GsnVTrhjSm88ppxiMfDORbbBo-dXEuIA/s2096/Castellanos%20RC.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1502" data-original-width="2096" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMRue0ypY9Y-M-NXrQ1esNlWfsxNt31FH0odaOEGOfRkQ3eKXkcv3I3wDdeQ9mDHJ1MwOPsEL3KQgt_Vk1Dl9xVO8oChzsgiMfqezFkyCVZb9wgc7gbs4A1qjZKN3JjUwR4vxnersLltKpiOqgFIbJ5do1d6GsnVTrhjSm88ppxiMfDORbbBo-dXEuIA/s320/Castellanos%20RC.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This has to go with my Detroit Stars collection; I haven't pulled them all into their own little pile but I know there will be other Horizontals in there to assemble. Recently I pulled a brand new Phillies Baseball Card of Nicholas, which once again sends a definite Slugging-First player back to the field for his official Baseball Card appearances. <a href="https://basesetcalling.blogspot.com/2019/02/the-curious-case-of-nicholas-castellanos.html">Topps just can't help themselves with this guy.</a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">For the most part, Rookie Card cards in Stadium Club aren't quite so why, why, Why? as in other, bigger sets. I think the lowest how-low-can-we-go in the RCs assembled here is around 200 At Bats, which is a far more sensible figure than the occasional 4 At Bat RC found in Topps Baseball sets. And not far short of half of the 2014 Stadium Club Rookie Card card class are still around the Major Leagues ten years later, which is a lot more than can be said for so many other checklists. These cards should not be overlooked, and I am fine with Rookie Card cards being on my checklists (I collect an entire binder of nothing but Topps Baseball RCs), as long as they are kept in their proper place, which is, all together -<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJUAQLzqTITCGzuu1DyOAYLu24qPQ2lwfkHpG3jqrD-8eHxkHXHkM2MV974POFX752J4vR6C9WpR19NsrZLwXHHOylzqFDrsxevi9dNKQBZwdeiFNU018d9n_d1QRD6Ip-kuzviM7fiD3y3t1wh126Id7aUQ7shszLmdA7YZSCsPB9tPH5mk2fBLMMiw/s6760/RC%20page.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="6760" data-original-width="4928" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJUAQLzqTITCGzuu1DyOAYLu24qPQ2lwfkHpG3jqrD-8eHxkHXHkM2MV974POFX752J4vR6C9WpR19NsrZLwXHHOylzqFDrsxevi9dNKQBZwdeiFNU018d9n_d1QRD6Ip-kuzviM7fiD3y3t1wh126Id7aUQ7shszLmdA7YZSCsPB9tPH5mk2fBLMMiw/w466-h640/RC%20page.jpeg" width="466" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Ultimately, Stadium Club Rookie Card cards shouldn't be overlooked. And, perhaps, placed directly into toploaders after opening the packages. CJ Cron, like ALL Rookie Card cards, still had Babe-esque potential back in the day of his sweet "That Mountain in Arizona" RC there, after all. However I probably should have placed this next card straight into The Vault:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixKU6o8ar5wEnWPvAsp_k8urIFrgOo1MnRbK6z-zby3Fz_ZyLYltAp4K_ur_XS9krsK_jMTQgSak5U03r5KWzGz5X3b4ciZzVIlMK6FDpTCHOF71FeU6oXIjsbN_FtCExdaRauJKuJYFqnwkQU_1IG5ciDRUYAmPaUhzWHPTsUT78UggTqXZBdwkl8TQ/s2376/Mookie%20Betts%20RC.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2376" data-original-width="1816" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixKU6o8ar5wEnWPvAsp_k8urIFrgOo1MnRbK6z-zby3Fz_ZyLYltAp4K_ur_XS9krsK_jMTQgSak5U03r5KWzGz5X3b4ciZzVIlMK6FDpTCHOF71FeU6oXIjsbN_FtCExdaRauJKuJYFqnwkQU_1IG5ciDRUYAmPaUhzWHPTsUT78UggTqXZBdwkl8TQ/s320/Mookie%20Betts%20RC.jpeg" width="245" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">This one has several upsides. It is a sweet reminder that Betts came up as a middle infielder, something that surprised many a baseball fan this past year. I was also pleasantly surprised to discover that this card is now worth about as much as what I paid for this entire Complete Set of Baseball Cards, which was $40. I like that card too much to ever sell it, but it is a cool thing to think that just this one Baseball Card made the other 199 cards kinda sorta free. The downside of this one is that I don't have more Complete Sets of Stadium Club.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This set ends (well, at least of the 2014 players) on an excellent note with another card that was just forlornly hanging out in the binder's inner sleeve -<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRvaTEkEKdLSb2clUTthSSk8OvgC3z65_-lCwzJ6AqBfwQm8iUouWiOi-3QUyBoWpd_jz8eITDkHx7TV16xDA-v3IMkhLoPcSuM6cQJQwYtcbj4I-mf7lFIbhG_pBBYbgK4UBgh6V6Jf-nTncrLnOoxtAv3lymr9uDOE2O045TlmWnMZTv8XHu8696Jw/s2098/Goldschmidt.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRvaTEkEKdLSb2clUTthSSk8OvgC3z65_-lCwzJ6AqBfwQm8iUouWiOi-3QUyBoWpd_jz8eITDkHx7TV16xDA-v3IMkhLoPcSuM6cQJQwYtcbj4I-mf7lFIbhG_pBBYbgK4UBgh6V6Jf-nTncrLnOoxtAv3lymr9uDOE2O045TlmWnMZTv8XHu8696Jw/s320/Goldschmidt.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Hypnotic</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I always love this First Baseman card trope. This card appeared to me after nicely filling up 4 pages of Vertical cards of 2014 Major League Baseball players, with no slots left over. To do that I had selected one for a Player Collection which needs a bit of help to reach the finish line:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqRNOiscPyWqmShyBh4DbkJsDZik7YvecIMU-Ev_gJU6T77mfppd9pKwbnfcQyRReYl6ikdMSMTgP4lpklCtl6AAlyw_sbNukVP1BwAFqs-PhhhBfCLgrtniarne_cg2eEIN5EcB0HQtunHipdUZ600oqS4fNmvaln5mOmAPRkfNIXSodYGFBhA5cfXg/s2092/Uehara.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2092" data-original-width="1502" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqRNOiscPyWqmShyBh4DbkJsDZik7YvecIMU-Ev_gJU6T77mfppd9pKwbnfcQyRReYl6ikdMSMTgP4lpklCtl6AAlyw_sbNukVP1BwAFqs-PhhhBfCLgrtniarne_cg2eEIN5EcB0HQtunHipdUZ600oqS4fNmvaln5mOmAPRkfNIXSodYGFBhA5cfXg/s320/Uehara.jpeg" width="230" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Which is needed for one of those player collections started up after pulling a pretty cool card, in this case an on-card auto in the all-illustrated National Chicle set which both has minimal resale value and is just too nice of a card and signature to not keep anyway. You'll see it here, some day.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So after all this page re-assembly and delightful like-likes-like harmony, the end result is more ragged than I am going to scan for you. I have a couple Horizontal RCs not placed, 3 Horizontal 2014 MLBers stranded, and a half-dozen or so Horizontal and Vertical 90s/00s Stars still needing some page-mates, somehow, somewhere, someday. Maybe some of those will end up like the Ryan Braun card, which is now perfectly hidden between 2 other cards in this binder, helping maintain Complete Set integrity while not bothering to remind me of a lack of integrity amidst a great set of Baseball Cards. Or maybe possibly launching yet another Theme collection, of Sunset/Farewell images, might help free up just enough page slots to get this probably a bit overthought project over the finish line — Topps didn't have all these thematic worries when they issued these cards and their checklist finished with just 2 extra cards, quite unlike my sequencing now.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Along the way over the past week I discovered a possibly hidden photo selection theme in this set that I will be watching out for, now, going forward. That might someday also help with a few of those ragged edges to 9 card page harmony. The discovery was of some Absolutely Fabulous Fans -<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEGvJfINprsFwQC15AbnTpZ5tASS0sJuSwYs60IalQKzqdI1MppuEMEvAVtS7SVzPjV8_Zsxgi9cbQhEeOjgK6v4heuuF9o3cEgxo96RNmSx6VxWX1v5JmeORTIgdwYge1Ln6a1tqXILMsyiRRx73EpJX57y-Ii7TJkecxGUqfZknVUPrVZ9r-vr8srw/s2092/Crawford.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2092" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEGvJfINprsFwQC15AbnTpZ5tASS0sJuSwYs60IalQKzqdI1MppuEMEvAVtS7SVzPjV8_Zsxgi9cbQhEeOjgK6v4heuuF9o3cEgxo96RNmSx6VxWX1v5JmeORTIgdwYge1Ln6a1tqXILMsyiRRx73EpJX57y-Ii7TJkecxGUqfZknVUPrVZ9r-vr8srw/s320/Crawford.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I feel like I should absolutely know who is the guy with the on-point street cred Dodgers fan look there in the front row. It can't be cheap to sit there and the Dodgers generally have the most famous fans. But I just can't place him - except in my Baseball Card binder.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This next one I have a dim memory of a remark or two when this set was new:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9U8HBOeAzgs0DIPm2LVrqT1cqRlhqemJY8rRejg18Gjqg5WszhfKUlltoVJDF3FykOTrMg3_X8bvRxV9Ef1fTO8kB860yrTCZcibTFbL8NThBegFIR6haWUrkYRiR1J-ATyBK_r0ij8z1Enwsv7cuDpMOl54u_R1hozoZxDDiovsvxK11n3t303DJuA/s2098/Bench.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="2098" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9U8HBOeAzgs0DIPm2LVrqT1cqRlhqemJY8rRejg18Gjqg5WszhfKUlltoVJDF3FykOTrMg3_X8bvRxV9Ef1fTO8kB860yrTCZcibTFbL8NThBegFIR6haWUrkYRiR1J-ATyBK_r0ij8z1Enwsv7cuDpMOl54u_R1hozoZxDDiovsvxK11n3t303DJuA/s320/Bench.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Most Beautiful Hair, 2014 Stadium Club</div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Ultimately Stadium Club cards are almost too good to keep all together when one collects Teams, Players, and Themes, like I do, so about a half-dozen of these are leaving Complete Set behind and moving along the bookshelf somewhere else. One type of card I like to collect together features Wrigley Field's famous Ivy, so I have always enjoyed this last card in particular. But I also enjoy Andre Dawson cards, so, I guess, I will just need another copy to enjoy, twice -</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_SLcbPXxFobl0FkcOYaFuOMOCPidOUomuFZPzUGZfC7Z9uv7sTvygFVthFSkIQDOurTsR61fVeSZXTl9_p_GoUqSSSxSlFJD33kLLnFPBWnHJiUVfOWzoPyVe7148Gw8Tc0Hlt9926ZSXGe8VEHdaFOiXikdVHTvxqUKFmKdyYuuBO2m6xHoGmeGLOw/s2098/Dawson.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1502" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_SLcbPXxFobl0FkcOYaFuOMOCPidOUomuFZPzUGZfC7Z9uv7sTvygFVthFSkIQDOurTsR61fVeSZXTl9_p_GoUqSSSxSlFJD33kLLnFPBWnHJiUVfOWzoPyVe7148Gw8Tc0Hlt9926ZSXGe8VEHdaFOiXikdVHTvxqUKFmKdyYuuBO2m6xHoGmeGLOw/w286-h400/Dawson.jpeg" width="286" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Or, thrice?</div><br /></div><br /></div><br /></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></div></div></div></div></div></div><br /></div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /></div><br /><p></p>BaseSetCallinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05508114484929386332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7573896101004946985.post-22263089181263751232023-12-24T14:56:00.004-05:002023-12-24T23:35:18.490-05:00Merry Christmas, to Me<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDUotplSFZs_ScAU6ziLS7oQGkrM7wiHKdH5Jtz8EmnN-OSQK2Pa0WHOGLfUKDqvgIqUFKpqJoU6Qb2a0iqHXLhQsUAQ3J8EUNnOnPBU57p0DvoQ3jJZwDKTtQKB1lCqiF40Q13CHNFUFX5z4tWy1lO3DOkW3GoRjve7JSmw8EjHkJOBMKhMaYKmMLVw/s2098/emerald.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDUotplSFZs_ScAU6ziLS7oQGkrM7wiHKdH5Jtz8EmnN-OSQK2Pa0WHOGLfUKDqvgIqUFKpqJoU6Qb2a0iqHXLhQsUAQ3J8EUNnOnPBU57p0DvoQ3jJZwDKTtQKB1lCqiF40Q13CHNFUFX5z4tWy1lO3DOkW3GoRjve7JSmw8EjHkJOBMKhMaYKmMLVw/s320/emerald.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><p>And - You! Merry Christmas everyone, thanks for stopping by.</p><p>The Holidays are a great thing for me and one of the great things is a nice (eventual) surplus of Free Time, which for me sometimes means: Baseball Cards. The perpetual To Do list is at a somewhat low point right now so I can hang out with y'all some this afternoon.</p><p>This was a pretty good year at the Base. After almost 20 years of being 100% Self-Employed, I took a job with my #1 customer over the last decade or so. I have been kidding my friends that in the long run, I will finally be able to work only 40 hours a week. But in the short run, time requirements went way up as I am still wrapping up some previously agreed upon jobs with my customers, which will have positive benefits for us, meaning my new employer, in the future. All while prioritizing their needs. I am now a full time Seed Collector (woody plants only), and without seeds, my employer doesn't have a product. Meanwhile, seeds don't just sit around and wait for you to come get them. They fly away, or get eaten. The result was basically zero time to attend to the stacks of cards on my desk.</p><p>But a wonderful other result is a better income that I can discretionarily apply to, you guessed it: Baseball Cards. And as a result I had a wonderful Mail Day just 2 days ago, a bit surprisingly given the shipping season. Maybe with so much material moving as packages, one still arriving with the little envelopes in old time "snail mail" is actually a bit more fleet of foot these days, I guess. We'll get to the wonderful new card in just a bit...it is not the card at the top of this post.</p><p>The problem began at the very genesis of my thought to create an "all-parallel" set of 2013 Topps. That flowed from backing off from an original thought of attempting to collect a set of the "Blue Sparkle" / "Wrapper Redemption" cards. (Sadly, my own attempt at receiving some by sending in wrappers Back in The Day was sunk by mailing them too late, sigh, work.) I quickly realized that I just wasn't that into the "Blue Team" Blue Sparkle cards, like this one:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDNc-ATI8lA9uvouv3DYuL-8XJiAojHsdwassyZfL3D0HQhT5Lh55ZSOPxEMzfodNEaDAE9p1HEkxSbzrggiUq52B1D_Rp30LCDVSfPwT0lD9_kUCAyQqL-RWYsowLTff_AYPMvtEpo8ZvbOSvgb45HelmXzflg3r5c6fGaOf7VM95TD6pkdIFUsWETg/s2088/Zobrist%20sparkle.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2088" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDNc-ATI8lA9uvouv3DYuL-8XJiAojHsdwassyZfL3D0HQhT5Lh55ZSOPxEMzfodNEaDAE9p1HEkxSbzrggiUq52B1D_Rp30LCDVSfPwT0lD9_kUCAyQqL-RWYsowLTff_AYPMvtEpo8ZvbOSvgb45HelmXzflg3r5c6fGaOf7VM95TD6pkdIFUsWETg/s320/Zobrist%20sparkle.jpeg" width="230" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Even though I am quite amused by players in the background of the various "Sparkle" parallels, as on this card - "Beam up the Catcher, Scotty, I don't think he's gonna make it." A pity the Umps didn't really sparkle; must be Klingons or something.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But given the 2013 Topps design, a blue-on-blue-card just washes out the key "Team Color" design element. The Blue Team Blue Sparkles just don't offer much, especially compared to all the other possible color combinations.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now I know a lot of people like team color parallels; for example-<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHcYQcdo_WsbMFCu1Kq6bSZuQwgQ7xjJp5UZeRie5uyc0TieVp8gLeCKN1t8t3uvpHqapJTP5QIUCUhLlFIBH6PwheHBEJAunDQrfP13WY4bP5VCd7S-FVK57HMx77mymNgaAhlyIerFFoiiCu-FtXoDxRkUXNo2poJ1P0SV6tNFNIibl-5sa1rKzqmw/s2098/BeckettWalMart.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHcYQcdo_WsbMFCu1Kq6bSZuQwgQ7xjJp5UZeRie5uyc0TieVp8gLeCKN1t8t3uvpHqapJTP5QIUCUhLlFIBH6PwheHBEJAunDQrfP13WY4bP5VCd7S-FVK57HMx77mymNgaAhlyIerFFoiiCu-FtXoDxRkUXNo2poJ1P0SV6tNFNIibl-5sa1rKzqmw/s320/BeckettWalMart.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Overall still an enjoyable concept on scores of other Baseball Card designs, but on 2013 Topps, a bit not so much. The same thing happens with the Blue Team Emerald parallels such as the card at the top of this post; on those, the effect is more pronounced in-hand and in indoor, less-than-sunlit conditions; scanning a blue team Emerald improves the situation at least a little.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So right from the start of creating the all-parallel set of 2013 Topps, I ruled out certain color combinations, such as no "Red Team" Target Red parallels, as well as the ones shown above, and a few others, some more absolutist than others I must confess.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This can make for pretty tricky binder pages to complete — my color combo rules for the set are used on a one page basis. These painted-myself-into-corner rules are a huge problem on one page in particular:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhibQH0RsDoV0G-7rPLt89mju8gfcaDcXDYHQY__pKwsUtKHKEwWz5YBTTS0EFmgeGU7Sl1eo_ABNuvMd6taIlIg2qttAiwa-FlWvFo8V5Vxleeu-100T4N4p4i5I5cG7XqJVwcKBRzg9xXZJykTQafWMrMV5gLlMIP0FJFQ58socydx7X_81X-xfb1MA/s6720/blue%20page.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="6720" data-original-width="4854" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhibQH0RsDoV0G-7rPLt89mju8gfcaDcXDYHQY__pKwsUtKHKEwWz5YBTTS0EFmgeGU7Sl1eo_ABNuvMd6taIlIg2qttAiwa-FlWvFo8V5Vxleeu-100T4N4p4i5I5cG7XqJVwcKBRzg9xXZJykTQafWMrMV5gLlMIP0FJFQ58socydx7X_81X-xfb1MA/w462-h640/blue%20page.jpeg" width="462" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Gah! 7 Blue Team cards.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Sticking to the construction rules, the Blue Team cards have the fewest possible choices to pick from. Target Red, Topps Gold, Pink, Factory Set Orange are the four best; easy choices. Topps Black and ToysRUs Purple are less desirable (not much "pop" contrast) but still necessary sometimes as there are more than a few pages with 5 Blue Team cards. The blue "Sea Turtle" pattern is the most common, used for 12 teams.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">What's going on with the <a href="https://seaturtlecards.blogspot.com/2019/01/1-bryce-harper.html">Sea Turtle blog linked</a> all around you? That one is in the shop for a re-build. But it shall return; it is essentially my own little book about the 2013 Topps set and I very much look forward to working on it, someday, when I do work only 40 hours a week.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So, 7 Blue Team cards, uggh. What to do? A ToysRUs Purple or Topps Black looks best with a team color icon that is not blue, such as the Justin Heyward card here. That takes care of one slot, 6 to go. The 4 usual go-to patterns, check. But, still 2 cards left!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Some very rare options exist: the "Silver Slate" parallel that came mixed in with the "Blue Sparkle" wrapper redemption packages; those were printed in an edition of /10. Not fun to track down, but not impossible. A deeper problem is: very boring. The Sea Turtle pattern becomes a foil with no more Team Color, on a thick grey cardboard frame. I had a few of the cards from a trade and initially used them on a few pages for variety, but since the point of the project is Full Color, a monochromatic parallel eliminating color seemed kind of pointless. Still it seems best to include at least one representative of the type in the project, and this is the perfect page for that.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">However, I need 7 acceptable combos on this page. Irresistible Force vs. Immovable Object! I have not attempted to purchase cards for this page yet, beyond designating the Heath Bell card for Blue Sparkle and the Jon Jay card as a WalMart Blue. That's because there is one remaining solution: the Platinum:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE0r3srewKB9YHn2S9qw5B2lMSn9JUwptTP8JG5VreByQHaeGpm-FN3VUT0_Q8srWlGt6MFsTzduu7plz37dGU9z3qfF0hTZcQpCIM14CpXC3TBbRWtvu_bME5Ro_4S7mR5LIejucoguQocs63W90ocAR2AIzK4XGIuWeuXsLd0z0epqth2uXVF6v6dg/s2326/Platinum.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2326" data-original-width="1746" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE0r3srewKB9YHn2S9qw5B2lMSn9JUwptTP8JG5VreByQHaeGpm-FN3VUT0_Q8srWlGt6MFsTzduu7plz37dGU9z3qfF0hTZcQpCIM14CpXC3TBbRWtvu_bME5Ro_4S7mR5LIejucoguQocs63W90ocAR2AIzK4XGIuWeuXsLd0z0epqth2uXVF6v6dg/s320/Platinum.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I never thought this would happen. I was hoping to find any one of 7 1/1 Platinums of 2013 Topps Series One, and I had never seen one for sale, ever. If I had started this project in the actual year of 2013, I might have had a chance, I thought.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Instead I just always let this page languish in my way convoluted "want list" for this project. That one is also in the shop for a thorough tear-down as several dozen new parallel Sea Turtles are due to arrive soon, courtesy of the COMC Black Friday sale, so don't bother clicking on that link right now.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Well over a year ago now, the above card appeared for sale on eBay. Hooray!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Nope. It was listed with a price about a full TWELVE TIMES what I estimated the card would sell for if allowed to "let it ride" via auction, though I was prepared to, maybe, go to about 2x that guesstimate, and I was very nervous about that desire and what I would do, if I could.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Trying to make realistic offers to the seller became pointless. Every offer would be met by a counter-offer; one reason I don't wish to collect even "two digit" Baseball Cards is I just want to buy cards, not endlessly haggle over them. And then in the end, ultimately haggling with yourself — a routine part of "collecting," of course, but I would rather be content with just collecting worthless Baseball Cards, which arrive much more free of inner conflict.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Finally the seller gave up, and simply offered the card for about 3x my view of a likely auction price. How many Yonder Alonso Player Collectors are there in the world? Probably, none.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But given the odds of ever seeing another one of those particular other 6 2013 Topps Baseball Platinum 1/1 parallels, which are very, very near to zero, I pulled the trigger. I am both happy, and a bit disappointed, in that I paid for something to own at a price I could never possibly attain for the same object, ever again, which is not the norm with purchasing Baseball Cards that are actually worth money, unless you are "prospecting," a gambling activity I don't partake in. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I will, however, thoroughly enjoy this one, a bit more so once it is freed from it's plastic grading prison, but most especially once it anchors down a beautiful page of all-colors 2013 Topps Baseball. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /></div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p></p><p><br /></p>BaseSetCallinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05508114484929386332noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7573896101004946985.post-64854573733678952432023-12-14T23:40:00.002-05:002023-12-15T11:07:29.178-05:00Warming up to the Rookie Debut<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm2-FRE-qo56jMhY7SO3XaSYE_q2TC3uDKItVCol8jrc23CZufWkArsDyYzVKc9dHsvSqZ7TWVSwhSSnXvTnb9BfhSYx-LJxvPiRTm_bIe_dX-u_JTzzRQBdkW0dBWZZ6oOovwuGUHfzK-G-OP3-FhUkuUZO2j-_-oDT9M6j7-vJzD5YskTxrHi9Fn4A/s2102/RileyGreene.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2102" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm2-FRE-qo56jMhY7SO3XaSYE_q2TC3uDKItVCol8jrc23CZufWkArsDyYzVKc9dHsvSqZ7TWVSwhSSnXvTnb9BfhSYx-LJxvPiRTm_bIe_dX-u_JTzzRQBdkW0dBWZZ6oOovwuGUHfzK-G-OP3-FhUkuUZO2j-_-oDT9M6j7-vJzD5YskTxrHi9Fn4A/s320/RileyGreene.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Sometimes when collecting Baseball Cards, my feelings about this or that type of card can begin to change. This has happened to me now with the Rookie Debut cards, a concept used by several manufacturers and in different ways across decades now, but is one most commonly thought of as part of each year's Update set.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This year I pulled that nice representative of the genre shown above, and I was pretty happy to see it. But that was because this card will be part of my collection of "Detroit Stars" cards showing players wearing that uniform, formerly used in the Negro Leagues. Detroit does this annually and this routinely shows up on Tigers cards. Riley Greene will probably be the starting Center Fielder in my eventual Detroit Stars All-Stars selection that you may see right here, some day. Like all of my Baseball Card projects, it is a very slow motion project. But that card moved it along a little bit.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That was the 4th Tigers RD card of the last few years, after they only had 2 players appear on them in the 2010s. Ten years, two players; 14 years, six players. Yes, Tigers Rookies have been that non-remarkable; so non-remarkable that they received a lot of high draft picks and thus Rookies with enough potential to merit a Rookie Debut card eventually did start to appear for, My Team.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">All that was just one reason I have never been particularly interested in these cards. Recently, I came across a page of these I assembled ten years ago now:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9hpPqAzo25y0nXiF77g6NjmLRpZ2ljL4qEfY_BUAZ3Wj_Zb_giHfoDkWDZtnr096nIdhd_Oe6buQVZteE6UmolVNKagGRRCUvhuw8Wx1bSFMvlXE4_pX8O0W_n4lNI_DBe6lK2WypVBByKn1EYfAnm8RvtLo9mnXXjsZPY7bRISQIS-R8ud_AkW4mew/s6744/RD%20page.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="6744" data-original-width="4868" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9hpPqAzo25y0nXiF77g6NjmLRpZ2ljL4qEfY_BUAZ3Wj_Zb_giHfoDkWDZtnr096nIdhd_Oe6buQVZteE6UmolVNKagGRRCUvhuw8Wx1bSFMvlXE4_pX8O0W_n4lNI_DBe6lK2WypVBByKn1EYfAnm8RvtLo9mnXXjsZPY7bRISQIS-R8ud_AkW4mew/w462-h640/RD%20page.jpeg" width="462" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That's from 2012 Update, a set I bought a whole lot of though I no longer remember/understand why. Probably just because I could buy it regularly at 40% off, the next year. But at the time it went into binder pages, I made a lot of side collections that definitely started my thought to just collect cards in bunches of 9 — a single binder page. You sharpies probably recognize that 1 card is missing from that year's mélange:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGATio6qfCpB_pH65UyXQWhLpyvdsrxBn3YppF0xfW9cPtTJ5MnucT1KOwoFcU1GbgVQxh50qmcC0QZtRx9s_cEZK712yuqA1Wh11eDrmUscVBRgvEBdztQCqaSHV1CYRtl6AmmXqEpXkdcxVtkF4FLQpkADLXLokSCQ0iI8A9OrbkEEXfW-nHG5VZcg/s2098/Harper.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGATio6qfCpB_pH65UyXQWhLpyvdsrxBn3YppF0xfW9cPtTJ5MnucT1KOwoFcU1GbgVQxh50qmcC0QZtRx9s_cEZK712yuqA1Wh11eDrmUscVBRgvEBdztQCqaSHV1CYRtl6AmmXqEpXkdcxVtkF4FLQpkADLXLokSCQ0iI8A9OrbkEEXfW-nHG5VZcg/s320/Harper.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now that's a fun card thanks to the image selected, though its moxie is lessened some by its use on several other Bryce Harper Rookie Card cards in 2012. It was also a bit of an "It" card at the time, iirc, because of the weird way Topps handled creating Bryce Harper Rookie Card cards, by inserting a card in packs of Series Two as a deliberate Short Print, as well as placing it in Factory Sets of the Topps Baseball set that year, in 2 versions, though neither of those are the card shown above. Confused yet? Maybe that card explains why I have pert near 3 complete sets of 2012 Topps Update, but then I am easily confused sometimes.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In short, it was hard to simply "pull" a nice Rookie Card card of an exciting Rookie that year, by simply purchasing a pack of Baseball Cards, until Update came out with that there Rookie Debut Rookie Card card. Which has now become a $25 card, so that card just made the rare journey from a binder page to a toploader, as I am no longer deeming 2012 Topps Update quite worth the shelf space in its full 330 card edition.</div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now while you are daydreaming about the status of potentially having a Bryce Harper Rookie Card card that is actually worth actual money in your collection, you have already forgotten all about those other 9 cards in the 10 card Rookie Debut checklist in that set. Even though 2 or perhaps 3 of those Pitchers Pitching cards are for players still pitching in the Major Leagues, none of those cards are particularly remarkable or memorable, particularly when mixed in several hundred other action image Baseball Cards.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And as it turned out, that was the last time I ever assembled a year's complete class of Rookie Debut cards, or even specially saved any of them aside from lucky pulls of parallels of really good players' RDs. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A few years later, I did stumble across one of these cards that is far and away the best Rookie Debut card I have ever seen -</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOQAjw9USFPVU2NAsZVIqZX00fCs6RHgwl5_H34waNce-v5j44fTA87vKwkSg6rFrKGXqx3Nd6M6rDBuRXJokuRgV-Cq7VsResayCcU323dzQOEAleScJn6dk9T08-iRzBUSmgr4ZFvxI/s1600/bettsdebut.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1141" data-original-width="1600" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOQAjw9USFPVU2NAsZVIqZX00fCs6RHgwl5_H34waNce-v5j44fTA87vKwkSg6rFrKGXqx3Nd6M6rDBuRXJokuRgV-Cq7VsResayCcU323dzQOEAleScJn6dk9T08-iRzBUSmgr4ZFvxI/s320/bettsdebut.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">I have long doubted I would ever see a Rookie Debut card this good ever again. A fresh young Boston Red Sock, making his Major League Debut in the very heart of the Evil Empire. Maybe even as he emerged from the dugout to take the field for the very first time in the bottom of the first inning — that is how I always imagine this one. The gravity of this in the life of young Mookie Betts is clearly captured in the photograph; this is also one of my favorite horizontal cards of the 2010s.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But that card always felt like one of those exceptions that proves the rule: Rookie Debut cards are usually boring. See above, outside of that dynamic Bryce Harper base running card.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">If only I could be certain that the image on a Rookie Debut card was from a rookie's debut game, on every Rookie Debut card. That, would be cool.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This year, there has been a big development in this genre of Baseball Cards, initiated by the new owners of Topps. That would be the official Rookie Debut patch:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-images/image/upload/t_16x9/t_w1024/mlb/zutotbefik3qx4kizd6y" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="450" src="https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-images/image/upload/t_16x9/t_w1024/mlb/zutotbefik3qx4kizd6y" width="800" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div>These weren't placed on rookie's uniforms so viewers at home could tell which player was the rookie debuting that day. They were put there to become a valuable piece of sports memorabilia: a Baseball Card.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">These patches are given to Topps after each game for use in a specially constructed card including the whole patch. One card, per player, a 1/1 in Baseball Card lingo of course.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I believe the concept has an origin in one of the sports for which Panini issues cards, not sure, don't care. The whole idea of the ego stroking involved in owning a 2.5" x 3.5" piece of memorabilia that no one else can have or enjoy, only - Me, me, me, it's mine, all mine, Not Yours! — is just not how I enjoy Life. It's just an alien psychological concept, to ME.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">These cards finally did appear several weeks ago now, in packs of 2023 Topps Chrome Update. The card for Anthony Volpe, the new Yankees Shortstop every Yankees fan hopes will be the next Captain, like every player they try at the position, commanded a $100,000 "bounty" offer for whoever pulled it. As I so often do, I mostly just wondered if anyone would bother assembling a set of Topps Chrome Update and place it into binder pages to enjoy forever and ever. Probably someone has, but I doubt very many collectors have done it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Despite all these lottery ticket shenanigans that involve throwing lots of Baseball Cards straight into the trash, I was pretty intrigued by this whole concept because I thought it gave Topps a nifty opportunity to liven up this weird little sub-genre of Baseball Cards called the Rookie Debut card: they could use a picture of the rookie wearing the special debut patch, and put it on his Rookie Debut card. That, would be cool.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So I was definitely looking forward to seeing if Topps could figure out this seemingly obvious possibility when I purchased some boring old 2023 Topps Baseball Update, which didn't have six figure lottery winning cards inside. I'm just not into the 2023 Topps design enough to want Chrome versions of it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And, there it was:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGYIWTXZge1OrqgYAyFS-KiPBSBP_qWOVPycEhIY7DmZnByS66tWtjMEEhzN5PY1cUw-xITyqqXUS4EdjVE2pSUMOWLPKyJEo_OXAKSb0UN3cKV00YFV5TDXfiiSsO4bUlz6YEKcyUtvG3OwmimUSu65Y0nEM0UyhDb97QmL7lO_AH04cgIs7MI49Hog/s2098/Volpe.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGYIWTXZge1OrqgYAyFS-KiPBSBP_qWOVPycEhIY7DmZnByS66tWtjMEEhzN5PY1cUw-xITyqqXUS4EdjVE2pSUMOWLPKyJEo_OXAKSb0UN3cKV00YFV5TDXfiiSsO4bUlz6YEKcyUtvG3OwmimUSu65Y0nEM0UyhDb97QmL7lO_AH04cgIs7MI49Hog/s320/Volpe.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">A picture of Anthony Volpe, taken at the very first MLB game he ever played in, as confirmed by that patch there on his right shoulder:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiywmoZYwspo4JBoWNMhUcPt_nTRujv94QeSUxSCxtdpzUxsbOkWRu240iDMiM4kjc0pBO2_IHpXvHgNREyCH8ISuP0MW9Y8Lm2jCWZxJXTWtjcxwyNeEgFefIDpIEqxhh5EP9LxcbSDr72EgwNB3R8Vy9yYfU4UH-7ZVjjwxynM5_O2k_AV1GmghK6Bg/s345/volpepatchclip.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="345" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiywmoZYwspo4JBoWNMhUcPt_nTRujv94QeSUxSCxtdpzUxsbOkWRu240iDMiM4kjc0pBO2_IHpXvHgNREyCH8ISuP0MW9Y8Lm2jCWZxJXTWtjcxwyNeEgFefIDpIEqxhh5EP9LxcbSDr72EgwNB3R8Vy9yYfU4UH-7ZVjjwxynM5_O2k_AV1GmghK6Bg/s320/volpepatchclip.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now that, is cool. Even though I always root against the Yankees, and have no desire to "collect" this card by keeping it in some special place like a binder page, and suspect that Volpe will ultimately disappoint a majority of Baseball Card collectors by just being a decently good everyday Shortstop for several years, which is very boring, in Baseball Cards. Topps used this concept to their, and our, advantage, outside of just using it to sell extra boxes of lottery tickets, err, 2023 Topps Chrome Update.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I was soon checking every Rookie Debut card I pulled to see if this would continue. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha6Lgr5a66afLr942EbcUa1AxbmgxIbCDRUm93nHskmXVEGtNDWt7AUM4kNN5bAV505kAE9Be11r-rVtcTQ8wo-pZsqqSrnfJqNOIF71VpUOaPOs4fw4DxeF4CjtpzgejmdNlNEA0hyphenhyphen38ei4wQd04vJHV4krQmZaEqB7vc2hyphenhyphenpef8P6Y1hHlKcnvxVGw/s2098/Casas.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1502" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha6Lgr5a66afLr942EbcUa1AxbmgxIbCDRUm93nHskmXVEGtNDWt7AUM4kNN5bAV505kAE9Be11r-rVtcTQ8wo-pZsqqSrnfJqNOIF71VpUOaPOs4fw4DxeF4CjtpzgejmdNlNEA0hyphenhyphen38ei4wQd04vJHV4krQmZaEqB7vc2hyphenhyphenpef8P6Y1hHlKcnvxVGw/s320/Casas.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This card is clearly intended to complement the Volpe card, with a rarely-seen-on-cards image from the pre-game National Anthem. There was a run of these cards in Opening Day, I think it was, about a decade ago; I would not at all be surprised to see Topps recycle it and am perhaps a little more surprised that the idea is taking so long to repeat. Expect it to be used on a hard-to-pull insert for collectors to "chase." I won't be one of them.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The Casas card may or may not be from his first game in September of 2022, though I suppose I could check the Getty database to find out. Which I don't really want to do — I want Topps to confirm this for me by using a picture showing that MLB Debut patch. But for Triston Casas, that isn't possible since there were no such patches used in 2022.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So, I kept looking -<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjha008AGDOMCDc029IagDqt-S3aLaZxjDN1VOluHCbmz_eZ9cFIflsSdgyfZyJIACy88TL5sB0zKOZ2MM7y2rxqMAU63QAFIAO8anLQ82TOF5d0vb5v1zEd5x4wIAJpqW5gCYW-ClsZVaA7WXaufk9K75XOJNsRpX90fd1YJ6F5auftivbtfySaac9_A/s2100/Julien.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjha008AGDOMCDc029IagDqt-S3aLaZxjDN1VOluHCbmz_eZ9cFIflsSdgyfZyJIACy88TL5sB0zKOZ2MM7y2rxqMAU63QAFIAO8anLQ82TOF5d0vb5v1zEd5x4wIAJpqW5gCYW-ClsZVaA7WXaufk9K75XOJNsRpX90fd1YJ6F5auftivbtfySaac9_A/s320/Julien.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">yup, there it is:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaCI-XIGgEgrsk8cNW95Hdy1lvCVWVTFlhIiLedW9md_mb2yr9hTUFcsem43CCGqNFPltlgALyfeI4XtvVyuPwpoBtnmHrd23dHF8QJCLol1N4PFNBXDO9Td_RCVnIbO9Qwkio9N1dIeRxvf90QfB0d0oXvSz1uEyXxCVWqWC0jOExoKoji0e_kF998A/s213/julienpatchclip.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="213" data-original-width="195" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaCI-XIGgEgrsk8cNW95Hdy1lvCVWVTFlhIiLedW9md_mb2yr9hTUFcsem43CCGqNFPltlgALyfeI4XtvVyuPwpoBtnmHrd23dHF8QJCLol1N4PFNBXDO9Td_RCVnIbO9Qwkio9N1dIeRxvf90QfB0d0oXvSz1uEyXxCVWqWC0jOExoKoji0e_kF998A/s1600/julienpatchclip.png" width="195" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This is an especially good Rookie Debut card again because of the image selected, even though it is not the most flattering look at newly minted MLB player Edouard Julien. Topps Card Back Writer comes through here, perfectly: "Julien caught an early-morning flight from Triple-A Indianapolis to Minnesota on April 12, 2023, arriving in time to start a matinee against the White Sox."</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Cool. I don't know what I am going to do with that card, because I don't collect Minnesota Twins cards nor desire to own a complete set of 2023 Topps Update. But I definitely won't forget that Red Eye card and eventually I will pull more Edouard Julien Baseball Cards and I will be carefully checking them to see how his career turns out. I have no memory of him from the Tigers playing the Twins this year, but that's why I collect Baseball Cards.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I only managed to find one more example of the MLB Debut patch appearing on a Rookie Debut card -<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLsVBNVUBXLETLX71Fe5Zdn00K6abQI6Nduh0gFLS1TufeKMX0Y_GbrnEuvF-SMAsuTJ39ZAaSo4h0PjV0nueoamKlze8WMN4mWw5T1yQ6IKSpv_XW0KILqWlbt-0sTbykfzSBIcXfruzsgxQyBaPK2-c1iisjxCf9hE6d3_2KdvtafhnoYWiNNBRzlg/s2102/Yoshida.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2102" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLsVBNVUBXLETLX71Fe5Zdn00K6abQI6Nduh0gFLS1TufeKMX0Y_GbrnEuvF-SMAsuTJ39ZAaSo4h0PjV0nueoamKlze8WMN4mWw5T1yQ6IKSpv_XW0KILqWlbt-0sTbykfzSBIcXfruzsgxQyBaPK2-c1iisjxCf9hE6d3_2KdvtafhnoYWiNNBRzlg/s320/Yoshida.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">A player I have been looking forward to seeing on Baseball Cards; I presume his regular Rookie Card card is in Update too. His card in 2023 Big League is best forgotten.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There could be more of these perfectly matched images on this year's Rookie Debut cards, I don't know yet. I probably won't be buying any more Update though I now occasionally see recent blasters for prices below $20, so I might get the urge to open a little more of it, on the down cheap/low, later on.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Finding these examples of this cool new wrinkle in Rookie Debut cards might even make me assemble a page of these, once again. I think there are usually far more than 10 of these in an average Update set these days; I just don't pay that much attention. If it could turn out that 9 of the RD cards show off the little patch, yeah, that would be great.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And along the way to pondering all these players playing in their first Major League game, I started wondering — what if Topps has been using images from the debut game on the Rookie Debut cards, all along? I still wouldn't get that excited about the debut of some other team's pitching prospect, surely destined to eventually be a failed starter and then a middle reliever seen on Baseball Cards a whole once every 5 years. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But, just in case, I had to get a little un-lazy and do a check-in on just what uniform Riley Greene was wearing the day of his Major League Debut, 17 months ago. And there it was:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/1241414669/photo/texas-rangers-v-detroit-tigers.jpg?s=612x612&w=gi&k=20&c=IUaBkIKb0nwW8rEJcriK56c0xvQHW0ngzBbZzSnFAjw=" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="612" data-original-width="462" height="612" src="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/1241414669/photo/texas-rangers-v-detroit-tigers.jpg?s=612x612&w=gi&k=20&c=IUaBkIKb0nwW8rEJcriK56c0xvQHW0ngzBbZzSnFAjw=" width="462" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Lato, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #080808; font-size: 14px; text-align: start;">DETROIT, MI - JUNE 18: Riley Greene #31 of the Detroit Tigers bats during his Major League debut game against the Texas Rangers at Comerica Park on June 18, 2022 in Detroit, Michigan. The Tigers defeated the Rangers 14-7. The Tigers are wearing throwback uniforms honoring the Negro League Detroit Stars. (Photo by Mark Cunningham/MLB Photos via Getty Images)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Cool.</div><br /></div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></div><br /></div><br /></div><br /></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><p></p>BaseSetCallinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05508114484929386332noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7573896101004946985.post-7364889315859559582023-11-30T00:05:00.002-05:002023-11-30T01:08:06.366-05:00Player Collecting the Easy Way<p>Tonight I completed a most pleasant Baseball Card collecting task — I pulled a plastic-y fresh binder page from a box of <i>Ultra</i>•PRO Platinums, filled it with cards, and placed it in a brand new binder. Hooray!</p><p>I have been wanting to install cards on this particular page for a very long time. It is my first Player Collection page. I refer to it that way because this binder will not be full of cards of a single player. Instead it will be full of single pages of a lot of players.</p><p>I do have one large and perpetually expanding Player Collection, which is cards of Miguel Cabrera. I quite look forward to assembling those on pages as well, but one can only collect Baseball Cards but so fast of course.</p><p>This whole idea of collecting other players, instead of sets, probably started with...</p><p style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-size: large;">The Card That Started It All</b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: large; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Lt315w6KusjaEphAC4F06C48tXerzTKXJCRMx-_Jdvrgw0_o5mlqM1x_S_2lyGjawls5uua6uoYAS4-5-9fXCyikiDGaC51gZ9ug47jWcn6lodW7dnPdw49eiEa0Mj4Zb0_CK8VRYdDezK57eTsKdyqQUkjkMAq9co3DmWh4HxAn9Lx0AKX8kMFuZw/s2098/StPatsDay.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Lt315w6KusjaEphAC4F06C48tXerzTKXJCRMx-_Jdvrgw0_o5mlqM1x_S_2lyGjawls5uua6uoYAS4-5-9fXCyikiDGaC51gZ9ug47jWcn6lodW7dnPdw49eiEa0Mj4Zb0_CK8VRYdDezK57eTsKdyqQUkjkMAq9co3DmWh4HxAn9Lx0AKX8kMFuZw/s320/StPatsDay.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">2018 Opening Day "Before Opening Day" insert</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This was a small checklist of (theoretically) Spring Training themed cards, befitting the sorta-around-Opening-Day release date for the product. Here, Anthony Rizzo is sporting a green Cubs cap, something only seen on St. Patrick's Day each year, probably not for every team even.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I only know of 2 other cards featuring such caps. A 90s (?) Mets card I am forgetting right now, but do own, and one I suspect I will never own, a 2013 Topps Chrome photo variation of Miguel Cabrera wearing such a cap. Those cards were "case hits" and rarely surface for sale. No one knows the print run of the cards but it could be as low as /25. I am sure one would easily command a 3 figure price when sold. I would quite enjoy owning one for my Miggy collection and am slowly becoming able to entertain the idea of owning a card that costs > $100. But the bigger problem with that card would be ever finding one for sale.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So, I have this cool card of Anthony Rizzo wearing a green Cubs cap. What am I going to do with it?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I like the the Chicago Cubs well enough. If they were still on my TV (if I had a TV) every afternoon essentially as a 'free' part of basic cable service, the way they used to be, I would probably still follow them a fair bit, and that might even motivate me to keep a TV hooked up and in paid service, too. But I can't say even that would result in me assembling a collection of Chicago Cubs Baseball Cards. I am a fan of the Detroit Tigers and that is that.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I could scan it and "cast" it to a wireless digital picture frame that slowly scrolls through a collection of digital images - something I will probably do with a lot of my card scans, some day.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But that still wouldn't solve a key question - where would I keep it? I'm not really into just keeping Baseball Cards in a box that will rarely be opened. The whole point of Baseball Cards is to look at them.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I could put it in a binder page, but what else would go on that page? There are some more "Before Opening Day" cards that I quite like, such as Mookie Betts playing Ping-Pong, & a Detroit Tiger you've never heard of wearing a Spring Training only jersey, a few others. But in typical Topps fashion, the bulk of the images just show baseball players with no particular indication of what is "Before" Opening Day in the image. Do I want a card of Cody Bellinger just sitting on a bench? Nope. I long ago lost the desire to complete insert sets like that one, just, because.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now 2018 Opening Day is probably the best year of that whole product line, with some 25-ish-% of the set featuring images that are not the same image as the Topps Baseball set that year, probably a record quantity. So that probably leaves a spare binder page slot, iirc, as 2018 Topps Baseball has a sweet design that looks great on binder pages, particularly pages full of essentially photo variations from their more well-known cards in the big set. (This is my semi-annual plug for some cheap, fun, colorful cards you might like to see from your team if you never have.) I look through those on the regular.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But that would still leave that cool St. Patrick's Day card of Anthony Rizzo kind of orphaned by itself in a non-pleasing way.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Finally I realized what the card needed: more Anthony Rizzo Baseball Card neighbors. And thus my Player Collection was born. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Having a goal in mind when I find a Baseball Card of a player I like, or just a great Baseball Card I want to keep, somewhere, has been a tremendous aid in deciding what cards to keep and which to forward on to new owners, somehow. I can't keep them all, but neither do I wish to stop randomly acquiring new ones, either.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">So there we have it. Let's get back to looking at Baseball Cards.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Specifically, the other 8 Anthony Rizzo Baseball Cards on Page #1</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbcaOsVPFyEi9BbVLKJvgnuD6EjZSW2VP1nKa0Q3umKcyImlv6TqhCtY0Shp9LyQ7dj75svtf_MWrNWy5ss_6_AVQzZbODqXPNhI9XP3dTNLy9o70R2LuwzYeeTWCXhDQysFC3iAooiWaFdCyv4AIsX7fjcN4pL40a7zZHyZ3HGYEHfpMwAGwaXKugfQ/s2098/12Heritage.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbcaOsVPFyEi9BbVLKJvgnuD6EjZSW2VP1nKa0Q3umKcyImlv6TqhCtY0Shp9LyQ7dj75svtf_MWrNWy5ss_6_AVQzZbODqXPNhI9XP3dTNLy9o70R2LuwzYeeTWCXhDQysFC3iAooiWaFdCyv4AIsX7fjcN4pL40a7zZHyZ3HGYEHfpMwAGwaXKugfQ/s320/12Heritage.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">2012 Heritage</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCq3qWFzRItwRrrei2I1h36ROTmY-E-drOtEEQ26tHEsI3_9d-oMOx04lGNfU3PgxY_MD_V9aZqDg-RU54b3FjcPl5xTQD37Hdao-W_amGQbS_PlM0U98mD7oY6rUbJUtWl_SkgJ0XNlFiY6M9pSgavZUXrlO_EEF9ffsUTHohMWnoRu8mHVXPn2wPbg/s2096/13Topps.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2096" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCq3qWFzRItwRrrei2I1h36ROTmY-E-drOtEEQ26tHEsI3_9d-oMOx04lGNfU3PgxY_MD_V9aZqDg-RU54b3FjcPl5xTQD37Hdao-W_amGQbS_PlM0U98mD7oY6rUbJUtWl_SkgJ0XNlFiY6M9pSgavZUXrlO_EEF9ffsUTHohMWnoRu8mHVXPn2wPbg/s320/13Topps.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">2013 Topps</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Of course I have the 2013 card in a binder already; it is one of my favorites in the 2013 set, which is one of my favorite sets. It is probably also a card that helped inspire me to move into Player Collecting as I knew it would look good with some page-mates.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXJBWtCyU2B5XvQC6Z7S8jgLN2gagcWcD1HZgnZlgnccQzHYrEbt13YODAO-RFkLbvk2eq1rjJ23SYoNJz9ZKLdZIc_Or07OQHB_4S_IyS69Ezsff9WmfocNqYbJZzgcICjz-vbw3OUaNi3sayk3W09qE8frbnnka-Pw1GBYyo-9Muk-ScFkh69WhcKQ/s2100/13WBC.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXJBWtCyU2B5XvQC6Z7S8jgLN2gagcWcD1HZgnZlgnccQzHYrEbt13YODAO-RFkLbvk2eq1rjJ23SYoNJz9ZKLdZIc_Or07OQHB_4S_IyS69Ezsff9WmfocNqYbJZzgcICjz-vbw3OUaNi3sayk3W09qE8frbnnka-Pw1GBYyo-9Muk-ScFkh69WhcKQ/s320/13WBC.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">2013 Topps "World Baseball Classic" insert</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I have no idea how Anthony Rizzo (Born 8-8-89 Fort Lauderdale, FL, one of my cards tells me) was eligible to play for Italy's national baseball team, but I don't care, either. And I had to have a card showing off his uniform #, which he picked because it was Hank Aaron's number.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipsorswqRDJiL99_MPYZb8UaxSYMQM8LYYmW5VI4XSfF4gofr2u4FpEqiNGnRzAt9sgOagJJHv019kq9698-bndlTI32N_9ZsaWyGGFOeule2XRyJv7SGmoGmv9-XtldtpLR2vJuB83G05U7-qpCjLLy7JnJ2o-ZOzEqWyd2VdEcJci0kJm3aRPF1udA/s2102/15StadiumClub.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2102" data-original-width="1502" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipsorswqRDJiL99_MPYZb8UaxSYMQM8LYYmW5VI4XSfF4gofr2u4FpEqiNGnRzAt9sgOagJJHv019kq9698-bndlTI32N_9ZsaWyGGFOeule2XRyJv7SGmoGmv9-XtldtpLR2vJuB83G05U7-qpCjLLy7JnJ2o-ZOzEqWyd2VdEcJci0kJm3aRPF1udA/s320/15StadiumClub.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">2015 Stadium Club</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I probably set that one aside first as an example of a "Pop Up" card, of which there are never very many and my little pile hasn't reached 9 cards yet. Rizzo's <a href="https://seaturtlecards.blogspot.com/2020/02/44-anthony-rizzo.html">2013 Topps card shown above has a "Great Catch" photo variation</a> short print that I also quite enjoy (yes that blog will return, someday), but that one is best kept with the rest of the cards in that enjoyable checklist. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTwkjWpJjX3X26Sf2ky3w_UgGFYQ_Nik1R2SugEYsn8vvbBYFpf6UGFiFN11H9wy2IBnZbZny4Fcfp37cDHhE43AXu4UAVHL12GFzSQ7VzBYZlVfGyb_deFG1WaRT5wr88A76_4zU8dHQsUQ5Mrkt2SBV873tG1qxONELgHGNEFt0zyORvWPQMQnckjA/s2096/17Wrigley100.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2096" data-original-width="1502" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTwkjWpJjX3X26Sf2ky3w_UgGFYQ_Nik1R2SugEYsn8vvbBYFpf6UGFiFN11H9wy2IBnZbZny4Fcfp37cDHhE43AXu4UAVHL12GFzSQ7VzBYZlVfGyb_deFG1WaRT5wr88A76_4zU8dHQsUQ5Mrkt2SBV873tG1qxONELgHGNEFt0zyORvWPQMQnckjA/s320/17Wrigley100.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">2016 Topps "100 Years at Wrigley" insert</div><p style="text-align: left;">I am sure many a Cubs collector has thoroughly enjoyed building that set. That a single-team, 50 card checklist was included in Topps Baseball that year goes to show the nation-wide strength of the Chicago Cubs fanbase. A whole lot of that probably flowed from all those wonderful afternoons watching pretty-much-free baseball games with Harry Caray and Steve Stone. That the whole idea can't happen any more is just kinda depressing as baseball ever so slowly fades from being the National Pastime; and is one reason I no longer follow the Cubs particularly closely. Not because I dislike the Cubs, at all, but because I dislike pondering the state of Major League Baseball in this regard, which Cubs memories just tend to initiate.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Sigh. A few more notes on that insert set - a cool thing about it was of course that after it was released 2016 became The Year for Cubs fans. Also I felt good, in particular, about carefully individually selling each and every one of those cards I pulled rather than just leaving them to waste space in a box somewhere.</p><p style="text-align: left;">As for that card in particular, Anthony Rizzo is well known for off-field efforts helping children fighting Cancer, as explained on the back of the card. It was nice to see a nice tasteful acknowledgement of that on a major league Baseball Card.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPXBZ4TZoCmqXR-g86KbDlUMl2bpR677pPHMUXFH8P0GTIYAwY1MLvuUK3nfMADhFOQ7yDQJLeEGTVF_RDIuLOrrAXp8BtsRHktmrNo1_6HNJLGqENNNqzXzY_uk2JfKqm3ewlk6XDjOE9ktALg3DmC_DmmkF8NBCYjdun5PinK3do4fZhDHUYQSclIQ/s2096/18BigLeagueNickname.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2096" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPXBZ4TZoCmqXR-g86KbDlUMl2bpR677pPHMUXFH8P0GTIYAwY1MLvuUK3nfMADhFOQ7yDQJLeEGTVF_RDIuLOrrAXp8BtsRHktmrNo1_6HNJLGqENNNqzXzY_uk2JfKqm3ewlk6XDjOE9ktALg3DmC_DmmkF8NBCYjdun5PinK3do4fZhDHUYQSclIQ/s320/18BigLeagueNickname.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">2018 Big League "Player's Weekend" insert/parallel</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2knI8bygRcWTSwOEzbQ5nL_fhWEe0zABZeP3XC22gmPwbOT716WfnDQlwRaRZ_xM5siJjcVyJAn2e7C9MqWBg6DXGWeGU2qwqjlhoeJGLbgvm1TvUj4CoZAYFAA0P4zbw48n7fg4aD4iCKRjirOhaIC10TKMLX67f0_hkTy7OK88TuaB4YmneAHY2Fg/s2098/19Archives.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2knI8bygRcWTSwOEzbQ5nL_fhWEe0zABZeP3XC22gmPwbOT716WfnDQlwRaRZ_xM5siJjcVyJAn2e7C9MqWBg6DXGWeGU2qwqjlhoeJGLbgvm1TvUj4CoZAYFAA0P4zbw48n7fg4aD4iCKRjirOhaIC10TKMLX67f0_hkTy7OK88TuaB4YmneAHY2Fg/s320/19Archives.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">2019 Archives 1958 Topps</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This is one of the cards that suddenly made me wish to complete the 1958 portion of Archives that year. I never thought I would warm up to the '58 design, but the simplicity and basic primary colors just make for such great cards, even with the basic posed images. Anthony Rizzo. 1st Base. Chicago Cubs.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvsCV4ew6I8hIiAZhtHqzD6CLXVK4s0CzIMX_jUY3d-CAg1ux7M7TbhT8MfqLOYh9RONz-SuuZD1ym1uELvH__okKgHLBIqoQQjS7ZO-v3LmbVA-5E60ATUJeo7CNtVVA7b_r6-svCfLPGR4xyWt6-RvO1nQlEF314MftMi1c2n69Lo7hxg2KaeywhBw/s2106/20Topps.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2106" data-original-width="1496" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvsCV4ew6I8hIiAZhtHqzD6CLXVK4s0CzIMX_jUY3d-CAg1ux7M7TbhT8MfqLOYh9RONz-SuuZD1ym1uELvH__okKgHLBIqoQQjS7ZO-v3LmbVA-5E60ATUJeo7CNtVVA7b_r6-svCfLPGR4xyWt6-RvO1nQlEF314MftMi1c2n69Lo7hxg2KaeywhBw/s320/20Topps.jpeg" width="227" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">2020 Topps</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Card Most On The Bubble: </b>Probably this last one. Although I like Anthony Rizzo and Anthony Rizzo Baseball Cards, I like a lot of baseball players and way, way too many Baseball Cards. I can't just run around assembling binders and binders and more binders of all of those players.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So this Player Collection will be a dynamic collection in that I might add a card to it - but only if I like it more than one of the cards already selected. 9 cards, No Mas.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Also for now I have only been setting aside cards as I come across them, by buying new product. Eventually I will have to deliberately shop for cards of a given player to finish out pages, but that won't be the main way I finish these pages. I find it more fun to wait and see what the packs bring me.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The 2020 card is a classic sunlit Cubs day game card, of which there are probably thousands. That basic image does help overcome a too-busy design with that pointless Grey - leave that to the road uniforms & nowhere else, on a Baseball Card, please. Thus I could see finding an Anthony Rizzo Chicago Cubs Baseball Card that I like more than that one.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The 2018 Big League card is from a fun little set of such "Nickname" cards, as used during "Player's Weekend" when the nicknames were on the backs of uniforms — a challenge to well include on a Baseball Card. Big League pulled that off very well by simply printing the nickname on the card instead of attempting to use a photograph of a player's back. However "Tony" is kind of a whatevs nickname for a guy named Anthony, so I could see it getting cut as well, though overall the card is an excellent one.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A final oddity about this page in particular I should share is that I have a copy of an excellent, quite-valuable Anthony Rizzo Rookie Card - a 2011 Update /60 "Hope Diamond" parallel that was a lucky pull from a hanger purchased at Toys R Us in Columbia, SC, while working on the road one winter (never hard to remember precisely where pulls like that happened). I also have pulled 2 different Anthony Rizzo autographs and a couple swatch cards over the years. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That key RC will be part of a fun project I hope to share with you someday, but I have been hoping that for way too long. Perhaps finally assembling this page will help kick me into gear on initiating that, we'll see.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Most collectors would make those cards (the ones actually worth money - unlike ALL of these 9 cards) the keystones of a Player Collection, but I would just rather not, and that is again that. I like these 9 cards more than those cards.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">The Result</span></b></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZM6sduGFnvnymJSOB4_GwAns5Hqd6ILSG9Qs5BZyeu2c15vlP9R8UC8eXGJkks8HG07c_9jRd_iwKUtPwfPSo59hxr1keKPLJso100YMdq0_KqHTFd3A8MKta-Bl0GkM6YKGUuOtu0dSpKuy_QL2beBwo8cS9lpRvlOT8oW39hXhtU6ifpjnjhSibpg/s6834/Page.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="6834" data-original-width="4888" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZM6sduGFnvnymJSOB4_GwAns5Hqd6ILSG9Qs5BZyeu2c15vlP9R8UC8eXGJkks8HG07c_9jRd_iwKUtPwfPSo59hxr1keKPLJso100YMdq0_KqHTFd3A8MKta-Bl0GkM6YKGUuOtu0dSpKuy_QL2beBwo8cS9lpRvlOT8oW39hXhtU6ifpjnjhSibpg/w458-h640/Page.jpeg" width="458" /></a></div><br />BaseSetCallinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05508114484929386332noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7573896101004946985.post-17210854595009143142023-11-26T22:26:00.004-05:002023-11-29T22:19:28.695-05:00It's Baseball Card Season?My truck outside is turning white as I start into this post - actually, for the 3rd time this year already. But for me, I am, finally, moving back into my favorite hobby: Baseball Cards!<div><br /></div><div>I sure have missed y'all. And, Baseball Cards. I recently returned from 7 straight weeks on the road, working. The summer months were little different. I became so disconnected from Baseball Cards that the other day I noticed I had some unopened packs of Series 2 still sitting on my desk, some 3, or maybe even 4 months since I purchased them. Yikes!</div><div><br /></div><div>And that whole time I sure have been wanting to just sort a few cards and, of course, share them with - You. So today I enjoyed my modest new supply of free time and used it to purchase some Baseball Cards — brand new ones. Yay!</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Let's take a look:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxfHjPkuOE1oh09mGVW947YqRDlJoZKTzHiNLAgpw5bR3HGfzU7cjVaxm_8XptHAElgk8AWMzkN5oRsrU1rG1KHXS7vlW2dfoKw8jvT_5hSbS36UKgOvYbYUX11u3liu2wnwPZLmdHxjgBNLHbcO5sUFoQBEIX8EchQ1EX5ZGTHzOOhWHnD8GLI0rhVg/s2100/pasquintino.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1498" data-original-width="2100" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxfHjPkuOE1oh09mGVW947YqRDlJoZKTzHiNLAgpw5bR3HGfzU7cjVaxm_8XptHAElgk8AWMzkN5oRsrU1rG1KHXS7vlW2dfoKw8jvT_5hSbS36UKgOvYbYUX11u3liu2wnwPZLmdHxjgBNLHbcO5sUFoQBEIX8EchQ1EX5ZGTHzOOhWHnD8GLI0rhVg/s320/pasquintino.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This can only mean the new Archives cards reached my little ole home town. I had already stumbled across one of the featured designs on this always wonderful Internet thing, but I was able to get a blaster box into my grocery cart without seeing the sides of it before I opened the first pack.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">1956 drew a mixed reaction. I have always greatly admired everything about 1956 Topps - nothing but key essentials in the information presented, bright, simple primary colors, clean design, and the wonderful dual imagery - like two cards in one, sometimes.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">However the use of actual photos for the 'backdrop' rather than ... illustrations? artwork? - I'm not sure how to label that part of a 1956 Topps Baseball Card. I just know that I wish Topps would do up some 1956 cards, <i>that way</i>, once again. And that always nags at my enjoyment of these efforts. Although straight 1956 Topps Baseball hasn't been done as much as, say, 1965, Topps Big from the late 80s has been a repeated (iirc) part of Archives recently, and Topps Big is essentially the same thing.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I will say that these cards feel like an improvement over the 2005 Heritage take in that digital photography 20-ish years ago frequently had a noticeably more harsh feel to it, as compared to analog film. That seems to be far less noticeable, today. Also, Heritage releases were always 100% photographed in February, seemingly at around Noon on a bright sunny day in the south — a far different sunlight than one sees during a baseball game, in late afternoon, in the summer, in the north. Early digital takes from that crisp fresh sunlight were quite often a bit too fresh and crisp, for my taste.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As for this Pasquantino card in particular, it is strange to pull an "RC" after the player's 2nd season in the Majors has already ended. Vinnie appeared in 72 games last year - 2022. I now want to know how things turned out for him in 2023, but for that I will have to wait till February, a fair bit more exciting of a month for Baseball Cards. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Last year at this time, I was still remembering October play of the player on the 2nd card in the pack -<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm8ped3IyUcBsfCgzGX50QvLF1QCEeS79o3f0JEKoWleRy4K0aXgUXmWmLgHA1ZWqTMLCeKrDfU0EdiO96oeA5ZneEBftC6FdVFERjFxJjsB_hJ3-lhfd-BrozL92MVYz4EJE1gWuGtNj8RywYmfM72v60KaCkNdtQUY6Z0kNOnrw1JwP60ntZjaK4yg/s2102/pena.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1496" data-original-width="2102" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm8ped3IyUcBsfCgzGX50QvLF1QCEeS79o3f0JEKoWleRy4K0aXgUXmWmLgHA1ZWqTMLCeKrDfU0EdiO96oeA5ZneEBftC6FdVFERjFxJjsB_hJ3-lhfd-BrozL92MVYz4EJE1gWuGtNj8RywYmfM72v60KaCkNdtQUY6Z0kNOnrw1JwP60ntZjaK4yg/s320/pena.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The best Baseball Cards, are the smiling Baseball Cards.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">One thing I will not be scanning for you is the backs of these cards. With this particular go at '56, it is just too sad to not see the basic cartoon-esque sketches illustrating a player's bio or career. Now, there is just a big rectangle of text from Topps Card Back Writer, who is sounding particularly elementary school Book Report-like, this year. Ho-hum.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRhoiyoZ4mxWmRvQFOGAW14RKIkbLWruQzkYQjsgui9F-SysyX9IbXcp5UmMheCBGkZbv0xqH3yG_sQG6LZOCXjUFNmcke3SnUqhOYSiqVh9z2L0c4SAUmFaZGpcv_BOM4bJ5e15ruLZXSuPZxMkscju2th8PK75XFI7D6Knfd5dqG_hmv9tW2KuygUA/s2102/wanderF.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1498" data-original-width="2102" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRhoiyoZ4mxWmRvQFOGAW14RKIkbLWruQzkYQjsgui9F-SysyX9IbXcp5UmMheCBGkZbv0xqH3yG_sQG6LZOCXjUFNmcke3SnUqhOYSiqVh9z2L0c4SAUmFaZGpcv_BOM4bJ5e15ruLZXSuPZxMkscju2th8PK75XFI7D6Knfd5dqG_hmv9tW2KuygUA/s320/wanderF.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Ooops.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Recently, I read a list of one of the Top Ten leaders in some stat for the 2023 season, with the player's name and team. Long-time Baseball Card phenom Wander Franco was on the list, but for his current team a snarky web editor decided he was "Out of Baseball." Ouch. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;">Archives never stays in one place for long though, inside each pack. </span>Next appeared the design I knew about already, which I was happy about -</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf9tnOrS4OBqQ42oeAwcC7SSZKIlJRwoVZVBhSNMOYUJf-wO5wOsyQGcGg_LkDJLEgUI8h1lL0-k78Z2181blgN25jdjg68HpWW5RqXaXX5HlTfT5GWOALLPbYMlyH_Hoho63gylX8Mz8zV5q9A7X9GRCh9Yn9OCnknAQUzW5q7KbobLmwPPZ144aolQ/s2102/Gorman.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2102" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf9tnOrS4OBqQ42oeAwcC7SSZKIlJRwoVZVBhSNMOYUJf-wO5wOsyQGcGg_LkDJLEgUI8h1lL0-k78Z2181blgN25jdjg68HpWW5RqXaXX5HlTfT5GWOALLPbYMlyH_Hoho63gylX8Mz8zV5q9A7X9GRCh9Yn9OCnknAQUzW5q7KbobLmwPPZ144aolQ/s320/Gorman.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Pennants FTW!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I have always quite liked 1965 Topps. I started into a collection of the Heritage set when it came around, but the endless, though historically accurate, head-shots / portraits on every single card eventually disqualified it from being "binder worthy," (i.e. completed) even back the same year it was on the shelves; something even more true today as I have ten-ish more years worth of baseball cards since then.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But I was pleased to get this card. Powder Blue! An entire Redbird! Not a card that will make it into my nascent Powder Blue collection, but I have been wanting a card of this bright future Cards prospect in particular, possibly because 1 or 2 off-seasons ago I was playing armchair GM, like all Baseball fans do, and imagined a trade scenario where Gorman came to my team. I no longer expect that to happen, but I will be turning over Nolan Gorman Baseball Cards for many seasons to come, so I can (maybe) tell my team, see, I told you so.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The next card in the pack cheered me up immensely:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWxJzNx1fR9UiFV2JnXNPeNb4gm5gzFSSqjIhTR77bIZwl-oPJlPvVfZ3hYVHWgs9soK2mqHGu0ITFZWpJ-ySQll5BdLGFRX6IO9Yn8vMFy-jNgkCK9YwjsXiOrckycqhe1BZckSQTemz0lPaaLtt_OF9Ty3ftluQC_-qIG92DjjOsBukn2fj-o3RNyQ/s2098/Naylor.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWxJzNx1fR9UiFV2JnXNPeNb4gm5gzFSSqjIhTR77bIZwl-oPJlPvVfZ3hYVHWgs9soK2mqHGu0ITFZWpJ-ySQll5BdLGFRX6IO9Yn8vMFy-jNgkCK9YwjsXiOrckycqhe1BZckSQTemz0lPaaLtt_OF9Ty3ftluQC_-qIG92DjjOsBukn2fj-o3RNyQ/s320/Naylor.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Not because I am particularly a Guardians fan, or had any particular interest in Bo Naylor, but because of that nice authentic distant view of some random mountains in Arizona. For whatever reason, the team for which Topps has most used those horrible repetitive fake backdrops for has been Cleveland. I did see a few more of those in 2023 Heritage, which instantly turned me off from the idea of collecting that set to completion when I saw one in my first pack some six months ago.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So I am really hoping this authentic new brand Baseball Card is a sign that Topps will kick the habit of just-have-the-computer-do-it, and hopefully never ever never do it again. All I can conclude for now is a shruggy, We'll See.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Outside of the old-is-new-again re-use of previous Topps Baseball set designs, Archives also always features oddball designs from Topps history. The enjoyment of these has declined some, for me, along the way into the 2nd decade of this product's existence. Which is probably because of the repeats of a few, and particularly the now never ending streams of these efforts in the Throwback Thursday program, particularly when I discover them a couple years after they are made and discover that only 397 copies of some cool card I want were ever made, so they now cost $19.95, for each single card. I am just not a fan of Limited Edition stuff. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">However I do enjoy routine inserts that are printed in generous quantities, and this year features a great where-did-this-come-from effort:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd21Bd2a70o7SGQu7l4Jw1DxYbsxrKByk6rXtjZt_lMGzxqtnAU2Pi-qZVqs6aK_fgiTRDthQgH2xNJ2bPKAOksvfmmLNizpoPL4AItwSnuwPyll4y442huseAcFG7X1FWwiG42SnNHvEBcFxSmxaaRNRGZKg9UULh89-EdhHvDZbhIUkuEQXRHagMbg/s2100/Freemaninsert.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd21Bd2a70o7SGQu7l4Jw1DxYbsxrKByk6rXtjZt_lMGzxqtnAU2Pi-qZVqs6aK_fgiTRDthQgH2xNJ2bPKAOksvfmmLNizpoPL4AItwSnuwPyll4y442huseAcFG7X1FWwiG42SnNHvEBcFxSmxaaRNRGZKg9UULh89-EdhHvDZbhIUkuEQXRHagMbg/s320/Freemaninsert.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Freddie Freeman, Star - cuts right to the chase, doesn't it? </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I can't say I had ever seen a 1957 Topps * Hits * Stars * card, but I sure like the concept applied to Baseball. Somehow these remind me of the simple elegance of 1980s Topps Glossy sets available through the mail only, which were even more minimal than this of course. I haven't read the checklist for these inserts but I am hoping there won't be any RC Logo cards in it as I can already tell I want to enjoy a binder page, or 3, full of these.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The next card filled out the mystery of which Topps Baseball set would be in use -<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiolfEamqe_ziwYN54fT13qCmQ2lv4iGUYXM6a_3UaVGu4YayU8Y32rVSFTIDTrGRc0R0pwkGuEflVg19BxbaOmMe3WmJOzZW88ptYIzRDXvpJf_vrMZvDTW-ZpG6jeYBgpJ_muQvpqUDkz5NTyq0cINW4ZMrL4wUh_N2nXcyURMHH97Bo7PyyKwTU6LA/s2088/Ward.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2088" data-original-width="1502" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiolfEamqe_ziwYN54fT13qCmQ2lv4iGUYXM6a_3UaVGu4YayU8Y32rVSFTIDTrGRc0R0pwkGuEflVg19BxbaOmMe3WmJOzZW88ptYIzRDXvpJf_vrMZvDTW-ZpG6jeYBgpJ_muQvpqUDkz5NTyq0cINW4ZMrL4wUh_N2nXcyURMHH97Bo7PyyKwTU6LA/s320/Ward.jpeg" width="230" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">2003 Topps</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Surprise, not-surprise when you think about it, given the 2023 Topps Baseball set design, and that third digit in the year count, this year.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">2003 Topps is generally off-putting when you first see, or re-see it. I think it has just one simple problem: the blue border is just too dark. I can't explain why black bordered Baseball Cards are quite pleasing, but dark blue bordered ones are, not so much. I sometimes wonder what this design would look like with an MLB style Powder Blue border. Maybe parallels in this year's Archives will help answer that question? Dunno, haven't looked into those yet. I pulled only one parallel in my 2 blasters as Buy One, Get One 50% Off &/or 25% off 2, only if you buy 2 - that sucked me right into doubling down on this sampling. That one parallel was a /199 '65 Foil parallel of Alex Rodriguez in a Mariners uniform. Foil won't answer this theoretical pondering on improving '03 Topps Baseball.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The solution to like / not-like ennui about a Baseball Card design is simple - just look at more of 'em:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUyRAeP7TnLBAzhB6Bf3Y9nT3Oxrd9QDNwqNwDqYaginQeyXq_1EGKvWGiG-rsQV28RXynqRZdfVs764I8DCrkTWvy7C_djwUGnbDGUTdD_BdM3dqxQoynZ7TpZ5Y7QqQjNNlLuch2J__RF9a7b1g7dvqqtANjC1W_QPivjVLyUTbd3vZT1xVC_9RnRg/s2100/Margot2.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1502" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUyRAeP7TnLBAzhB6Bf3Y9nT3Oxrd9QDNwqNwDqYaginQeyXq_1EGKvWGiG-rsQV28RXynqRZdfVs764I8DCrkTWvy7C_djwUGnbDGUTdD_BdM3dqxQoynZ7TpZ5Y7QqQjNNlLuch2J__RF9a7b1g7dvqqtANjC1W_QPivjVLyUTbd3vZT1xVC_9RnRg/s320/Margot2.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This fun base running card shows off the clean dynamism of the design - the inset portrait has those nifty lines suggesting it is scrolling itself off to the left, doubling the sense of motion on this one. This particular card though, suffers from the authentic design choice made back in late 2002 of using the team's primary color for the position and player name area; back then, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays used dark green. I guess this card does help illustrate why the Rays moved on from that poor choice, just as Topps maybe shouldn't have picked dark blue to bound every card in this set.</div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Just one bright light in my first pack of 2023 Archives, that fantastic Freddie Freeman, Star card - which is brilliant without even having a (graphic) star on it. 3 intriguing sets to ponder all over again though, so methinks we should just simply check out pack #2, which starts off with a Classic -<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVZFrpJuT8aOuWzCbI8Mp43ACWjbZAxmRfD6OuBeSIBBwRbx2a8iqOwwpwhZSq5VbgBMkq9k7xL5cssgg5UKuWEnjmjyzQOIausp_ImXayEybuzQDWYxpBpkAsLEnssCbhf61MCpkSlWklSgC6bF3zo2K7w0T0LorGaoh7BoRDo9IXKjtihSW9zjzGnw/s2100/Gibson%201.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="2100" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVZFrpJuT8aOuWzCbI8Mp43ACWjbZAxmRfD6OuBeSIBBwRbx2a8iqOwwpwhZSq5VbgBMkq9k7xL5cssgg5UKuWEnjmjyzQOIausp_ImXayEybuzQDWYxpBpkAsLEnssCbhf61MCpkSlWklSgC6bF3zo2K7w0T0LorGaoh7BoRDo9IXKjtihSW9zjzGnw/s320/Gibson%201.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">A real signature.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A great thing about a fresh supply of 1956 Topps cards is that it will greatly assist one of my current deepest challenges in collecting Baseball Cards, which is increasingly based on assembling 9 cards of a player, or an image theme, or a certain Highlight, or whatever I deem should fit onto a page. Except — I now only put Horizontal cards on a page with other Horizontal cards, in my slowly growing all-Horizontal binder. I expect it will look fantastic on a coffee table, someday, if I ever have a coffee table.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But assembling 9 pleasing Horizontal cards of a single player is a serious Baseball Card collecting challenge. Check it out for yourself amidst any particular Player Collection you might have rolling. I have a casual one for Bob Gibson, almost exclusively of post-career cards, and as I type I'm not sure if any of that little stack of cards is even a Horizontal. But when that decision comes, this card is making the starting 9. And I sure never expected to start wondering if a 1956 Topps style card is a Night Card as this Gibson has that look, especially compared to the next card in the pack:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6qsrxyou_iFwsnXHwokknCmly1LYyNj_HKPJ21iLVP7wSzJFtYOMImKeMnY0H1bVLUFFKhkmP1QSQ2SlQkaq-aBeNDqCGDVXZkJV2FFDKcTgqOyD8ILTNxUbvHv4mXRMRreDvRmvICa_RMQ_ETgR4KM1lwjKSKOyD0QIwPXNnht_v3H6UwSkMvnQs7Q/s2100/VGSr.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="2100" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6qsrxyou_iFwsnXHwokknCmly1LYyNj_HKPJ21iLVP7wSzJFtYOMImKeMnY0H1bVLUFFKhkmP1QSQ2SlQkaq-aBeNDqCGDVXZkJV2FFDKcTgqOyD8ILTNxUbvHv4mXRMRreDvRmvICa_RMQ_ETgR4KM1lwjKSKOyD0QIwPXNnht_v3H6UwSkMvnQs7Q/s320/VGSr.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Ain't no Smile like a '56 Topps Smile?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On this one I think the pure field background is much more reminiscent of '56 than a photo with spectators in the background. I am now taking a short break to scroll through some random '56 Topps cards that I sure wish I owned...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">...that was pleasant. Turns out, the Mantle card had fans on it that year, too. How quickly I often forget super expensive cards I will never own. The bulk of '56 did not however seem to have paying customers in the sub-image, unlike those first 2 '56s at the top of this post.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Maybe that wise break time decision generated some Topps Mojo for me -<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNGzwNeHVMmC3lQzRsXGBa6TlavUFbG9l3zhfHmcTuAOtkT2p3V78FSOzmSpo91ZlFM1-9PxZ8ava7MrtjBAxrMTP7IZ2HJi8doBkRzB4poK853kGtrdUk0YgcUFVaV4vhUdomBjCiWG15JvP163hbz5kR_A611JiqHKS_1jqriDtNrTPxdmHsfk16lg/s2098/Wrightauto.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1502" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNGzwNeHVMmC3lQzRsXGBa6TlavUFbG9l3zhfHmcTuAOtkT2p3V78FSOzmSpo91ZlFM1-9PxZ8ava7MrtjBAxrMTP7IZ2HJi8doBkRzB4poK853kGtrdUk0YgcUFVaV4vhUdomBjCiWG15JvP163hbz5kR_A611JiqHKS_1jqriDtNrTPxdmHsfk16lg/s320/Wrightauto.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">What year is this?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I have always figured Topps Favorite David Wright would make a triumphant return to my packs of baseball cards, though I didn't expect that would be via a Topps Certified Autograph Issue, hard-signed / on-card, complete with a uni # inscription. Just about as perfect of a David Wright keepsake as one could hope for, if one wanted a David Wright keepsake. Note this isn't part of the long-running Fan Favorite series in Archives, which would be denoted by the classic Archives stamp on the card as debuted over 20 years ago now. This is an autographed version of the 1957 Topps * Hits * Stars inserts I like so much. Archives is fun like this, quite often. It takes a minute, or 5, to get onto the next card after pulling one like that, but I made it:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihmFNmfFFLvplCYGVdJDJAO3U3ssxHK8shvRN0HKlTq3Fn3GiSufblClFJpekK4rEy7aNoW2Nw9BDzHZfgGLK485YVTzf5dgkFrmBrX4U8hFkTT1UDdXLIrs41sdgK36Ziy-2DSYgcSpivq56w77dCj8CiVeiFMBNrqak2JpRrLnvj9E8PfQRTaSZUsg/s2098/Contreras.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1496" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihmFNmfFFLvplCYGVdJDJAO3U3ssxHK8shvRN0HKlTq3Fn3GiSufblClFJpekK4rEy7aNoW2Nw9BDzHZfgGLK485YVTzf5dgkFrmBrX4U8hFkTT1UDdXLIrs41sdgK36Ziy-2DSYgcSpivq56w77dCj8CiVeiFMBNrqak2JpRrLnvj9E8PfQRTaSZUsg/s320/Contreras.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">An even better Powder Blue effort, with 2 complete Redbirds, while Contreras sports double team color compression sleeves. Which Cardinals? The St. Louis Cardinals. I love Baseball Cards that use a road uniform when the card itself doesn't incorporate the city name in the design, like this one. Oooohhhh to have a Powder Blue parallel of a card like this. Are you listening, Topps, it's me, Base. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Such great base cards in this pack -<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7rMZa5Org8YKobyQv7OZ3Dz1HZMKTBTKX5c6g4Hfyn1uurReX2hwOXcKkTuYcRtz1ZkVi3BNy_iJbE2ChA65febx4ff6RzezHPUCl_lk3irC8YGFTe5ZLKiSNt88IarxzAvDoSF4Rll5rDChVdVE16YKCwe-ErhvcdQEbjbNbD0pNMIFPBS9FLPjhtg/s2100/Pujols.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7rMZa5Org8YKobyQv7OZ3Dz1HZMKTBTKX5c6g4Hfyn1uurReX2hwOXcKkTuYcRtz1ZkVi3BNy_iJbE2ChA65febx4ff6RzezHPUCl_lk3irC8YGFTe5ZLKiSNt88IarxzAvDoSF4Rll5rDChVdVE16YKCwe-ErhvcdQEbjbNbD0pNMIFPBS9FLPjhtg/s320/Pujols.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Cardinals Hot Pack!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I can just see the sly grin on the face of the Topps Sheet Construction Manager who carefully placed this card on the sheet such that it will come off the cutting machine right after the previous card. Well done. My 2nd favorite division is the NL Central - I have friends or family who are fans of every team, so it never matters who is top dog in the division - I get to root for all of the teams, at the same time. Makes for fun packs of Baseball Cards, a little unlike pulling cards from my team's division:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSFR_jkxDQV1sNo7x0EslsudOmIWJ-NDjw-qKEcclauLpBf5xWpetvXWNpV9sqGSf6d868737XK4UOUYNl0ZnfWTcV-PVDjj5ox3YFcTTdkoSOaQ5vkXTEY3UUzoTcnWgWycNlEAGiTAnWHhIn3kmPbTFxT09Y-xjMOSlD64UtqPDddHn_xe1uZi4OGw/s2096/Ortiz.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2096" data-original-width="1496" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSFR_jkxDQV1sNo7x0EslsudOmIWJ-NDjw-qKEcclauLpBf5xWpetvXWNpV9sqGSf6d868737XK4UOUYNl0ZnfWTcV-PVDjj5ox3YFcTTdkoSOaQ5vkXTEY3UUzoTcnWgWycNlEAGiTAnWHhIn3kmPbTFxT09Y-xjMOSlD64UtqPDddHn_xe1uZi4OGw/s320/Ortiz.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">How quickly we forget.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There are a lot of reminders in this Archives release - Roger Clemens in a Blue Jays uniform, Alex Rodriguez back in Texas, probably several more I haven't seen yet. A nice touch here is that, if I recall correctly, David Ortiz was still a Minnesota Twin in 2003 Topps, so it appears the Topps Set Constructor did a little requisite homework this year. I also quite like, and hope, a new trend is developing in this history mining portion of the world of Baseball Cards, to wit: using a live game action image on a set design that never included them. This was the case in the "1965 Redux" inserts from just a single year ago, as well as the "1952 Redux" effort last year as well. Gives the design a fresh look, and that's, a Good Thing.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Another nice road alternate uni image choice up there too. Where do the Twins come from? Just look at the card, silly. I keep on lookin' at em, all my life...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYtlsCcwQ0B3F8WOCpVIIDeDt2PmklwmP7WGNzBCwRcB2Z4vQm5uz87iCF0c9u29FdaOHx0QNC-YDcoKDsUXxdlC_D3zx6clzGZd5b9Ms_5IAlImIq3ypq-00VjQnStvBsBZ3QhM2p74x_i5sveXXfiohp6uonlR4P_6dXgNMTI24W6wAkYppwVqU2yw/s2100/Spahn.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYtlsCcwQ0B3F8WOCpVIIDeDt2PmklwmP7WGNzBCwRcB2Z4vQm5uz87iCF0c9u29FdaOHx0QNC-YDcoKDsUXxdlC_D3zx6clzGZd5b9Ms_5IAlImIq3ypq-00VjQnStvBsBZ3QhM2p74x_i5sveXXfiohp6uonlR4P_6dXgNMTI24W6wAkYppwVqU2yw/s320/Spahn.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Hall of Fame Triple Header</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Archive can have some serious Star Power like this, at times. Only crazy expensive sets of cards, where each "pack" has just 3 cards in it (as I have heard), usually give you much chance to see this many Hall of Famers sequentially in packs. Though even in such products, everyone usually wants the Rookie Cards anyway. This pack, didn't have any - <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNdK3xRS-bUmZExyx1sxDsl6Cog7nGd_MpVPAZMzr93V8MtxMCFTzicTWOELJgIbuv9VzzAqyrumKmf2u1hQHe9vf-xjBUqwQzU6DEEyMklFHlVwxf3v1387_btdFIraC4PoBdlCM3gwGEXBgNk7ofpCwuaB5TZoO3oYUGYE5n3_cGFlabeJQBduvzsQ/s2102/Felix.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2102" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNdK3xRS-bUmZExyx1sxDsl6Cog7nGd_MpVPAZMzr93V8MtxMCFTzicTWOELJgIbuv9VzzAqyrumKmf2u1hQHe9vf-xjBUqwQzU6DEEyMklFHlVwxf3v1387_btdFIraC4PoBdlCM3gwGEXBgNk7ofpCwuaB5TZoO3oYUGYE5n3_cGFlabeJQBduvzsQ/s320/Felix.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">- how long has it been since you opened a pack of Baseball Cards, sans RC?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This is a well selected, nicely sunlit image; you can almost hear the crowd hush a bit as King Felix goes into his wind-up. But yet another example of where primary team color, Teal, doesn't quite make a 2 + 2 = 4 effort when paired with the dark blue border. This one actually looks better in-scan, than it does, in-hand.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That was quite a pack. 6 Hall of Famers, a solid contemporary All-Star, and 2 solid Hall of Very Good well regarded retirees as well. As much as I would like to scan every card in every pack I open, you might prefer just checking out the other key ingredients, like more inserts:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiCjbuBe-5vdfdIHkipXzkYEEDq7OdTwq9rExqEv8-WEotD9NGqZNcA4MAivnUBHodKuzkDQUKlcmFHtVVxwoGryjSFRnLcyF2L38ijNUvixBzAuNJkz2WvnxuSBus5LDIr1ekpXNp4Eg8wLwDOtYmuS9esktuqzoT5rdYhP-HH7XH4QcP6J84Me0-fA/s2098/Sandberg.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiCjbuBe-5vdfdIHkipXzkYEEDq7OdTwq9rExqEv8-WEotD9NGqZNcA4MAivnUBHodKuzkDQUKlcmFHtVVxwoGryjSFRnLcyF2L38ijNUvixBzAuNJkz2WvnxuSBus5LDIr1ekpXNp4Eg8wLwDOtYmuS9esktuqzoT5rdYhP-HH7XH4QcP6J84Me0-fA/s320/Sandberg.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Do we even need the player name printed?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now there is another triumph of design simplicity. This is a retail only, "69 Topps Team History" foil insert, which particularly "pops" in bright daylight. I sometimes wonder what was going on in 1969 at Topps, which seems to be the source year of a whole lot of experimental Baseball Card products.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">These cards look very nice, in-hand, and I will surely see who represents the Detroit Tigers on this checklist, but I'm not sure even this classical design victory is going to make it to my coffee table in the Old Folks home. Close.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">These, however, definitely will -</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXa4_n2DJtW18ncGlCEbCsAtO6uFElN77kNIdoLwaFQ5DrCqdnzVwGbAGpoquWmORdKS33jOgBXUKIqWEr3qjlSa2c3u3qcjz2t1IATsd3FG1eG9JlsMhoSKqFROkTQXbHduAWow0T1W-f_gc9iukNnQWuW_rm2vP6bVmXmpwyXYqLxl1D_vp0p39Zmw/s2100/BoggsLegend.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1496" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXa4_n2DJtW18ncGlCEbCsAtO6uFElN77kNIdoLwaFQ5DrCqdnzVwGbAGpoquWmORdKS33jOgBXUKIqWEr3qjlSa2c3u3qcjz2t1IATsd3FG1eG9JlsMhoSKqFROkTQXbHduAWow0T1W-f_gc9iukNnQWuW_rm2vP6bVmXmpwyXYqLxl1D_vp0p39Zmw/s320/BoggsLegend.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Just had to share the only other card of this I have, so far. Now that, is a Baseball Card. This release has lots of those, like this fun card:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh0f90JG6MUmTjxemxt7YvilPo1aF9iOtu-llBF5N-hYgaJYPoGvkvmvGJsOElreM4Y3HAGKNGST7NCesNMgkLFGt0h1qigF-L8j8mrZtkcLm3MgwHup2PLQQYbBgy8GV8L6X1RI_QQUSbAOeUp28p2w-B5t86himasWSsiM283EaDdx_pMy3uxdWtYg/s2101/Clemente89dh.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2101" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh0f90JG6MUmTjxemxt7YvilPo1aF9iOtu-llBF5N-hYgaJYPoGvkvmvGJsOElreM4Y3HAGKNGST7NCesNMgkLFGt0h1qigF-L8j8mrZtkcLm3MgwHup2PLQQYbBgy8GV8L6X1RI_QQUSbAOeUp28p2w-B5t86himasWSsiM283EaDdx_pMy3uxdWtYg/s320/Clemente89dh.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The fun, however, really begins on the back of the card -</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLQf8AyatpYc9A-bKH4oT_KowlrciWlbySUdWCf4sqZAxmEhMSv7HIhS8g2ToelSECSINl-cRJyaa8yaYO_r8cNzNqORx3Ea6l7yYlWTRfZeGLnooQTbPM9KxdstD951KPeTGQV4JoRR1nCeeU4R9rCvz1-oxzShmeyhaxorshEOOZ1vT4RSD1_wO1VQ/s2098/Cutch89dh.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLQf8AyatpYc9A-bKH4oT_KowlrciWlbySUdWCf4sqZAxmEhMSv7HIhS8g2ToelSECSINl-cRJyaa8yaYO_r8cNzNqORx3Ea6l7yYlWTRfZeGLnooQTbPM9KxdstD951KPeTGQV4JoRR1nCeeU4R9rCvz1-oxzShmeyhaxorshEOOZ1vT4RSD1_wO1VQ/s320/Cutch89dh.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">These are called "89 Double Headers" and I am possibly more intrigued to just discover the original inspiration for these, a semi-routine occurrence opening Topps Archives. I'm guessing the way-back-in-'89 versions didn't partially ruin this swell idea with an overload of legalese copyright icons on the 'back' - which will probably keep these from making the starting rotation on that coffee table.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Those 89DH are fun cards though, seems to be a not-uncommon criteria in this stroll through the Archives. Sometimes, the results of that make me a touch, 'jelly' - in the modern vernacular. This happens when a Topps product that -should- have been revealed to me in my actual Youth, is instead discovered some 44 years later:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCTayha6T5FOpTthFY9oWi6VejNnvC9pB1hr_Y6UxyHa9l0IGISCCJESMMRRckHWMptYUkn31myi02XPSMoG5KY_L_pCRLHaUALhpq9oPb4S34UtONrS11O0x1EW0740dy5f6GRLtPgL5uknL-Um9kiFzNaozkuW2ZZcwXfsiEYogUHWXYk_rRvBMhTw/s2098/VGjr%20cartoon.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCTayha6T5FOpTthFY9oWi6VejNnvC9pB1hr_Y6UxyHa9l0IGISCCJESMMRRckHWMptYUkn31myi02XPSMoG5KY_L_pCRLHaUALhpq9oPb4S34UtONrS11O0x1EW0740dy5f6GRLtPgL5uknL-Um9kiFzNaozkuW2ZZcwXfsiEYogUHWXYk_rRvBMhTw/s320/VGjr%20cartoon.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">A "1979 Topps Comic"</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I have never heard of these before. I am always intrigued by hand-drawn cards, but for these, I will have to look at more of 'em, to form an opinion, I think. And that's not even all the inserts in this product, as Hobby Boxes have yet more goodies to stumble across, a wandering I haven't started, yet.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">However this blog is supposed to be all about dat bass, so let's see some early Highlight Reel -<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghb1gE5g0B1oXRrut_NziCGsNEvf_q4AWCfD2XWvZv4Jhvni6n68vTVHKBLdQ48xhcOXBoIuVORd7oLZvYWPFt4YFYosg7WIMnoDPzNQekPHoK6R-2pFK4r0uVZPuw1m8a8MCYXM7IhwgZ8tQnPWwaDVWNTVUd9A8Zp2s8pmHyOJCdv5UaSF0d0hgabg/s2098/Cobb.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1502" data-original-width="2098" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghb1gE5g0B1oXRrut_NziCGsNEvf_q4AWCfD2XWvZv4Jhvni6n68vTVHKBLdQ48xhcOXBoIuVORd7oLZvYWPFt4YFYosg7WIMnoDPzNQekPHoK6R-2pFK4r0uVZPuw1m8a8MCYXM7IhwgZ8tQnPWwaDVWNTVUd9A8Zp2s8pmHyOJCdv5UaSF0d0hgabg/s320/Cobb.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcfho1ne1qv6S7cHluJ6CHHUh0pwfYSfheSbhj9nsCCBl5e-ChslRsNCLoWIMNbzr1o2guYbsOHFi6u9854F7thxPUAhZcAag8RG9wF6iq1OxI4y_NxGq928roU5fp_FBI9z7OlJ0A4C4HPD9HCV-qTGtJGxL9zWKwtay3w46lQ3QN5w4HiJS7zL8DLQ/s2100/Speaker.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="2100" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcfho1ne1qv6S7cHluJ6CHHUh0pwfYSfheSbhj9nsCCBl5e-ChslRsNCLoWIMNbzr1o2guYbsOHFi6u9854F7thxPUAhZcAag8RG9wF6iq1OxI4y_NxGq928roU5fp_FBI9z7OlJ0A4C4HPD9HCV-qTGtJGxL9zWKwtay3w46lQ3QN5w4HiJS7zL8DLQ/s320/Speaker.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">These two cards both stood out to me as possibly being the result of a 21st Century image tweaking technique, that being the colorizing of photos originally shot in Black & White. Just a guess, but these cards work, particularly the Speaker, in capturing the '56 gestalt very well.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">All Old-Time Baseball Players, for old people? No, Archives does mix it up well with active players; don't forget that first pack way back up there. I did find a true treasure amidst the Young Guns:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ_9gLT4_-59uo9DwRScKdFoGgQmsa6J2UCvkMDRXp-VnVPsmkmzIy-2ktSxS1SnK8uU0uvjZlsYPGi-V4b0y_VjNXCEOx4aVBnk9M65sQdMDhTiwLPve-AN4oWBlMR-sFpuyonwEZUwcUsAeQiF3JMxSJjT20DJXrMCzQEnIsEOg__hQNMm9GusbfkQ/s2098/Mize.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1502" data-original-width="2098" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ_9gLT4_-59uo9DwRScKdFoGgQmsa6J2UCvkMDRXp-VnVPsmkmzIy-2ktSxS1SnK8uU0uvjZlsYPGi-V4b0y_VjNXCEOx4aVBnk9M65sQdMDhTiwLPve-AN4oWBlMR-sFpuyonwEZUwcUsAeQiF3JMxSJjT20DJXrMCzQEnIsEOg__hQNMm9GusbfkQ/s320/Mize.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">2023 Detroit Card of the Year</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I am years and years behind on examining a year's worth of Topps Tigers cards. But I doubt you will see more of Detroit on a baseball card this year than on this one.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This late season release is routinely going to include the Rookies of the Year, which have clear betting line leaders by the time this is assembled, and 2023 Archives delivers again -<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_J5mY1HqlrbeBRTZK3GBrup-LzwkwgP4xl5vYJbALfBRaax-TwiEWkvxZx6R4k1gIcVs7qLSSQiO4qf4ukJYwQeQ2IzblYSvhZac_2AyXSQqqWLk4fyhlZUyVvT47CQU9uNH6wNcFyReKM0sDM_cpu10H5I9VJtip_d5ROEip4h3O_-b_Of-3YZykHw/s2102/Carroll.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2102" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_J5mY1HqlrbeBRTZK3GBrup-LzwkwgP4xl5vYJbALfBRaax-TwiEWkvxZx6R4k1gIcVs7qLSSQiO4qf4ukJYwQeQ2IzblYSvhZac_2AyXSQqqWLk4fyhlZUyVvT47CQU9uNH6wNcFyReKM0sDM_cpu10H5I9VJtip_d5ROEip4h3O_-b_Of-3YZykHw/s320/Carroll.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">More Smile FTW</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN_N6KQPfuRdyiZlZrxkPWiYOQgifmuAmEBM5csyTZfoGczqZjE1Ho2fiu0Aw7PT0PFZ3902-31MX4WmDFc6wT0kNK-HtneJqCP7way9d8loY5pLvBmmPEAu9l3AtmkXGT891hAWXWtNcQ_1t0QOGdH89hpIBjFRQXUhHK4CAiFyJOQ42zzSI1cOmInw/s2100/MHII.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1502" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN_N6KQPfuRdyiZlZrxkPWiYOQgifmuAmEBM5csyTZfoGczqZjE1Ho2fiu0Aw7PT0PFZ3902-31MX4WmDFc6wT0kNK-HtneJqCP7way9d8loY5pLvBmmPEAu9l3AtmkXGT891hAWXWtNcQ_1t0QOGdH89hpIBjFRQXUhHK4CAiFyJOQ42zzSI1cOmInw/s320/MHII.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Even if a Rookie of the Year appearance is a year late. So strange that a player can win that award a whole year before his Official Rookie Card© is ever created. Even stranger to pull a ROY RC -after- his 2nd season of play. Such, is Baseball Cards.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And what's up with that teeny-tiny <span style="font-size: xx-small;">Braves </span>team logo on that card? Per chance a slight design snafu back there in the fall of 2002? I don't remember; those dark blue borders just lull me to sleep, a little. But then, the little things start to poke me back to enjoying these:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhv0DYl0_NHxkegKhEerf2Kk5NMYO66YEgXZRdyDdycnZN6Q3vzZQOG4t0aXjTlaEv1oToxSqkZdXMzqZv-aIlGkjIguEEuy-zhqdlzVp2_CEmKaPLEqZEufwEKn5if3t5XkkqGrj8Y30SRL0KR1PLve5HuTVw8KPQKiOvA5zNRHcQQ8bAmCFGJfHERg/s2100/Kwan.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhv0DYl0_NHxkegKhEerf2Kk5NMYO66YEgXZRdyDdycnZN6Q3vzZQOG4t0aXjTlaEv1oToxSqkZdXMzqZv-aIlGkjIguEEuy-zhqdlzVp2_CEmKaPLEqZEufwEKn5if3t5XkkqGrj8Y30SRL0KR1PLve5HuTVw8KPQKiOvA5zNRHcQQ8bAmCFGJfHERg/s320/Kwan.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">How about that new Guardians icon, Baseball Cards?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Me likey. These 'red team' cards finally start to gel as they begin to dispel the 2003 Topps Blues-<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuVoGGyyEi5Ag7o7P_ega12C6NTQEIo0Dzog2C39dbiHge7uQUFPQdz2Ows6vWepCA04WLCZA1rd2INYnLhyphenhyphenWmZikPyAHxpKYZZ3F3Lkuh9b-S4ZWhp4mLZDSz5DgmhGGTXwpJF-pqo8yLVyXOU2XmAei_lPx9d_Hu-rTgFl4vUfmnxbX2sQdBeiZ8Sw/s2100/Murray%201.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1502" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuVoGGyyEi5Ag7o7P_ega12C6NTQEIo0Dzog2C39dbiHge7uQUFPQdz2Ows6vWepCA04WLCZA1rd2INYnLhyphenhyphenWmZikPyAHxpKYZZ3F3Lkuh9b-S4ZWhp4mLZDSz5DgmhGGTXwpJF-pqo8yLVyXOU2XmAei_lPx9d_Hu-rTgFl4vUfmnxbX2sQdBeiZ8Sw/s320/Murray%201.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Now, we are cooking with gas.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">These things just destroy the seriously over-busy 2023 Topps Baseball design. Let the team icon do it's professionally designed job, simply and effectively, give me the position and the name, some team color action, and, I'm Good. I didn't expect to be desiring a few binder pages of these cards when I saw that Taylor Ward card, but 2 blasters in, I would like some more fresh 'head shot' cards, just like these.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">These brand new 2023 2003 Topps Baseball Cards are making me want a 2023 Archives, Series 2 release (pretty please?), even though I went into this rip thinking I knew the 65s would rope me in, right away. '56 Topps re-efforts I think will always pale to the originals with those quasi-Art, all Action backgrounds, whenever just regular photos are used instead. A whole bunch of my other Topps Baseball cards have Action photos for me to look at, whenever I wish. But '56 Topps, sigh...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Still, I expect the 100 brand new '56s will manage to make a few delightful curated pages in that Horizontal binder on the coffee table, while the shelves nearby will likely hold a full run of some new sweet '65 and '03 Classics:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAo58x9_ymT-neXzqe6FzExEmDN7jAdgZdkyZLIB-_Tow0NUd-ohfkVKsQl_T3qDuluVsFYhbbORPPikCfr8FonxjdqFkmEg-mHT8hYmYbP62qVUg6hf4TNtDZBe2qXjF0dMsu74KahlmmLWcc6mEIblSnPwondhwjoZ_ueFGDaH1osOlAvNHizSvRLw/s2098/Paige.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1496" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAo58x9_ymT-neXzqe6FzExEmDN7jAdgZdkyZLIB-_Tow0NUd-ohfkVKsQl_T3qDuluVsFYhbbORPPikCfr8FonxjdqFkmEg-mHT8hYmYbP62qVUg6hf4TNtDZBe2qXjF0dMsu74KahlmmLWcc6mEIblSnPwondhwjoZ_ueFGDaH1osOlAvNHizSvRLw/s320/Paige.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Say Good Night, Satchel.</div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></div><br /></div><br /></div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /></div><br /></div><br /></div><br /></div><br /></div><br /></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>BaseSetCallinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05508114484929386332noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7573896101004946985.post-79198618243140486052023-03-31T01:14:00.000-04:002023-03-31T01:14:14.098-04:00Opening Day is Opening Day<p>Happy Baseball everyone!</p><p>I can no longer open Opening Day on Opening Day, so I settled for the next best thing, I guess — opening some more Series One.</p><p>The cards I most want to see on Opening Day are of course, cards from My Team, and Topps came through:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlxk29da2_r1vfKbVIZtVstfjBs_CCVtw-xvEJY-XcGXLf4BVAy_sTP0cqdJ_IVS1UYSErD-fMz6kpuHbHA8mun2XLunr4MILA-IR1uChmn35EnnQuQRmYuuHd9u-VLsKa8vIjr12AjUfz8j7m0Zq-mGJwYdvwVKx-03xrSLWSm7qIQmswc2oWpE0/s2102/Meadows.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2102" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlxk29da2_r1vfKbVIZtVstfjBs_CCVtw-xvEJY-XcGXLf4BVAy_sTP0cqdJ_IVS1UYSErD-fMz6kpuHbHA8mun2XLunr4MILA-IR1uChmn35EnnQuQRmYuuHd9u-VLsKa8vIjr12AjUfz8j7m0Zq-mGJwYdvwVKx-03xrSLWSm7qIQmswc2oWpE0/s320/Meadows.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now here was a nice burst of optimism - a bright sunny baseball card for the player Tigers fans hope will win the Comeback Player of the Year award after a straight up disintegration last year as Bad Luck seemed to attack Meadows from every direction.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Usually I figure pulling a player's brand new baseball card on Opening Day is going to be an excellent omen both on Opening Day and going forward. And today that did not disappoint: Meadows went 3-for-4 with a Double and two Singles.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Tigers cards this year are going to occasionally fool people into wondering: what the heck happened to Kris Bryant? And how did he end up in Detroit before whatever happened? The "KB" shoulder patch the Tigers wore for the 2022 season was a memorial tribute for Kimera Bartee, who died unexpectedly during the off-season some 15 months ago, shortly after being named the Tigers new regular First Base Coach. Bartee played Center Field for the Tigers for most of one season in the mid-90s; a season which mostly eluded my baseball card collecting efforts.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">For today's festivities I purchased 2 36-card "fat" / "value" packs but I doubt that second appellation will be used much any more. This type of packaging has been absent from retail baseball cards for a few years now and I am happy to see it return, for use in stores that decline to offer the regular single/loose pack of 16 cards. These "value" packs now cost $9.99 where I live and are actually one of the more expensive ways to purchase cards, on a per-card basis. Blasters have a slightly higher per-card cost, but the $4 16-card pack is a better deal (added one of those to the menu today as well) and the 72-card "hanger" box is still the best deal overall, though hangers hand up the duplicate strings of cards at a much faster clip.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">One Detroit Tigers card isn't enough for Opening Day however; there had to be more amidst 88 cards and 30 teams, I hope -<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxNLWJd7ordaLUSsfLTx6HruCiKh3-GPLzN4yp76IlYkJpNt-BbSIwPHE9pelapfRZdomct8eX_vBM-Y1xlOEmKUoNPBJ0gKZYIfCfcKtNLM7ae813NxF6WPS1wJVjOqzW_lvc2JNh6bcdKOsqRs_TKoiF5XElR8eVIv_T8vyPdIH-DYRaHicb8RM/s2100/Brieske.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxNLWJd7ordaLUSsfLTx6HruCiKh3-GPLzN4yp76IlYkJpNt-BbSIwPHE9pelapfRZdomct8eX_vBM-Y1xlOEmKUoNPBJ0gKZYIfCfcKtNLM7ae813NxF6WPS1wJVjOqzW_lvc2JNh6bcdKOsqRs_TKoiF5XElR8eVIv_T8vyPdIH-DYRaHicb8RM/s320/Brieske.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Did I pull today's starting Pitcher? Nope. Brieske had to open the season on the IL after seemingly earning a bullpen spot as a "swingman" ready to jump in the rotation as soon as necessary (presumably quite soon given how MLB Pitching works in the 2020s) after an accelerated Rookie season as a starter last year, made necessary by how MLB Pitching works these days. Naturally, given the workings of Pitching lately, his Rookie year was shortened by injury as well. At least I have another nice sunny Tigers card to enjoy while he joins most every other recent young Tigers starter working through the rehab process to try Pitching again, someday.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">2-for-2 on bright sunny baseball cards though, could Topps keep this bright motif going?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeLcEHjwJgAWbZ-TOS8UYhmn17K7-BCKWLvaUmq5q3z7fClkLpzMhUcOszq7_sDjdrSZMGY-Eiw0rYzAWfhiB8fDfx8Ry6pzIpVfOl_x1k5AYc3ezh2CmAl7U9LcuNkdrpfLIFI5UDPug-vgOrfQrxq1A4qAuNUmarVe1yxH9hT99WXfeTbZfjSw4/s2098/Greene.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeLcEHjwJgAWbZ-TOS8UYhmn17K7-BCKWLvaUmq5q3z7fClkLpzMhUcOszq7_sDjdrSZMGY-Eiw0rYzAWfhiB8fDfx8Ry6pzIpVfOl_x1k5AYc3ezh2CmAl7U9LcuNkdrpfLIFI5UDPug-vgOrfQrxq1A4qAuNUmarVe1yxH9hT99WXfeTbZfjSw4/s320/Greene.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">womp womp womp</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This has got to be the most Sad Trombone card I have pulled in a while. This is my first Tigers duplicate this year after I pulled it on a different Opening Day - the Opening Day of 2023 Baseball Card season back in February. As I mentioned then, the head shot on these cards can really swoop in and rescue a mediocre baseball card like this one. And maybe this poor Rookie Card image will work reverse magic - Greene had a great Spring and could well be primed for a great Sophomore campaign and will hopefully anchor Center Field in Detroit for many seasons to come.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Going 3-for-88 on Tigers cards on Opening Day seemed just exactly perfect in a 30 team League and would actually be a BC+ score of somewhere a bitover 100, a composite stat I just made up. Given some of the 86 cards being inserts, I beat the odds finding Tigers for a change — a rare thing in Topps checklists for quite a while now.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But I do always hope to see some cards of the opponents on this momentous baseball Day, and there Topps let me down as I found no Tampa Bay Rays to absorb, a BC+ of precisely 0 I guess. Thus the Tigers shoulda won today, 3-0 in true magic baseball card fashion? Nope. The ever-solid Rays beat My Team in workman like fashion with the same number of Hits as the boys from Motown, but 2 of theirs were Home Runs. Sigh.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now the other thing I love to do on Opening Day with all my brand new baseball cards is figure out how accurate the cards are - does the card in my hand have a matching line in a Box Score today? Who plays this game, anyway? That's why I buy the baseball cards. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Given that so many brand new baseball cards are Rookie Card cards these days, I decided to siphon those off my nice little 88 card pile of baseball information and see what's happening with the New Guys. That idea was prompted by this outstanding baseball card:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtwv86oj17EZZpz5HVNJ64VNngYHUtfSrJMh5r4uwzuG1xlGVNQcpG6ZWEs7jV2RjZlt_hnkoqAJ6Fp6_DJCXh7eLpx8A-_OgcuyfQp-4tB6iQkj7v9wlGt8Lvl_sdZkp6fEhM3oN4uKyIcVOf02CEHsggjKtDHm5TSXZ5grZbZo5Rwb6Oi67-FM4/s2100/Gunnar.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtwv86oj17EZZpz5HVNJ64VNngYHUtfSrJMh5r4uwzuG1xlGVNQcpG6ZWEs7jV2RjZlt_hnkoqAJ6Fp6_DJCXh7eLpx8A-_OgcuyfQp-4tB6iQkj7v9wlGt8Lvl_sdZkp6fEhM3oN4uKyIcVOf02CEHsggjKtDHm5TSXZ5grZbZo5Rwb6Oi67-FM4/s320/Gunnar.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Did he make the Box Score? Yes</b>. However that was neither as an SS or a 3B but rather at DH. I have no idea who played those 2 positions for the Orioles so clearly I will need some more brand new baseball cards. The O's are a young team and it can take me a few years of reading baseball cards to get a good handle on such clubs.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I'm still only lukewarm on these 2023 Topps Baseball Cards with all the odd geometry but the clear view of each player's face down there in the bottom left corner sure does make for excellent Rookie Cards. Like all Topps designs, the picture of the baseball player is the most significant element of the card, ultimately. It will take me a while yet to decide on collecting or not collecting this set in it's entirety. I do like to know what the players look like, and Topps comes through on that point this year in a very well-done way. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">For the rest of these 'rooks, I will go with a purely fair alphabetical order:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC9GIF4008SNxoBF2mYgcw2Ah4XpToaL0bE12w2wlEJfioIhVfVwxHw_b4P3xYfSzvhS94ZpEz3wSZDFJyfenHNjfQuEdTF6zemSSGiNIgjFd6pSs1UUUAxsnRLqJF96ZJoAVgKBKdJKKZROTw-uE9sKAxmO4SYunUEvRVWMWNfhlVTgBEQ16Tfoc/s2100/Casas.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC9GIF4008SNxoBF2mYgcw2Ah4XpToaL0bE12w2wlEJfioIhVfVwxHw_b4P3xYfSzvhS94ZpEz3wSZDFJyfenHNjfQuEdTF6zemSSGiNIgjFd6pSs1UUUAxsnRLqJF96ZJoAVgKBKdJKKZROTw-uE9sKAxmO4SYunUEvRVWMWNfhlVTgBEQ16Tfoc/s320/Casas.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Did he make the Box Score? Yes. </b>I am still a little shaky on Red Sox players since last year on the Opening Day wrapper there were 2 Red Sox that I still can't identify with certainty. Casas was a first round draft pick for Boston & in general the back of the card paints a bright future ahead here. This card again shows off the value of the bonus head-shot given the way the new 2020s batting helmets reduce face visibility in live action photos. Overall a solid find in a pack of brand new baseball cards. Unlike this next Red Sox card...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ3Wrb6xBziYNGGpIMjk4jqcUnMZ9utbZZShkjRZzCQbYoKzSicKhvG3XXalwIqMEeIuoJpSaFBMAo-axAfNjfSU6PMfjG7bpQI1LDAqHJ-THsa6i2LUgilMdBbPh49qkBhW99Of1Nttb6PvWJV3cAf7B8H8_mEV_eoFovK66vnpG6Yzqb6zxrzFM/s2100/Downs.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ3Wrb6xBziYNGGpIMjk4jqcUnMZ9utbZZShkjRZzCQbYoKzSicKhvG3XXalwIqMEeIuoJpSaFBMAo-axAfNjfSU6PMfjG7bpQI1LDAqHJ-THsa6i2LUgilMdBbPh49qkBhW99Of1Nttb6PvWJV3cAf7B8H8_mEV_eoFovK66vnpG6Yzqb6zxrzFM/s320/Downs.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Did he make the Box Score? Nope. </b>Nor for his new team. There was no way Topps was going to pass up their opportunity to finally make this baseball card, given Downs' first name. Even though the Red Sox DFA'd him before Christmas. Maybe, and that is a weak maybe, we will see him in Update sporting a Nationals uniform. You can't win 'em all and in the Rookie Card card era, some checklist spots are just a Sac Fly so the RC logo can appear in every pack and everyone can feel like they "got something" worth money, somehow. Topps is keeping the sun shine going at least -<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwYbg6bMNT5v6-28vhnhpWifgfuZ8VCNunSfUh_c0ROJauAQWN3YXC6wi08JQ77g3ze8vqBEFI2R8fBFXLdMoqXBBbHnefzxje9MNMYFlgQssWfopbFvjNYeqkZI1wWJ5CK2HEFHGOY36TihSFkgs_n1AAN4SR80BWeirMyBHYf1wrsJGf4bc1S9U/s2096/Gonzalez.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2096" data-original-width="1502" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwYbg6bMNT5v6-28vhnhpWifgfuZ8VCNunSfUh_c0ROJauAQWN3YXC6wi08JQ77g3ze8vqBEFI2R8fBFXLdMoqXBBbHnefzxje9MNMYFlgQssWfopbFvjNYeqkZI1wWJ5CK2HEFHGOY36TihSFkgs_n1AAN4SR80BWeirMyBHYf1wrsJGf4bc1S9U/s320/Gonzalez.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Did he make the Box Score? No. </b>A bit of a surprise to me, given what the back of this card tells me: 2.1 WAR in a little more than half a season's worth of Rookie Year games last year. I had to choose carefully tonight; rather than checking in with Tom Hamilton on the Cleveland radio broadcast I selected the A's broadcast instead. I like that radio crew a lot, too — plus Topps advertises on A's broadcasts regularly. Some other day with a Guardians game on the radio or some future set of baseball cards might tell me more about this cheerful looking baseball player I have never seen before. Another solid new baseball card, which kept right on appearing today:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhIdqLJ8Qbae1buqTdnWP5QmzNu9ygu74UJhBWEuFwcXilHr6aI0ZYgcqrSCJzMsyB0K1OboSiIIGB7PIZ43hIIWVsuQnqYs-TTMIwCTAxSDWnd0poWQfKPx-66HUEp-dAzYsLiiiHtD_If3PcrRDgNhGkbeBLy1bzW3CSRNwBfrw7lqee9fwzSdg/s2088/Massey.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2088" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhIdqLJ8Qbae1buqTdnWP5QmzNu9ygu74UJhBWEuFwcXilHr6aI0ZYgcqrSCJzMsyB0K1OboSiIIGB7PIZ43hIIWVsuQnqYs-TTMIwCTAxSDWnd0poWQfKPx-66HUEp-dAzYsLiiiHtD_If3PcrRDgNhGkbeBLy1bzW3CSRNwBfrw7lqee9fwzSdg/s320/Massey.jpeg" width="230" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Did he make the Box Score? Yes. </b>This player I was familiar with in the more regular way - from following games. Given KC's co-habitation with Detroit in the AL Central cellar lately, I probably pay more attention to Tigers-Royals games, given that the Tigers have a better chance to win those. If memory serves, the Royals basically fielded their 2023 squad routinely last September; in general an optimistic set of names. This does fail to explain why I didn't know who Oscar Gonzalez was however. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And there are plenty of "divisional" games, or were, as those have been dropped from 18-19 to 13-14 such games this year. This will make baseball cards even more important to me in helping me follow the teams in my own division given two less series against each this year. I like how this card mixes up the photo style on the head shot; I hope there are more of these. I'm ready for more boys of summer, always frequently seen on Chicago cards -<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUoQHmBaFa81u8Rn25R3E8icqvMHGouD5hAXBCaoT7rT7k3Ezhj22SoYuTYkRHkbWzmr-usxYkRSkcwnW34Gg_0tQuhtBf9BDYq-_jdOej1pqltssuZdfxX5KzYllih-nhdO-LOKVvudprnZV0HaRSks65ErVyAzy4TMkU0fIH_UpZKWhnyWRRCOs/s2100/Morel.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUoQHmBaFa81u8Rn25R3E8icqvMHGouD5hAXBCaoT7rT7k3Ezhj22SoYuTYkRHkbWzmr-usxYkRSkcwnW34Gg_0tQuhtBf9BDYq-_jdOej1pqltssuZdfxX5KzYllih-nhdO-LOKVvudprnZV0HaRSks65ErVyAzy4TMkU0fIH_UpZKWhnyWRRCOs/s320/Morel.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Did he make the Box Score? No. </b>I do know most of the Cubs players, courtesy mostly of Topps baseball cards, but an "OF" has room for 3, so - this was a could-go-either-way prediction, based on what the back of this card tells me. I expect I will see this player on more baseball cards and it is now a given that My Team will automatically play the Cubs, whenever that is, so maybe by that time he will be in a game I catch. I am ready, now, when his name is called. Meanwhile that lucky old sun just keeps rolling around in my "value" packs...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyQApukOtSpAuGgPzkORDf2wG5i1L8gapMynP33dPTNKt879w9LTnUhpAq7293X_-kKSOCmeww8SLSIknKFUIdNCrvoyxktFmkEprpgh-cMGdnEOcSGyKm2fw1eOPL2zgUJ4HuuhARqVabABeLZCX7TQFXZF96N6tJCYZFd_q3Ph1swiGXRjpNqYw/s2098/Lionier.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyQApukOtSpAuGgPzkORDf2wG5i1L8gapMynP33dPTNKt879w9LTnUhpAq7293X_-kKSOCmeww8SLSIknKFUIdNCrvoyxktFmkEprpgh-cMGdnEOcSGyKm2fw1eOPL2zgUJ4HuuhARqVabABeLZCX7TQFXZF96N6tJCYZFd_q3Ph1swiGXRjpNqYw/s320/Lionier.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Did he make the Box Score? Not surprisingly at all, Nope. </b>Another duplicate from my First Pack of 2023, I made that prediction with ease as soon as I saw this card 6 weeks ago, given how many Pirates middle infielder Rookie Card cards Topps handed me last year. I also couldn't check in with Bob Walk and Joe Black on the radio today for some Pirates news but that also wasn't necessary. The Pirates seem as doomed as ever to have large quantities of Rookie Card cards in my packs of baseball cards but despite that same-as-it-ever-was conclusion I still don't understand this particular baseball card. Three At Bats in a previous season should not a Rookie Card make, in my opine. It can't stay sunny every day of the baseball season I guess:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF2szoKIInz29tIzx0yeKSM___KBuoonIo2I5E0WNgvjJm6m8LkKSPyFSKR_tBFQfAC2QnFq4asB3co-vfDahVC_Z7NFpyTtYe3BGgq-EoZo3ZjsZwdeVuNB1DlqYcLiZK6JxWQ0MC66_4-0AMc6GhSLZVtgYh0CCcwoGh0ZPrghjLoofWJUVdiGQ/s2086/Serven.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2086" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF2szoKIInz29tIzx0yeKSM___KBuoonIo2I5E0WNgvjJm6m8LkKSPyFSKR_tBFQfAC2QnFq4asB3co-vfDahVC_Z7NFpyTtYe3BGgq-EoZo3ZjsZwdeVuNB1DlqYcLiZK6JxWQ0MC66_4-0AMc6GhSLZVtgYh0CCcwoGh0ZPrghjLoofWJUVdiGQ/s320/Serven.jpeg" width="230" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Did he make the Box Score? No. </b>Although my 2023 First Card, A's Rookie Card card Catcher Shea Langeliers, is playing as I type, I didn't expect another RC Logo Catcher would appear today. The Rockies are near impossible for me to follow; I don't even have a clue who calls their games as if I am awake for a West Coast game I'm going to go with Jon Miller on the Giants game or the A's crew I am listening to right now. Baseball cards gave me just enough Rockies knowledge to know that Serven is likely the back-up Catcher, though he certainly earned a Rookie Card card after 62 games in The Bigs last year. I'm guessing this photo was taken early in a game, when the usual just-after-lunch set of clouds tends to drift across the Front Range — this card awakens some fond memories of life in Colorado though that flows also from another card in these packs. The West is so big, and baseball is more mysterious out there. I am always more grounded back in the Middle West -<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTj58ypnhh3EaJeTrpVYnbs9o3h8qNQ62fuwrb7o2wojwbgShmpWIqgJvv88JdkgbhrdP_G7gSkYdaKNS_947lIicUM46yVRyCpk4J_EuGlbJRXlxXO_wl9_ERuW4yingc2gTqAEB1gpjgzmypwbzzmXJL2CS7yA5tGZNtoyhZ3QyUQ-YfvxH3BZM/s2098/Swaggerty.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTj58ypnhh3EaJeTrpVYnbs9o3h8qNQ62fuwrb7o2wojwbgShmpWIqgJvv88JdkgbhrdP_G7gSkYdaKNS_947lIicUM46yVRyCpk4J_EuGlbJRXlxXO_wl9_ERuW4yingc2gTqAEB1gpjgzmypwbzzmXJL2CS7yA5tGZNtoyhZ3QyUQ-YfvxH3BZM/s320/Swaggerty.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Did he make the Box Score? That's a negatory. </b>9 At Bats last year so, you do the math. This is a great baseball picture card with the perfect photo truncation of Swaggerty's last name on his uniform and the excellent flowing lines that made me instantly turn it over to see how many Home Runs this player hit last year. Sigh; the answer was: zero. This is only a so-so baseball card, to my taste, given that pointlessly squished capital "P" there and all that weird geometry going all dizzy around it. Is that the secondary team color there around the home plate "OF" positional designation? Why can't that just be regular Pirate Yellow? Topps sure seems to love these unknown Pirates, considering they are enshrining them in baseball card history by giving them a checklist spot in The Topps Baseball set, my Gold Standard of baseball information, though I find myself ever more often wondering about that concept.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Not all Rookie Card cards can be Home Runs, even when they sorta come close like that last card. I have been slightly stacking this little deck of cards by showing all the hitters, which is because even the most rock solid young Pitchers can make an Opening Day starting rotation but not today's Box Score. So let's move on to the guys who start each & every "play" in the game of Baseball:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF2tUGARdr-dIL3l7zwwUOM3dzuuK5_iU_n3s0Gb91ExxAzO9ZsftFah_QkdA7ClZGUR6JRdbJ1l0GFWX0kpKMCZ5Pt_YE6Aj_Sqr9j6LL6VcMqezOixIonuEeRZiJrGuHzSaw8PFbAyeW7NutmxWe3FdIFxvTA5BvXqG9Xa4IimB23C9PrirPAzg/s2101/Ashcraft.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2101" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF2tUGARdr-dIL3l7zwwUOM3dzuuK5_iU_n3s0Gb91ExxAzO9ZsftFah_QkdA7ClZGUR6JRdbJ1l0GFWX0kpKMCZ5Pt_YE6Aj_Sqr9j6LL6VcMqezOixIonuEeRZiJrGuHzSaw8PFbAyeW7NutmxWe3FdIFxvTA5BvXqG9Xa4IimB23C9PrirPAzg/s320/Ashcraft.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Did he make the team? Yes. </b>I already knew from my numerous Rookie Card inserts last year who would be starting for Cincinnati today: Hunter Greene, recipient of much Topps love in 2022. I cheated and went to non-baseball card resources to confirm what this card suggests; 19 starts last year for Ashcraft, a very solid total for a Rookie. And quite a solid Reds Rookie Card card with Mr. Redlegs making an appearance, the requisite blurry red seats in Cincinnati, and a straight fantastic look at their official Team Socks. This one is likely to make the page I have showing off the best examples of each. Great set of lines on this card and a nice photograph obviously catching the live baseball game focus of Ashcraft. Who was that guy that was just complaining about this 2023 Topps Baseball design a paragraph back? I do love those empty seat cards Pitchers tend to get, and all the surreality that can go on behind them:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh27MPtzanFN19troxWqRz6h38VZwHClXlfQoJ1hB4I3Uti6RNRIWpyYl4Had4fQjKiBLGyQthC7v2_nkaqgbZIqomLcocAvrZlO9IUCeDpyBFt3ga_cloxxmMX36I4OGp6KR1NLPFJFaL_EERlGaI1o4yOkuGCoodnVLCSh7CdyD1T1RjMrfReMTI/s2100/Hughes.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh27MPtzanFN19troxWqRz6h38VZwHClXlfQoJ1hB4I3Uti6RNRIWpyYl4Had4fQjKiBLGyQthC7v2_nkaqgbZIqomLcocAvrZlO9IUCeDpyBFt3ga_cloxxmMX36I4OGp6KR1NLPFJFaL_EERlGaI1o4yOkuGCoodnVLCSh7CdyD1T1RjMrfReMTI/s320/Hughes.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Did he make the team? Sort of - 40 Man roster. </b>I like several things about this card. The uniform. The multi-color pastiche behind Hughes. The bright green grass and more horizontal-than-vertical lighting telling me this is a Night Card. Which is more intriguing because I have no idea what this Cubs uniform is. A Night Card from Wrigley? Throwback? New? Home? Away? The cap is obliterated by the stadium lights. Such a mystery. I will need more baseball cards to see something new (or old) for the Cubs, a very old baseball club. I will be watching.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I also like that this card exists - Hughes pitched 57 Innings out of the bullpen last year, and that is an accomplishment definitely worth a Rookie Card. Something I fret about when I pull Rookie Card cards like those very marginal Pirates cards. Relievers are baseball players too, even though they are far and away the most unpopular position on the roster. Only the Closer gets much appreciation from the fans, and only the near perfectly successful Closers on the level of Mariano get unrequited love. All other relievers can only lose the game for Their Team, in the minds of most fans. The Manager should have never changed the Pitcher, so obvious. Managers are always so dumb. They change the Pitcher and the team loses the game. No one wants Manager cards either.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I also like that Hughes is a Michigan born player. This will give me something to follow when the Cubs<>Tigers games appear sometime this year. The head shot on this one also appears not-posed, which is a good thing in this set. The Cubs routinely get great baseball cards. All that red, white, and blue - man I'm ready for some Apple Pie now. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">However I still have no idea why Hughes didn't make the 26 Man roster; baseball cards can't explain all baseball news of course. I still need those basic who-are-these-guys deets, particularly down on the South Side -<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcu4LJyyNXGeWxfCxBI9gDkg3WqYAOraqfEQ7HfFDDqcECq8UwWatIWIoWnBFK7AdaSlTEQNGGjbB2fOmuBwe7mqNGGZVFzHc0gJgifrx2nIbQM66z9QQdT8Ag-mybR4Evrz1g-uC576aWHO35_gsAryL6DYE9GBzohV-QdKGZ3subBisTpSJBwKY/s2096/Martin.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2096" data-original-width="1496" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcu4LJyyNXGeWxfCxBI9gDkg3WqYAOraqfEQ7HfFDDqcECq8UwWatIWIoWnBFK7AdaSlTEQNGGjbB2fOmuBwe7mqNGGZVFzHc0gJgifrx2nIbQM66z9QQdT8Ag-mybR4Evrz1g-uC576aWHO35_gsAryL6DYE9GBzohV-QdKGZ3subBisTpSJBwKY/s320/Martin.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Did he make the team? </b><b>Sort of - 40 Man roster. </b>I count that as a quasi-yes because I feel sure there will be some Rookie Card cards in my packs this year featuring a player no longer on a 40 Man roster, if I were to investigate each one. Martin is a young work-in-progress Starter for the White Sox; I suppose 14 games last year, mostly Starts, is every bit as Rookie Card worthy as the Beau Briskie card for the Tigers. Both of their careers could go either way right now. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I would note that this card also features a non-posed image for the head shot, but that doesn't work on this card as it seems to clearly use a live game image with a classic bit of "Pitcher's Face" so familiar from action image Topps Baseball Cards for decades now. These are not always complimentary for the subject. A strong image line flow from the glove to the baseball fortunately keeps one's gaze away from the weird mess that the bottom of 2023 Topps can distract the viewer into sometimes. The image reminds me of a Quarterback about to launch a Bomb way downfield though, which is weird. The dirt on the mound also adds to the weirdness here. Sorry, Davis, Rookies deserve better. Let's see if the Sun might come back out -<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmh5DNkFZtNj4suCWRY1rdrmkjPmtAhXDLVt7nfDdzYYhhZy5S0DxHHlMjyvUOS-qrfRyz614EZs0kl-whvpuPLHXU7uQj3JM2G5_N23inwyG7bTu_uA5RSC5IZhSXnkcf-JViyEB1-mUnM3A2Oj96AXiBhsCld0PMCxkgIGTDZ6UKaDMaxYUp-gw/s2102/Winckowski.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2102" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmh5DNkFZtNj4suCWRY1rdrmkjPmtAhXDLVt7nfDdzYYhhZy5S0DxHHlMjyvUOS-qrfRyz614EZs0kl-whvpuPLHXU7uQj3JM2G5_N23inwyG7bTu_uA5RSC5IZhSXnkcf-JViyEB1-mUnM3A2Oj96AXiBhsCld0PMCxkgIGTDZ6UKaDMaxYUp-gw/s320/Winckowski.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Did he make the team? Yes. And the Box Score. </b>Although the back of the card seems to indicate Winckowski came up as a not-all-that-succesful-Rookie-Starter last year (probably more of those workings of modern Pitching for the Red Sox last year, too, I guess), today he threw a respectable inning out of the bullpen in Boston. But since the home team was already behind and indeed lost the game, few will remember that and my hunch is Josh Winckowski will pitch a good amount this year, but likely won't be seen on baseball cards again until 2024 Update, maybe.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I do always like the cards with the solid color Alternate Uniforms though I will never understand Topps strange desire to use just bits and pieces of team logos. This is another one where the solid photo selection and cheerful head shot create a nifty baseball card for me to follow the game of baseball with. I know well I will be soaking up another stack of these things, soon...</div><br /></div><br /></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /></div></div></div></div></div></div><br /></div><br /></div></div><br /></div><br /></div><br /><p></p>BaseSetCallinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05508114484929386332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7573896101004946985.post-26711262375766367272023-02-23T00:55:00.005-05:002023-02-23T01:15:10.538-05:00Staying on the train too long<p>I am still wrapping up some 2022 products but also still waiting for one - haven't bought any Stadium Club yet. I'm waiting for a "Sale" - i.e. a discount. The Big Box store where I live usually does a Buy One, Get One 50% off deal on sports cards one time in the winter, making them essentially 25% off. Stadium Club is now only available in blaster boxes, which are $30 at my only local baseball card source — that's about 80¢ per card just to get, I dunno, 30 base base cards since SC parallels and inserts are generally useless to me. That then makes each card I <i><b>might</b></i> keep cost a solid ONE DOLLAR, each, since most of the parallels and inserts won't be salable, either.</p><p>Nevertheless when the BOGO-50% sale on trading cards does arrive I will check out 2022 Stadium Club and hope to pull card #1 - the Shohei Ohtani card I already know I want. And I do like knowing I have that lottery ticket chance at hitting a card worth money, by buying sealed packs. But more importantly, I like acquiring some of my baseball cards randomly - let's-see-what-the-pack-delivers, rather than always deliberately shopping for them, singly.</p><p>So I am still on the Stadium Club train, when the cheaper tickets finally arrive, at least. But one product I am no longer on-board with has some similarities to SC in the useless parallels arriving with usually still appealing cards I want to keep. That product is Topps Gallery.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIKJs_V_-7AdcJy67AJbwT3DY66cJp0s2n6xWVRMGF3uygTpdtRISJ1Qu8tda8fzCZz1G9Kw68xKks4OBqqPy41_D8ymShreOilWMbkcaVaUpBcsrdjEb4SJBPqJscDfl5X2IVQbAIYO2X5lxgZxbQY4PTCZwnt4q0k-eANqDvsz9PV9K6GkkliXM/s2088/Clemente.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2088" data-original-width="1496" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIKJs_V_-7AdcJy67AJbwT3DY66cJp0s2n6xWVRMGF3uygTpdtRISJ1Qu8tda8fzCZz1G9Kw68xKks4OBqqPy41_D8ymShreOilWMbkcaVaUpBcsrdjEb4SJBPqJscDfl5X2IVQbAIYO2X5lxgZxbQY4PTCZwnt4q0k-eANqDvsz9PV9K6GkkliXM/s320/Clemente.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I have generally liked Topps Gallery ever since it's re-boot in 2017. I haven't liked it to set completion but one of those years, though I have always liked parts of each of those 5 sets enough to chip away at assembling those parts, and be happy with my purchases of retail baseball cards. I basically like this Roberto Clemente card here - I like the Pirates, Clemente is one of the most admirable figures in baseball history, I like photos shot at Shea Stadium, and I like baseball card photos from around the batting cage. And I like this clean, elegant design which is usually a hallmark of a Gallery release. One problem with this image in particular, however, is I already have a Clemente card using this same photo.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">My true disappointment with this card, however, is especially disappointing when I like the basic design/framing of the photo. That's because — it is a photograph. That is a complete change to this product, so I am hopping off this train, though that decision is (maybe?) one $30 blaster too late.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I don't think Gallery has been all that popular most years, and not all of it sells on the retail shelves when new, because a lot of collectors just don't like "Art Cards." But, I do. I don't like every Art Card or every artist that makes them for Topps; I doubt anyone is ever going to like every style of Art. But, I like some of them.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So I was quite disappointed with this simple key fact about Gallery this year. There are still other Art Cards out there of course, but very few of them are offered in a set format like Gallery was. Rather, they are produced in limited quantities and thus every card costs $5 each, and, up. I love baseball cards, but not to the extent that I can or will spend > $5 on a card all that often despite my basic desire to do so pretty darn frequently.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Last year, the main "like" I had in Gallery was an insert set, "Modern Artists," which was created from illustrations drawn by Josh Trout, who's work I have particularly enjoyed in this product. This insert continued in 2022 -</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjogF7Q_1dUdx6ZEDk42ngWmS3aBfSChKsMnEv_FwQ--16nuzs9TpVXZ98CI_kxIQgYXS-jinnPYQI3m0X80E3yiSC8QphE90FwJ98x-E9enVUDzXP4bFcV648yC7c0Q7Qw9rnuThQHTknUyWump_Cp_6482rxsU4FZ1AIXJqsSNjm-xev4LtzyqE8/s2098/Votto%20insert.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjogF7Q_1dUdx6ZEDk42ngWmS3aBfSChKsMnEv_FwQ--16nuzs9TpVXZ98CI_kxIQgYXS-jinnPYQI3m0X80E3yiSC8QphE90FwJ98x-E9enVUDzXP4bFcV648yC7c0Q7Qw9rnuThQHTknUyWump_Cp_6482rxsU4FZ1AIXJqsSNjm-xev4LtzyqE8/s320/Votto%20insert.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Art by Jason Drumheller</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This is, technically, artistic creation, but the art at hand is design work, not painting or drawing of Joey Votto - those are both photographs of Votto. These inserts also qualify as art because each of them are different, which is actually a basically quite interesting thing to do on the part of Topps. However seeing as Topps sends me more baseball card designs than I can even count already, I couldn't really get excited to collect 25, or even 9, individual card designs, even though many of them proved quite good when I scrolled through the other 24 examples. I -think- I would like to see this concept attempted again, but -maybe- it is a better one for the far more numerous Player Collectors, than a fit for my styles of collecting. I can't recall Topps ever issuing an insert run with a one-card, one-design composition.</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">With ever more and more baseball card products, I am quite content to just collect 9 copies of whatever it is and then enjoy. That is how I collect Stadium Club, and those parts of the last 5 years of Gallery that I have enjoyed. This year's Gallery did feature other baseball picture cards I quite liked and I felt I could almost assemble some page-mates for the Clemente card, like this one:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLJp9iQFSbbGHnVV5wDKXunKIPp13M53aKnkH7Ywy0iqXG-KxMtVAKyGEN3v8nGHeNJkKJ45P09RXYZdmL_o7O27GGuz-4M93e0-4fu--1o4Ap_4nA04kGEOS8LetJTWWFVxRQSS6Br-r2jONI2c4k6mCfUMNWr1UAeQthHW1CRqHorbXekUFbz1k/s2082/Musial.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2082" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLJp9iQFSbbGHnVV5wDKXunKIPp13M53aKnkH7Ywy0iqXG-KxMtVAKyGEN3v8nGHeNJkKJ45P09RXYZdmL_o7O27GGuz-4M93e0-4fu--1o4Ap_4nA04kGEOS8LetJTWWFVxRQSS6Br-r2jONI2c4k6mCfUMNWr1UAeQthHW1CRqHorbXekUFbz1k/s320/Musial.jpeg" width="230" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That would make a nice theme, 9 Hall of Famers on this simple elegant design, and I love that classic old Cardinals jersey there. But I feel that, probably, this Musial image is a repeat from other baseball cards, and I am certain some of the other HoFer's in the pack were repeats. So again the needle on my collecting Ouija board is moving towards dis-embark.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This same thought kept nagging at me, with each card I liked -</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaJ5ogHRho5JBI0EUlIH_JGN1oefuRGXD-6OTdcTCkSs9o16UY9FmZEXeAnBonivg55PxupKQkKXT0l803g0ChXAosUbNZFYN6rse2bTU6DJdObyAHABMJ_JYX9u9tidmtbl3Gq2uQNi6P44lNnMXTnvhVTDdyoUIZXyPbTbV8mfyjyDr1b1sZQh8/s2101/Castro%20RC.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2101" data-original-width="1499" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaJ5ogHRho5JBI0EUlIH_JGN1oefuRGXD-6OTdcTCkSs9o16UY9FmZEXeAnBonivg55PxupKQkKXT0l803g0ChXAosUbNZFYN6rse2bTU6DJdObyAHABMJ_JYX9u9tidmtbl3Gq2uQNi6P44lNnMXTnvhVTDdyoUIZXyPbTbV8mfyjyDr1b1sZQh8/s320/Castro%20RC.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Hmmm, 9 interesting Rookie Card cards from this chillax design might be nice. It will be an interesting new season to see if Pittsburgh finally has a core middle infield that doesn't have to be "churned," for the first time since Mercer & Harris. So I was glad to pull another Rodolfo Castro RC, and I will be keeping this one on a page, somehow. But one thing Gallery does, just like Stadium Club, is it makes assembling like cards of cards I like into a process I don't like, because...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsFcoC567126pzxVMoA_XUiP1w_EECfSCzx3mGdZMN4xHHC-g6ovdveN7Er9RZLMOqaVGx1btpcxYHsMA_my7zjxnZ_V52ekmYg14pf40_76QHG0iPXR8UQ1CdPLC7QXt_TodNCKp4TfvR15pPFaTBGPmCyv8UQRZNHdVLFnG-TzxYlqLcQARAMaA/s2092/Wander%20proof.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2092" data-original-width="1502" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsFcoC567126pzxVMoA_XUiP1w_EECfSCzx3mGdZMN4xHHC-g6ovdveN7Er9RZLMOqaVGx1btpcxYHsMA_my7zjxnZ_V52ekmYg14pf40_76QHG0iPXR8UQ1CdPLC7QXt_TodNCKp4TfvR15pPFaTBGPmCyv8UQRZNHdVLFnG-TzxYlqLcQARAMaA/s320/Wander%20proof.jpeg" width="230" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">These I don't like.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I like colorful parallels, usually. But stamped parallels? And even though I quite like that perfect, full image of the Ray shoulder patch, something I do collect, I would not add this otherwise perfectly acceptable Wander Franco RC to a page with the Rodolfo Castro RC. I am not actually at all OCD in life, I just pretend like I am on a baseball card blog. But for whatever reason, I just can't add not-like cards together, even when I like them. Probably, the Wander RC will make it onto my page of good Rays shoulder patch cards, though that is approaching the magic number, 9, and it may finally be time for a count-down post to see which of 10 cards doesn't make the cut. </div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Again and again I faced this same decision with this $30 stack of baseball cards, as here:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim05XFiOEddO_ECXIfvDwS7u45Jqm6dZbVjdrvy427HbhbkO_of5bOlY1maIjNpoN0uyKkr50-Ok1xHfsZqPoXLSAppqCVC6RL6C2xd6eru8T6iIx4bgv7NREm-CaUUHJs4KO0JHQ498TOZ4AwlIA768_7B18LarDY-rB3sLV5iEOx6f-Zxkj3EFU/s2098/Roansy.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1482" data-original-width="2098" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim05XFiOEddO_ECXIfvDwS7u45Jqm6dZbVjdrvy427HbhbkO_of5bOlY1maIjNpoN0uyKkr50-Ok1xHfsZqPoXLSAppqCVC6RL6C2xd6eru8T6iIx4bgv7NREm-CaUUHJs4KO0JHQ498TOZ4AwlIA768_7B18LarDY-rB3sLV5iEOx6f-Zxkj3EFU/s320/Roansy.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Another great card. Another intriguing Pirates Rookie to follow in the coming season. I always like what I call "Empty Seat" cards, and keep most of them. There aren't all that many such cards in a horizontal format, so that's where I hope this card will anchor a binder page, someday, but that is going to take a while to collect. My new all horizontal binder is taking shape nicely and I am already quite looking forward to a mid-winter, early-Spring-Training morning some years in the future when I sit down with a cup of coffee and start slowly paging though it. I will kind of wish this next card is in there...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUtN9gBrisH9HUcm1VSAjlzUz8_W5EkzDfIYJsjIsQQz4meTL6Rk0UYT-UugY3jJy9rvr6zBl1MV5DIYmf7n1nvdjioudS8B1MC2DEduuoLrOcDrXliOhYOCJgiw54NHEzP0O8yShcVfhEPVwBDqv1Oa_DG07oqjn5KKmdAyrgtMpRvAmU9R0Vrj0/s2096/Freeman.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1490" data-original-width="2096" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUtN9gBrisH9HUcm1VSAjlzUz8_W5EkzDfIYJsjIsQQz4meTL6Rk0UYT-UugY3jJy9rvr6zBl1MV5DIYmf7n1nvdjioudS8B1MC2DEduuoLrOcDrXliOhYOCJgiw54NHEzP0O8yShcVfhEPVwBDqv1Oa_DG07oqjn5KKmdAyrgtMpRvAmU9R0Vrj0/s320/Freeman.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That shows off another feature I have liked in Gallery - it arrives late in the season, and functions as good basic "Update" set for at least a few players every year. In fact this year it appeared earlier than ever, before Update even. This is one of Freeman's first Dodger cards, and is another very good baseball card. I was pleased to read that Night Owl needs this one the other day, so I hope it is still on his want list so I can give it a good home.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It would have gone very well with this next card -</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhby6FwvgJ9PuOuWYOAv4KC8aZX90yDbB1Bb_PCNwJzV7JLEZoKhBl2JUOgPXz5_67OXs0-QqhqZgjaE2ZJpo7xT5H47vqHswCSon2xCNyjhNCrefJS9rQ0pkVmptFpU91r0TLTKeY1P2XpdMqHIyHdo69KFzMIx_cw8N6LZJAKAVHsEcwGYPBJF1g/s2102/Salvador.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1494" data-original-width="2102" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhby6FwvgJ9PuOuWYOAv4KC8aZX90yDbB1Bb_PCNwJzV7JLEZoKhBl2JUOgPXz5_67OXs0-QqhqZgjaE2ZJpo7xT5H47vqHswCSon2xCNyjhNCrefJS9rQ0pkVmptFpU91r0TLTKeY1P2XpdMqHIyHdo69KFzMIx_cw8N6LZJAKAVHsEcwGYPBJF1g/s320/Salvador.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">- which is a fun card of a player I do collect. As with the Roansy Contreras card, I am hoping it can help make progress on an assemblage of 9 horizontal cards for 'Salvy' but I think that might be quite an uphill challenge to assemble 9 horizontals of a single player.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I did go into a bit of a 'cheat mode' and checked out my potential for finding 9 good horizontals from 2022 Gallery, but they were scarce in the checklist over all. Which is something I increasingly don't understand on the part of Topps - MUST every checklist include both vertical and horizontal cards together? The horizontals are frequently such a small component of a set that they feel like the tow-headed step-child fairly often, even though many horizontals are great baseball cards.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">My search for possible horizontal page-mates for the previous 3 cards revealed this card to me:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAspNjjmL4JAFQXR9a9r6V1PEWSCXvDi4U2f9nCEj7Wr6CxfF4TP_xbcFt08Q5FwZjfBDYKHtqJ1rRzoR_nYsiK3XuAZaugWwpTI3rBmhK2VHV70bd_pt8Qy3bO0LhQmUPTtx4eU-PjcS9_Qie1yB4aZFWElCeRWSCS-Aw0TIJFNpyC68GoiV3Vjs/s1000/329338-19624127Fr.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="712" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAspNjjmL4JAFQXR9a9r6V1PEWSCXvDi4U2f9nCEj7Wr6CxfF4TP_xbcFt08Q5FwZjfBDYKHtqJ1rRzoR_nYsiK3XuAZaugWwpTI3rBmhK2VHV70bd_pt8Qy3bO0LhQmUPTtx4eU-PjcS9_Qie1yB4aZFWElCeRWSCS-Aw0TIJFNpyC68GoiV3Vjs/s320/329338-19624127Fr.jpg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Which just basically infuriated me all over again, as this is now the 3rd product I have discovered using this same exact fake backdrop, as in a recent post <a href="https://basesetcalling.blogspot.com/2023/01/shallow-fakes.html">about this specific image.</a> There are other backdrops like this, in other sets, and in this 2022 Gallery release as well. Quite a fall-down from a set that started out proud to use original art — I stayed on this train, too long. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">If I discover this image again in 2023 Heritage soon, which I feel is likely, my unconditional love of Topps products will become ever more conditional. Which means I will simply buy less of these fake baseball picture cards. The last thing I want from my curated collection of these images from a sport I love to follow is a reminder of our ever increasingly fake world. I am often quite thankful I work outdoors, where nothing is fake.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Unfortunately, the "Modern Artists" insert up there was the only insert example I pulled from my blaster; there are 3 other inserts in this. One of them, "Portrait Gallery," does feature original illustrations (i.e. color pencil work) by Dan Bergren, a long-time Gallery contributor who's work I also quite like and am collecting from other years of this product. I wish I had found one in my only purchase of this product as it would have cheered me up and possibly leaned me into trying to stay on the train. But as it stands I know I am just not up for spending > $50 or so just to assemble the 20 card checklist of his quite pleasing baseball art, mostly because his assigned checklist naturally includes all of the "Hot Rookies" of 2022, forcing up the price to see the art. Because, Rookies. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I also wish I could summon the priorities to spend $20 on just 9 examples of his drawings, but I already spent > $20 hoping to find such examples, sigh. I did find a minor victory under the scratch-off box on my $30 lottery ticket however:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT5zgieeSx7T7rl94x97CzjYR23J3G7kGPjOusVACfMSxJv7xQciAtGxjiYxkhU_YQM-9koxi9_L2YC04CnmaMq8i0He6eSJ90tncF3G7NCi5TT6Y0bGiiulxNzP4QDXT2fMjbOvFTZK5SRDl4k2YKX5R1EdfLRix-XKJkpYZPLEsJ7QX97m0s49A/s2100/Verlander.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT5zgieeSx7T7rl94x97CzjYR23J3G7kGPjOusVACfMSxJv7xQciAtGxjiYxkhU_YQM-9koxi9_L2YC04CnmaMq8i0He6eSJ90tncF3G7NCi5TT6Y0bGiiulxNzP4QDXT2fMjbOvFTZK5SRDl4k2YKX5R1EdfLRix-XKJkpYZPLEsJ7QX97m0s49A/s320/Verlander.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That's a /99 parallel for which I can probably receive $1.50 or so after fees, etc., when it someday arrives at COMC. I bought the ticket and took the ride. There is no escape from the concept; though bloggers and other collector-commentators elsewhere (including me) permanently whine about parallels and Rookie Card cards, I do perfectly understand why they are in products. Which is because the vast majority of collectors absolutely require that a package of baseball cards gives them something of "value" - something worth money - so every package must include something besides just boring old base cards. So Topps gives the customers what they want, as with this Verlander parallel. It is a distinct minority that just want baseball cards even when they aren't worth money later.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Despite my disappointment with 2022 Gallery in a general sense, I did receive some true "keeper" baseball cards that I will enjoy in years to come, so my $25 spent (after considering JV + Wander RC = $5 or so) did get me a few cards. One of them, I will have zero trouble assigning a home for, as it will live in my Tigers binder -</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw7o-KeMBY-oNmEsCOYkApvb92cLFh1yx_kscOxVTHNU1kJwKt7soWqiYbxOLeO_yecsW_sDH4WSTqLOi19xa5diUthQ1km11KRQQEVclSvvHlK8MzwQP7vPO_BCZmOxnx6M5bLI1K8TZ4AXitanAe1qsp8qd-PbwzMGDMzSk0O6AP_HcwGcD2XQI/s2100/Vierling.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1502" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw7o-KeMBY-oNmEsCOYkApvb92cLFh1yx_kscOxVTHNU1kJwKt7soWqiYbxOLeO_yecsW_sDH4WSTqLOi19xa5diUthQ1km11KRQQEVclSvvHlK8MzwQP7vPO_BCZmOxnx6M5bLI1K8TZ4AXitanAe1qsp8qd-PbwzMGDMzSk0O6AP_HcwGcD2XQI/s320/Vierling.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That's a brand new Detroit Tiger who greatly improved the value of this particular blaster of baseball cards, for me, when the new Tigers GM sensibly traded away his best Reliever, Gregory Soto, for a pair of basically Major-League-ready young players and one extra scratch-off ticket prospect. You don't need a bullpen when you don't have an offense, and it is the first Tigers trade in a long time that didn't involve simply dumping a "rental" contract with just 2 months to run. So that was a nice puff of comforting warm air near the Hot Stove a couple months back, a rare feeling for a Tigers fan.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I'm not sure I would have ever deliberately purchased this card though I will be naturally finding Vierling's regular RC in the Topps Baseball set at some collecting point. This is what I meant by the simple joy of assembling a baseball card collection, randomly. The Tiger's first Spring Training game is just a few days away as I write up this post, and Vierling will likely get his first Tigers At Bat, kinda-sorta. And I have his Rookie Card, ready to go. </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /></div>BaseSetCallinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05508114484929386332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7573896101004946985.post-89842878982162205452023-02-17T00:52:00.003-05:002023-02-17T01:02:43.748-05:00It's THAT day again!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNvGtWdSS7NRy3vjDAP0B07EPMRgc99KW8oSy2UYwz2lDcQ9nmWY4bdfgGprP623DNYtZ3UKHcobHNzzOWDmBYzdwZfuCRrgCxFyeU-Ysl7SZwvQ0eQgEw4nPN7TVL3e7AKsgmno2vyuozc_axnEm4BIJ53CBby5hJsZp7oFPSprZAl-x8mA4kboY/s2874/wrapper.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2874" data-original-width="1751" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNvGtWdSS7NRy3vjDAP0B07EPMRgc99KW8oSy2UYwz2lDcQ9nmWY4bdfgGprP623DNYtZ3UKHcobHNzzOWDmBYzdwZfuCRrgCxFyeU-Ysl7SZwvQ0eQgEw4nPN7TVL3e7AKsgmno2vyuozc_axnEm4BIJ53CBby5hJsZp7oFPSprZAl-x8mA4kboY/s320/wrapper.jpeg" width="195" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Pitchers & Catchers? Nope. New Baseball Cards!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Let's take a look:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlUenNV5mN7z7rjCh4q1h7jAq6fFdCIFJMWC7XTE_kuo3J1goZ_MWlNew-6veWB6W1oh0hhpClCeWzQatVzNcHKou4yyiHfaRtUUHqh11Nb9LqYc7XyXraNn2BBWVgIi4YLXXl7HUyMyRQEQlVK2APUnLW3UKYBfV2DeIYFE3Rj8EiXIOMi6CWYhw/s2102/Langeliers%20back.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1498" data-original-width="2102" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlUenNV5mN7z7rjCh4q1h7jAq6fFdCIFJMWC7XTE_kuo3J1goZ_MWlNew-6veWB6W1oh0hhpClCeWzQatVzNcHKou4yyiHfaRtUUHqh11Nb9LqYc7XyXraNn2BBWVgIi4YLXXl7HUyMyRQEQlVK2APUnLW3UKYBfV2DeIYFE3Rj8EiXIOMi6CWYhw/w640-h456/Langeliers%20back.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Wot?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That's my First Card this year, I think. It is definitely how I saw it, first. The cards in each pack arrived in a stack with the back facing outward - on both sides of the stack.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I am mostly positive this is the card that was on "top" of the pack - i.e. right there underneath Julio Rodriguez' massive forearm.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So, let's ponder the back first, since Topps kind of forced me to. This card back is highly functional. I quite like there being at least some of the text printed white-on-team color rather than black-on-white, so the vitals there are easy to read. Every other box is checked - team logo, player position, clean readable card # there in the corner. And, as far as I can tell, so far - all the card backs align the same way, with none flipped around. Hooray! It's the little things, the itty-bitty things. Let's never find cards with flipped backs ever again, please?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I don't quite understand why Topps continues to print the Twitter and Instagram symbols after they quit printing the players' Social Media names some years ago now. Will anyone forget @Topps if they don't print it on every card? But that's a terribly minor quibble. Let's flip this puppy over:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3We2GunhSp-pDr6iF8TMx6V3qpIBAnbQ0ee-9JwQ_RoLUbMWvKjuRqDeq0ZeUoYgBjBfI6oidePxoZOdewXBYlK01bwIJkxEKlKln6alL1swnYggEgBx7Xn5LJjFQeDFFr-r-MG5253oysPK6t2lxnmkRP0agsMFt2ongCXgHqwuSBJTJTsJtzTY/s2100/Langeliers.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3We2GunhSp-pDr6iF8TMx6V3qpIBAnbQ0ee-9JwQ_RoLUbMWvKjuRqDeq0ZeUoYgBjBfI6oidePxoZOdewXBYlK01bwIJkxEKlKln6alL1swnYggEgBx7Xn5LJjFQeDFFr-r-MG5253oysPK6t2lxnmkRP0agsMFt2ongCXgHqwuSBJTJTsJtzTY/s320/Langeliers.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">And we're off into a new season!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And like pretty much every First Card I can remember for quite a while now, my first thought is: Who IS this guy? But that's — OK. This is why I buy baseball cards. Surely this must be Oakland's proposed replacement for their excellent Catcher from last year, who they traded away, naturally, as is the order of things in Major League Baseball. The card back text up there even explains the deal when they traded away their excellent First Baseman last year, as is the order of things in MLB. It also notes he was a First Rounder for the Braves, so hope, and baseball cards, springs eternal, much like my First Card last year. Plus he wears cool socks.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">My second thought is: 1983, right on schedule. This pure head-shot is even better than 1983, or 1963, or 2003. I like.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I can read the player name, a solid plus. I shouldn't even have to type that sentence, but after 2021...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">....and after 2016 - did Topps learn nothing by obscuring half of the Team Logo? I don't get this. MLB Team Logos are solid pieces of graphic design that work best when presented in their entirety. An odd thing about them is they are often quite good at making other design elements near them look much more, hmmm, not-as-pro. Meanwhile they are so famous that even partially obscuring them still enables them to impart information, so no one needs to figure out the team name, which is good because this year that suffers from an outbreak of <span style="font-size: xx-small;">teeny-tinyness </span>for, well, who knows why? Maybe Topps just resents being required to print the team name or something, I dunno.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I quite like the stars in 2 corners of the card, though they could easily be bigger, and bolder. Every MLB player is a star, really, to have reached the top level of their profession and appear on a Topps Baseball card. I also quite like the team color border. Though there again, I would go bigger and bolder, if I were in charge. More color = more better. I do like white border cards though. Clean, usually.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Topps also seems to be saying, hey, let's not forget 2020 & 2021 too fast now kids. Everyone likes a good parallelogram, right? I mean there's a word everyone thinks they won't need to ever use again once they graduate from 6th grade. Who remembers parallelograms? Topps remembers. So they just randomly add one to the bottom of the card, because, I guess, they can. Which always seems to explain a lot of graphics elements on Topps cards of the 2020s. And I guess this way the professional graders can just measure that bottom grey parallelogram to get the official T-B centering grade just exactly perfect.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And why don't all those parallelograms align out there on their right ends, like the left ends do? That whole area of the card is leading my eyes around in sort of a circle, but not, that ends in ... a triangle?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">What does a triangle have to do with the game of baseball? It sure seems important considering how my gaze so easily ends up resting on it. At least the Positional element features Home Plate to remind me of the game of baseball. And I can read the Position this year. Hooray! It's the little things. That triangle though - I'm trying to think of any sport that uses a triangle, for anything, really, but I'm just not placing it. Baseball does use a diamond, which is kind of like 2 triangles after all, so, there's always next year for that idea, hint, hint. Maybe - Moto-Cross? Is there going to be a collision in the right corner of the card? I'm still going around in angular circles, whatever those are, or whatever is happening down there.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Overall, another not-so-cleanly effort this year. Functionality is good, but distraction is bad. Stars are good though, so I will give this one ☆☆☆✰ out of ☆☆☆☆☆. Conveying thought with graphics is hard - that's a 3.5 on a 5 scale. Last year I used a school grade for this, but I changed my mind on that as the baseball card season went along, but that's another post for another Night.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As they say, these baseball card designs always grow on you, and it's a long, long way till Update uses this design with who knows how many other products this year — baseball cards are a marathon, not a race. Let's get out past the starting block:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh64QQGwhHkSy6-xriXkzfK8l8r4U1FXdzCLwGvHVR5bZZDDxzWzsvNflQatFuEhOzxsAzFSNWS_8dW8KS_cyq8_l1W5ijp_bushDn0PPfL9EmgIT8YcOkUG2tyZFQFJ46ZLDw7p1oBMZUOg5bjupEBVR3ZMXqVuJOdzOP47zdog2vIEFqhEDvo1AY/s2096/Mullins.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2096" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh64QQGwhHkSy6-xriXkzfK8l8r4U1FXdzCLwGvHVR5bZZDDxzWzsvNflQatFuEhOzxsAzFSNWS_8dW8KS_cyq8_l1W5ijp_bushDn0PPfL9EmgIT8YcOkUG2tyZFQFJ46ZLDw7p1oBMZUOg5bjupEBVR3ZMXqVuJOdzOP47zdog2vIEFqhEDvo1AY/s320/Mullins.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Cedric Mullins was my Second Card last year, too. That worked out pretty good for the Birds. I'm quite starting to like Cedric Mullins, and that's just because of baseball cards.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The constricted Team Logo here delivers an interesting tidbit - I somehow forgot the cap the Oriole is wearing features an authentic script <i>O's </i>just like on their black Alternate caps they wear on about every 11th baseball card Topps issues for them. Neat.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Orange & Black are a great color combo for a baseball team and they look good on a baseball card, which is good, cuz -</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGiF6Bmngu2lODDtSqAQ7CNgsWbh-iJ7o618i-Lib2sKQBdYzPHlmC0UHkYVETPwNiapMr_3-RP03qYGLs4ib2NknIGpQgyHmsmmHpaMMMc2j8wSpM9PU72jWppEzvpu-asjOILN42_vYodf7JRb0zL8DVN_8kxcLGYp-3_bAuHbLdvwD3oKnwEfU/s2098/wood.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGiF6Bmngu2lODDtSqAQ7CNgsWbh-iJ7o618i-Lib2sKQBdYzPHlmC0UHkYVETPwNiapMr_3-RP03qYGLs4ib2NknIGpQgyHmsmmHpaMMMc2j8wSpM9PU72jWppEzvpu-asjOILN42_vYodf7JRb0zL8DVN_8kxcLGYp-3_bAuHbLdvwD3oKnwEfU/s320/wood.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I can never remember who this guy Pitches for until I get his new baseball card. Which is why I buy them. I just randomly hope he is still pitching for the Giants — a common question in Series One.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This card has well composed lines with the card design and image cropping. Looks like an overcast day at Candlestick, which seems right. And I always like a card which shows off a Pitcher's grip on the ball. Bonus point for first authentic smile.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The Giants Team Logo comes off OK here, plus it features a baseball, always a solid choice. But I have wondered for a long, long time - does Topps really use official Team Logos? Or do they just kind of randomly pick from the team's various graphics they display on their caps (not here) or, just how this works? Do MLB teams have an official Team Logo? </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I purchased some Hobby packs today, and these will feature 14 cards this year, so pondering the Team Logos and 2023 Topps and baseball card history will have to wait. Tomorrow, is another Night. And next up, we have -</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqK653CSrbjmGA5S5ub7YC1TyUIrj109bfUHLdEfU4YGNPFi4TsxvAyrwNP65dU2xOwymYLWX2Di27X_U3PC5FhK9OOFd-n9NvvHkAykrplaB2fVr1vc2E5e_D18GuEQvMm98jKRNKiHYoj-Tt0o4KTdGLR_ZYzFcFPleBbh0lrzbDciFIfzZ5SFc/s2098/Bride.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqK653CSrbjmGA5S5ub7YC1TyUIrj109bfUHLdEfU4YGNPFi4TsxvAyrwNP65dU2xOwymYLWX2Di27X_U3PC5FhK9OOFd-n9NvvHkAykrplaB2fVr1vc2E5e_D18GuEQvMm98jKRNKiHYoj-Tt0o4KTdGLR_ZYzFcFPleBbh0lrzbDciFIfzZ5SFc/s320/Bride.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Another A's Rookie!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Is this 2019 again? That year I pulled A's Rookie Card cards out of pack after pack of baseball cards, and now, none of them play for the A's any more.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This card has a great photo element, seen much more easily, in-hand - the Ray Fosse memorial patch. I miss him on A's broadcasts.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This card also has an odd photo element - Jonah's right hand, perfectly centered. It looks like the camera may have tuned the focus on that hand, rather than the rest of Jonah. Overall, it has a weird 3-D effect that is a bit spooky. Much like the Oakland A's season is looking to be yet again. Topps picked this 23rd round draft pick to play Third Base this year after a 0.1 WAR campaign last year but the A's went out and signed a couple other 3Ber's instead, which I think is the "R" part of the WAR stat, in action. Oops. At least I have another Rookie Card card! Hooray! Let's move on to...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCaGMsSOW02Ck6SFNrkT1Gg0bvlXXWchwN3AeOBRwvyqsRwRC6U1QCjPP3Z5Py1fVodFsP8Z_eHCSglkmk15o90JxWTKv5Rp6drEVTAXc3jX3z6fzeY3LfQ9h47VWd5YkNfalxpiGKrbYLoQThlTltxUza-OQpIugeCFaIm1nUqTOMLDOwtOU0fJo/s2100/Magill.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1502" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCaGMsSOW02Ck6SFNrkT1Gg0bvlXXWchwN3AeOBRwvyqsRwRC6U1QCjPP3Z5Py1fVodFsP8Z_eHCSglkmk15o90JxWTKv5Rp6drEVTAXc3jX3z6fzeY3LfQ9h47VWd5YkNfalxpiGKrbYLoQThlTltxUza-OQpIugeCFaIm1nUqTOMLDOwtOU0fJo/s320/Magill.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">A playoff team!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Another authentic smile. Human beings can discern that in photographs when they try.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This Team Logo fares just OK amidst the constricted design. Also, I don't know if that is an official Team Logo or just their long-time uniform shoulder patch. Some teams get the shoulder patch, some get the cap logo. At least the Mets patch/Logo features a Baseball, and team colors and an apropos bridge, and ... I just wish I could see the whole thing. Let's try again -<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirf2PD-9yapQ_cDHj-cuxinyw0-RxJYI37qJbBc8gKSHPCGKG4N5Bn3NH51cjHIoASURQuwJV0v-9KwhEtxYhGvX1HHW6uFw5JZj2Dh4gN9Jnqpmv6Ycwb0wUqHMwmCxUyZCP537nUz3cmo_jjt_nDK95rlcig0pDkYGBrYYzdpHO-CZbbQPdtQnA/s2098/Greene.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirf2PD-9yapQ_cDHj-cuxinyw0-RxJYI37qJbBc8gKSHPCGKG4N5Bn3NH51cjHIoASURQuwJV0v-9KwhEtxYhGvX1HHW6uFw5JZj2Dh4gN9Jnqpmv6Ycwb0wUqHMwmCxUyZCP537nUz3cmo_jjt_nDK95rlcig0pDkYGBrYYzdpHO-CZbbQPdtQnA/s320/Greene.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Bazinga!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">My very own favorite baseball team's very own hot Rookie Card card. Riley Greene could still turn out to be pretty darn good. Last year, he banged a Foul Ball into his foot during Spring Training or he would have been a starter on Opening Day. Ultimately, I think that might have worked out OK for him as it gave opposing teams less time to "write the book" on him - i.e. mine the data to figure out where the hole in his swing might be. This year he will have a new hitting coach, too, so the sky's the limit. I got my best possible Rookie Card in my first pack of baseball cards! We're gonna win 72 games this year! Hooray!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Let's just not ponder the sad fate of the olde English D Team Logo there however, quite a butchery, which is probably an olde English word. Nor look too long at sad Riley, who seems to have just banged a dribbler into the dirt, making a not so good omen for a Rookie Card — his first and only Rookie Card so far, even; should we maybe designate some cards as FRC for First Rookie Card? On this card, the 63/83/03/23 bonus picture comes through just in the nick of time. I like. However, it seems time for another authentic smile, maybe:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_2SW8z-V6S0MPM433eUgGVPZtqawgLHeBRwdEZrTRbnVr4g7StAd5NpezYnWPbpPehZG_TKM_H_z0fn8wOg-jAM8UClRcQ08f03FbiyRMdNV5vixmBWsO07SGCmiCpDpsHbUZqfxBQoV0glITM4PJUp38o9D7lIRSWrXckl10X4xKw1R4mSLosDc/s2100/Murphy.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_2SW8z-V6S0MPM433eUgGVPZtqawgLHeBRwdEZrTRbnVr4g7StAd5NpezYnWPbpPehZG_TKM_H_z0fn8wOg-jAM8UClRcQ08f03FbiyRMdNV5vixmBWsO07SGCmiCpDpsHbUZqfxBQoV0glITM4PJUp38o9D7lIRSWrXckl10X4xKw1R4mSLosDc/s320/Murphy.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Wot?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I just pulled the A's new Catcher as my very First Card. So I thought maybe Topps well knew Murphy would be long gone from the sad city by the other side of the Bay by now. I mean, they wouldn't issue a Rookie Card of a back-up Catcher in the Topps Baseball set, would they?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Oh well, Series One is always Series One in this regard. I like how this card shows off a clear view of the PitchCom device on Murphy's left fore-arm. I look forward to seeing it in even more of a close-up on more 2023 baseball cards. But I can't say I am looking forward to more Oakland A's baseball cards this year, cuz the AAAA teams are a bummer...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg53aSmeiTqTdvS-RQSZJzbejUBbJRh3DGXO88d7CN_tYXCJ604DuTRCoFS_j3bZs_XTgp8rHFFCNdGeOjI9G8dRQi5WkBxalFKYaOBOYFycv0jkSqzfz0j8SQCCbMBh9KS5QwJ-AHiFElV8UhIejLvu97c_1fETC86vvPElBGBaQEDzyAnqYJ-Mik/s2098/Lionier.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg53aSmeiTqTdvS-RQSZJzbejUBbJRh3DGXO88d7CN_tYXCJ604DuTRCoFS_j3bZs_XTgp8rHFFCNdGeOjI9G8dRQi5WkBxalFKYaOBOYFycv0jkSqzfz0j8SQCCbMBh9KS5QwJ-AHiFElV8UhIejLvu97c_1fETC86vvPElBGBaQEDzyAnqYJ-Mik/s320/Lionier.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">...speaking of which.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Last year I got bunches of cards of yet more Pittsburgh Pirate middle-infielder Rookie Card cards, which have been appearing in droves for years. And I thought those 2 guys, Rodolfo Castro and O'Neil Cruz, would likely "stick" at the positions. But maybe, Topps doesn't think so? The one thing this card assures me of, is that I will never know who works out of the Pirate's bullpen, because surely printing Rookie Card cards of AA players is more important. Maybe that actually is best for the AAAA league teams, so when they finally start to Star in The Show and move to a real, "big market" club, everyone can have cheap Rookie Cards of those players to track down.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">At least I got another cheerful sunny day baseball card, which was nice as yet another snowstorm rolled on to my baseball card mission today. And some cool shades. Let's just not think about that squashed letter "P" though, and see who's next:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXzLarCSNJ-5geNAShuY_G5I_y9qIPOlrlpebqM3BQ8Kz7DKZAVuI5e79tBO7qfD0coW_UKBik5SqpkAIUkoq7owPdFIOsoCTrhzgMll-5Z-sZ1DXC_12wPf_lJLctLGpoemkt-cEFf9zLKxllxOx7hfuMKS_TeHq060cWSKL8-OEQDv0agN3wqf4/s2098/Benintendi%20foil.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXzLarCSNJ-5geNAShuY_G5I_y9qIPOlrlpebqM3BQ8Kz7DKZAVuI5e79tBO7qfD0coW_UKBik5SqpkAIUkoq7owPdFIOsoCTrhzgMll-5Z-sZ1DXC_12wPf_lJLctLGpoemkt-cEFf9zLKxllxOx7hfuMKS_TeHq060cWSKL8-OEQDv0agN3wqf4/s320/Benintendi%20foil.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Ooohh, shiny.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This might be a year I keep more of the Foil cards than usual, I'm already thinking. The Foil version of 2023 Topps Baseball has a couple nice quirks - the 2 stars in the corner are filled in by the foil-ing, so they show up much better. Meanwhile, that weird triangle doesn't shine in the foil, making it easier to forget.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On this card, I quite like the grease spot on Benintendi's right leg - authentic. The Yankees Team Logo is a classic, somewhat like the Mets Logo we just saw but is one that does not appear on their uniforms outside of a few rare occasions (some All-Star Games). Also as with the Mets, it would look much better if it could be fully seen. The whole idea worked perfectly fine in 1985 Topps, so I'm failing to comprehend as I fall back, back towards 2016 Topps...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWrjcfG4u1tfOGJLJupCkj6DvJid92bEDOjWP5G0WZj04bFyUSpZ-_JP7P45O3nqVVjXzQ4dFtZQbgbvM7bkYaDBELp8srhV9vQbKfAyTasHjviWpgjoDqwlepLQg8PoDZywssrBEO6bKuurhv2ai2cI4gHgAl0JwTit_WAsI-LiZRbNRCbGZ_EwU/s2099/Singer.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2099" data-original-width="1501" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWrjcfG4u1tfOGJLJupCkj6DvJid92bEDOjWP5G0WZj04bFyUSpZ-_JP7P45O3nqVVjXzQ4dFtZQbgbvM7bkYaDBELp8srhV9vQbKfAyTasHjviWpgjoDqwlepLQg8PoDZywssrBEO6bKuurhv2ai2cI4gHgAl0JwTit_WAsI-LiZRbNRCbGZ_EwU/s320/Singer.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">sigh</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This card does feature fairly good composition of a Pitcher pitching and it shows off an odd trivia: the uniform # on the back of Singer's shoe. I can't recall ever seeing that on a baseball card. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Despite the solid image framing this would also have been a nice photo to crop in heavily on, as Singer is wearing a unique patch that you can only pick up by zooming in on a scan, from MLB's Lou Gehrig Day to support ALS research. Hopefully we will see this patch on some more cards with a more clear view, and I expect that will happen. I also wonder how many more Pitchers with shoes in the air can appear in one set of baseball cards -</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieDf_pzU6trvJUQortzSOdqmhOy3a7fKBjeVcXUL-JkxdqClvcOqYu8OUVq3j3QWTVYpX4hk70V5s6Eo5RwQ8hbsutyKKF2eUiT7TTkr7HbQ4lyXh4Q7iBRHrvUwc8DLzLNGex_VQruVHqdvNcdiegDcTRF183FOGEFjmYPC-UJjA21ifgX4Nn1Bs/s2100/Lugo.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieDf_pzU6trvJUQortzSOdqmhOy3a7fKBjeVcXUL-JkxdqClvcOqYu8OUVq3j3QWTVYpX4hk70V5s6Eo5RwQ8hbsutyKKF2eUiT7TTkr7HbQ4lyXh4Q7iBRHrvUwc8DLzLNGex_VQruVHqdvNcdiegDcTRF183FOGEFjmYPC-UJjA21ifgX4Nn1Bs/s320/Lugo.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That's 3 in one pack, surely a record. I will probably build a little pile of these to show off in the year 2025, when I get caught up on all my baseball card bloggling ideas. Maybe.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Lugo seems to have an authentically not authentic smile here, chez New York. Let's see where else this pack of cards can take me:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOXyOHxhJZArgr2YMR_gh8bKU_IAKw8zVzQvh3guzwlF8RjRQxCOF0zj11iSv4M6zYcYPE1X38LboqHhKhlqIePDvwk4D2IX0xY_zflag9LUXWNgaKKxkSh3X-BJcEHkfc3mq6vUd9h5Znd3opFkeggfQl_aGKPaZjPx87bPIhNbbE1hvGZfD3djI/s2098/Sanchez.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOXyOHxhJZArgr2YMR_gh8bKU_IAKw8zVzQvh3guzwlF8RjRQxCOF0zj11iSv4M6zYcYPE1X38LboqHhKhlqIePDvwk4D2IX0xY_zflag9LUXWNgaKKxkSh3X-BJcEHkfc3mq6vUd9h5Znd3opFkeggfQl_aGKPaZjPx87bPIhNbbE1hvGZfD3djI/s320/Sanchez.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Here at least the Marlin gets a solid on-card appearance, a graphic item often hard to discern on Miami baseball cards. It appears Topps isn't sure what the Marlins' secondary team color should be though, which is pretty much the same for the rest of us with this team that just can't quit fiddling with it's iconography anyway. I will like seeing the Fish right there on the front of the card for a change though, and it even looks like it's swimming around in the water giving the whole Team Logo some basic accuracy, somehow.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Mostly though that card just makes me hope that Sanchez' team-mate Sixto makes it back to the Bigs from a long injury rehab, because who doesn't want a baseball card with the name Sixto on it? </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And as I ponder that card more, I realize it is my first card with 2 smiles on it. I like base-running cards and this one is in the running for my favorite in this pack, even after my key Tigers RC find. Two contenders to go on that question...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIZEH64n7GgRsQV09lRFLOUwunk1m6zCIcTvGf5PL0Lt-QAX1vSJF_CoBDJZzBa69OuRdiPMknTVRN6r5fS6KZXQj6pndAh6zE5Z8b61WXu0Fg9f-O-FbfmD0xHPUK-rWtTDipYd2LZUouD1WqW50pd_kl5n9GEWRYdVfwa7QNUd3RchlRn2kfAJI/s2098/DeGrom.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1502" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIZEH64n7GgRsQV09lRFLOUwunk1m6zCIcTvGf5PL0Lt-QAX1vSJF_CoBDJZzBa69OuRdiPMknTVRN6r5fS6KZXQj6pndAh6zE5Z8b61WXu0Fg9f-O-FbfmD0xHPUK-rWtTDipYd2LZUouD1WqW50pd_kl5n9GEWRYdVfwa7QNUd3RchlRn2kfAJI/s320/DeGrom.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Solid baseball card.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Sunny day, great lines in the photo, nice smile. Even the little blue triangle is starting to feel OK on this one. I hope the photogs in Texas are able to get as many good shots of DeGrom as the ones in New York have over the last ten years of baseball cards. And, finally, a Star. Every pack of baseball cards needs a Star in it -</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO8vSYNYNApIYdnBmmeMfELACQo7UuLWXzio0jfXcvnN0o8DKmIbb-hKQMOHVYrQIPln3ogEH3AH8V8X5UyDY6eLV6Ks0Ueufk8K5JO3rx4Nevb-TFAIZwfMyeF_kpC5ddJWiM_6ngEpRkbPUcq1irSbWxYjuiDIAYqsrnOEm3wxTKBRuj-cfOYVA/s2100/Bellinger.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO8vSYNYNApIYdnBmmeMfELACQo7UuLWXzio0jfXcvnN0o8DKmIbb-hKQMOHVYrQIPln3ogEH3AH8V8X5UyDY6eLV6Ks0Ueufk8K5JO3rx4Nevb-TFAIZwfMyeF_kpC5ddJWiM_6ngEpRkbPUcq1irSbWxYjuiDIAYqsrnOEm3wxTKBRuj-cfOYVA/s320/Bellinger.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Even a potentially fading Star is OK. Because that is part of what baseball is all about - can this baseball player make it? Can he hit the next Pitch?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Betcha didn't know the Dodgers secondary team color was a faded pink though; the scan actually cleans that up in this regard as compared to in-hand. The Dodgers have another classic Team Logo never seen on their uniforms (that I can think of at least) that looked fantastic in 1985 when seen in full. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This year, 2016 + 2020 ≠ 1983 in it's clean, colorful simplicity.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Another extra sunny day on that Bellinger card, which makes 4 in this pack of 14 cards. Perhaps 2023 Topps Baseball will be a rather more sunlit set, as some sets are. This pack certainly prepped me for the first Spring Training broadcast, now just 8 days away, despite another extra white, cold day where I live. And ultimately regardless of who appears on a Topps Baseball card or how much the design moves me or repels me, I always enjoy the new baseball information the cards bring me, and the potential they represent. Thus for me, it's always sunny on Topps Baseball Cards.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>BaseSetCallinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05508114484929386332noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7573896101004946985.post-80038422177444133192023-01-18T02:45:00.002-05:002023-01-18T03:00:06.288-05:00Shallow Fakes<p>The genesis may have come from a photo shoot in the dramatic Spring Training of the dramatic year of 20, 20.</p><p>Cards from photographs taken in the Spring sometimes appear later that season, first in Archives -</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgp8FwbrgECJt1L4Wt0uQqkVd0mPqTSNL7_J1oPl83ohqXNCskuY4tpPbyB12N_mFsuRI2Fp-G7cH_AKN6HcpuGpZZAnim-l09wQGg_uQFADUdAMifhRujP90sq55NhGL4yoiFW8wU6bOUQAwO-Gxk3EVVZ7Q7iO922A36iM8zo209mgXq7cPdPtI/s350/20ArchivesLoganAllen.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="248" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgp8FwbrgECJt1L4Wt0uQqkVd0mPqTSNL7_J1oPl83ohqXNCskuY4tpPbyB12N_mFsuRI2Fp-G7cH_AKN6HcpuGpZZAnim-l09wQGg_uQFADUdAMifhRujP90sq55NhGL4yoiFW8wU6bOUQAwO-Gxk3EVVZ7Q7iO922A36iM8zo209mgXq7cPdPtI/s320/20ArchivesLoganAllen.jpg" width="227" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I like how Allen is standing in front of a shaded part of a "baseball field" but he is in bright sunshine.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh1g2f7gm0Wna7G0SzkvkLY2Zk0pUhhVupJL-CILAiT5cHXg_zX7qLSVohDRBy7HTLmWhOYw6yWkfHOMy0O5rJTrIKxNFYJic6WrHhopRDm0kbAK_lXV-Iv6sKTooaAXR4DnIZf2oRJRzSc8U29RHYjcIZcMiEbJYzIbSrfjY2-Lqe2oQi27crFbo/s1000/20ArchivesBobbyBradley.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="702" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh1g2f7gm0Wna7G0SzkvkLY2Zk0pUhhVupJL-CILAiT5cHXg_zX7qLSVohDRBy7HTLmWhOYw6yWkfHOMy0O5rJTrIKxNFYJic6WrHhopRDm0kbAK_lXV-Iv6sKTooaAXR4DnIZf2oRJRzSc8U29RHYjcIZcMiEbJYzIbSrfjY2-Lqe2oQi27crFbo/s320/20ArchivesBobbyBradley.jpg" width="225" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">They also might appear in Heritage High Numbers:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpGl8U8DOdwEJFReODXv3EGkAOVZkRftbTyPLg_xUmXfbAdBak2st-vVebDlXu9g-tiOVtvOMV1OMOpaULcDFcp5gipJjI--FuqbPyETi-dzOFobC8zjZVhfVUvgZ33KcmMPlZtb3iXwFXt49J-07AaMqKE7D8cGwXHePY3gs55HHVXcjg1ArfvvY/s1000/20HHNPuig.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="710" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpGl8U8DOdwEJFReODXv3EGkAOVZkRftbTyPLg_xUmXfbAdBak2st-vVebDlXu9g-tiOVtvOMV1OMOpaULcDFcp5gipJjI--FuqbPyETi-dzOFobC8zjZVhfVUvgZ33KcmMPlZtb3iXwFXt49J-07AaMqKE7D8cGwXHePY3gs55HHVXcjg1ArfvvY/s320/20HHNPuig.jpg" width="227" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I think this one might actually be from an image roster in MLB: The Show</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Now to be a tiny bit fair to Topps, cards in 2021 releases had to be made from photographs "supposedly" taken during the peak of the virus impacts, which pro sports had to take quite seriously.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">How that might have worked in Spring Training, 2021, I can no longer remember.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The results for the Cleveland ball club that arrived with 2021 Heritage High Numbers</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">however, are quite memorable when held altogether, and, simultaneously not memorable at all:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQjkZ3uu-u26zuNeoSW6kConLu2yN9vYFPJ8Q-xfWWCiEfzb-MKsvvs10zM2mUINaqkLsLBOAq9OmIRGhwq3WSfbb8-OjBcO0CyfvR9ZhJLLkq1UnVT-3MnS-yWehehUSZ11G9CUdTGv2SI_WggmmEkMluRZavEBk-jQ_0d6GqwgaV8PsFN5crGv0/s1000/21HHNPlesac701.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="704" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQjkZ3uu-u26zuNeoSW6kConLu2yN9vYFPJ8Q-xfWWCiEfzb-MKsvvs10zM2mUINaqkLsLBOAq9OmIRGhwq3WSfbb8-OjBcO0CyfvR9ZhJLLkq1UnVT-3MnS-yWehehUSZ11G9CUdTGv2SI_WggmmEkMluRZavEBk-jQ_0d6GqwgaV8PsFN5crGv0/s320/21HHNPlesac701.jpg" width="225" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLCTo3h2dDmhOGC5B9fjHyP0yIS3gkqw_naaPPDwFdISABqYzepRzhjDPsLQ56eqajKqeFRntF5y4tuKgcDFdfGPUTs_WJ2t7dBlu1rHqSkZMojFNH7xmK-y7cvh5WF300ng5_YWQ4AuuG7_XY2veGbyLSkXGQ3JN8-30NIcrtsQ-RgDDKLeqCYM0/s1000/21HHNGimenezRC569.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="707" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLCTo3h2dDmhOGC5B9fjHyP0yIS3gkqw_naaPPDwFdISABqYzepRzhjDPsLQ56eqajKqeFRntF5y4tuKgcDFdfGPUTs_WJ2t7dBlu1rHqSkZMojFNH7xmK-y7cvh5WF300ng5_YWQ4AuuG7_XY2veGbyLSkXGQ3JN8-30NIcrtsQ-RgDDKLeqCYM0/s320/21HHNGimenezRC569.jpg" width="226" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">That guy is pretty good, by the way.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">And that's his Rookie Card. $.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTnUztL8cWEqa2z_abBiWE4qn4mSH28LphZvWu9SD99OnHxQuPMYlaBAbI0akBCcQXt8yFwB0b-MEzgQ0wOe0LnxEUSDjH_GpL1FP5-_lXUFSRAx3kOX9yb83zZh--ISE2Ik9T9tdfzyQMRyozwipJ8vb4xLGMcaiz5Pn53N2BehU-ILL_OGboanc/s1000/21HHNLuplow614.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="700" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTnUztL8cWEqa2z_abBiWE4qn4mSH28LphZvWu9SD99OnHxQuPMYlaBAbI0akBCcQXt8yFwB0b-MEzgQ0wOe0LnxEUSDjH_GpL1FP5-_lXUFSRAx3kOX9yb83zZh--ISE2Ik9T9tdfzyQMRyozwipJ8vb4xLGMcaiz5Pn53N2BehU-ILL_OGboanc/s320/21HHNLuplow614.jpg" width="224" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW1ihpXEp3AG_DVfvj3jST--eLJ6Nz__kZN_V1EG1pBSwnxQ96RHzCBaSnSN_dBGsnpcKYMnYo5GR89W-t4MxTzCc25ZCWTNBrqi8a4gXFbJ-MQ0mud_ZkkO2kcK7quyGtTtsNZE4kJh3-kY-EtaKHhfC550SE9q2AgOSqwHDZmCmuditLdK8NXLs/s1000/21HHNJohnson719.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="702" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW1ihpXEp3AG_DVfvj3jST--eLJ6Nz__kZN_V1EG1pBSwnxQ96RHzCBaSnSN_dBGsnpcKYMnYo5GR89W-t4MxTzCc25ZCWTNBrqi8a4gXFbJ-MQ0mud_ZkkO2kcK7quyGtTtsNZE4kJh3-kY-EtaKHhfC550SE9q2AgOSqwHDZmCmuditLdK8NXLs/s320/21HHNJohnson719.jpg" width="225" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Good luck with the next two:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn4eiLAY2UNkGtkBWpc2KsJI5V3mN5Gxf64Vpwx6L18FFFqIl0zqPXMgeYAKcEdZ9mq-baYjRbFQlV4qb8sXgWwS5SlQCTYIpUhwRLtSvDZ4cByQY0VfKRrPioy17kmI4_enAcJwu6K-Ribgp8yfvaTkv3jbZqI_gzaqnKaK3xHyHqCUiyZ74H03s/s1000/21HHNRosario562.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="705" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn4eiLAY2UNkGtkBWpc2KsJI5V3mN5Gxf64Vpwx6L18FFFqIl0zqPXMgeYAKcEdZ9mq-baYjRbFQlV4qb8sXgWwS5SlQCTYIpUhwRLtSvDZ4cByQY0VfKRrPioy17kmI4_enAcJwu6K-Ribgp8yfvaTkv3jbZqI_gzaqnKaK3xHyHqCUiyZ74H03s/s320/21HHNRosario562.jpg" width="226" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWN6Zg9lnFACCIsUASri20ze79igb6lGnG9VPh9qR20OZ3eX2sNRtqqooFIwXPBKwdRxqITlLET8bQMRNRQgE86OuAOrW5lXUq-sP0f6c5Gd1WcpBfDmTELKrkG_cxvVf-3u01Sje6RHopi9xxWrH1AL0ZRoZUtN7aXIWegQC7PmfVwHReGNHN_18/s1000/21HHNAmedRosario683.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="705" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWN6Zg9lnFACCIsUASri20ze79igb6lGnG9VPh9qR20OZ3eX2sNRtqqooFIwXPBKwdRxqITlLET8bQMRNRQgE86OuAOrW5lXUq-sP0f6c5Gd1WcpBfDmTELKrkG_cxvVf-3u01Sje6RHopi9xxWrH1AL0ZRoZUtN7aXIWegQC7PmfVwHReGNHN_18/s320/21HHNAmedRosario683.jpg" width="226" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The next year, Plesac has so much Mojo, he brought the cool clouds back with him, too. But you probably already forgot you just saw a Plesac card:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk2QniSIyXgvlj4Osw5TJTZPdY96RnczmwpPevRq1uvD7appJEqaYmRO7dPArPufAgYEGu-mMIaLmV3J21UEvUe1_X-9b9URRxf5wcE-RmBUOa1yHm50qWdnY7tZcypGnIQWZIniuvuvTwvE9V8HtKAvEOCP4yakBje_3JZbXrwzMR8GPSdjx6-Ag/s1000/22HeritagePlesac240.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="708" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk2QniSIyXgvlj4Osw5TJTZPdY96RnczmwpPevRq1uvD7appJEqaYmRO7dPArPufAgYEGu-mMIaLmV3J21UEvUe1_X-9b9URRxf5wcE-RmBUOa1yHm50qWdnY7tZcypGnIQWZIniuvuvTwvE9V8HtKAvEOCP4yakBje_3JZbXrwzMR8GPSdjx6-Ag/s320/22HeritagePlesac240.jpg" width="227" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Hey guys, that looks epic back there, can I come over to visit?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuZ4goIkLdebTLekMt0lbKNh5qUL0Ee7MGKlKptjzAF0ZpPjVrYUKlOWrKSRqjZBY5sOfLkl81Ri32rhewmWbMepNN_RLnIoEKkuOQvlnHCyuIQTDpHh002pDeOtipqaR-Q5S7f2eHCX_snbFasYvhKXcz2qgLkB7dqS1ByY6SM62KoEuJ_2H9fx8/s1000/22HeritageKeller523.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="705" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuZ4goIkLdebTLekMt0lbKNh5qUL0Ee7MGKlKptjzAF0ZpPjVrYUKlOWrKSRqjZBY5sOfLkl81Ri32rhewmWbMepNN_RLnIoEKkuOQvlnHCyuIQTDpHh002pDeOtipqaR-Q5S7f2eHCX_snbFasYvhKXcz2qgLkB7dqS1ByY6SM62KoEuJ_2H9fx8/s320/22HeritageKeller523.jpg" width="226" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">My friend Max isn't really into reporting in Port St. Lucie this year, Brad says:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfCuBt5PonBm7Oxy0hReCWqQWDkyyzL2PVOdSYfNpkB1ZaoGriGSGB9WaV3GqqUGEFVr0dB1zwn-vBNv2vvEeeORZAx6qRtYaNa347Hreipb_ogV1U-lsIZ5litRI4NBTHXmCxR6Y0cnTJgt156dD07y14qwDdpOakhKuTxQaGNzGfjpj0VCGO3qU/s1000/22HeritageHHNScherzer641.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="707" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfCuBt5PonBm7Oxy0hReCWqQWDkyyzL2PVOdSYfNpkB1ZaoGriGSGB9WaV3GqqUGEFVr0dB1zwn-vBNv2vvEeeORZAx6qRtYaNa347Hreipb_ogV1U-lsIZ5litRI4NBTHXmCxR6Y0cnTJgt156dD07y14qwDdpOakhKuTxQaGNzGfjpj0VCGO3qU/s320/22HeritageHHNScherzer641.jpg" width="226" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The cool thing about this baseball Mecca of the Cleveland back fields in AZ is all the other visitors.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Time Travelers, even.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaBrHMnKu5rFPwIYnuFDd1VMoO3cobvSiDnX8nVEDFx4C4WpfQyYApX4WwMZPgdGD8LkNB5RopqPqSsXTxuMQzDB4TKChD7FgBLroLZrLssk6-hHA-PZz5aIrPaaOJvkQoFaQFunWLXt721QWQnbmMHcZ4zT3DhB0bYE2LA2mUbH2397ttx4i4Owc/s2100/Garciaparra.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaBrHMnKu5rFPwIYnuFDd1VMoO3cobvSiDnX8nVEDFx4C4WpfQyYApX4WwMZPgdGD8LkNB5RopqPqSsXTxuMQzDB4TKChD7FgBLroLZrLssk6-hHA-PZz5aIrPaaOJvkQoFaQFunWLXt721QWQnbmMHcZ4zT3DhB0bYE2LA2mUbH2397ttx4i4Owc/s320/Garciaparra.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">all kinds of decades, too</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2zKquus5rtL3Iv-PsHBquqT2P7Ttnf5ktaSSIMUVlp2y7o6PF4cOCdR3mUb_7sn3CnjSkBwH8hj2yz8yUd6bbBfpe3ht5j9fmC2knBdJ7QpORF0zjHY_YP8F89Z6nSXglIcuXfAujci6MIyMhI3gxVbLKkdOsu4vop5qr6_ox7DVXaK-_f07m2k4/s350/237Glasnow.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="252" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2zKquus5rtL3Iv-PsHBquqT2P7Ttnf5ktaSSIMUVlp2y7o6PF4cOCdR3mUb_7sn3CnjSkBwH8hj2yz8yUd6bbBfpe3ht5j9fmC2knBdJ7QpORF0zjHY_YP8F89Z6nSXglIcuXfAujci6MIyMhI3gxVbLKkdOsu4vop5qr6_ox7DVXaK-_f07m2k4/s320/237Glasnow.jpg" width="230" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNb89V_8W6anf7CnonsoKDEElIBI2zSSs270PF6dbsoyz5kGWa7Rh5eJUEikMKTJWKNDnV5eGMHNLam0NB3gK00EsKj0V9idgORArMHRs50fem1KF3vc4vsulbtZO1umHrqeUfcpdAJplfRAzJYALeRU3VyWCkBYgMnntwGbBUdfKRM4jorGCuWeg/s1000/214Carlson.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="715" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNb89V_8W6anf7CnonsoKDEElIBI2zSSs270PF6dbsoyz5kGWa7Rh5eJUEikMKTJWKNDnV5eGMHNLam0NB3gK00EsKj0V9idgORArMHRs50fem1KF3vc4vsulbtZO1umHrqeUfcpdAJplfRAzJYALeRU3VyWCkBYgMnntwGbBUdfKRM4jorGCuWeg/s320/214Carlson.jpg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnEeQoGQfx8v57iZdEUurcdjGPjvt2jMgh-Y6Tux2T0ZanUAGzAAHe20dFA8LrL9xhaifl_VPHHEiX2ky9iaNf8qzNTCKO1ZVwAE9clc5t09O2o85HCFeUoKFw32uHPtWTcj87Cye504w0EvNFVM83acLIJ7D0P1c_XRsqPMzxd8mbC1eJmpZoGas/s2098/Acuna.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnEeQoGQfx8v57iZdEUurcdjGPjvt2jMgh-Y6Tux2T0ZanUAGzAAHe20dFA8LrL9xhaifl_VPHHEiX2ky9iaNf8qzNTCKO1ZVwAE9clc5t09O2o85HCFeUoKFw32uHPtWTcj87Cye504w0EvNFVM83acLIJ7D0P1c_XRsqPMzxd8mbC1eJmpZoGas/s320/Acuna.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">the Sun maybe shined brighter back in '78?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKVNvzUA5Voa0RRiloBA_lenxOA6AQg5uKIHVPVHmSVXzSFDsZtWP2mYZKT0V_cJh-bbV0nVr8GX1FhiGe64nEOcPBm98DcMx1hLzQeb03gQFreV87FRDBNiBg76TsvQrZYgAixJu6BiNaiOBJMjPxEkTW2jy2bUNkzE5IPO6paSd_WKS3zB4nv58/s1000/191Clase.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="722" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKVNvzUA5Voa0RRiloBA_lenxOA6AQg5uKIHVPVHmSVXzSFDsZtWP2mYZKT0V_cJh-bbV0nVr8GX1FhiGe64nEOcPBm98DcMx1hLzQeb03gQFreV87FRDBNiBg76TsvQrZYgAixJu6BiNaiOBJMjPxEkTW2jy2bUNkzE5IPO6paSd_WKS3zB4nv58/s320/191Clase.jpg" width="231" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I figure writing the new team names in the 78 script was soooo much work down in the Topps baseball card mines, the miners were given a break after a while.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">But look man, except for Max up there, none of those cats are going to the Hall of Fame,</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">So, what?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifdx1T0GKoCJnNyjztHnwM9kzxN3ejpC7B8uXcuAWyLdsHnCNAhMFyTdpSEaZTc0tCT_B8jS-qyJ_vCvhSpMrOs4_uX12HmjwW1_1AKTZlhOjJfpcblBKjX7OtQpU0N25914B-SnIJmQJCYP5rQp38sIYhamBeJscOmHVs-ijHt2qFFWP1XtkBmDE/s1000/168Guerrero.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="709" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifdx1T0GKoCJnNyjztHnwM9kzxN3ejpC7B8uXcuAWyLdsHnCNAhMFyTdpSEaZTc0tCT_B8jS-qyJ_vCvhSpMrOs4_uX12HmjwW1_1AKTZlhOjJfpcblBKjX7OtQpU0N25914B-SnIJmQJCYP5rQp38sIYhamBeJscOmHVs-ijHt2qFFWP1XtkBmDE/s320/168Guerrero.jpg" width="227" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">(you'd be surprised how few cards of that guy stay in inventory lately)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje3-UuftFiQ8FqhoZGOWG_BZPKiNoePCcILTeemGHWZnGFbl_IPl03u7EVl855Sg6VPTCkIf4UxkzzOJuLBd2yfGHXs-lJlhc6XEOAFna2YxWdxi0hoUSL5CKs8bbwB9e2iAlfY8OTQFPhkraTqZfne5T-L2w8JvRVurTDj46G00tRzf9nvm2W9TI/s1000/185Ichiro.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="721" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje3-UuftFiQ8FqhoZGOWG_BZPKiNoePCcILTeemGHWZnGFbl_IPl03u7EVl855Sg6VPTCkIf4UxkzzOJuLBd2yfGHXs-lJlhc6XEOAFna2YxWdxi0hoUSL5CKs8bbwB9e2iAlfY8OTQFPhkraTqZfne5T-L2w8JvRVurTDj46G00tRzf9nvm2W9TI/s320/185Ichiro.jpg" width="231" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Yeah, yeah, Nobody cares about Hall of Fame cards after retirement, anyway.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Who cares what those look like?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We want Rookie Cards!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">That's what everyone remembers for every player.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYgNCuroR_CVubiNe3I8hl4Tad-xsonEPMKGk99NCLP4yyK9C7kQRVypdGnCaPHzEzqSqbs7oCd_aQTM8TNPQtB4vZNeCXVFJklhA_XAeek5CZJgAD7RYnfvjnOnjmtXb-paSBGUsWCT7ApgGzBOpoHQWwXNh99pfcVajo1TtzKfeaPHJL9NAxXws/s2100/A's%20RC.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1496" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYgNCuroR_CVubiNe3I8hl4Tad-xsonEPMKGk99NCLP4yyK9C7kQRVypdGnCaPHzEzqSqbs7oCd_aQTM8TNPQtB4vZNeCXVFJklhA_XAeek5CZJgAD7RYnfvjnOnjmtXb-paSBGUsWCT7ApgGzBOpoHQWwXNh99pfcVajo1TtzKfeaPHJL9NAxXws/s320/A's%20RC.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnrHgzqCQaUMG3-oWuLI22hHDaHwXgqfq9C5RKKL3ff3RZRhI57ULXAYnDPDaQP_dc6kQ0UIZIXwNR2rDEv72WWLt5fizdLLONJWccHSh_N8cpmAZtpxjNTwXU1T8RJouWGO0Ev3X-oDpCPPFVQvlPWj7OTt9XeKMIsZXxtxiA3abmqOfS9A8EQ_A/s2100/MirandaRC.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnrHgzqCQaUMG3-oWuLI22hHDaHwXgqfq9C5RKKL3ff3RZRhI57ULXAYnDPDaQP_dc6kQ0UIZIXwNR2rDEv72WWLt5fizdLLONJWccHSh_N8cpmAZtpxjNTwXU1T8RJouWGO0Ev3X-oDpCPPFVQvlPWj7OTt9XeKMIsZXxtxiA3abmqOfS9A8EQ_A/s320/MirandaRC.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYAp5Tp-RxqxdfPOwRYc6Tfhl1vWtx8c_1V8KW_d5St0LCi_XGX-OT8ZIq-QVsdSLYU10GwNc_LQOdJyJjLbJi6ha1-Nv53edvNaycBEUwb40M6XJNRVUI2QP3ICmx_2eZOcNT_W6S1c_FbZfooUMDOozholSrhgWFksc9Y5M0WfB1YgfI0ZTgRzs/s1000/13KyleMuller.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="703" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYAp5Tp-RxqxdfPOwRYc6Tfhl1vWtx8c_1V8KW_d5St0LCi_XGX-OT8ZIq-QVsdSLYU10GwNc_LQOdJyJjLbJi6ha1-Nv53edvNaycBEUwb40M6XJNRVUI2QP3ICmx_2eZOcNT_W6S1c_FbZfooUMDOozholSrhgWFksc9Y5M0WfB1YgfI0ZTgRzs/s320/13KyleMuller.jpg" width="225" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLJJudHYAfvuFOwmBjHPy04fCeSHd4Se5mswIV4bl6bq-qZNCVHh-IZjL2kW58BfnuZmLViTBsLRaxBuhgDDs6OhNTl7yQvzBAH_QY83-qsDeXZaMRtlITcyJuBeh8S2a0Kol0au1iXkl-p1BYc6xckL87HR37e1I4A3xFCBbJ4pdIPhDQqaTSMXc/s1000/20Vilade.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="707" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLJJudHYAfvuFOwmBjHPy04fCeSHd4Se5mswIV4bl6bq-qZNCVHh-IZjL2kW58BfnuZmLViTBsLRaxBuhgDDs6OhNTl7yQvzBAH_QY83-qsDeXZaMRtlITcyJuBeh8S2a0Kol0au1iXkl-p1BYc6xckL87HR37e1I4A3xFCBbJ4pdIPhDQqaTSMXc/s320/20Vilade.jpg" width="226" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwa_pI7PLlltylCU7Z_9-bIwyYKqeZ_p2t2CGvM0ySFShKwZYmdPTYkzgWHfQkf49aFgSUPnAd2jBLzSrvznij7t43KV6LTfgrNhYmxZruloPWW4N_IdErWdVzJiujPgYUgUBBUau3qrVYU-yvm8pVW8Fv6H0w5xHGq1xejCVToRtSFlQxJqzOkFg/s1000/56Ashby.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="710" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwa_pI7PLlltylCU7Z_9-bIwyYKqeZ_p2t2CGvM0ySFShKwZYmdPTYkzgWHfQkf49aFgSUPnAd2jBLzSrvznij7t43KV6LTfgrNhYmxZruloPWW4N_IdErWdVzJiujPgYUgUBBUau3qrVYU-yvm8pVW8Fv6H0w5xHGq1xejCVToRtSFlQxJqzOkFg/s320/56Ashby.jpg" width="227" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4t2mFYyuBIHr0Th3qSdVUFBcw530H8tSJd6r9V8j3YcOwjzhb0qxDSJSbVLPAZZdtP28Yqevn8rL2BGwF1mrdlNrcm6q8KVANxk9Xk72nnNpuUisaQERTvGWErynmXhrtx5_Wem8sdR6K99gYwvTTXdstK4CcQ83LqyLuR0M1wDdFCimRFg7pZd0/s1000/190FoxRC.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="721" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4t2mFYyuBIHr0Th3qSdVUFBcw530H8tSJd6r9V8j3YcOwjzhb0qxDSJSbVLPAZZdtP28Yqevn8rL2BGwF1mrdlNrcm6q8KVANxk9Xk72nnNpuUisaQERTvGWErynmXhrtx5_Wem8sdR6K99gYwvTTXdstK4CcQ83LqyLuR0M1wDdFCimRFg7pZd0/s320/190FoxRC.jpg" width="231" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNpYWNjIXBS2goG8P0fArjqbgTplJQ-mMnf30DVJOY7PJEQpRT2ci8qg63cq2EInQ2aiCFdN5JXpt2v2em9kGkVoejgQd2KRNNCr49m2KsRJSEAjixXCRqtA4qyabm8mqlTenGaK2nxRx14X18Rmi68SoYB8u7pNudYzQXVQ8mkvzLcw_dx6hqQso/s1000/265ElderRC.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="716" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNpYWNjIXBS2goG8P0fArjqbgTplJQ-mMnf30DVJOY7PJEQpRT2ci8qg63cq2EInQ2aiCFdN5JXpt2v2em9kGkVoejgQd2KRNNCr49m2KsRJSEAjixXCRqtA4qyabm8mqlTenGaK2nxRx14X18Rmi68SoYB8u7pNudYzQXVQ8mkvzLcw_dx6hqQso/s320/265ElderRC.jpg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">yeah, yeah, base cards are dumb and boring, we all know that</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">we want those rare cards, limited editions, inserts!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjavJtO5emB-G6Qqn-OqMClHnP600lG_8IFfIpJZp1i0VGQ23HOHe-LTKmn5xqg756HDgZM5_tNmFcZTqgofXGMgIxfYPQ84ar3tllTMR0uz2s7TO_vI8hgsIMPpnOOXx76UaZCNTZPZB-wsBjWNzGLMSIEfisFjbWmLuT9VbVVQgahuWf7R1_W1t4/s1000/338Lowe05Pick.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="717" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjavJtO5emB-G6Qqn-OqMClHnP600lG_8IFfIpJZp1i0VGQ23HOHe-LTKmn5xqg756HDgZM5_tNmFcZTqgofXGMgIxfYPQ84ar3tllTMR0uz2s7TO_vI8hgsIMPpnOOXx76UaZCNTZPZB-wsBjWNzGLMSIEfisFjbWmLuT9VbVVQgahuWf7R1_W1t4/s320/338Lowe05Pick.jpg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Anyone else wanna make a rule that the Rays can't have any more players named "Lowe" ?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkjQ7zX0A30tD8Em9lDag8AOPfDLjlbywQFhaHQ__Mjmvk1piCT-XHVwsgFA4dxutGxF2HJnoDho7BDOJcl_o0xAL6mtXphdwZkocIiUUPHLR_RDMbeFdjMNg-W8BYrk8si3cuofq8WZD_AxEvpr3RqoKQfG27Pctt8pKLy9GFqIL3kqs-KTbOtTM/s1000/360RoyceLewisDebut92.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="725" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkjQ7zX0A30tD8Em9lDag8AOPfDLjlbywQFhaHQ__Mjmvk1piCT-XHVwsgFA4dxutGxF2HJnoDho7BDOJcl_o0xAL6mtXphdwZkocIiUUPHLR_RDMbeFdjMNg-W8BYrk8si3cuofq8WZD_AxEvpr3RqoKQfG27Pctt8pKLy9GFqIL3kqs-KTbOtTM/s320/360RoyceLewisDebut92.jpg" width="232" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">whatevs.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Nobody collects any of those 'rooks.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">They are just in the packs so all 9 players can be on the field for when The Natural comes up to bat, the guy who's cards put $20 bills in my packs of baseball cards. Those are the important ones:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRWOme_UuPoi9PQ11d_tYXTUClxxOWs0XThiIcsA0p_9iGM8nilMn3YenY84yBDSvt4Z1Acv-dSv1d3M4tP_PVlWC4pf_h9IgTSMj3kDvw7LO66nzeQ951L22d0MVqeJ-7bwS6lbebLkTc3mYkbY1ErpiFW8uhzdgmIpoj8DOs8xhuQiFhKH97DPk/s2384/Julio%20RC.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2384" data-original-width="1832" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRWOme_UuPoi9PQ11d_tYXTUClxxOWs0XThiIcsA0p_9iGM8nilMn3YenY84yBDSvt4Z1Acv-dSv1d3M4tP_PVlWC4pf_h9IgTSMj3kDvw7LO66nzeQ951L22d0MVqeJ-7bwS6lbebLkTc3mYkbY1ErpiFW8uhzdgmIpoj8DOs8xhuQiFhKH97DPk/s320/Julio%20RC.jpeg" width="246" /></a></div><div><br /></div>You may want to run my writings lately through the new Chatbot Detector app that is blowing up right now. It seems that Humanity has grown tired of composing the written word, so it has put Artificial Intelligence to use to now write long (and short) essays that no one reads any more anyway. So just the other day a coder put together his own AI based program to detect the output of the AI Chatbot. Might keep human writing on the up and up for another year or two, I guess.<div><br /></div><div>But I don't think anyone will ever put together an App to find baseball cards like these. For me, these were just low-hanging fruit here. I even cheated and just downloaded the images I didn't have (most of them) in my own collection from Trading Card Database (thanks, peeps!) which I otherwise never do when composing a blog entry, about my own authentically owned baseball cards. But seemed like the authentic way to go here, while looking at anything but authentic baseball cards.</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>I find that run of cards basically disturbing, and insulting. Even though that with certain cards - to borrow one more I don't have from TCDB -<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPqAVeQZWmjqCyVkR7TnfRefIC7eJjvDS_f315AkXkLighX8QPjOT336SI1--eMh-6rs68J0K6iLytGmOjeYtfA4SYlJzBlq0_A8d2OxGav4bk2cNCmYnjaObNzgOMFlqtE0byKCxobgPceNiE--o5G4esb9FyhaqAWQp7rzcL4EohkQBRUPP_piQ/s350/cosmic%20chrome%20sample.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="251" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPqAVeQZWmjqCyVkR7TnfRefIC7eJjvDS_f315AkXkLighX8QPjOT336SI1--eMh-6rs68J0K6iLytGmOjeYtfA4SYlJzBlq0_A8d2OxGav4bk2cNCmYnjaObNzgOMFlqtE0byKCxobgPceNiE--o5G4esb9FyhaqAWQp7rzcL4EohkQBRUPP_piQ/s320/cosmic%20chrome%20sample.jpg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">- software is already heavily involved in their creation.</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And that's fine. Some great cards arrive using tech tools. Moving up to the top on my gonna-collect-em list are some mid-90s Pacific Prisms - you wanna talk about Oooohhhh, Shiny — whoa. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I also look forward to owning a few Cosmic Chrome cards, maybe, though I would in no way choose to prioritize my money on a whole box of the stuff ($250 to start and now climbing over $400, I believe - for 80 cards), nor even have any chance to even buy a sample pack, either. The bottomless well of baseball cards today is a topic I will come back to sometime soon when I check out another blaster pile I have sitting on my card desk.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Overall for the basic idea of "Baseball Picture Cards" I don't know what the cards shown above might portend. On one hand, going forward in Heritage, there will, by the basic concept of the product, be a lot more live game action images on the cards, as mid & late 70s sets freely mixed action, posed, and candid images. So in theory these pitiful shenanigans seen here shouldn't be an option on as many cards, at least, as when Topps re-enacts sets that were 95% or more posed images, before the 1973 set, and that -should- help. I will actually have some good news on that idea here soon when I get back to just enjoying brand new Topps baseball cards.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But on the other hand, you can't fake a photograph from a real-live game of Major League Baseball, can you? I think the answer now is, yes, you probably can - thus the title of this post; I hope you all know what "Deep Fakes" are. If you don't, I do think it is an important concept for basically all humans to understand as Moore's Law continues to operate in the 2020s and if you haven't heard either set of 2 capitalized words in this paragraph put together before, well then you know what to do. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Before the "AI Chatbot" started littering the Internet with fake prose many weeks ago now, "AI Art" was the fun toy of the moment on everyone's screens. I expect that will return soon enough as no one wants to waste their time reading words any more when another funny video just arrived in your "feed." And thus logically the coming Internet sensation will be "AI's Funniest Cat Videos."</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This (theoretical) stuff will start out crude, on cards, and at first we will be able to laugh at it. As with the above baseball cards, which show some weird construction of a baseball field in the background but with lines that never seem to add up right with weird shadows and odd grass colors and mental registration confusion and crazy angled lines all over the place until the whole thing looks like a sorta close, AI coder, so not-all-that-close approximation of a baseball field and more like what a baseball field would look like in a 30 year old video game instead. Possibly somewhere in the Topps (digital) Vault there is a base image shot at a Spring Training complex somewhere, the day before Pitchers and Catchers reported. Or, many such images. My dwindling baseball card money remains on Cleveland's place in Goodyear, AZ. Though that could be totally wrong and there is no real base image at all and it is just that small market Cleveland cards were selected for some test runs of this "creative" process. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It seems to me that over time, AI imagery will continue to evolve until all "Topps" will have to do every Spring is have the players walk through some sort of 3D modeling recording device as used in movies today and the AI will be able to spit out a whole new season's worth of baseball cards of every type - including ones showing "action" inside a Major League Baseball stadium.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The possibilities are as endless as the insatiable demand for more baseball cards, man, make us more baseball cards, we gotta have more baseball cards. OK, Fanatics has your back, valuable card collector, and we can do that for ya. That Hall of Famer with very few existing photographs? We gave his great-great-great-grandson a little pile of money and whaddya know, here we have that famous image from that one newspaper for you re-created in 4K Ultra HD vivid full color detail printed up for you on a baseball card, here yas go. Oh, wait, we only printed 539 copies, so that will be $29.95 please. But since he is your All-Time favorite player cuz your great-grandfather told you stories about him when you were real little, you will just have to have it. And Rookies? Man, wait till you see how many Rookie Cards you can buy, this year. Collect 'em all!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So when your great-grandson some day asks why baseball cards were just so clumsy, back in those archaic early 20s, well, I just don't know what you should tell him. I'm at a loss, all of a sudden, in my lifetime of collecting beloved baseball picture cards. Baseball cards should speak for themselves, and the ones shown above do that, fairly loudly, in my opinion.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p><br /></p></div>BaseSetCallinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05508114484929386332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7573896101004946985.post-83486523476063961072023-01-15T23:31:00.011-05:002023-01-16T00:30:17.817-05:00I thought I was going to collect this one<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy9wNTcx4J6W3Qw6g2B1nv7GU5frMc6GMp4sxWzGfr5pB8I7QvAtTMMs5RLk6ynxbUhWwGdf3JrrBqvmHcAblgjbxsBaUJ7dJpUrMpeUJhrqFJ2wWZKChp7Q8dxfoFsl_O2JvmfQO2vd47ukn5Emt5dJms_q_8jEdOfC5j4m8zkGUmI97gunPzOns/s2098/Ruiz.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy9wNTcx4J6W3Qw6g2B1nv7GU5frMc6GMp4sxWzGfr5pB8I7QvAtTMMs5RLk6ynxbUhWwGdf3JrrBqvmHcAblgjbxsBaUJ7dJpUrMpeUJhrqFJ2wWZKChp7Q8dxfoFsl_O2JvmfQO2vd47ukn5Emt5dJms_q_8jEdOfC5j4m8zkGUmI97gunPzOns/s320/Ruiz.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><br /> I looked forward to 2020s Heritage / 1970s Topps for a long time. I knew the second half of the 60s and 1970 were not going to interest me enough to desire owning full sets with their plain designs and plain photography that actually gets more plain, weirdly/sadly enough, in the re-enactment sets Topps makes today. Even the wonderfully vibrant 1965 design couldn't get me to the finish line on the idea.<p></p><p>But starting with 1971 Heritage in 2020, I knew my interest would return. There would be a loving recreation of the epic Thurman Munson card, we all knew that. There was no way Topps would just abandon the tribute completely.</p><p>And in my very first hanger pack of the product, a wonderful respite from the craziness of the month of March, 2020, the brand new Gary Sanchez card confirmed my simple, set-collecting, basic baseball card fan faith in Topps, Inc.</p><p>Of course what I didn't know is that I would be denied a nice long baseball season of occasionally buying a pack and casually assembling a set, as Life itself went topsy-turvy in so many ways that baseball card supply was way down the list of important things. Aside from the out-of-nowhere virus news, baseball card distribution had subtly changed the year before, anyway. No longer would un-sold product be offered to me at a discount the next season. Instead, the astonishing quantities of baseball cards that my small town could not consume were pulled from the store and simply sold elsewhere as demand had begun increasing faster than supply even in 2019. But I was slow to realize this, particularly with just regular ole Heritage, a product that was always available to me, nearly 365/24/7 for a solid ten years straight before that.</p><p>The result was I just never obtained very much 2020 Heritage, simply because it wasn't in my local grocery store, bottom line. I just don't see myself ordering new boxes of baseball cards for delivery; if I'm going to do that I'm going to buy old baseball cards, not new ones - that simple. Overall that was probably better for me, and my bottom line, knowing that I could later just pick up some small portion of the set that I thoroughly enjoyed for way, way cheaper than I could effectively light money on fire by buying cards at the grocery store. Even though that is straight-up my preferred way to buy them.</p><p>That result just made me anticipate 2021 Heritage / 1972 Topps all the more. When it finally arrived, supply was initially spotty and subsequently erratic, but still orders of magnitude more common than cards in 2020 even if still unlike retail supply in the 2010s, and I soon owned several hundred of the cards.</p><p>I knew the cards would be 100% posed Spring Training Photo Day cards in the 'standard' cards, since 1972 Topps had the live game photo bases covered with the "In Action" subset. And I was fine with that, as long as something interesting came along occasionally, as with that Rio Ruiz card with the sprinklers still running full blast in the background. Has there ever been another baseball card with some sprinkler action on it? Probably. But I had never seen one before. And plenty of posed baseball cards can be perfectly enjoyable baseball cards, too.</p><p>I also knew there be no correlation between the color choices on the good ole 'Psychedelic Tombstones' and team colors, that's the way 1972 Topps worked. So the classic green&gold Oakland Athletics would look like this, which is also quite fine for making a colorful baseball card:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhZWYthvq8BYIgAqEcHV7nVpCZK-zqpJ2i_FlZWlZFSDhf657e2_XzARcjC7VKLfZc91eICKjJprDHBcc1LOuelcwvIDUPXnvoFB3LXG7QsPg_kRwEUsjQRA8JlTvCuVH1sRygfaWXMV4R4dxW6ochet1EzDBJ5DLHMdeMUIwfrjtGGgnHXNpEUOk/s2098/Montas.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhZWYthvq8BYIgAqEcHV7nVpCZK-zqpJ2i_FlZWlZFSDhf657e2_XzARcjC7VKLfZc91eICKjJprDHBcc1LOuelcwvIDUPXnvoFB3LXG7QsPg_kRwEUsjQRA8JlTvCuVH1sRygfaWXMV4R4dxW6ochet1EzDBJ5DLHMdeMUIwfrjtGGgnHXNpEUOk/s320/Montas.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now my basic apprehension whenever I see a good player on an Athletics card has nothing to do with Topps but rather is a serious problem in Major League Baseball itself, in my opinion. The A's are but one poster child of the current phenomena in the game. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On that Montas card there is an example of a recurring phenomena in Heritage sets, with that just simply dumb backdrop sucking your attention into it rather than keeping it on the baseball player, though that could be just another of my many opinions. It took me many years of looking at cards like this to understand what that big 'ole black thing back there actually is; finally my regular conduit of MLB education, the radio broadcast crew I listen to for 120 or more games per year accidentally explained it to me. That big black square is an artificial "batter's eye" which is a feature of every MLB stadium design, to give the batter a neutral, uniform field to look into as he attempts to make contact with a 2.9" diameter baseball flying towards him at > 90 miles per hour. Spring Training ball fields don't have a stadium wall as part of their back fences, so they are constructed purposely.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now as I frequently like to do, I didn't initially sort out my brand new 2021 Topps Heritage baseball cards into checklist numerical order. I like to understand who is playing where, and what they look like, and how a team works, as a team, looking at all the players on it at essentially the same time, which I can best do by sorting cards by team. That's something I have done since I bought my very first baseball cards. And while I didn't have a deep familiarity with what Pirates cards have looked like in the 2010s, compared to the instantly recognizable cards for the Braves, Reds, Red Sox, and Yankees (amongst others) based on the backdrops on those staying the same for a decade or longer, I was still surprised with what I found.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I don't think these cards need any commentary, really:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUqd-OJJ6aWP_td_kfrJJ3_bPgxpPTbMjT1gK6NzHPlK-wYIhtSqvI7dpWPrsqLr0l0elTReFDO2m6ARMTrjZDQo9SAGHvA_Cr1-iMinmdJVrALDBqszfKlOzv1NnyUncTwe2Q-P3VCDp6Mhx_8xpxOfTy8eSa_tvuyzloT5pKqM3DFnhy-SBeFKw/s2100/Pirates1.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1502" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUqd-OJJ6aWP_td_kfrJJ3_bPgxpPTbMjT1gK6NzHPlK-wYIhtSqvI7dpWPrsqLr0l0elTReFDO2m6ARMTrjZDQo9SAGHvA_Cr1-iMinmdJVrALDBqszfKlOzv1NnyUncTwe2Q-P3VCDp6Mhx_8xpxOfTy8eSa_tvuyzloT5pKqM3DFnhy-SBeFKw/s320/Pirates1.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyt6k7lJrFuqcZ-cZVo_1Mc7o6qtEYfeuDoT08XF85hwPRu4ewVsv4LOoH1poiresemKPaIOTjIUUIhAdcHUG1sHu_N4KqvRt8ZIr8fc9f2HhrZrpsnztRh3cCdPCoO9g0-NZgsvdN7q_gTDW3rsj1sdh0zXeQg3gfXZS4AkkU6KRuPuTDC1u_fYY/s2098/Pirates2.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyt6k7lJrFuqcZ-cZVo_1Mc7o6qtEYfeuDoT08XF85hwPRu4ewVsv4LOoH1poiresemKPaIOTjIUUIhAdcHUG1sHu_N4KqvRt8ZIr8fc9f2HhrZrpsnztRh3cCdPCoO9g0-NZgsvdN7q_gTDW3rsj1sdh0zXeQg3gfXZS4AkkU6KRuPuTDC1u_fYY/s320/Pirates2.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMR6fcfsE4OVTiPSN95YIwI090L6K38D0Zo0cyWub_KrNWZJDyCtmNmd8GjLytLVoksxTjuWjULA7u9R8eT2dokHFM4UhVPuK9BCvFhhRyrg7eSXc3EB3nanCJDSzv2cE9zhkRRq32-zRtd3-qXWl5CW63c5S0uzfNKOlNowgwCXFgwGsDSK8aCVk/s2098/Pirates3.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMR6fcfsE4OVTiPSN95YIwI090L6K38D0Zo0cyWub_KrNWZJDyCtmNmd8GjLytLVoksxTjuWjULA7u9R8eT2dokHFM4UhVPuK9BCvFhhRyrg7eSXc3EB3nanCJDSzv2cE9zhkRRq32-zRtd3-qXWl5CW63c5S0uzfNKOlNowgwCXFgwGsDSK8aCVk/s320/Pirates3.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFxgggcGh0CPG2NAph8bLPxyemZFj7dl0S_zeo52i3HPS7gR4prnKFJvmcitLRl0ZQbez_QKouM77-0ia3k1hnPX9HDocxz8wDCCKqzYV4bkagi0haL5STNF98boa56naUQj4JKt26KrjaoUJZHmY2YfG8U-yUxbD9rHeXzKAIOxognmXFinmt4TE/s2100/Pirates4.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1499" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFxgggcGh0CPG2NAph8bLPxyemZFj7dl0S_zeo52i3HPS7gR4prnKFJvmcitLRl0ZQbez_QKouM77-0ia3k1hnPX9HDocxz8wDCCKqzYV4bkagi0haL5STNF98boa56naUQj4JKt26KrjaoUJZHmY2YfG8U-yUxbD9rHeXzKAIOxognmXFinmt4TE/s320/Pirates4.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgcNtnM2pyptw1KtcTv9Wl9QAAFP4aqZvGMeqJ7CtALA4FvJT4KZFeJ61SlZglD2hymsQKO4j-Fn_oZwN9588SixYJoj1l2isGJqZvDl8qofBlh3gOUTtkZfR-jxZWxMjIcdvflWF2aL9a_Qngcp-VP4XNTdwklZurimv5tI-ey576cQM2fJKmLTY/s2100/Pirates5.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1502" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgcNtnM2pyptw1KtcTv9Wl9QAAFP4aqZvGMeqJ7CtALA4FvJT4KZFeJ61SlZglD2hymsQKO4j-Fn_oZwN9588SixYJoj1l2isGJqZvDl8qofBlh3gOUTtkZfR-jxZWxMjIcdvflWF2aL9a_Qngcp-VP4XNTdwklZurimv5tI-ey576cQM2fJKmLTY/s320/Pirates5.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The run continued in the Short Prints, you know, the ones you get to pay extra for.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaRy9gOkvkRthgj3EMoumG7ccDT3LGfNxA6QagT4tp2JWBM2UNIwod8AfuHYUInRuduGiH0yy2AndNk4fofyvQSgvs7FReOcFd6UxbAt1tgpz5SsUeFFefMEd-R0KET2QbjIoI0Sp2rqE6Nb0izgJXfV2OeaW8gaNcI2CZyRP9WwztRo5UM0MgreM/s2100/Pirates7.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaRy9gOkvkRthgj3EMoumG7ccDT3LGfNxA6QagT4tp2JWBM2UNIwod8AfuHYUInRuduGiH0yy2AndNk4fofyvQSgvs7FReOcFd6UxbAt1tgpz5SsUeFFefMEd-R0KET2QbjIoI0Sp2rqE6Nb0izgJXfV2OeaW8gaNcI2CZyRP9WwztRo5UM0MgreM/s320/Pirates7.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixT3WuMyb9fFeZXFZolwTLVHGzp1s4FZrNmB6YqCsKLCp38zT1FnW1fY-1BDap7o9KmHq1zWueCfFwUHdwDli3q-pmoS3nIxZqcg71iPgUqD9REjC4c4L5Xs1ct7DmoVqmmH-ar1ZdM40LfBBAsfFxRMwO86AHj80VlYgDW2RSn8BTbrpn888w2VM/s2102/Pirates8.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2102" data-original-width="1502" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixT3WuMyb9fFeZXFZolwTLVHGzp1s4FZrNmB6YqCsKLCp38zT1FnW1fY-1BDap7o9KmHq1zWueCfFwUHdwDli3q-pmoS3nIxZqcg71iPgUqD9REjC4c4L5Xs1ct7DmoVqmmH-ar1ZdM40LfBBAsfFxRMwO86AHj80VlYgDW2RSn8BTbrpn888w2VM/s320/Pirates8.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">When baseball season ended and the High Numbers came out, the Pirates were still standing there</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbO7DXU6TaszsyKmoqbUpYyd9619Y8mKd3yKZipVSXrO3pj51Gla3ifCBCWtMsHPLeUcLd6QnMXZnGjT79UmxL32GTtfEYruR_BLXPgujbbdmMSigXnJNsRISOrtQmeFW0IgnMzfhQiaKjoZMQX6ZR-pbbdj5LPnFcf7D1IbSOlrEtBaSwD5UwYuc/s2100/Pirates9.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbO7DXU6TaszsyKmoqbUpYyd9619Y8mKd3yKZipVSXrO3pj51Gla3ifCBCWtMsHPLeUcLd6QnMXZnGjT79UmxL32GTtfEYruR_BLXPgujbbdmMSigXnJNsRISOrtQmeFW0IgnMzfhQiaKjoZMQX6ZR-pbbdj5LPnFcf7D1IbSOlrEtBaSwD5UwYuc/s320/Pirates9.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzD0XgSD9-5hYLaETeKJaazDsX4o8eiamAAeVaoQ_3xTTXSzGNfFeWF8EF6Danc1oKx4V21ztnLC2X5X6IZHvVmTzL-B_OEKRm6GczIwA_CPvZmRnigas-qLTV6nm3kZwhBcAd5pLWv9C5kK4Yf6tzVhOgPihf1eW3YAyYk68eohUnnNww_vNZFsY/s2100/Pirates10.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1496" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzD0XgSD9-5hYLaETeKJaazDsX4o8eiamAAeVaoQ_3xTTXSzGNfFeWF8EF6Danc1oKx4V21ztnLC2X5X6IZHvVmTzL-B_OEKRm6GczIwA_CPvZmRnigas-qLTV6nm3kZwhBcAd5pLWv9C5kK4Yf6tzVhOgPihf1eW3YAyYk68eohUnnNww_vNZFsY/s320/Pirates10.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I knew I shouldn't, but I found the experience a bit astonishing. I have been commenting on this very thing for a long time now whenever considering Topps Heritage cards. The last time I had had this many Heritage cards at once, for the 1965 set, there were traces of same-same-ness in various teams, but still nothing like this. An entire team set with a repeated background - that is a very poor photo element to start with. The A's cards have this going on as well though not at the 100% level like the Pirates.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now ironically I'm not saying the appearance of a Spring Training Batter's Eye Wall automatically disqualifies a baseball card from being very interesting. The Rio Ruiz card at the top of this post has one. And the very first card now finally 'leading off' my Rookie Card collection starting at 2011 Topps has one, also:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiilNOrMZ3U_bGWJjSdZv0EELbCDhRmchDSG7im04n7vtdu0hZlc_V757BsFHTK56QEci1rLaUPakWzCp9n3guiPEwRU-1LN3m16YJpT5VHa1pX_1mSoKrmteZJ_gIPPDr8Pdd44hXWJ_SBDDL4Y7BWobhxQxKKtWe18wD51qfjtRwlPkfjw38jA4o/s2098/trumbo%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1502" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiilNOrMZ3U_bGWJjSdZv0EELbCDhRmchDSG7im04n7vtdu0hZlc_V757BsFHTK56QEci1rLaUPakWzCp9n3guiPEwRU-1LN3m16YJpT5VHa1pX_1mSoKrmteZJ_gIPPDr8Pdd44hXWJ_SBDDL4Y7BWobhxQxKKtWe18wD51qfjtRwlPkfjw38jA4o/s320/trumbo%202.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">On that Trumbo card the basic 'cut-out' for Third Base and a few other baseball context things make the appearance of a Batter's Eye wall just another part of the ball park and the baseball card, which overall I quite like. And that card looks extra good mixed in with the rest of the action shots in 2011 Topps. It's when images just repeat, repeat, repeat that cards become hard to remember and just plain, boring.</span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This Pirates team set I had managed to see all together just killed my desire to ensure I had every single possible repeat of this same basic baseball card, i.e. finishing either regular Heritage or the High Numbers set. As it turns out, I had accumulated almost all possible copies of this same-same card, though Ke'Bryan Hayes has a comical "Action Image" variation card showing him posing in this same spot, since that widely collected very short-printed sub$set (more accurately described as a photo variation) was made rather moot by the "In Action" cards that are a part of 1972 Topps anyway. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I also technically "need" 3 more Pirates from High Numbers (though any player in 21 High Numbers could have been photographed in Spring, 2021) and 2 of those manage to get the puke green Batter's Eye out of the card image while a 3rd is so radically different from any other Pirates card, in terms of background, that's now how to tell who has been traded/photoshopped in one of these sets, which is an odd way for baseball cards to work, functionally.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And one thing that I can't know here is - does Topps have any control over this? Do the teams dictate a quick hour or so for Photo Day, with a short assembly line process to get a basic portrait shot of every player, as fast as possible? Possibly at the very most convenient same-every-year spot selected by the ball club, and no one else? That might be the case. Looking through vintage sets (so easy to do with a complete database of every baseball card ever made at our fingertips at all times), it is clear that Spring Training photos weren't always produced this way, though some seasons and for some teams, yes. Other times one can tell that the photographer just likely wandered around for a day snapping pictures all over the Spring Training "complex" essentially at random. That is never seen in one of these new sets and the loving recreation of the most striking cards never amounts to a very high quantity of such cards.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Oh well. Broken record much? Nobody really cares about this in "The Hobby" because a fair portion of pointless / worthless 'base' cards are simply thrown in the trash, anyway, as they just serve as anachronistic filler included as part of the straight gambling that is a large portion of the real economic activity with cards. That's one reason that helps explains boring cards like these. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I'll discuss a few more next time I scan some cards, as, not for better but for much, much worse, if you can believe it, Topps has discovered a way around this problem now. The next 2 cards I have scanned for you, well, I actually prefer those snoozer Pirates cards I just showed you.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;">Get used to these, as there are more where these came from:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuThz41EHJibVcE3aziQuzBrW9T99xardjwpvUFFwggnFDo2z1APTuQDLyOl6TgmuPcSw14x1NF0JNNHM3UmZAo8yHd2oRuWCqvzk5LYmpUDLa7n1Z6EJY-zdjFOC8GqsDkmQocdT0609TXBK5MaX1pGkjV-b3qagSbeADLFX5iEbLyBsn0Oj_VD0/s2098/Grossman.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuThz41EHJibVcE3aziQuzBrW9T99xardjwpvUFFwggnFDo2z1APTuQDLyOl6TgmuPcSw14x1NF0JNNHM3UmZAo8yHd2oRuWCqvzk5LYmpUDLa7n1Z6EJY-zdjFOC8GqsDkmQocdT0609TXBK5MaX1pGkjV-b3qagSbeADLFX5iEbLyBsn0Oj_VD0/s320/Grossman.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3eb4LmD2ymJui_DAcThM-j8RHZWXZvr0k80IkxyofMaZy6ygc2WGPspmGfeI3--HXa-hexZz4AnaAidmjcrmykDbNcC8zt8dRPHFtRXQDC6hjwMoOyHSZM7HA0nYvicu1KdADjq1-pgsOXam8zjR46uGaY1UuOwcjL4EEWCxdCiluTyoMAPnvB8U/s2100/Tatis.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3eb4LmD2ymJui_DAcThM-j8RHZWXZvr0k80IkxyofMaZy6ygc2WGPspmGfeI3--HXa-hexZz4AnaAidmjcrmykDbNcC8zt8dRPHFtRXQDC6hjwMoOyHSZM7HA0nYvicu1KdADjq1-pgsOXam8zjR46uGaY1UuOwcjL4EEWCxdCiluTyoMAPnvB8U/s320/Tatis.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></div><br /><p></p>BaseSetCallinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05508114484929386332noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7573896101004946985.post-71809068195579160692023-01-13T14:46:00.004-05:002023-01-16T00:42:22.058-05:00You Can't Do That to a Baseball Card!<p></p><div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiovzIRi93fMQC7IhRGytFvohRKXDKebt_xuPAKF1eY5XTmO0GR1I3H_EeQx_Yv5mX7pR0yQSLqnWreL03NM8y5ZWxxmGITeQ253JiAMEzboRiTQQJ-9C3DQgan_f_EA87VmM2P5Kv4FY0msvZem0vmuRP2nybsb3P71TbfKsYfVaBhDLH1zyF-GYY/s2102/Feller%20patch.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1498" data-original-width="2102" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiovzIRi93fMQC7IhRGytFvohRKXDKebt_xuPAKF1eY5XTmO0GR1I3H_EeQx_Yv5mX7pR0yQSLqnWreL03NM8y5ZWxxmGITeQ253JiAMEzboRiTQQJ-9C3DQgan_f_EA87VmM2P5Kv4FY0msvZem0vmuRP2nybsb3P71TbfKsYfVaBhDLH1zyF-GYY/s320/Feller%20patch.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p>When I received my very first "manufactured patch" card over a decade ago, this reproduction of a 19-aughts Cleveland "Naps" cap logo (whoever they were), I immediately had a question in my mind: what am I supposed to do with this <i>THING?</i></p><p>I mean, it wasn't going to fit in a binder page, I knew that. At least, not without irredeemable damage and struggling and frustration and becoming essentially worthless from mangling the corners. Can't have that in a baseball 'card' collection. (Can we?) So, then what? Where do I put this <i>THING?</i></p><p>I felt very unlucky with this new memorabilia item in my hand, reading the checklist of possible cool cap logo patches I could have scored instead, there on the side of the blaster box. I got, a letter "C" - way to go, Charlie Brown.</p><p>It is, sort of, a Bob Feller "card" I guess, technically. A Hall of Famer, that's cool and all. But that card probably has one of the smaller pictures of a baseball player on any of my quite overly numerous baseball picture products. Some day, I would be squinting down at Bob to see him, and that wouldn't be any good. Plus, he's not even wearing the same cap logo on his photo — even super old man Base Set would still be able to tell that, because no one puts a navy blue patch on a navy blue cap. Though if you gave Topps a chance...</p><p>It didn't take me long to realize what I <i>could </i>do with the <i>THING</i>, if I wished. Patches, after all, are supposed to be applied to clothing. So I thought someday when I had finally won the lottery and could buy a whole pile of blaster boxes full of baseball cards and spend a delightful couple three days not going to work but instead reading and sorting all the new baseball cards I had purchased, all at once, I could then turn to all the cool baseball logo patches I now had and create the ultimate baseball card nerd cap, or vest, or, I don't know, something. I would have so much flair even Jennifer Aniston would be impressed. Where the heck I would wear such an item, I had even less clue about. I just thought, these things, except for my super boring letter "C" version, were going to be pretty cool, when I finally got a good one from my good buddies at Topps.</p><p>Naturally, scoring another one didn't take long. I was back in the "Big Box" store to buy a little box of baseball cards soon enough, and I got: another letter "C" - there's two of these snoozers on this checklist? Are you four-letter-wording kidding me? The new one was an even more boring block capital letter "C" featuring Grady Sizemore on the card. Navy blue again, too, possibly the most boring of all so-called 'colors.'</p><p>Nevertheless, I persisted. At least, in my thought of getting a cool baseball memorabilia patch out of one of these blaster boxes, and putting it on something, somewhere. I still wasn't sure what I would somehow apply one to, but that didn't dampen my desire to get a really cool "manu" (ewww) patch.</p><p>I don't think that ever really happened, to me. Topps kept making them and sending them to me, but I could just never get a really cool one. They were always for some team I didn't like, or some weird concept like an All-Star Game when I was 4 years old, and all manner of Why Do I Own This? gimcrackery that just never had a cool-ness factor, for me. Why couldn't I get some bad-ass Pirate, or a hip Maple Leaf from one of the Canadia teams, or a classic orange Tiger, or even just a simple MLB "Logoman," please, Topps?</p><p>It took several more years of accumulating these ever more useless <i>THINGS </i>from all the blaster boxes I was buying before I figured out a way to put one of the little patches to work, without having to somehow wear one out in public anywhere except a Major League Baseball stadium, which are far far away from where I live, anyway. But then, since Topps had moved on from really cool baseball iconography things on these <i>THINGS </i>to naturally going back to celebrating Topps itself, instead, I was now faced with a bit more of a dilemma. Because even in an MLB stadium running around with a miniature patch copy of a Josh Hamilton Rookie Card somewhere on your attire would probably still draw some looks. I mean a mini patch of Hank Aaron's Rookie Card - Dude, where did you get that cool <i>THING</i>? But Ryan Zimmerman - who the heck is that?</p><p>For some other fans and collectors out there, elsewhere, I'm sure each one of the <i>THINGS </i>I had would delight somebody, somewhere. But you are probably already thinking - to apply one of these patches, I would have to take the card apart. It would be fully ruined, destroyed, no longer a collectible item, once it was permanently attached to my used clothing, which you wouldn't want to collect, I hope. -1 of them, in the world. Some other collector would thus have that much less chance of ever owning one of these basically odd memorabilia products.</p><p>And that, is something you just can't do to a baseball card. But last night, that is precisely what I did.</p><p>So eventually, a blaster box coughed up this <i>THING</i>:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWCXbYno9v-tQ8x3js6tjG9qXRaeM7nwFoaTWl09GVo4LyvP3RzCLLLbpi19cvWfcCpiReRir2TAHKi1t4RRJrRv7W8oIxkGn0q_IRIyuSccZlzSF_3AF4ub7ozbVg7g_LvCQaFHCVb2RNtxh5KpLgUtqrrZg3c8l_cFyMhOeDfQNJ0AXoiIiGw-k/s4032/IMG_8566.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWCXbYno9v-tQ8x3js6tjG9qXRaeM7nwFoaTWl09GVo4LyvP3RzCLLLbpi19cvWfcCpiReRir2TAHKi1t4RRJrRv7W8oIxkGn0q_IRIyuSccZlzSF_3AF4ub7ozbVg7g_LvCQaFHCVb2RNtxh5KpLgUtqrrZg3c8l_cFyMhOeDfQNJ0AXoiIiGw-k/s320/IMG_8566.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Though by this point, Topps had moved on to "medallions" and I just knew that none of them would really hang on the end of a chain around my neck, just exactly perfectly, cuz Topps stupidly forgot to include any place on the "medallion" to actually attach a chain.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But for this little piece of probably fake metal baseball card "medallion" gestalt, I had the perfect mission:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBtkAR1utcT4JBfoVpY7wbjgPyTagTiMNQzTJ-wGUraZMkkQOmJuxtXyK23kB2-5qS-47o-Ow_XCZIV03l6sri78MmaZBP5l2RLHtCCQ4JAAMDF06u5bIuIHHNJOIVg-4lBjFXKteg2ARGQHNzndbmkbrTOQM_jkcuml_mOiZ_e6A-tptyJS08_Dk/s4032/IMG_8565.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBtkAR1utcT4JBfoVpY7wbjgPyTagTiMNQzTJ-wGUraZMkkQOmJuxtXyK23kB2-5qS-47o-Ow_XCZIV03l6sri78MmaZBP5l2RLHtCCQ4JAAMDF06u5bIuIHHNJOIVg-4lBjFXKteg2ARGQHNzndbmkbrTOQM_jkcuml_mOiZ_e6A-tptyJS08_Dk/s320/IMG_8565.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now, now, don't freak out here people. You didn't really think I would put Ryan Braun in the Official Spot for the 2012 binder, did you? </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And that's not an authentic Platinum 1/1 copy (way back then the 1/1 version quite appropriately shines like the Sun so if you are ever so lucky to see it, bring sunglasses) of the single most famous baseball card of the 2010s, #US175, possibly getting completely wrecked being stuck in the Official Spot for my super cool binder full of generally completely worthless Rookie Cards. Not Rookie Card cards - the real deal, only one (err, not quite) RC logo Rookie Card officially blessed by the Commissioner in a secret ceremony every year the day after the All-Star Game when everyone is asleep, for each and every newly minted Major Leaguer from 2011 until, forever and ever. Or, at least, most of them. Believe it or not, Topps does still somehow occasionally completely miss the appearance of a Rookie in Major League Baseball. I know, I know, I'm just making up lies now. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So I must confess the honest truth — that Mike Trout Rookie Card seen there is a, gasp, reprint. Don't tell anybody.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now by this point people who just scroll on by all these tl;dr wordy words are about to start scrolling again so it's time to look at some cards and make people stop scrolling. I recently got my Rookie Card binder much further along the path to real collector organization and installed page 2, so I scanned that one, since I already posted page 1 last week. Let's go to the tape:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3kKEOJO-7CRNYzdHNyDkJkgN0YLprorVjIk8CHBK_iO1H5D2lFN6OIWfq-3DGpDNYt_fcEO0P5BV8mtXWbXawfoUk2CqKbH9NWRDLiuOeyqQ_h_JufTrwdDt_rWPPAmi04EvP33CZXEYhsrKE542Pt1WNGVd2WifZaw2lOQUhow5O9o_DqRKTuOg/s6734/page%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="6734" data-original-width="4882" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3kKEOJO-7CRNYzdHNyDkJkgN0YLprorVjIk8CHBK_iO1H5D2lFN6OIWfq-3DGpDNYt_fcEO0P5BV8mtXWbXawfoUk2CqKbH9NWRDLiuOeyqQ_h_JufTrwdDt_rWPPAmi04EvP33CZXEYhsrKE542Pt1WNGVd2WifZaw2lOQUhow5O9o_DqRKTuOg/w464-h640/page%202.jpeg" width="464" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Do you have a Rookie Card wearing shades?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">2011 Topps is a pleasant set to gaze upon. It will be a nice way to kick off paging through a binder mostly full of baseball players you can't remember any more, or just never ever heard of ever before anyway, like those two fresh fish from Miami. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Until just tonight, after all these years of owning it and even finally bindering it up last week, it had escaped my notice that that Brandon Snyder RC is a really good Lead-Off card - there aren't too many of those in the Topps Baseball oeuvre. And every Brewers fan knew Jeremey Jeffress was just basically squirrelly even before you finally saw his Rookie Card card. Meanwhile it looks to me like Jeremy Hellickson might have been easy to run on. This binder is going to be chock full of fun. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now that hole there in spot #4 illustrates a small dilemma with this ultimate cool project: what do I do with those rare, once-or-twice-a-season, maybe, pretty actually valuable Rookie Card cards? Which in turn illustrates the dilemma with putting a Face Card in the Official Spot in the Rookie Card binder - US175 might well be the Face of the Franchise, here, but you just don't want to use an actually valuable card in the Official Spot.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Here is some real news you can use: have you ever tried to take a card back OUT of the Official Spot on the spine of the binder? That, is not pretty. Sliding it in there is as easy as pie, but the reverse, yikes! I almost had to go get a pair of needle-nose pliers to pull that #US175 reprint back out of there. And that, is not good; like, Andy Pafko levels of not good, though not for Ryan Braun card #1 in Topps Baseball card sets, unfortunately, especially since there are TWO of those cards. In my case, it was not good because even reprints of #US175 fetch a pretty penny, these days, eleven years after its original issue.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That missing card here on Page 2 is where the 2011 Topps #145 Freddie Freeman RC would go. But even with that not well centered, PSA 7-8, no-soup-for-you copy I scanned in last week, I'm not sure I want to put THAT card in a binder. Freddie seems on his way to the Hall of Fame, if you ask me, but Roger Bernadina, bunking with Freddie forever after over on page 1, is not, for one. So for now, I am equivocating on that spot on page 2, expecting that Topps will finally issue a reprint of #145, as they so much like to do with their famous, actually valuable Rookie Card cards, over and over and over again for decades yet to come. But so far whenever that idea has presented itself, they have picked #US175 to represent 2011 Topps in the Rookie Card reprint parade, even though #145 now has more rings, as they say, than #US175. But #145's day will come, and my copy will be living in a much safer plastic tomb than this one, which is designed for pleasant shiggles, really, as well as basic Baseball history appreciation. I am also fortunate that reprints of #US175 exist, and that I just won't have any qualms about the Jose Altuve RC card, for some reason, or, the Alex Bregman issue. To the binder tomb they will go.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I do have an ultimate dream for a card to put in the Official Spot of the Rookie Card binder. That would be finding a Rookie Card logo card for a player that ultimately never appears in Major League Baseball. I know it's going to happen. I know it already happened or, I think it did, anyway, on one of those floating head Rookie Cards in the 60s, or one of the four-way Rookies in the 70s, back when each player (well, almost) got one and only one Rookie Card - didja ever wonder just how did collectors survive in those dark days before Fleer and Donruss rescued us all by finally creating Rookie Card cards? </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I want a never happened card from the Modern Era, the one I actually live in, and I feel certain I will find one, eventually. Lately, the Tigers have been so bad that Topps just has no idea what to do with Tigers spots on their checklists any more - they have already issued 2 RC Tigers cards for players that never actually sported the olde English "D" in an MLB game, though those guys did make it onto the field of play for other teams. Those make for great RC trivia, but are just close but no cigar as they still aren't as epic as RC Zero will be. It almost finally happened last year, when a Tigers Pitcher injured his leg during warm-ups before what would have been his Major League Debut, with a Rookie Card already under construction back at Topps HQ. Luckily for Topps, he eventually did make it into an MLB game, though I have my doubts he will ever appear on Topps cardboard ever again, otherwise.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This year, I think I found my lowest Rookie Card card MLB participation level yet - just 4 At Bats. The 0 AB, 0 IP RC card is coming, I can feel it. Maybe it even already exists, and I just haven't coughed up enough subscription fee to Baseball-Reference dot com to find it. Or stayed awake long enough. Those auto-load ads on there are just so annoying, they are going to wrangle that subscription fee out of me if I ever hope to complete my RC Zero quest. Topps sure isn't going to be the entity that tells me which Rookie Card card is the Grail, here.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now until that card appears, I have a back-up plan for the Official Spot on the spine in case the binder fills up with players with 2.2 IP and 13 AB and it's time to start up a second binder, before RC Zero finally arrives. Plus, it's time to show a card again before people start looking for links to click away from this craziness. So the following is Plan B, & easily my all-time favorite Rookie Card card with essentially no 2nd place (until RC Zero arrives to dispute things). Though I have posted it before somewhere on this herky-jerky baseball card blog, here yas go:</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW74qiXnNHpF5Hq9RS23HMXxzGTv7q5ct0tLHMAOF3A3D-Js0M3ldg124N-cvu9hz6Idf6tSSaffYvTjE9_ZPucFprHl8N1H2QbEKF4z-MIUzBVRIT_Dr1v2lJi7dB8CqktPgx_diLcvc/s1600/singletonSP.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1159" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW74qiXnNHpF5Hq9RS23HMXxzGTv7q5ct0tLHMAOF3A3D-Js0M3ldg124N-cvu9hz6Idf6tSSaffYvTjE9_ZPucFprHl8N1H2QbEKF4z-MIUzBVRIT_Dr1v2lJi7dB8CqktPgx_diLcvc/s320/singletonSP.jpeg" width="232" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The GOAT Rookie Card card</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Plus, it's a Bubble Gum card - betchya didn't even notice that, right off the bat. Singleton didn't even notice the batter swung the bat, he is busy chillaxing with his bubble gum. Priorities. Find me another RC Bubble Gum card - betchya can't. I have a whole binder full of the things. This one looks at that Sunglasses RC card up there and says: "Trump." Plus, Jon Singleton is like the Ricky Williams of Major League Baseball, except Ricky Williams might could be a better baseball player, not sure. How good you are at actually playing baseball isn't really all that important for Rookie Card card collecting, when you collect the players who never got a single vote for the All-Star Game, that nobody else collects. I mean, who else plays First Base like this, out on an MLB field? Who? C'mon now. GOAT. '51 Bowman Mantle, step aside. That one doesn't even have an RC logo - lame.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So probably I should just put that Jon Singleton RC on the Official Spot on the RC logo binder, but, I just like it too much to ruin it up in there (down in there?), since it's the GOAT and all. But I might, some day; after all I could just buy an extra copy of the GOAT RC for just one whole dollar, which seems sadly underpriced for a GOAT card, but that's the way she goes, boys, when it comes to Rookie Card cards, that's just the way she goes. They ain't making more of 'em. No, wait, they are, actually.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Thus until I resolve this existential dilemma of which card to put in the Official Spot in the all-time greatest Rookie Card card collection anyone has ever assembled (the decision is a heavy one), this is where that Tony Gwynn RC "medallion" comes in.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Or, did, before I found a much more pleasing RC logo baseball card memorabilia product for this mission, than that chintzy little "medallion" Topps sent me. "Medallions" should be big, bold, and beautiful, like the ones on Pascual Perez baseball cards. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I don't remember precisely how it happened but I somehow stumbled upon the ultimate Rookie Card "manu" (eww) patch card, from 2010 Topps Finest:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdd5hmk-nMEcIt622BuhtuELLJlCp4OLwbhnEMJa9YF5s7n7uuwkbipk3E7clGk7fQC8mcvxMTnGAJCyVONsgCBWG0n0Y_zvMytzrlgBU6Z_-WNMsDAhQPliktgimllGHPvvovQcTqjLS5y9WbwyyTaPiOyf-rrAXDRoDrfZByTaE7CwvC5jTaqbU/s2098/RC%20Patch.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1502" data-original-width="2098" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdd5hmk-nMEcIt622BuhtuELLJlCp4OLwbhnEMJa9YF5s7n7uuwkbipk3E7clGk7fQC8mcvxMTnGAJCyVONsgCBWG0n0Y_zvMytzrlgBU6Z_-WNMsDAhQPliktgimllGHPvvovQcTqjLS5y9WbwyyTaPiOyf-rrAXDRoDrfZByTaE7CwvC5jTaqbU/s320/RC%20Patch.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The official deployment of the official RC logo there on the left side is the best part. Why didn't they do that on the Tony Gwynn "medallion" RC card? Topps is always screwing up these key details, we all know that. If it doesn't have the official RC logo, it's just not a Rookie Card card, is it?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now you probably already know what is about to happen, so make sure no kids are reading this. There will be scissors involved. But before we break a cardinal rule of baseball card collecting, let's read this card it's Last Rites, err, Yeah, I Read the Backs. Always:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCOXK778ezZf7S_ZWc6CoLdguhTiorLCYnwqORqSRfyC-9pBODL6AsXeFF9XXCp_kGrWwbk1lunmVJlm6IZZZZrfDaNxpzSGsby3l9StKieht_M-q4JO0v2S34mj_OwIaWRWozC0srTqjal_bUTXUuaJIU3wKgwHYrHINGQinttlYZuXo0dKw-W_U/s2098/RC%20Patch%20back.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCOXK778ezZf7S_ZWc6CoLdguhTiorLCYnwqORqSRfyC-9pBODL6AsXeFF9XXCp_kGrWwbk1lunmVJlm6IZZZZrfDaNxpzSGsby3l9StKieht_M-q4JO0v2S34mj_OwIaWRWozC0srTqjal_bUTXUuaJIU3wKgwHYrHINGQinttlYZuXo0dKw-W_U/s320/RC%20Patch%20back.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Gah! It's a real card back, like a real baseball card, not just the "Congratulations! You have just received a valuable baseball memorabilia product from the Topps Chewing Gum Corporation Incorporated" totally phoned-it-in cheese that adorns the back of all the "manu" (eww) patch cards I have ever luckily received, for free, in my blaster boxes, thank you very much.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">An actual "real" baseball card? I totally didn't see that coming when I coughed up my $3 (worth 3x more than the GOAT? What's up with that?) to order this one. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Even more oh-my-garsh-what-next is something hard to see in the scan, because it is printed with foil text: this card has a serial number! Its #10, of only 50 copies! "They" will know precisely which card I am about to break rule #1 of baseball cards with, forever and ever. Leave no trace of the crime, they told me. Oops. Luckily, #10 was not Tommy Manzella's uniform #, which just might have derailed the whole gosh durn project completely.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Plus, it has a fiendishly clever baseball Trivia question on the back that all you 2022 smart-alecks will get wrong, I guarantee it:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Among pitchers who have never yielded a walk-off HR, who has the most saves?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A. Eric Gagne</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">B. Mariano Rivera</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">C. Jonathon Papelbon</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">D. Jeff Reardon</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Mariano, that's an easy one, you say? He's the GOAT Closer, whatever that is. Sounds difficult. Don't ever mess with Goats, would be my advice.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">WRONG!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That would be Eric Gagne. This is a 2010 baseball card. But really, Fanatics, whoever wrote that trivia question - put them back to work, right away.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now I have a sorta real baseball card holding on to a cool logo patch, and I wants it. But who is this Tommy Manzella guy, anyway? Never heard of 'em.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Of course you are holding this thing in your hand, right now, that answers all questions, ever, if you just ask it, out loud. Just say "Alexa, what was Tommy Manzella's career WAR?" Use your outdoor voice so Alexa gets it right on the first try.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I know, I know, it's still kinda weird to talk to an inanimate object, out loud at least, though SkyNet will probably animate things soon enough, like it or not. So I went ahead and asked them for you. After being drafted after college, looks like from his birthdate, it then took Tommy four more seasons to get a crack at the Bigs - not an encouraging sign, so far. Manzella had a thoroughly authentic Rookie Card career of a first season (remember, that's not his "Rookie" season) with a whole 5 At Bats in 2009 - qualifying him for the creation of a whole bunch of Topps Rookie Card cards, automatically, followed by a near perfect average of the genre the next year, when he appeared in 83 Games or essentially half of one season, somewhat authenticating the trust Topps placed in him when they created Rookie Card cards for him in no less than 9 different products, including commissioning 2 distinct paintings of him for National Chicle and a full load of autographed Rookie Card cards in Topps Chrome. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Manzella managed to hit above the Mendoza Line, about which it is important to remember - hitting the baseball successfully more than 1 in 5 times in Major League Baseball is an incredible human achievement, facing Pitchers currently ranked in the top 250 in the world, as certified by their presence on a Pitching mound out there in front of you. No one reading this could even manage to hit the ball into a real Hit, facing any one of those 250 guys with a world class fielding defense of the top 485 Fielders in the world behind them. YOUR only chance at success would be a super lucky dribbler down the baseline while an overly tired Catcher is behind the plate, most likely. Tommy Manzella had a very good baseball career arc, if you keep things in the proper perspective. Not that I ever lose that perspective, nope.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now beating the Mendoza line is more than can be said for Jon Singleton (the GOAT RC, don't forget), but Singleton bested him in WAR with a -0.9 mark to Manzella's -1.4, so maybe there is some hidden strategery to playing the field in that cop-a-squat position at First Base, possibly. Since Topps for some reason didn't memorialize Manzella's actual 2010 Rookie campaign with further cardboard, I had to ask Alexa/BaseballReference for all the deets. I maybe would have rather had another baseball card to check out, but then I probably would have one less 29 AB 2011 Rookie Card card in my cool RC binder, and therein lies the rub, or something.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now while you were trying to remember just where Mendoza was when he drew that Line, I just went ahead and finally liberated a manufactured patch like I've wanted to do ever since I pulled that Bob Feller card for the Cleveland Naps, a team he never actually played for and is quite possibly the very worst Major League baseball team name, ever, in a sport that puts people to sleep way, way too much for it's own long-term good. Go, Naps! Though that does sound kinda good, to me at least.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I thought about shooting some video, but I would have to charge extra for you to see that, and, remember, there might be applicable baseball card laws at play here. This is the result:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIBvJTsf9Y-7yUqPpBRuSt1ALpnMf1UrgBzsEfOXz0YdIhlmD-O35fOYZRXmloOL5nUZ3NP7VFY7cOaDEpqwoHqAiif2IN-srHiBC08C7mRbQMF_C3duSxr0JHhyApqb6dIgFmbDXokxiSqMANc__FfsNSMXl9pZPK5d7EYzUD_KT6IBTX2Mnlzac/s4032/IMG_8567.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIBvJTsf9Y-7yUqPpBRuSt1ALpnMf1UrgBzsEfOXz0YdIhlmD-O35fOYZRXmloOL5nUZ3NP7VFY7cOaDEpqwoHqAiif2IN-srHiBC08C7mRbQMF_C3duSxr0JHhyApqb6dIgFmbDXokxiSqMANc__FfsNSMXl9pZPK5d7EYzUD_KT6IBTX2Mnlzac/s320/IMG_8567.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Houston, we have a winner.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">err, well, however Houston now can only drool over somehow finding the other 49 copies of the 2010 Topps Finest RC MLB Logo Patch [Memorabilia] (see, it's official Memorabilia, or, was), so Houston is a slight loser on this one. The vast majority of them haven't surfaced for sale lately, but they still might. Don't give up hope. Keep up the quest. We love you.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And that's how I finally put one of these "manufactured patches" to an actual use, rather than just have it float around my card desk for all eternity, which is what is happening with that Cleveland Naps cap logo patch <i>THING, </i>since COMC deemed it too damaged for them to sell to anyone cuz USPS somehow scuffed it up on the way to Washington, and then COMC sent it straight back to me so it could float around my card desk for all eternity, or until I find a Cleveland Naps fan who actually wants this exciting piece of baseball memorabilia, knowing that Topps will congratulate them and then has to figure out some way to make it stop floating around their card desk for all eternity, which is quite a challenge. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Unless, you have a pair of scissors. And you really really want to put a script letter "C" that is just kinda trying too hard with those curly-cues, on something, somewhere. Got any ideas?</div><br /></div><br /><p><br /></p>BaseSetCallinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05508114484929386332noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7573896101004946985.post-72989870226862754822023-01-11T15:32:00.008-05:002023-01-12T22:37:01.133-05:00You're my Sunny Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">I could really use some sunshine. The other day there was a notice in my media 'stream' about the large city 90 miles south of me. The news of the day was: some Sunshine! For 5, yes, five minutes. For the whole year so far. Of course with the year 2023 not even being a whole week old, that news was a bit disingenuous. And no one has sent an intrepid Lifestyle reporter to my little town, where everyone could have quickly informed any visitor that 5 minutes of Sunshine was the grand total for — the last 30 days!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">So I sure miss that flaming ball of fire in the sky. Fortunately, I have some new baseball cards...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUGlwJ1wJljwU9gR81StrsGGKcUQqhvUYoXhjibC-AeQ3B29HsTWugFoYUKNaWkVHDk2CUkV5Net3MJttOA339iYryeRsy2bgszPlH4_b29tXGbpX6NpGj5TtpU5RoDYhx65ZuWkILjpTrW50HbFqHGCmMTOb28G1GPaiJPH0VApH2ayIPJsEovqo/s2096/Benintendi.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2096" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUGlwJ1wJljwU9gR81StrsGGKcUQqhvUYoXhjibC-AeQ3B29HsTWugFoYUKNaWkVHDk2CUkV5Net3MJttOA339iYryeRsy2bgszPlH4_b29tXGbpX6NpGj5TtpU5RoDYhx65ZuWkILjpTrW50HbFqHGCmMTOb28G1GPaiJPH0VApH2ayIPJsEovqo/s320/Benintendi.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">May I present: 2022 Topps Archives</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">It's tough to beat a purely red, white, & blue baseball card.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I always like Archives in a general sense. Maybe not all of the product, but for me, that's OK, as I don't often collect all of a product. <span style="text-align: center;">Let's scroll-ponder our way through the first 8 card pack in a blaster.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I have always liked 63 Topps. I would like to see a "Redux" issue of it like I saw with 52 and 65 Topps on those 2021 inserts I liked. By that I mean an issue using all action images as the primary image (i.e. 83 homage style) rather than the purely keep it trad approach. That idea is so obviously good that Topps reserves it for the short printed "variations" in this release that I will never own and thus for me, Topps keeps it authentic and uses a head portrait shot in the large image, and a fuller body, posed image in the inset, which has never made the most perfect sense, to me at least. 83 got this quite a bit better:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDTCuLFqD1fBf4Zd7v5FUh6FyvDq1dQuRMIE4Fb0NNGqmTDpX3FgFygtA7O3nuZEI6gx6hbPOJG2QVeRjA9B5KIX1JkwmbJsMkHKddWVg6ZeHV--FM4m4sMVKg3bIqEh-0UPfY_goCx1zOI6z7J5OiMka3r8ZoidzwqAUSK-mk69RofpgsCNIuufE/s2084/Maeda.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2084" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDTCuLFqD1fBf4Zd7v5FUh6FyvDq1dQuRMIE4Fb0NNGqmTDpX3FgFygtA7O3nuZEI6gx6hbPOJG2QVeRjA9B5KIX1JkwmbJsMkHKddWVg6ZeHV--FM4m4sMVKg3bIqEh-0UPfY_goCx1zOI6z7J5OiMka3r8ZoidzwqAUSK-mk69RofpgsCNIuufE/s320/Maeda.jpeg" width="230" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Archives is a "3 set" issue this year. What's behind Door #2, Monty?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiURmc2Hr67PU2UTjs40xRqtb6XEU66kM8vEy759KuL5UYVSayOOIANQs33eh-MVgcszLpvNeqzIhGjOcRagEnNfqpl-nUOrdnarSD90QAd2SjWlbdlhYCeHhybAxBs4VTKFLWbP-tZ97JnphktpQ0Y8rKBsiebQpLPMzXwZrn3omdThh6aOeOnVvw/s2100/Altuve.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiURmc2Hr67PU2UTjs40xRqtb6XEU66kM8vEy759KuL5UYVSayOOIANQs33eh-MVgcszLpvNeqzIhGjOcRagEnNfqpl-nUOrdnarSD90QAd2SjWlbdlhYCeHhybAxBs4VTKFLWbP-tZ97JnphktpQ0Y8rKBsiebQpLPMzXwZrn3omdThh6aOeOnVvw/s320/Altuve.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">1978 Topps!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That hasn't fallen out of a pack of Topps baseball cards for me since: 1978! How did that not happen already? Are our cursive reading & writing skills so withered up and dried away that Topps didn't think we could read the cards any more? Doesn't seem to bother us (well, most of us) on those 'auto' cards everyone wants. An Astros card of Scary Altuve though, gee whiz.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5bWlV2pxlPK_0045HiZaWv2rLABJ_TjRSN17z9IWWEwMSWFajNnHhM2mlCmZcYGsDxsk6b4mRvZwv9-d3FUVRuQEl2Jgdhj40qcNlIkqZz65hxsKCoIKOzxgPnQZsMqpHIdRTFzF7viF3VPoihP1sh_R4c7JWoEhMqplm39-5QSM37Z5x1r-yIOs/s2100/Stephenson.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5bWlV2pxlPK_0045HiZaWv2rLABJ_TjRSN17z9IWWEwMSWFajNnHhM2mlCmZcYGsDxsk6b4mRvZwv9-d3FUVRuQEl2Jgdhj40qcNlIkqZz65hxsKCoIKOzxgPnQZsMqpHIdRTFzF7viF3VPoihP1sh_R4c7JWoEhMqplm39-5QSM37Z5x1r-yIOs/s320/Stephenson.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">If it wasn't for that clear cursive script and Mr. Redlegs running on to the card there, I might have thought this was a Yankees card. At least someone in Major League Baseball thinks it might look nice to have a nice clean shave on Photo Day, unlike that Altuve guy, or this next guy:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Uym-lMxkQVlMCNZkRB8Y9OrH5JVwsNaQWFVJara5ZLvP4jrdd4TKu8B2F4yh57HHNk_QcsRzMBr0Q42sPFL4OIXiIryzXJr3j-_a3ZC3sYouwRS9utJ38ux6b_QSb--0Wv9tZi5QOj3PSeALwBsX3BvADctd_LAWw0D94RLnALJYZCk_pZsr_6Y/s2098/Trout.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1496" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Uym-lMxkQVlMCNZkRB8Y9OrH5JVwsNaQWFVJara5ZLvP4jrdd4TKu8B2F4yh57HHNk_QcsRzMBr0Q42sPFL4OIXiIryzXJr3j-_a3ZC3sYouwRS9utJ38ux6b_QSb--0Wv9tZi5QOj3PSeALwBsX3BvADctd_LAWw0D94RLnALJYZCk_pZsr_6Y/s320/Trout.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Sad Trout?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I am quite certain I have never pulled a sad looking Mike Trout card before. This does not bode well. Though I would have to agree with the expression showing that it just sucks that a great player like this is the prisoner of a bad team, as the back-drop here has got me thinking. I just want to see Mike Trout play a baseball game, say, in October, without paying $179 for an MLB.TV subscription, somehow. Maybe if I go wager $5 on an Angels game I can somehow get my local Casino Sportsbook to put Mike up on the big screen there, but I doubt it. And I just don't care for the idea of pay-per-view Baseball. You're right Mike, it's sad in MLB right now. And that means I still have baseball cards to watch instead:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbe-Ra-qvWevnhdCy9rKu3x_ICVxf3snyKU5Irn_3d3nI_spgsosgDJh7-ndPz8WwKiqS_4YHf6H5lZKK850s5-h_ZmA9Hu_IFxA5YWBKZ8JDtHjODzIKOAC_smDWnjfMt3hNdJNuK5Y4JN-At5umPU7mmTny9eDTm1dX-94Nyn_EhHYhq4kLMG0k/s2102/Schmidt%20Big.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1492" data-original-width="2102" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbe-Ra-qvWevnhdCy9rKu3x_ICVxf3snyKU5Irn_3d3nI_spgsosgDJh7-ndPz8WwKiqS_4YHf6H5lZKK850s5-h_ZmA9Hu_IFxA5YWBKZ8JDtHjODzIKOAC_smDWnjfMt3hNdJNuK5Y4JN-At5umPU7mmTny9eDTm1dX-94Nyn_EhHYhq4kLMG0k/s320/Schmidt%20Big.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Topps Big, take 2</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Well I think I can predict one of the inserts in 2023 Topps Archives. This year's effort seems to have lightened the foil processing for the action image and the cards look a little better than last year's Archives issues of a way too dark Topps Big, though I still don't see the need for foil here. Just because you can Oooohhh, Shiny, doesn't mean you should Oooohhh, Shiny. Still no cartoon on the back either, bummer.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Ok, Ok, Monty, I give in. I will switch to door #3:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZO2zliA7yrCW_TO_UA_XuCc1h6Q4J5jixB3dk2kKS0_NGgA11Ht2OGdsWdZ6HUUKYHI1AKW6iambLGgBwmvJBuwj7-4w3WNo9WNkm1vAM4Jz3rC8mm59KY_vZi6Oo0pF08LXJ4xtveL1o8CxrZegwDdFQAANLL9viLVQhnU_QslfkUpH3jKGz0IQ/s2098/Frank%20Thomas.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1496" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZO2zliA7yrCW_TO_UA_XuCc1h6Q4J5jixB3dk2kKS0_NGgA11Ht2OGdsWdZ6HUUKYHI1AKW6iambLGgBwmvJBuwj7-4w3WNo9WNkm1vAM4Jz3rC8mm59KY_vZi6Oo0pF08LXJ4xtveL1o8CxrZegwDdFQAANLL9viLVQhnU_QslfkUpH3jKGz0IQ/s320/Frank%20Thomas.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I swear I just saw some new 1987 Topps cards, somewhere?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Oh, yeah, that would be in packs of 2022 Topps Baseball. Is there a Dead Horse card in the set?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghbgBWOThRrmjQKUH-RY2p7cDkrX-7Jau90aq1x44tlulXtqokc8jQscgp7QrhfTR-qkSa91l78XSEXN2yKM8EzUbYRrksZqIoAq6HqOgKXwr9r_lu_IbdpouyYIfTciZmB4-kOGtIPy9ezGaicneH-VTZjohULolJew_G_PY_AnG3TMS9oMaroZY/s2088/Bench.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2088" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghbgBWOThRrmjQKUH-RY2p7cDkrX-7Jau90aq1x44tlulXtqokc8jQscgp7QrhfTR-qkSa91l78XSEXN2yKM8EzUbYRrksZqIoAq6HqOgKXwr9r_lu_IbdpouyYIfTciZmB4-kOGtIPy9ezGaicneH-VTZjohULolJew_G_PY_AnG3TMS9oMaroZY/s320/Bench.jpeg" width="230" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On the other hand, one reason I am not a yuge fan of 87 Topps is that the original set just largely looks terrible due to basic low quality production by Topps in the late 80s. Something particularly true in the 1987 set, which routinely offers up cards that were blurry to start with, anyway, even before the slapdash printing of them.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So when these retro 87s offer up a crisp image the way a baseball card should, quite often, me likey.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu1ejyrm9jYWgV4pdBtV2m1TtLVv1gMM-jmlfrM7Hflwy6zlJkjbBPsJMIdZKVYEGqcsn5zSiv_RUKxUso6Y-Ib7iag6K5Xlbbmi_OmL0id4d2JAKdisPcbs1j5Sq71Ruk-a0V9OMfCHGh2BcfaWePXx8wHHQKa8zO77LvxT5Vp_6k2FZhi1l1d38/s2098/Castro.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu1ejyrm9jYWgV4pdBtV2m1TtLVv1gMM-jmlfrM7Hflwy6zlJkjbBPsJMIdZKVYEGqcsn5zSiv_RUKxUso6Y-Ib7iag6K5Xlbbmi_OmL0id4d2JAKdisPcbs1j5Sq71Ruk-a0V9OMfCHGh2BcfaWePXx8wHHQKa8zO77LvxT5Vp_6k2FZhi1l1d38/s320/Castro.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Got Bling? This image is in the right decade's set.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Finally a Rookie Card! I was starting to go through withdrawal. <span style="text-align: left;">Early on in my year of pulling Rodolfo Castro Rookie Card cards, I was growing concerned that his incredible entry into MLB last year would become nothing more than a one or two card baseball footnote. Amidst the numbing parade of RC issues from Pirates middle infielders for seeming years now, on this one the Topps Card Back Writer gets in some nice illumination on Castro's standing in MLB. And by the time I pulled this card, after the season, it was looking like he might "stick" in the game, something fairly rare for Pirates middle infielder RC issues the last I forget how many years. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Wait, isn't that 9 cards in the 8 card pack? Yup. But I wouldn't advise being concerned about this. The New Guys Topps sub-contracts production to these days are still dialing things in, but I have yet to see a card count error that didn't work out in my favor. Calmado, esse, todo bien.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Maybe I should at least count the packs in a blaster, considering how much each one costs, and since there just basically isn't any other way to purchase baseball cards now, except by spending $30 at a go. So as there for me is no such thing as bet you can't rip just one, anyway, let's see what else I find. Speaking of interesting new Pirates middle infielders...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQhnJTyeA9fPQCucbW-AukphGXcc67UW8tdBM-nylExtt2WXwByjRFGEq5TAQBxhEhOEUAj66OtEwUZsU2gUjewOq95vdlfqdRrNrECiCK-Fgw7s5gm4JBCJUo5U66gBvthRTilwQmuJVYuP_SQpCqoAsyP7r5KLoktm_lRgjn7aMKSLmIaFS0Tng/s2096/Cruz.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2096" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQhnJTyeA9fPQCucbW-AukphGXcc67UW8tdBM-nylExtt2WXwByjRFGEq5TAQBxhEhOEUAj66OtEwUZsU2gUjewOq95vdlfqdRrNrECiCK-Fgw7s5gm4JBCJUo5U66gBvthRTilwQmuJVYuP_SQpCqoAsyP7r5KLoktm_lRgjn7aMKSLmIaFS0Tng/s320/Cruz.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">A player I've been quite wanting to "see."</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Topps did well here. I didn't need to flip that card over to know that O'Neil Cruz is a tall player, which is an interesting choice at Shortstop. Topps Card Back Writer puts in another solid swing on the back, too. That wood grain paneling is looking good at night, too...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkiizmB6uglogI3YELP_djLAOsuGqle7Dq107-WBBQalCYlkvV7UjovGt76Fv50MDHY8UAAPUG7cPWkNl90eusiM3EpDa9PwC6yhtQ6e80zqv8jPypiuU0ZnQTQJpIznuO1p8-ID5b9KOWPZ43pR2tTW7Gzpwpz1IPPilddVi7-LKfRw0oM1Xg-fQ/s2098/Pedro.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkiizmB6uglogI3YELP_djLAOsuGqle7Dq107-WBBQalCYlkvV7UjovGt76Fv50MDHY8UAAPUG7cPWkNl90eusiM3EpDa9PwC6yhtQ6e80zqv8jPypiuU0ZnQTQJpIznuO1p8-ID5b9KOWPZ43pR2tTW7Gzpwpz1IPPilddVi7-LKfRw0oM1Xg-fQ/s320/Pedro.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">5' 11" reports the back. Huh. I woulda guessed different.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The 87s I pulled are all game action shots, except one, which recently escaped from the blaster box and made it into my one-year-late 2021 review post. So many retro cards, it's hard to keep track...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE95fFw59EHxJl2NIclc4ny9iyvF03PR-sxVR_7T-tReYtW7_ICeNAdZ-rEufNfqvOXV-5m6kg8t_1Dmit8VN8zN-OAh7Zbjemr0DU9U8pJLb7bIXGmKqiG8qXsQKmANpXR1VM69-yOd37_qVUgOdywASaLItsdrdMn-ZDSMc2zafYLTDTJaUlvmA/s2100/Satchel%20Paige.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE95fFw59EHxJl2NIclc4ny9iyvF03PR-sxVR_7T-tReYtW7_ICeNAdZ-rEufNfqvOXV-5m6kg8t_1Dmit8VN8zN-OAh7Zbjemr0DU9U8pJLb7bIXGmKqiG8qXsQKmANpXR1VM69-yOd37_qVUgOdywASaLItsdrdMn-ZDSMc2zafYLTDTJaUlvmA/s320/Satchel%20Paige.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">A classic place to see a baseball player on a baseball card.</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Tonight I did take a peek at the rest of the set and, true to 1987, there are some Spring Training images used on this design also, for better, or worse...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There were other Topps designs of the past in the box to check out:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw-LjHv7sJn686smREtEkOL3vEC824kcoZjB8VS-I6Z8ktg8gJPsdFvEtWEcn9qeqAI50Xh1fspLsKXRhcoE_k0PxKdAh23BsWRnnqPv9tehSzQChCIBqGJN1Zvuc2TnylmfCS6zP6wqMMzelelCyauDbshOEPXugvbxM3KfsSd3YIVQNMeDHiXNg/s2100/Melendez.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw-LjHv7sJn686smREtEkOL3vEC824kcoZjB8VS-I6Z8ktg8gJPsdFvEtWEcn9qeqAI50Xh1fspLsKXRhcoE_k0PxKdAh23BsWRnnqPv9tehSzQChCIBqGJN1Zvuc2TnylmfCS6zP6wqMMzelelCyauDbshOEPXugvbxM3KfsSd3YIVQNMeDHiXNg/s320/Melendez.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">"1992 Topps Major League Debut 1991"</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">'Rookie Debut' cards didn't just appear in the 2010s to pad out checklists and help give everyone that crucial impression that they pulled a valuable Rookie Card card, denoted by that key logo, even when they had already pulled another Rookie Card card of the very same player, sometimes in the very same pack. The mouthful set called 1992 Topps Major League Debut 1991 was actually the 2nd (and, final) year of a complete stand-alone product of nothing but cards revealing the date and the result of a rookie appearing in MLB play for the first time. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The last few years in Archives the small - subsets? - of just a few cards of some old design now get sequential numbers on the checklist rather than some short numbering sequence more typical of inserts. What I don't know is if the cards then have the same print run as the base cards in the 3 main styles. This checklist oddly ends at #380 so there is probably something weird going on with production totals of some cards when they are coming off 100 card sheets, somehow.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On these, you can get a memento of M.J. Melendez' first game for the Royals, and one of Babe Ruth's first game, in the 'set' of 25 such cards. Good Luck, M.J.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There are some more of these efforts, too<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiclcL0kxdYwQlEqgSOc89RJrAf_8-C81Ceh4tL4gWl8Y7ojbv7lHy9AJaFhL-GkJyYInSOir9SIgysM6CJNU76RENJqqLAmYOAj1e9Rfi1XFOu7T6jPQ2gM7WypGGrkry9wsYHeSiQcA8KLS6EhQfXo5T6_QnmbgkMTgmP68th9TqUCJQQy2Z0OBQ/s2090/Soler.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2090" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiclcL0kxdYwQlEqgSOc89RJrAf_8-C81Ceh4tL4gWl8Y7ojbv7lHy9AJaFhL-GkJyYInSOir9SIgysM6CJNU76RENJqqLAmYOAj1e9Rfi1XFOu7T6jPQ2gM7WypGGrkry9wsYHeSiQcA8KLS6EhQfXo5T6_QnmbgkMTgmP68th9TqUCJQQy2Z0OBQ/s320/Soler.jpeg" width="230" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I did not know that the World Series MVP Award is actually called...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The Willie Mays World Series MVP Award. Thanks, Topps.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaXcVjd9gLDZOfSVdosPdDePwHuz3zgVnSqe1if-jaH0ltGhVpHcLGbdo24MaUMAFSZi9NvsHLftJ1PE-uvgO4CEfR4JOuHFKb_MdNU_8jEYdKJ3ci8rTNwMrblR20zTrbc3Q3rI1MxMK5rBAGFenagOMP6xf1_8AFfFvyezFC4GJNmjE0Nrkbu-s/s2098/Mancini.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1492" data-original-width="2098" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaXcVjd9gLDZOfSVdosPdDePwHuz3zgVnSqe1if-jaH0ltGhVpHcLGbdo24MaUMAFSZi9NvsHLftJ1PE-uvgO4CEfR4JOuHFKb_MdNU_8jEYdKJ3ci8rTNwMrblR20zTrbc3Q3rI1MxMK5rBAGFenagOMP6xf1_8AFfFvyezFC4GJNmjE0Nrkbu-s/s320/Mancini.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">A "1955 Topps Scoop"</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The back of the card might help a little, here<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUWMPZIdCba8ucx9RpsirlZQPqGbMm5htF-FhchVYh8rWImJoteyWXR55nYSi6FWoGTelGDPWEExD806jQBYta-y1uPAJ8Efd_vfQ7f5ZEUauhWiel5p70B3dJq3TCaYbp4q4zCxRTQavzA7BkdjQeirQym2QpVyRBRvNSXR-fJijJzzsWBmeN9K4/s2088/Mancini%20back.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2088" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUWMPZIdCba8ucx9RpsirlZQPqGbMm5htF-FhchVYh8rWImJoteyWXR55nYSi6FWoGTelGDPWEExD806jQBYta-y1uPAJ8Efd_vfQ7f5ZEUauhWiel5p70B3dJq3TCaYbp4q4zCxRTQavzA7BkdjQeirQym2QpVyRBRvNSXR-fJijJzzsWBmeN9K4/s320/Mancini%20back.jpeg" width="230" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I think I would quite like to see the rest of those, given the absence of Highlights cards from the current Topps Baseball set. The next only-one-in-the-pack card was also quite nice -</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBmQGYjLGE15KCLIP_uC-d6EwyQXh7PzxW_w_NzW4GPhMrC1kNAJVkaMAOihEWLrIFCHEEnVrlWMqy_5NyQtUGCKGJ-leVMb7gp-QO0kpG-KfAu17k3Q4eNwxCRYZHc0lPFpSP7RlfQcAAvSdpd5gIvHRFT3cwJoFCH-n78jwg6bR0l1n2lvzo0Vw/s2100/Arenado%20post-card.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1502" data-original-width="2100" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBmQGYjLGE15KCLIP_uC-d6EwyQXh7PzxW_w_NzW4GPhMrC1kNAJVkaMAOihEWLrIFCHEEnVrlWMqy_5NyQtUGCKGJ-leVMb7gp-QO0kpG-KfAu17k3Q4eNwxCRYZHc0lPFpSP7RlfQcAAvSdpd5gIvHRFT3cwJoFCH-n78jwg6bR0l1n2lvzo0Vw/s320/Arenado%20post-card.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">However that groovy card is a true insert with it's own card # PC-6, which stands for Post Card:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyvxxW92TsWxKqCuzu-W4H8yRSM-iXsWlrtql5_Jwaa7-3SGE6qaEjujJYisEMCuf0NiNmzXYMOCs2qS1bBwitYeCeaCxlBG0k3IHnib6ahmaALTGJvIiQr6WhO64Q77CgEWQ_IsSWliMfE29i_NYWv-9cmvOtFhodTu60mMai7UepIrnv9ONYg2A/s2100/Arenado%20post-card%20back.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="2100" height="458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyvxxW92TsWxKqCuzu-W4H8yRSM-iXsWlrtql5_Jwaa7-3SGE6qaEjujJYisEMCuf0NiNmzXYMOCs2qS1bBwitYeCeaCxlBG0k3IHnib6ahmaALTGJvIiQr6WhO64Q77CgEWQ_IsSWliMfE29i_NYWv-9cmvOtFhodTu60mMai7UepIrnv9ONYg2A/w640-h458/Arenado%20post-card%20back.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>I blew that one up a little to illustrate the solid work put in by Topps Card Back Writer. The fielding award trivia seems worthy of, I don't know, maybe a whole baseball card? And I can't recall them ever mentioning a contract opt-in or opt-out before, a key piece of team construction that Topps usually completely ignores in their always-sunny-in-Brooklyn sets of baseball cards.</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There is one more of these old subset efforts of only 5 cards, a super-gimmee selection of a 2005 Topps Draft Pick / Int'l Signing design that enables Topps to print the 59th or so Wander Rodriguez Rookie Card card this year, and the 39th or so Julio Franco Rookie Card card. I did not pull any of those valuable Rookie Card cards but I did get my first boring old base card from the 2022 AL Rookie Of The Year, so I guess I can retire now?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhivbWjStvm5najim7AAZjckQvndiwSjN6bLN-2_ohMiFVbxEKWNaNiRweb-LZ6yQd3NqBmEIynlyzsUelOVLGSFWoHROwY9-sF2eUf7BsqbtyCUb2STzWfk5em-hS-zbOzmxvppBKi8e0onAor3qSvJPqmgBfvmjGQ7SB9C1-nZtkisc89odqh8_o/s2384/Julio%20RC.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2384" data-original-width="1832" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhivbWjStvm5najim7AAZjckQvndiwSjN6bLN-2_ohMiFVbxEKWNaNiRweb-LZ6yQd3NqBmEIynlyzsUelOVLGSFWoHROwY9-sF2eUf7BsqbtyCUb2STzWfk5em-hS-zbOzmxvppBKi8e0onAor3qSvJPqmgBfvmjGQ7SB9C1-nZtkisc89odqh8_o/s320/Julio%20RC.jpeg" width="246" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">L-R centering all wrong = trash.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This card mostly makes me think of another big "pull" I made from Archives back in 2018 and my realization that it is probably time to sell that one: the 1981 style Ronald Acuña Jr. RC card. I think he is probably headed to Hall-of-Very-Good territory; his 18 Archives RC is currently selling for around $10, just like that Julio Rodriguez card right there. Ultimately past design Rookie Card cards from this set don't excite very many people.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Elsewhere in this blaster, Topps was up to it's usual shenanigans. Archives now functions as a bit of an Update set given it's late release and I saw one big highlight from that idea, though there may be others:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoR9juqxIi1maG2DvOVuQ88GQaAJvBiI8zhz78L0GIRSS5mWQwjqk37cPnXA84Nu74_ZN6mP9nz9Z1L-3oFT6AfTKT6hzL-92QGQvyz1Rdpjixk5a471zjKuJQNstS0Gve6-EFlFoVCE_0HWJ7efPDh1x8q5RRoFzqLuy1lyKVk-tIctm70mX2414/s2102/Pujols78.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2102" data-original-width="1502" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoR9juqxIi1maG2DvOVuQ88GQaAJvBiI8zhz78L0GIRSS5mWQwjqk37cPnXA84Nu74_ZN6mP9nz9Z1L-3oFT6AfTKT6hzL-92QGQvyz1Rdpjixk5a471zjKuJQNstS0Gve6-EFlFoVCE_0HWJ7efPDh1x8q5RRoFzqLuy1lyKVk-tIctm70mX2414/s320/Pujols78.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This card eventually just straight made me mad, because</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqpxrCN10PQAM6ArVRPiztpUbkZFGESV0wmq4VE1Zxuy3DkR73BULQvl10W5-yFow57fWYjuaLte2MCiQHQe2MLp_usZD1j5kOl8w-jqD_Hft3PizFEr7OaRnfeAy-WtcpKpvyOkkTP7jlR7x2AX86q7Ilnn-GXm_HR2dJj4om_JjbYddHd_aVsGI/s2100/Pujols73.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqpxrCN10PQAM6ArVRPiztpUbkZFGESV0wmq4VE1Zxuy3DkR73BULQvl10W5-yFow57fWYjuaLte2MCiQHQe2MLp_usZD1j5kOl8w-jqD_Hft3PizFEr7OaRnfeAy-WtcpKpvyOkkTP7jlR7x2AX86q7Ilnn-GXm_HR2dJj4om_JjbYddHd_aVsGI/s320/Pujols73.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So maybe the Heritage High Numbers card is the offender, as I discovered that one later, I don't know. Baseball cards should not make you unhappy, that's for sure. And they definitely shouldn't hit you over the head with the thought that, hmmm, maybe I really am buying just too many of these goofy things, and there are just too many of these things to begin with, now-a-days. But I am forced to conclude this ever more often of late, I am afraid.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Topps did manage to cheer me up elsewhere in the blaster on another 78 card, with a from-way-downtown nod to baseball card history<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHCZLrqTw_bhwF4D35pTwLQdosCoCqo1nKSfP5WhpMQrzIWFzlVZtJihymVjut9iV2Ys9UME-Y8Jqz--ewYJ805dXi4pEOEKgfzD4Im02CQ8zGnWUtyi-H1DDOOyeQGoXL1oDgsKLVPIHjR8Asarb_Df3ZunPovZnC3f2DbJXvScTvsKKZcmtVmxI/s2100/RandyJ.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHCZLrqTw_bhwF4D35pTwLQdosCoCqo1nKSfP5WhpMQrzIWFzlVZtJihymVjut9iV2Ys9UME-Y8Jqz--ewYJ805dXi4pEOEKgfzD4Im02CQ8zGnWUtyi-H1DDOOyeQGoXL1oDgsKLVPIHjR8Asarb_Df3ZunPovZnC3f2DbJXvScTvsKKZcmtVmxI/s320/RandyJ.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">If I were a dedicated Randy Johnson collector, this would please me immensely. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">I found one other 80s/90s Ace card that would fit well into a Player Collection -</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizOEXcjLSvQcKLvnx026TmXxezwlibK1MYu9yI81e0SdOsfKaBu6SKq0zU47FVFtoh0p5qRRWOIf5J4Zi7DVF3JZ7bPWvL0lUwUh8iuw4vvvAhu1uubjnzT-klgedzbWZ5POk6qc7Zsj-2hTS7V90-Xt-t0ICNkXCZg7n5yPmS0f7pH2RFdlpoyxo/s2100/Clemens.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1498" data-original-width="2100" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizOEXcjLSvQcKLvnx026TmXxezwlibK1MYu9yI81e0SdOsfKaBu6SKq0zU47FVFtoh0p5qRRWOIf5J4Zi7DVF3JZ7bPWvL0lUwUh8iuw4vvvAhu1uubjnzT-klgedzbWZ5POk6qc7Zsj-2hTS7V90-Xt-t0ICNkXCZg7n5yPmS0f7pH2RFdlpoyxo/s320/Clemens.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">A 'Black Armband' year for the Red Sox</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But once I had digested the inserts/subsets or whatever they are, enjoyed the unique things I found here and there, and pined away for any Tigers cards (none), I had to start pondering the true question about my little brand new accumulation of a $30 pile of baseball cards amidst the torrential blizzard of baseball cards we can select from today. If I could buy a $6 hanger pack with next week's groceries, that would be an easy decision; I would check these out a little bit more, sure. But at $30 a go, I had to decide - would it be a year I would assemble one or more of the different styles, Completely?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The 1978 cards seemed the strongest possibility, somewhat naturally. But did I want ALL of these -</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXIKbkT-bU74aF2A9hK0r_ft45w_2iYqgdi8osINF4SF1Pw9Yg5iexa2lPIBISaPy69vDEYfxj_RrZk_4aFUUZX8wzbavWaoNv_orIdZRkaG3Rfsmi2y0N_22p43H6x11Dlapud5NQC5Gu1dOcyb9EIYmVUW6c2mOq-pX4fzS4oH1g5D9gLkrsHEw/s2100/Bell.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXIKbkT-bU74aF2A9hK0r_ft45w_2iYqgdi8osINF4SF1Pw9Yg5iexa2lPIBISaPy69vDEYfxj_RrZk_4aFUUZX8wzbavWaoNv_orIdZRkaG3Rfsmi2y0N_22p43H6x11Dlapud5NQC5Gu1dOcyb9EIYmVUW6c2mOq-pX4fzS4oH1g5D9gLkrsHEw/s320/Bell.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">That card made me mad, because</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFGoYHL-puIDuQkKl0to8Pvyp5_NedtYqvtqEeuSCTnOQvo2kUBsh5YQyrBlT7LGpJceFNwf6clq53PElD8vbFGfPpIzj52rqgTWmbjZmheDpPzmFyi77r10lUNHyrjTIHs5-Lzpmjcu-zWazYPQ3TdGZg1UowTyi2t-riSbBqiwdVboM6LW6xn1U/s2102/Robles.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2102" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFGoYHL-puIDuQkKl0to8Pvyp5_NedtYqvtqEeuSCTnOQvo2kUBsh5YQyrBlT7LGpJceFNwf6clq53PElD8vbFGfPpIzj52rqgTWmbjZmheDpPzmFyi77r10lUNHyrjTIHs5-Lzpmjcu-zWazYPQ3TdGZg1UowTyi2t-riSbBqiwdVboM6LW6xn1U/s320/Robles.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Not, technically, a repeat (from 21 Archives), but it might as well be.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Do I have any sense of Josh Bell (am a fan), or Victor Robles from either of these 2 cards? No, not really. I mean did they wear their baseball duds out to the industrial park to help unload cargo for a day or something? The current Official© Washington Nationals Baseball Card Back-Drop™ is just, pitiful.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now there is an occasional sign of encouragement in these Spring Training Photo Day sets I sometimes like. Since the Yankees put up faux-Yankee Stadium edging on their ST field in Tampa -</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT3WA94OOnCzpDdfmV69cOvRfZ0zWRP-EQa-nEZ1acYBsvLFDnO1YVF_6VvclCAToaAMvqgJBfRz7LA9uz1Em2hRJ5AcIaVLC5hKipw3A6mN4E_w__CIARYiAEB2HLUhZiMitJYyv5YJ00NQsdAodrjE-7EhQSprKhjzCBPU7t_YXJ9Rbg7bdkpRE/s2100/Kiner-Falefa.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT3WA94OOnCzpDdfmV69cOvRfZ0zWRP-EQa-nEZ1acYBsvLFDnO1YVF_6VvclCAToaAMvqgJBfRz7LA9uz1Em2hRJ5AcIaVLC5hKipw3A6mN4E_w__CIARYiAEB2HLUhZiMitJYyv5YJ00NQsdAodrjE-7EhQSprKhjzCBPU7t_YXJ9Rbg7bdkpRE/s320/Kiner-Falefa.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Only one Position now, sigh</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Yankees Photo Day cards look much less like the players are standing inside a prison, these days, like they were for an entire decade of such cards in the 2010s. So, that's an improvement. There were a few other signs of better cards ahead in this regard in this one blaster purchase, but I am becoming concerned this line of thinking, which I often Bloggle about, is going to become a be-careful-what-you-wish-for.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And I still had to decide - another $30 on this one? I did find a strong theme in the blaster, on 10 or so of the 54 (20-ish %) non-retail-gotchya-exclusive cards (the foil Topps Big I am a lot just lukewarm about) - the set editor on this one seemed to have picked up an image theme, and just ran with it -<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSLKt4CGTyR-SXpQXxgNTOfp9Tipc1qEsmgvuNsxFL5L7qWTzQLOLc_C9VinTbXZiL-5yMs_TG6q5P9UuvvVDQ3LFbIraEk0G6Wu1eXiDScpRuzHv-sDMBvlORfJVeN1H-KrGreax7Tq4C9EoOP-tsuatUmZ0YidDOc1DS4f3dh23a8ETHOesHr9Q/s2098/Yelich.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSLKt4CGTyR-SXpQXxgNTOfp9Tipc1qEsmgvuNsxFL5L7qWTzQLOLc_C9VinTbXZiL-5yMs_TG6q5P9UuvvVDQ3LFbIraEk0G6Wu1eXiDScpRuzHv-sDMBvlORfJVeN1H-KrGreax7Tq4C9EoOP-tsuatUmZ0YidDOc1DS4f3dh23a8ETHOesHr9Q/s320/Yelich.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Cloud Cards</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And these, I quite like. Recall the first 2 cards I pulled from this, the Benintendi and the Maeda. Classics of the little me-defined genre. I have been setting these aside into a tiny little pile for years, occasionally deploying a <a href="https://basesetcalling.blogspot.com/search/label/Cloud%20Card?max-results=20">Label tag</a> for them on my blog posts, where a few of these have been seen before. I hadn't quite reached 9 really really good ones to keep, yet -</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimxJbx0ZPd7pV1g7kNC0SAE1ZTcgkw-LZGsCm3987KxB9Zn7O-eXMAlQKm13uIB5cv9qyHal3BYa_aToxsBO4whJ-O-Xj1vWEgDTcH8KQ-uJQUG-_9lhnx6UIOiGelK-m58KyQxFmLnFW_Yj-goFmlCUdxiOdLbwbawbc_46qEUkYQJaF4WntweDU/s2098/Jason%20Castro.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimxJbx0ZPd7pV1g7kNC0SAE1ZTcgkw-LZGsCm3987KxB9Zn7O-eXMAlQKm13uIB5cv9qyHal3BYa_aToxsBO4whJ-O-Xj1vWEgDTcH8KQ-uJQUG-_9lhnx6UIOiGelK-m58KyQxFmLnFW_Yj-goFmlCUdxiOdLbwbawbc_46qEUkYQJaF4WntweDU/s320/Jason%20Castro.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSoSmz-cKvYsYiB1-2dzmf6vDwTS_mqND-cjaTtKZYhwJDvFaZ2CJaEEuSewf31pIQieMnQuNW-1j87w18N9_iGuitNSRMJi6hLN9zPuQEav-JS3SLrKR6CYp9nX-CQtqrmc2Ie2lsfiQ/s1600/holliday.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1111" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSoSmz-cKvYsYiB1-2dzmf6vDwTS_mqND-cjaTtKZYhwJDvFaZ2CJaEEuSewf31pIQieMnQuNW-1j87w18N9_iGuitNSRMJi6hLN9zPuQEav-JS3SLrKR6CYp9nX-CQtqrmc2Ie2lsfiQ/s320/holliday.jpeg" width="222" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigKlMB4WkpcagrJ7GujWxuNHCE1nStOM0xd3woIaduvnpTh8psTv1RFwIfE5bXZyD9MIFTfD8XWzyBYmh3um8t-zAEj55xrLrTVUbWjN7o2Wejwe1w68NlCPYcgFjZWHaINZbFBtlsFi4/s320/longoria.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="228" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigKlMB4WkpcagrJ7GujWxuNHCE1nStOM0xd3woIaduvnpTh8psTv1RFwIfE5bXZyD9MIFTfD8XWzyBYmh3um8t-zAEj55xrLrTVUbWjN7o2Wejwe1w68NlCPYcgFjZWHaINZbFBtlsFi4/s320/longoria.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It could be a cloudy day in Florida -</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9-j7p2XrJiQm3BwJNbHrZhIck7mHg-SlTOohPn0IA64vu3vnOnHh_V3Qq8vHuhsZjNLjQIcNIVSczUIxekxwew1YZ0YZwFTpDpHT-8wR8tpiITz-EUHxk_0_HLAcwR6eMfYQx__0iYSp3PMG2BE-z-94H1t5NS7cZ_6AO9dtAuZgfh6aC-hTTRio/s2102/Nationals%20RC.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2102" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9-j7p2XrJiQm3BwJNbHrZhIck7mHg-SlTOohPn0IA64vu3vnOnHh_V3Qq8vHuhsZjNLjQIcNIVSczUIxekxwew1YZ0YZwFTpDpHT-8wR8tpiITz-EUHxk_0_HLAcwR6eMfYQx__0iYSp3PMG2BE-z-94H1t5NS7cZ_6AO9dtAuZgfh6aC-hTTRio/s320/Nationals%20RC.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivVrRlT4f-XLqsizO42JUyL7-MIFQzQkz-mohp0992oD7eXOklMBpziVr9Ka9JT8QlwwlJ08P9wvWh1Pj8ptgrzDvfcEwcqG4QAqZJyHzSQKozPz5AHWBGt1vSfnwv7o7sJOqend0HXLXfYzf-QnikUjkl1yJqolUviAjGajF87CmO6wTITzpz8wQ/s2102/Chapman82.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2102" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivVrRlT4f-XLqsizO42JUyL7-MIFQzQkz-mohp0992oD7eXOklMBpziVr9Ka9JT8QlwwlJ08P9wvWh1Pj8ptgrzDvfcEwcqG4QAqZJyHzSQKozPz5AHWBGt1vSfnwv7o7sJOqend0HXLXfYzf-QnikUjkl1yJqolUviAjGajF87CmO6wTITzpz8wQ/s320/Chapman82.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;">- or one in Arizona, which caught my eye.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Until 2011, it could happen in the Topps Baseball set</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE2VPOTRyetsKczBY84TbmzRoUtAfG48SdgKmwco081DboISkCu6tqSvQV3aVvM0ryUoPrpQ5uplM14VBwLAr6P3CG9ixxwefmG5BMuF4xMydQQjQaj52m0iV67pcXyPXojieGhYqlFIrsdyj-CLQRRGD6HqpEEIjhLvAZy4hJbDs9PODMZrCnRXI/s2098/Shields.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1502" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE2VPOTRyetsKczBY84TbmzRoUtAfG48SdgKmwco081DboISkCu6tqSvQV3aVvM0ryUoPrpQ5uplM14VBwLAr6P3CG9ixxwefmG5BMuF4xMydQQjQaj52m0iV67pcXyPXojieGhYqlFIrsdyj-CLQRRGD6HqpEEIjhLvAZy4hJbDs9PODMZrCnRXI/s320/Shields.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">A foggy Photo Day?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Get out there and pose, it's Photo Day dammit.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">But starting in 2012, these would only be seen in Heritage or Archives</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3yixnMBL19pfbx_LUNN6__FB2M3tt0Gqy3-pdART7eGim-GaeLdGHzHe5qLB7v35X6luCtzGlIcNu-V_4vUiEYbgAcMuWITc_A2OTEs02mH40qCiogV_4sKLYKEElYlrSDH9m0p-MhRXW4EuVdGnRQTuEDXTkp_BTkGK30D_8RL0-VwsCAJwLDIo/s2088/Miley72.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2088" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3yixnMBL19pfbx_LUNN6__FB2M3tt0Gqy3-pdART7eGim-GaeLdGHzHe5qLB7v35X6luCtzGlIcNu-V_4vUiEYbgAcMuWITc_A2OTEs02mH40qCiogV_4sKLYKEElYlrSDH9m0p-MhRXW4EuVdGnRQTuEDXTkp_BTkGK30D_8RL0-VwsCAJwLDIo/s320/Miley72.jpeg" width="230" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">A favorite 'sunset' card</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now in 2021, I started noticing an uptick in these cards, quite easily, because my team suddenly had bunches of them:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-fVhn8vY3IhdXLxC6Yp3N5V-2vtHAEnCjeGog6BqsULiqKbm22zmfda1n9c_f7Lq6K2RgCrLMQIOLVe4lAwpL0eXDb-L5SsF9Rt7B5jup3ZaqgQg4NFn1Jv6oH5G87x2vnuXzdHomG4DLWCO_Ic3iHRAoU4qGxZtK0E1-rsXCAyqbxKdBHVoGbck/s2096/Schoop72.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2096" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-fVhn8vY3IhdXLxC6Yp3N5V-2vtHAEnCjeGog6BqsULiqKbm22zmfda1n9c_f7Lq6K2RgCrLMQIOLVe4lAwpL0eXDb-L5SsF9Rt7B5jup3ZaqgQg4NFn1Jv6oH5G87x2vnuXzdHomG4DLWCO_Ic3iHRAoU4qGxZtK0E1-rsXCAyqbxKdBHVoGbck/s320/Schoop72.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Even the Rookies were getting this special pose set-up</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5HKq0k5glKzCzX7j7C2K4a6rwkdSTXNl_56_jXZYYYywMqytXAGAbCWBTUWbGMsbCr83cAtpNfUKvNFr_ADc2tB2zxzLudmCcwws6VNegMUIKmmhMnIQM3_3Fb6gsCYmQMowoQXU0tIxLXeqGZPxOfNV5gNYaPWSlI0Rorkt7kBodBUQeaUrxyjk/s2102/TigersRookies72.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1490" data-original-width="2102" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5HKq0k5glKzCzX7j7C2K4a6rwkdSTXNl_56_jXZYYYywMqytXAGAbCWBTUWbGMsbCr83cAtpNfUKvNFr_ADc2tB2zxzLudmCcwws6VNegMUIKmmhMnIQM3_3Fb6gsCYmQMowoQXU0tIxLXeqGZPxOfNV5gNYaPWSlI0Rorkt7kBodBUQeaUrxyjk/s320/TigersRookies72.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>This year, I started noticing nice Cloud Cards for the Cubs in particular, as well -<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkYAevYSkqz6Wd9uTWPbW_kjmwMVgOlouuGS3-pDX-Ckva01q4QqJP5cSAjX2Urfsld56XLFs3m37XFZiMJmSqvY3crud8QRDkz-Z6ysFCbWQvT7hIqh1J8ILTXbV5Bz-Y2YJQCav5L69JbOSgQAPdayVXnUWz3lXip6THHGt9HweJglFzSYA7RxQ/s2100/Rivas.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1502" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkYAevYSkqz6Wd9uTWPbW_kjmwMVgOlouuGS3-pDX-Ckva01q4QqJP5cSAjX2Urfsld56XLFs3m37XFZiMJmSqvY3crud8QRDkz-Z6ysFCbWQvT7hIqh1J8ILTXbV5Bz-Y2YJQCav5L69JbOSgQAPdayVXnUWz3lXip6THHGt9HweJglFzSYA7RxQ/s320/Rivas.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I know from my team collection that this type of image could basically be found in any Heritage set one wishes to gaze their way through -<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdgMCEioue6BORT3L-T73EJrGEDX_MHREOkzOw3cbONWwCKe0TNDPAY_Caf3hSOGhiCFjDsRNXJk3RFJUVI2tds6Yh_AL6SbBYgiQsaavwdJ_VIyCDjd2Hf6G111CHBkMBvu4OF6lcbyEHAsn-OkeeIVbFivQMsILtM7rLkr71rTAokPWpoAB7U48/s2098/Porcello.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdgMCEioue6BORT3L-T73EJrGEDX_MHREOkzOw3cbONWwCKe0TNDPAY_Caf3hSOGhiCFjDsRNXJk3RFJUVI2tds6Yh_AL6SbBYgiQsaavwdJ_VIyCDjd2Hf6G111CHBkMBvu4OF6lcbyEHAsn-OkeeIVbFivQMsILtM7rLkr71rTAokPWpoAB7U48/s320/Porcello.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div style="text-align: right;">- even though an all-sky background is not automatically an extra-good baseball card.</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I was becoming intrigued by the idea of building out a nice little collection of some just basically purdy baseball cards with this pleasant background, especially when it was used for a player that was, finally, in a new spot to stand for these cards, such as one for the Braves, another team with a decade+ run of same-same cards, until, now:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgI4qsTuiqXDiTs9TSw7HIzZiILzPg83WN7i-ElNpiT5_z1DdcHy6O8WYp68-dlnedr8Kp1lWPzqcTBN0SslvSyrZakvIWD9kWN9rRFVmJDGvD4ha5A8ScgFaOfYXtC829KmO9kVtuAxqiLlMSS1ZLfLglEWwOWxqmzwWgEOptwCTJZHhblBCiZ-4/s2098/Acuna.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgI4qsTuiqXDiTs9TSw7HIzZiILzPg83WN7i-ElNpiT5_z1DdcHy6O8WYp68-dlnedr8Kp1lWPzqcTBN0SslvSyrZakvIWD9kWN9rRFVmJDGvD4ha5A8ScgFaOfYXtC829KmO9kVtuAxqiLlMSS1ZLfLglEWwOWxqmzwWgEOptwCTJZHhblBCiZ-4/s320/Acuna.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">(I still hear a good ole ZZ Top song in my head every time I see this player)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I was, initially and for quite a few days and weeks of occasional post-purchase paws through this small stack of new Archives baseball cards, particularly intrigued that Topps seemed to have dug into their, yupp, archives to find other photos showing off a pleasant sky even 20-ish years ago:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje_A3mKSZf1potJ33igQGMUwnWk6bi50xxZ0BGfWLROzbMhm2xcjy0Xi1pf5rnut1GlPnL7PlYrQXv5V7QbAhI1Hf4eSu5H9zL0j38MCzmp4i-DCxkYBB5jKcrxbWnet0gywYWjDbH5Va9g-5VItleAQ_LWZsUdtmyXIXb_uXdBx1T_N770osgA-A/s2100/Garciaparra.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje_A3mKSZf1potJ33igQGMUwnWk6bi50xxZ0BGfWLROzbMhm2xcjy0Xi1pf5rnut1GlPnL7PlYrQXv5V7QbAhI1Hf4eSu5H9zL0j38MCzmp4i-DCxkYBB5jKcrxbWnet0gywYWjDbH5Va9g-5VItleAQ_LWZsUdtmyXIXb_uXdBx1T_N770osgA-A/s320/Garciaparra.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>How cool is that? This might be a fun set to dissemble / re-assemble just into some pleasant binder pages of baseball cards. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But then, I hit a perplexing conundrum -</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ959DuyudMrh6Sa1pj3V6fYbLZHl0KeOIlJ0Y-0GFyfHHl_iU-IxW0EgYUFa9MT8Yr6INoy6dIh632srecaOT-l4wXT-fx5M4nRzrBlgM-j0NysITdaAUnxOgNCllAaKFI8IeNyQMnSrTM-SwjzM_0R8jUDgku-fMT9hQH-pVT626-hzUx_gQx1g/s2100/A's%20RC.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1496" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ959DuyudMrh6Sa1pj3V6fYbLZHl0KeOIlJ0Y-0GFyfHHl_iU-IxW0EgYUFa9MT8Yr6INoy6dIh632srecaOT-l4wXT-fx5M4nRzrBlgM-j0NysITdaAUnxOgNCllAaKFI8IeNyQMnSrTM-SwjzM_0R8jUDgku-fMT9hQH-pVT626-hzUx_gQx1g/s320/A's%20RC.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;">- how did they get a 2022 A's Rookie to stand in the exact same spot as Nomar did, 20 years previous? </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Oh, yeah, Garciaparra played his final season for Oakland, so, maybe, Topps just photo-shopped him back into a Red Sox uniform, considering how many people would basically prefer to see a Red Sox card for him. (Somewhat) understandable. But, then,</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEief_Jk0DjZAAw6ywvYaoWF01iirMEfCzYEQRC40paANo3KYQk1Ntdpt6gK_4pBSDJKfsV26M2u_vE30DLQUQHZkIrQhwkbz4dXD5bi_xRqSHWdI2tuM-O66eOasS9f3SRiEU0SLj0di3zNLFtXc7gfXHYC9_y_5n-ohpaaNFR8MnwE04mP0Kv0bMw/s2100/Miranda.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEief_Jk0DjZAAw6ywvYaoWF01iirMEfCzYEQRC40paANo3KYQk1Ntdpt6gK_4pBSDJKfsV26M2u_vE30DLQUQHZkIrQhwkbz4dXD5bi_xRqSHWdI2tuM-O66eOasS9f3SRiEU0SLj0di3zNLFtXc7gfXHYC9_y_5n-ohpaaNFR8MnwE04mP0Kv0bMw/s320/Miranda.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Wait.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now the Twins have suddenly moved to Arizona for Spring Training, too? I quickly used my favorite information resource (the back of baseball cards, natch) to see if maybe Miranda had been somehow Photo Day'd on Oakland's back-fields and then PhotoShopped into a Twins uni. Nope: "Acquired: Via Draft" - "Drafted: Twins #2-June, 2016" - Miranda had never played in Arizona. Something is going on here.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I re-pondered that Kevin Smith card (is there a more forgettable name for yet another, now you see-em, now you don't A's Rookie?). <span style="text-align: right;">On his card, why does the outfield / batter's eye type wall not line up on each side of young Kevin?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: right;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Finally, sadly, I realized what is happening. My lovely new Cloud Cards - were 100% Fake.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It's not even the practice field back-drop that gets re-used on multiple cards, it's the lovely clouds by themselves, too:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtP5KOgaXWwBErf05sGoQJTAoMAx1qTfyWoNjrkBtR0Wf_07TkKum6g4crIOdC0DJCtjmrVLt6uATAO5BVDHkqXAJ2NsLrNVCkG2JTlwtOJaWO2g-4HZuw9k0eTn0VhTlfTLp5_NgwJvAjoA8A8qUm3y3DPg-73PkwK3bziNxLbHmwYW39U2O9LsI/s2368/double.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2368" data-original-width="2110" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtP5KOgaXWwBErf05sGoQJTAoMAx1qTfyWoNjrkBtR0Wf_07TkKum6g4crIOdC0DJCtjmrVLt6uATAO5BVDHkqXAJ2NsLrNVCkG2JTlwtOJaWO2g-4HZuw9k0eTn0VhTlfTLp5_NgwJvAjoA8A8qUm3y3DPg-73PkwK3bziNxLbHmwYW39U2O9LsI/s320/double.jpeg" width="285" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The clouds by each player's right ear - are exactly the same.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The reality of it all had escaped my notice last year. But there it was on that 21 Heritage Tigers RC:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBx7xgnpeZCskSV-Ob_CjPb94N6lXof6OqcNqxJBhEgVTwkNuikYFVtM3ZSq6jMQlVzE3q2JOglMggZDt9xPq2jVzBVaNDLpK3WJ77d7UFXiBiaaZc8ZFJ2zYQQ6gbJC20NH3DmmE3wjGshEv8GJgDOIdtUtDj5akQpwRq1uHM8TvQPt94iicqHo8/s2102/TigersRookies72.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1490" data-original-width="2102" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBx7xgnpeZCskSV-Ob_CjPb94N6lXof6OqcNqxJBhEgVTwkNuikYFVtM3ZSq6jMQlVzE3q2JOglMggZDt9xPq2jVzBVaNDLpK3WJ77d7UFXiBiaaZc8ZFJ2zYQQ6gbJC20NH3DmmE3wjGshEv8GJgDOIdtUtDj5akQpwRq1uHM8TvQPt94iicqHo8/w400-h284/TigersRookies72.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Perhaps, if I stared at more of these cards for a while (I won't be), I could figure out if the pretty clouds are the same from year to year. Which, given the level of fake laziness (or, authentic laziness?) on display here, might be entirely possible. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The more I gazed upon my brand new Archives baseball cards, the more I saw this, at least, in the clouds -</div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAuQL-hrjl-bvQ3dv6m9th9BwOmOCIEzNhEIf-m1zw9UDbcwi7aVAWXAchQ9TgzXD8Ni5NKZVSJJiAtImMseRnH7Oqeq9f9TKaebcJg__YJnLnXaR2WK9tzSBDvNN9Zc11mAAITEtEB1aezAVN_i6dbzHB4K5hqO1XEt3_tDBflaMDXYC265EFvaA/s2588/triple.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2104" data-original-width="2588" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAuQL-hrjl-bvQ3dv6m9th9BwOmOCIEzNhEIf-m1zw9UDbcwi7aVAWXAchQ9TgzXD8Ni5NKZVSJJiAtImMseRnH7Oqeq9f9TKaebcJg__YJnLnXaR2WK9tzSBDvNN9Zc11mAAITEtEB1aezAVN_i6dbzHB4K5hqO1XEt3_tDBflaMDXYC265EFvaA/s320/triple.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I have long wished to see an end to the basic repetitiveness of these "low end" cards that are seemingly ignored by so many people in "The Hobby" today. If I want a truly unique baseball picture card of any given baseball player I like, I can of course just buy one of their completely unique Topps Now cards with their limited print runs and $5, each, type price tag. Or a Topps Living Set issue, or a Topps Throwback Thursday issue, or any of dozens to scores of other cards to pick from for each player, in a given year.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That level of production of baseball cards is going to create repeats, to be sure. And now, I finally have my wish of not posing the players in the same spot, for ten years, or more, running on. Will I get to see a card shot during batting practice at Citi-Field some day? Who knows. If 2024 Heritage has this not-delightful new "feature" I will be very, very disappointed.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Ultimately, a bottom line is simple: it's my own fault for buying these products that just, repeat themselves. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Farewell, Archives, it was some fun collecting, sometimes. It was good to rip a few packs, often, over the 2010s, but, now .... farewell.</div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /></div><br /></div><br /></div><br /></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>BaseSetCallinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05508114484929386332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7573896101004946985.post-42181950438697331302023-01-07T17:05:00.003-05:002023-01-07T17:11:41.705-05:00A Nifty Nine (#5) from another old friend<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXcBuwh2pfHmqt-RM1obz15vAYZj4AS24Qa8EjmQPAjfoPrzDhc-Exv2o2ue_zQ1ILUwMErxsepGVNysmLIilZY1mUZu-cQ8EfhGoxT7v0S06dpsIu88LKix58gLXYl_K2GtflXtk5CkUYDptBLg2EUuDdOdBPejPF8qfRtzXFvo8RPYei7aJsLM0/s2102/Cy%20Young.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2102" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXcBuwh2pfHmqt-RM1obz15vAYZj4AS24Qa8EjmQPAjfoPrzDhc-Exv2o2ue_zQ1ILUwMErxsepGVNysmLIilZY1mUZu-cQ8EfhGoxT7v0S06dpsIu88LKix58gLXYl_K2GtflXtk5CkUYDptBLg2EUuDdOdBPejPF8qfRtzXFvo8RPYei7aJsLM0/s320/Cy%20Young.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">2011 spelunking continues here in base set land; this simpler (200 card set) project was also way-overdue and long anticipated: collating my purchases of the 2011 set known as "Lineage."</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I have done most of the normal collecting work with the set as I have been occasionally making progress on the parallel version of the base card checklist - the '75 minis - as well as paying attention to all the wonderful inserts in this product, and another fantastic Shiny parallel it holds, too.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">What I had never done, however, is discover if I actually had a normal Complete Set of the regular base checklist. As it turns out, I am still 6 cards short, and as with my findings collecting the '75s, they are disproportionately in the last 25% of the checklist (all 6) and even the last ten cards in the 190s (2). So weird.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The Cy Young card caught my eye immediately. I have very, very few other Cy Young cards (4, I think) and I began to wonder - why not? These days, I can be scrolling through a visual example of pretty much <a href="https://www.comc.com/Players/Baseball/Cy_Young/c18405/Cards,so,=Cy+Young">every Cy Young baseball picture product ever created</a> in less than a minute by merely typing his name into the COMC search engine.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That was quite interesting. This 2011 card from Topps marked the end of his appearance in Topps products for nearly ten years subsequently, after just four years of creating cards from 08-11. I'm guessing that Cy Young's descendants are tough/shrewd/smart negotiators for this perhaps. Even Panini only managed a 3 year run of Cy Young cards. Just lately, I should note, Topps has issued a few new cards.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But those are also quite interesting: they are largely repeats, in terms of photo selection. There probably just aren't that many existing photographs of Cy Young that even can be used, I assume.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Lately I have begun making little piles of cards for a new mini project: assembling a binder page (just one) of 9 different cards that all use the same image. I don't anticipate it will be difficult.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As it turns out, the image used above has appeared on so many cards, stretching back 60 years, that multiple pages of cards using just that image could be assembled. (I won't be attempting that with this photo). I have to wonder if it might somehow be in the public domain.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I also discovered why I am so drawn to this basic Cy Young card: this image was used first by Fleer in the early 60s, and then used some more in the mid-70s, when little ole Base Set was buying those oddball packs of Fleer gum that came with pretty cool MLB logo patches and these really cool cartoon baseball cards drawn by Robert Laughlin. A card he created for Cy Young is a basic sketch of this same image superimposed over a ginormous "511" - "Cy Young won 511 games" - the most ridiculously ginormous Baseball Feat I had ever heard - the whole thing is permanently etched in my brain for all eternity, though the basic sketch had faded some.</div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDMCvmNIcbi5j6H6m4vxxfIxnDwW4DANxmWEhrTN561q4K3KzJBQ2L3pFoVMx5dKmOGALsBrmReeA2RBZj7wCsWN5elx3QZSNlBO3S-ksZOVaobPP7NF0DB02sUHDrLLyQSGyf3-cJAzj6AcZelCOrt7sxpFOhK9Vch4rcAFUne0gN5jONX9nzVRo/s450/shopping.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="330" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDMCvmNIcbi5j6H6m4vxxfIxnDwW4DANxmWEhrTN561q4K3KzJBQ2L3pFoVMx5dKmOGALsBrmReeA2RBZj7wCsWN5elx3QZSNlBO3S-ksZOVaobPP7NF0DB02sUHDrLLyQSGyf3-cJAzj6AcZelCOrt7sxpFOhK9Vch4rcAFUne0gN5jONX9nzVRo/s320/shopping.webp" width="235" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">cribbed from ebay, I confess</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And now here I had a true baseball picture card to match all these years later, courtesy of Topps.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The Lineage set was pretty interesting in this way - 25% Hall-of-Famers, a few Very Goods, and the balance the best contemporary players in 2011, with only 6% Rookies.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As I carefully sorted my stash of 500 or so base cards (I bought this in dusty cheap discounted blasters and hangers in closing down K-Marts all over the Midwest well into the 2010s, chasing those 75 minis and just generally enjoying every pack), I slowly realized something unfortunate: I really can't justify placing 2 copies of the set onto binder pages on my future Tiny Home bookshelf. And the beautiful '75 minis will be the first choice; totally worth 20 pages on that shelf.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But as I happily assembled the cards in their sequential order, I kept finding cards I knew I would not want to keep, only in their mini form. I knew what to do: pull out a fresh binder page.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Before I show you my picks for a 9 Best Of Lineage, I wanted to share one just regular 2011 player card from the set:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglUFRAQcX8XdMFB8zbCoMMk8mlhyFWU7cK03GuR3XFRdIpoTTLDTL47XyOk4KRKxS-O2ertPUSc_EXr322sHMtA-kfENHw8-gntFiYGljh6jjeJZo6mkV-3UyF7uGu5ebKC5HiyhgG4zlm0wYse48F7xwcUEfkE306kGuaQhYnU8Y45DnPEhCYleU/s2098/Tejada.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglUFRAQcX8XdMFB8zbCoMMk8mlhyFWU7cK03GuR3XFRdIpoTTLDTL47XyOk4KRKxS-O2ertPUSc_EXr322sHMtA-kfENHw8-gntFiYGljh6jjeJZo6mkV-3UyF7uGu5ebKC5HiyhgG4zlm0wYse48F7xwcUEfkE306kGuaQhYnU8Y45DnPEhCYleU/s320/Tejada.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The Giants were a new team for Miguel Tejada in 2011, so Topps stepped up with a fresh Spring Training photo for his new Lineage card. I think this one will be finely represented via '75 mini style, and the full-size card will look nice with some Sunglasses buddies, too. There are a few other cards using this photo source option, which I quite like to see mixed in with action shots from regular MLB games.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Lineage is also home to one of my favorite Miguel Cabrera cards, perhaps the only player I will be collecting beyond a single 9 card page:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK5Fot_81Y2WpI9NjKGLvKx8NI-EG6OywsOS_mokVNNw0luU9P9kjjx3ZC1lcDKYXp9LMOLenrXWihnvib2qL8QK71LhqVwkpCsUfuRLTtO1KSrw13cIqXxkNuOR48g_hqYOVLLCX1CsN5gMbCeUTW3E6lqObwhrllTF3pB1taSdQ-InhSPs9ISzo/s2098/Miggy.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK5Fot_81Y2WpI9NjKGLvKx8NI-EG6OywsOS_mokVNNw0luU9P9kjjx3ZC1lcDKYXp9LMOLenrXWihnvib2qL8QK71LhqVwkpCsUfuRLTtO1KSrw13cIqXxkNuOR48g_hqYOVLLCX1CsN5gMbCeUTW3E6lqObwhrllTF3pB1taSdQ-InhSPs9ISzo/s320/Miggy.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Did you know Miggy has a tattoo on his right arm? Now you do.</div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This card has a great flow to it, with lines in the image complementing lines in the design - the 3 sided design. I would like to see this concept used again in a set of baseball cards. Leaving the right side open like that is a nice way to let the viewer's imagination imagine the action continuing, off to Miggy's left, on this card, and many others in the set as well. With this one, the mini treatment is not an improvement:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNN97mn8C0yDCcWS_Sl5X_FO4aMVf-L5umcG8O0Rp2ghPIDRxk6X6Jap21hzoQXMi-PKr7SsXPZIcJTcGo5cSHkP7LVr_PR7ev8kmshLYLVmvQIge3N86FOWE6PFl4dd__eYOAI7Rqe-2RY6ux5PM8VNMq6P1TLGnK4r4VVgJT4q3ioQylBZMDIgo/s1886/mini%20Miggy.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1886" data-original-width="1288" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNN97mn8C0yDCcWS_Sl5X_FO4aMVf-L5umcG8O0Rp2ghPIDRxk6X6Jap21hzoQXMi-PKr7SsXPZIcJTcGo5cSHkP7LVr_PR7ev8kmshLYLVmvQIge3N86FOWE6PFl4dd__eYOAI7Rqe-2RY6ux5PM8VNMq6P1TLGnK4r4VVgJT4q3ioQylBZMDIgo/s320/mini%20Miggy.jpeg" width="219" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I like authentic Vintage centering.</div><br /></div>That's still a great baseball card; I enjoy both versions. Lineage will be supplying several cards to those 1 player, 1 page assemblages (Cy Young may be a challenge), as well as a few to pages like the Sunglasses pages.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Some other fine day I will crack into my box of Lineage inserts and maybe even start clicking the 'Buy Now' button on COMC for the ones I still need there. But for now let's see which cards made my</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"> Lineage Nifty Nine</span></b></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqZoCCQ5iT2CN9BcB9IaYVoWCEwjAzwjQW0Q51_B8RI9m8yH7Bhrorth2mBcvD_RvkENEUXg_Nep1CUvlrbtVTENoXNETkM5TijOmbyEa3GfqfBYMkU7BuAfOyJRFLY08VdgLDZaEAx-9qi8cOyliBtpqDJzwwJjSVIhBrL1A-lVoRXJls9ogSZrE/s2100/Mantle.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqZoCCQ5iT2CN9BcB9IaYVoWCEwjAzwjQW0Q51_B8RI9m8yH7Bhrorth2mBcvD_RvkENEUXg_Nep1CUvlrbtVTENoXNETkM5TijOmbyEa3GfqfBYMkU7BuAfOyJRFLY08VdgLDZaEAx-9qi8cOyliBtpqDJzwwJjSVIhBrL1A-lVoRXJls9ogSZrE/s320/Mantle.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">One of the best Mantles Topps has ever sent me.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Looks like Detroit was playing in NYC that day, too.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">And, yeah, card #7.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBs7DgY7TKfZaTGmS_gnM7l5AgcW_mqafcAUzDVkRwR4h8LhNQCkvPWpf0TX2B41L49Uz8n0gKocX18KQwkptyNCCr6Ch15N5khAM8oOn9H4L2_iOf-fQ096Oz0vq1Vv5Q-dAkPTyZclPCHqfkaXorXcDJy6t2tKTSGCz88gMvF3GjVt5eO1bac7k/s2098/Perez.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1496" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBs7DgY7TKfZaTGmS_gnM7l5AgcW_mqafcAUzDVkRwR4h8LhNQCkvPWpf0TX2B41L49Uz8n0gKocX18KQwkptyNCCr6Ch15N5khAM8oOn9H4L2_iOf-fQ096Oz0vq1Vv5Q-dAkPTyZclPCHqfkaXorXcDJy6t2tKTSGCz88gMvF3GjVt5eO1bac7k/s320/Perez.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Analog film warmth is tough to beat.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif38f4tlOKt7T-qdMIbRFCTExG_boPGVGbQqQoIuVKaKNEN7ic0Ppm92EF86LBOYF1eDOLwyA138rmKQR9qUHmWpKstNoeTu1848ntOwNA6xOghICOae-0w7cA5qasvOQdGEXHYmihHPEeywOl6gLs_m2IxfoEdfZ8_CdOEUk8IUGta_3sW5szyT8/s2100/Morgan.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif38f4tlOKt7T-qdMIbRFCTExG_boPGVGbQqQoIuVKaKNEN7ic0Ppm92EF86LBOYF1eDOLwyA138rmKQR9qUHmWpKstNoeTu1848ntOwNA6xOghICOae-0w7cA5qasvOQdGEXHYmihHPEeywOl6gLs_m2IxfoEdfZ8_CdOEUk8IUGta_3sW5szyT8/s320/Morgan.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Analog dirt!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I am not a fan, or collector of, Joe Morgan cards. But, this one, yah, eh? Joe just arrived in his own little cloud of dust. It's the game of "base" ball and this is Joe Morgan's base, not the runner's. Get me the ball, hurry up. This guy is gonna be OUT.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgplBLjuu4WeDRsmVE3frZT8nMErolwExJI4pgDMs2tQDd_6r11fXRDzQCI5b7pQ5dkxnxH5ZxkCPnOECtc10-Yq5faJZokQ0kqu3n4evFQBFBoo447PNbp9aouNKgfb6NSis_Gh2Vy6AIqovk6iCcJfXLGY9n5UFiKuHtMKv0ZSadMhCeZ00LZPMc/s2098/Ozzie.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1502" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgplBLjuu4WeDRsmVE3frZT8nMErolwExJI4pgDMs2tQDd_6r11fXRDzQCI5b7pQ5dkxnxH5ZxkCPnOECtc10-Yq5faJZokQ0kqu3n4evFQBFBoo447PNbp9aouNKgfb6NSis_Gh2Vy6AIqovk6iCcJfXLGY9n5UFiKuHtMKv0ZSadMhCeZ00LZPMc/s320/Ozzie.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This card looks like a painting.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ1g5GGy0LQP1qJejyXLZ7B8cM9la18GOx7SXvvtkHTB_6uZWjE59bKz6PIgtBNj7UouHcV96GVF3qdsZbfoJ5QXAL5BAedvXEk1WjVSttgCVAeaD4OBLbe-orQvDLzv7M7YXEtqvRWYLGtJDFH9m014KjDtny6Xwt4qC2GWiLgJkWRVsp3v52v68/s2098/Blyleven.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ1g5GGy0LQP1qJejyXLZ7B8cM9la18GOx7SXvvtkHTB_6uZWjE59bKz6PIgtBNj7UouHcV96GVF3qdsZbfoJ5QXAL5BAedvXEk1WjVSttgCVAeaD4OBLbe-orQvDLzv7M7YXEtqvRWYLGtJDFH9m014KjDtny6Xwt4qC2GWiLgJkWRVsp3v52v68/s320/Blyleven.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Not just a Night Card. A World Series Night Card.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPkWS8e17XA-HKHeuMwWY7TgPjpvcItI6r23qV3eyIbrQHhHr7KMEh5pnIX6YvmRnwxrfUmLfaBWqGczuwP9XWpIjDU61kiVlUKaE3Y-qWJPf46WxnA-qrgpAF9SASxJ-I5w6QSE3OigsERSnwYByE4SzSY7szJoskULSXq-JrPQpfuzTBDd-xJgA/s2100/Belle.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPkWS8e17XA-HKHeuMwWY7TgPjpvcItI6r23qV3eyIbrQHhHr7KMEh5pnIX6YvmRnwxrfUmLfaBWqGczuwP9XWpIjDU61kiVlUKaE3Y-qWJPf46WxnA-qrgpAF9SASxJ-I5w6QSE3OigsERSnwYByE4SzSY7szJoskULSXq-JrPQpfuzTBDd-xJgA/s320/Belle.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Got racing stripe?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">A great late afternoon card.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQTdc9eHxclWIo80e9jVu2YJQ68Qm2wC8f_r4vXPYrxBmeoyrqn9mkpdZgo5TGO_DbUUG1aHB1UAeUfba4MsXG-8HyFi88t7RRN1ePIYRqYJT64MpEWz4ipg8jyOuRebBs13iWeH760LHOp9D7bsPWB-h7T-4wSv9wVjlmBIVEp0ab4Lhw2eMJNeo/s2098/Guererro.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQTdc9eHxclWIo80e9jVu2YJQ68Qm2wC8f_r4vXPYrxBmeoyrqn9mkpdZgo5TGO_DbUUG1aHB1UAeUfba4MsXG-8HyFi88t7RRN1ePIYRqYJT64MpEWz4ipg8jyOuRebBs13iWeH760LHOp9D7bsPWB-h7T-4wSv9wVjlmBIVEp0ab4Lhw2eMJNeo/s320/Guererro.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Ten year old Base Set would have loved this card. Could you imagine living in a house right behind the fence on one of the Orioles Spring Training complex "back fields" - how freaking cool would that be?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This card is a twin to the 2011 Topps Justin Duchscherer card I included in my look at 2011 Topps a few days ago. <a href="http://baseballdimebox.blogspot.com/2012/02/zero-year-cards-part-21.html">Dime Boxes reports that it is actually a Year-Zero card</a>, i.e. he never pitched for the Orioles.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">For some reason back there in Spring Training 2011, the Orioles/Topps held Photo Day back there in view of suburbia. Some of the resulting Orioles 2012 Heritage cards look like the players are getting ready to play one of the very best varieties of baseball: Back Yard Home Run Derby. Glorious. In 2012, they instead moved the Orioles to standing in front of a Borg-cube like pure black "Batter's Eye" wall elsewhere in the Spring Training complex. Turrible, just turrible. Let's get back to The Nine:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWs8gNRvSNhF389YjXEC76X_jHSFP6zODlCUAFkErIzHorfpEV1Cpv3XEh4hQGSOCKD1-qURTWopYVkFfRqVBAIdsBKok09hiz35bzwjbIRazXnXRoRIDGykuZ8EtWLUJb02av2hQwqt8dwcy8yYcOCuKkAvZuVvt-4bFDN5yEQqD5iiddV8Z2A_8/s2090/Jeter.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2090" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWs8gNRvSNhF389YjXEC76X_jHSFP6zODlCUAFkErIzHorfpEV1Cpv3XEh4hQGSOCKD1-qURTWopYVkFfRqVBAIdsBKok09hiz35bzwjbIRazXnXRoRIDGykuZ8EtWLUJb02av2hQwqt8dwcy8yYcOCuKkAvZuVvt-4bFDN5yEQqD5iiddV8Z2A_8/s320/Jeter.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Yup, card #2.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Wait. Derek Jeter played a Bloody Sock game too?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">What's up with that?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Did the Yankees win the game?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcXvpFMXyjLRgHxKr4T1lwTq6QloUo1C2utAD6OIWz82rAX2dZUyjayAaQiXoos9H0O7eZG-kZrornsToxrwP5TRMi4aKTONHK6dLbTlbVQyzuH47UANtS4735SBSSX0T9wI1f0QqMVP8n-D_TMkwWBJVE42h-HrpvTofblhddiWmlE5b6fskVmFI/s2098/Gallardo.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1502" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcXvpFMXyjLRgHxKr4T1lwTq6QloUo1C2utAD6OIWz82rAX2dZUyjayAaQiXoos9H0O7eZG-kZrornsToxrwP5TRMi4aKTONHK6dLbTlbVQyzuH47UANtS4735SBSSX0T9wI1f0QqMVP8n-D_TMkwWBJVE42h-HrpvTofblhddiWmlE5b6fskVmFI/s320/Gallardo.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Lines, lines everywhere a line,</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">makin' nice scenery,</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">soothin' my mind</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That's Yovani Gallardo there at card #9; 2011 was maybe the halfway point of the Foil printing era for Topps. Foil text only sometimes scans well but the last name on these cards sits on a field of black and that works out just fine on the cards, in-hand. I doubt you need any clarification on the other 8 cards on this page, which turned out thusly:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFDXhB926FGSpWf5r6_dlV2oiNS5lbWTM7Sdv5TWptsf51myuC-YU0IoVAvdWMfIFxP--eLFiQPdeDdPaq3ZT8Bt_BK3EgimA5i91rXpwEN6_NVrPJzvU6b7MeFc42zRcAKkzNCbj4Chfjqq1_jTy4r5aR1fCSADsz5AdI3lIhkIGw7w0sa_mClQU/s6702/page.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="6702" data-original-width="4854" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFDXhB926FGSpWf5r6_dlV2oiNS5lbWTM7Sdv5TWptsf51myuC-YU0IoVAvdWMfIFxP--eLFiQPdeDdPaq3ZT8Bt_BK3EgimA5i91rXpwEN6_NVrPJzvU6b7MeFc42zRcAKkzNCbj4Chfjqq1_jTy4r5aR1fCSADsz5AdI3lIhkIGw7w0sa_mClQU/w464-h640/page.jpeg" width="464" /></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Another small item of note about this set: there are no horizontal cards to make you crane your neck when they get stuck in the middle of dozens of their vertical cousins.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I thought about calculating a Zoom Index for this set, but with the use of so many photographs that were anywhere from 10 to 100 years older than current day photos used, I decided it wouldn't reveal all that much anyway. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Plus, I have so many more various baseball card projects to attend to. See y'all real soon.</div><br />BaseSetCallinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05508114484929386332noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7573896101004946985.post-76451318447368805512023-01-05T11:37:00.003-05:002023-01-05T22:50:28.490-05:003rd Base Coach, IN ACTION<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhINWEq8GfdaeUl7ABhpywHDYVYEKK6marCwvElXgv8HbJGkKVuQTH6o_u8yBDq6uWfIBii2jUf4KlJPb-x0XGyTWJPMSwig5m5gv4UM8GtSFtTxg5dujWqXm5F_Z1Q2fTmcjWX1EbS5VGyFtXoQqRQJG1JP7YQjjMfkK8QwwOYA2hQXp0HyqFWgjQ/s2102/1st%20base!.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="2102" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhINWEq8GfdaeUl7ABhpywHDYVYEKK6marCwvElXgv8HbJGkKVuQTH6o_u8yBDq6uWfIBii2jUf4KlJPb-x0XGyTWJPMSwig5m5gv4UM8GtSFtTxg5dujWqXm5F_Z1Q2fTmcjWX1EbS5VGyFtXoQqRQJG1JP7YQjjMfkK8QwwOYA2hQXp0HyqFWgjQ/w640-h456/1st%20base!.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">While wrapping up with 2011 Topps I re-acquainted myself with this outstanding baseball card, #34 in the set. Given the excellent photo Topps selected here, that's not a surprising spot.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That's future Braves Manager Brian Snitker getting down for a close-up view of Rick Ankiel sliding into 3rd. He appears to be quite certainly OUT.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">When I first found this card I thought it was depicting Ankiel attempting to return to First Base on a pick-off throw, which would make it even more fantastic. I had a quick conceptual thought on that - I don't think I have ever seen a baseball card with a 1st Base Coach doing something active. Nor can I even recall, instantaneously, a card with a 1st Base Coach on it though I am near certain some exist. 1st Base Coaches probably very rarely appear on cards, at all. Which is perfectly OK.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">3rd Base Coaches might appear a little more occasionally. I can, not just some of the time, but, instantly, think of two Brewers cards with a 3rd Base Coach; on each he is merely part of a Home Run celebration as a player rounds 3rd.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On this card, I wonder what Snitker is up (down) to here. This is several years before an Instant Replay system was put in use by MLB, so he isn't getting an up close and personal view to be able to tell the bench to challenge, or not challenge the call. My guess is he simply hit the dirt worried about a hot incoming throw to the 3rd Baseman bouncing over the glove, or maybe sailing over the 3B's head.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">My first thought was the Braves must have played an inter-League series with the Oakland A's, given the green socks on the Third Baseman. That's a No, the game logs on Baseball-Reference.com reveal.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">OK, maybe they did the inter-League deal with the Devil Rays, who had green in their uniforms. But they were already just, the Rays, in 2010. Or maybe they were already wearing a Devil Rays Throwback one day when they played the Braves? Moot idea, says Baseball-Reference.com - when the Braves did play the Rays in 2010, Ankiel did not appear in any of the games.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">One thing you can count on when pondering where a Topps Baseball card photo originally came from in the 21st Century is the high chance they purchased it from Getty Images. And there it was:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/104272382/photo/rick-ankiel-of-the-atlanta-braves-is-tagged-out-on-a-triple-by-david-wright-of-the-new-york.jpg?s=612x612&w=0&k=20&c=Qqgq0t-ChleHo8Lp-FGQA5-gcXZhiija1Zreoayny2w=" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="423" data-original-width="612" height="423" src="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/104272382/photo/rick-ankiel-of-the-atlanta-braves-is-tagged-out-on-a-triple-by-david-wright-of-the-new-york.jpg?s=612x612&w=0&k=20&c=Qqgq0t-ChleHo8Lp-FGQA5-gcXZhiija1Zreoayny2w=" width="612" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="AssetCard-module__assetDescription___dk8Fg AssetCard-module__editorialAssetDescription___sxTYW" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #080808; padding: 1em 42px; position: relative; text-align: start; width: 594px; z-index: 2;"><div class="AssetCard-module__caption___nD2x1" data-testid="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; padding-bottom: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span face="Lato, sans-serif">New York - SEPTEMBER 19: Rick Ankiel #28 of the Atlanta Braves is tagged out on a triple by David Wright #5 of the New York Mets at Citi Field on September 19, 2010 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images)</span></span></div><div class="AssetCard-module__caption___nD2x1" data-testid="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; padding-bottom: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span face="Lato, sans-serif">Just don't ask me how Topps managed to change Wright's shoes and socks to a green color during production of this baseball card. A </span><span>minor</span><span face="Lato, sans-serif"> casualty of that greening is a loss of clarity on the cool orange Mets logos on the base there. </span><span face="Lato, sans-serif">It can sometimes be surprising, when you see one clearly, how few 'base' ball cards manage to show one of the most necessary objects in the game. Those orange tags on the vertical side of the base (and also the red line on the top of the outfield wall) should have clued me in immediately on who the Braves were playing, but I am quite unfamiliar with _ever_ seeing those tags. And green socks?</span></span></div><div class="AssetCard-module__caption___nD2x1" data-testid="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; padding-bottom: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">However the photo processing at Topps certainly succeeded at lighting up Ankiel's face and greatly improving this image for use on a baseball card. The cap visor on every baseball player's head 99% of the time certainly makes for a challenge in trying to use a game action photo to show the world a baseball player's face clearly, particularly on a bright sunny day that otherwise makes for appealing baseball cards.</span></div><div class="AssetCard-module__caption___nD2x1" data-testid="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; padding-bottom: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Thus this baseball card is a good example of Topps, In Action.</span></div><div class="AssetCard-module__caption___nD2x1" data-testid="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; padding-bottom: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">As it turns out, this is the 3rd photo in a quick action sequence shot by Laham:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/104272391/photo/rick-ankiel-of-the-atlanta-braves-is-tagged-out-on-a-triple-by-david-wright-of-the-new-york.jpg?s=612x612&w=0&k=20&c=tE3cTRcL8yj8K0otiH8bXen4BOpc4-86t-4ykftkKFA=" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="396" data-original-width="612" height="396" src="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/104272391/photo/rick-ankiel-of-the-atlanta-braves-is-tagged-out-on-a-triple-by-david-wright-of-the-new-york.jpg?s=612x612&w=0&k=20&c=tE3cTRcL8yj8K0otiH8bXen4BOpc4-86t-4ykftkKFA=" width="612" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; text-align: left;">Here, Wright is leaping for the incoming throw (the game logs reveal that it is a relay from the Second Baseman just across the infield and thus basically a poor throw) - but Snitker is already on his knees. To avoid the ball, if Wright doesn't catch it? Or, even before the Instant Replay system, wanting a clear view of the tag attempt soon to be applied...</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/104272378/photo/rick-ankiel-of-the-atlanta-braves-is-tagged-out-on-a-triple-by-david-wright-of-the-new-york.jpg?s=612x612&w=0&k=20&c=AfuDDtzUQVvYVQta50ovY-ScxcQcGSwd_hCDhv9esAY=" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="407" data-original-width="612" height="407" src="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/104272378/photo/rick-ankiel-of-the-atlanta-braves-is-tagged-out-on-a-triple-by-david-wright-of-the-new-york.jpg?s=612x612&w=0&k=20&c=AfuDDtzUQVvYVQta50ovY-ScxcQcGSwd_hCDhv9esAY=" width="612" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Ankiel starts reaching for the bag...Wright is bringing the glove down...</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/104272382/photo/rick-ankiel-of-the-atlanta-braves-is-tagged-out-on-a-triple-by-david-wright-of-the-new-york.jpg?s=612x612&w=0&k=20&c=Qqgq0t-ChleHo8Lp-FGQA5-gcXZhiija1Zreoayny2w=" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="423" data-original-width="612" height="423" src="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/104272382/photo/rick-ankiel-of-the-atlanta-braves-is-tagged-out-on-a-triple-by-david-wright-of-the-new-york.jpg?s=612x612&w=0&k=20&c=Qqgq0t-ChleHo8Lp-FGQA5-gcXZhiija1Zreoayny2w=" width="612" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Yup, OUT!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">There is also a 4th image in the sequence, a post-play photo -</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/104272338/photo/rick-ankiel-of-the-atlanta-braves-reacts-after-being-tagged-out-on-a-triple-by-david-wright-of.jpg?s=612x612&w=0&k=20&c=BzMLSCHS8lQtNT1ARBzB2sIsgS60ka2fb8A-4SZMBdo=" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="409" data-original-width="612" height="409" src="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/104272338/photo/rick-ankiel-of-the-atlanta-braves-reacts-after-being-tagged-out-on-a-triple-by-david-wright-of.jpg?s=612x612&w=0&k=20&c=BzMLSCHS8lQtNT1ARBzB2sIsgS60ka2fb8A-4SZMBdo=" width="612" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Snitker is back on his feet quickly, but Ankiel is still busy deflating from the play.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The Braves were down 2-1 in the top of the 5th when this play occurred as Ankiel lead off the inning and attempted to stretch a sure Double into this failed attempt at a Triple - an aggressive base-running decision which came within a couple three inches of working out for him and his team. But when behind on the scoreboard...</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Luckily for Ankiel the Braves would go on to win the game largely on the strength of a Grand Slam by Derrek Lee 2 innings later, after which I would imagine this close run attempt at gaining that extra 90 feet was forgotten/forgiven.</span></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 14px;">Overall, 2011 Topps Baseball #34 Rick Ankiel has got to be one of the best cards I have seen from the 2010s.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 14px;">And is definitely the best 3rd Base Coach card I have ever found, that's for sure.</span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span><div class="AssetCard-module__caption___nD2x1" data-testid="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; padding-bottom: 14px;"><br /></div></div></div></div>BaseSetCallinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05508114484929386332noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7573896101004946985.post-6918770629933997452023-01-03T23:39:00.001-05:002023-01-03T23:58:47.366-05:00Finalizing #1 (2011)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFHjylO0vH0XB-Psb3H91sCBARbKNcSou77HUau_QA-wmle4wpmceKzRfVdoSvpo6v3Ej5PhCiIwUiYgY_qh1P8d1df4II1ua34cQlsqgfkSF8MdUDD0djSj8G16iUulA7uV4Ou-siX0JrICA5SIo_YfGRKWVnjc08qdbKzp_ph__gitpaQU4vUC8/s2100/Pee%20Wee%20Reese.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFHjylO0vH0XB-Psb3H91sCBARbKNcSou77HUau_QA-wmle4wpmceKzRfVdoSvpo6v3Ej5PhCiIwUiYgY_qh1P8d1df4II1ua34cQlsqgfkSF8MdUDD0djSj8G16iUulA7uV4Ou-siX0JrICA5SIo_YfGRKWVnjc08qdbKzp_ph__gitpaQU4vUC8/s320/Pee%20Wee%20Reese.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As I was making my final cuts for my 2021 cards recently, I realized a new rule, or, let's say, 'guideline' which I will need to use with my collecting efforts: if a set I am still "working on" is now appearing in Archives, it is probably time I should make some attempt to wrap things up. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Such is the case with the 2011 Topps Baseball set. 2011 was, for me, one of those years familiar to many people who love baseball cards, but did not necessarily collect them diligently each and every baseball season. There are very few years in my life where I did not purchase at least one pack of Topps Baseball cards, some years where I collected lots and lots of Topps Baseball cards, and then those certain years where something about that year's set re-ignited my basic desire to collect lots and lots, after some years of just 1 or 2 packs. This has happened to me three times in years that are Topps Anniversaries - 1991, 2001, and 2011. I don't think it is the Anniversary angle which pulled me back in, but rather the set that particular year. Does Topps try extra hard for an Anniversary set? Could be. I will never know now though; I don't plan to stop building sets routinely, now, as baseball card collecting is just so relaxing in our ever faster world.</div><p></p><p>The 2011 set just drew me in to it. You all know how that works or you wouldn't be reading a baseball card blog. The clean design, the splash of color, the ever elegant white border keeping things orderly, but most of all, probably the photography drew me back to hanging with Topps on their 60th birthday bash.</p><p>So I bought good amounts of the cards. And kept on buying them, in 2012, and 2013, when those delightful "Now 40% Off" stickers appeared on the packages. Remember those? I haven't seen one in about four years now, I think.</p><p>This became my collecting strategy in the 2010s - buy some cards, decide how much I liked them, and then buy more of the ones I liked, on the cheap, the next year. There is a small problem with this approach - when does one declare enough cards have been purchased? After all, who knows what might appear on the baseball card shelf the next time you walk up to it. Do I really have enough of that set? Why not add another little package of them - they are 40% off now.</p><p>Meanwhile simultaneously other new cards are coming in, some from the current season, some from the discounted season(s). The one priority I do give to baseball cards is absorbing them some (reading the backs) when I buy them; not the same thing as sorting the stack of cards, building the first needs list and getting busy crossing numbers off it. Thus I have a lot of partial sets I am perpetually "working on." Now, finally, I stopped reading my 2022 baseball cards and got around to cracking open a couple 800 count boxes holding my 2011 Topps Baseball cards. Let's take a look:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzOYUwky7LXTjhBZLhmf85gCaz93FkFKKziuB-e0dsfOhH5P51vXRZnMTdViiRpz1zdbwZtW4ReNRMH6ARgBhZQ1mo86xNu8FQ56ETIgX8gMZRd8fcBVJpeatEu4GiA7NY-vbANOA60g65a60JgVtvckeX77azODDAvh1zfQT5_3KQhziC793pm2M/s2098/Braun.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzOYUwky7LXTjhBZLhmf85gCaz93FkFKKziuB-e0dsfOhH5P51vXRZnMTdViiRpz1zdbwZtW4ReNRMH6ARgBhZQ1mo86xNu8FQ56ETIgX8gMZRd8fcBVJpeatEu4GiA7NY-vbANOA60g65a60JgVtvckeX77azODDAvh1zfQT5_3KQhziC793pm2M/s320/Braun.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b>Card #1</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I can't recall if Topps made a Social Media splash with their selection for this lead-off card in the 2011 set, as they do some years. But given the nature of a 60th Anniversary set, I bet they probably did at some point just after the 2010 season.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The most interesting thing to me about this card is a simple wondering if Card #1 has ever gone on to win the MVP Award that same season? This in turn makes me wonder just how much longer it will be before I can simply ask Alexa or Siri that question rather than do a bunch of Googling myself. Of course the whole idea is a bit moot because Braun's 2011 MVP has probably the most serious cloud hanging over it of any major baseball award, once it came out that he was using PEDs that season. This is why I had to draft Pee Wee Reese (from 2021 Archives) to represent the set up there at the top of this post.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A standard feature of many a Topps Baseball set is what happens six cards later -<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAZLNrc8RhfLSLfm-LERaTjUDOAAdEkRc6AVScDEXizTru2isQG2qq-Q6Fk8GelAJa7L1i3v1BAghJmH4jEUP-UhrHK2vwmgmL-nRLFGjYZ0q0ZGOM6d6ZUnNDOqHcvZojFOxT06nqli3epQsiB5X8_yYIEU6-mMqLSBbBQ6HJ3aIWfvV5q3q3I-g/s2100/Mickey%20Mantle.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="2100" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAZLNrc8RhfLSLfm-LERaTjUDOAAdEkRc6AVScDEXizTru2isQG2qq-Q6Fk8GelAJa7L1i3v1BAghJmH4jEUP-UhrHK2vwmgmL-nRLFGjYZ0q0ZGOM6d6ZUnNDOqHcvZojFOxT06nqli3epQsiB5X8_yYIEU6-mMqLSBbBQ6HJ3aIWfvV5q3q3I-g/s320/Mickey%20Mantle.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b>Card #7</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Looking at this card now, it makes me wonder if, ten years or so from now, we will all know who will still be holding down the Card #27 position, even after his final game. In the 2010s however, Card #7 usually has something interesting going on, so this will be a feature of these Finalizing posts whenever I can finally write one.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I will also consider some of the other standard Topps Baseball set features:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>League Leaders</b>: The 2011 set does include these, as a 3 image card for the top three players for each stat. Such cards only rarely capture my attention, in a permanent, I must-always-own-this way. 2011's Leaders did not. I find the 3 little pictures just distracting. The Leader is the guy on the left, OK. What do I need to see the other guys for? That's only going to make it harder for me to 'member the Leader, especially since, for me at least, the right side of a card is often more memorable than the left side. My ideal set up for League Leaders is a 2 player card, showing the AL & NL Leader, with a list of the top 5 or more on the back, for each single statistic.</div></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I will say I always wish to find a Stolen Base Leaders card, but such does not exist in 2011 Topps Baseball. There are but 5 categories, for HR, RBI, AVG, ERA, and W. RBI and W are basically dated stats, now. As I think/write about this, I am warming up to maybe keeping a running collection of the Home Run Leader cards. That would make an interesting page of cards. I think I need to head back over to the scanner now...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_9NWG_61NkoR7c1G2GC2nO_SWxD1uT1OA1KhHIeH4rZ5-Ae0Hrqum48-hBDP-2vRvjWNoi07A9a_dPKa1ouDXa5RdBtRabjiX3Sl-Gbd4bVy0vS8lMLYBjTAoYQuDzxGJEDgEmGPEnrqC20_YnXU_9kKnvUskPjd6d3PPBERPU6HJ38uVJdU2Y50/s2098/NL%20HR%20Leaders.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1490" data-original-width="2098" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_9NWG_61NkoR7c1G2GC2nO_SWxD1uT1OA1KhHIeH4rZ5-Ae0Hrqum48-hBDP-2vRvjWNoi07A9a_dPKa1ouDXa5RdBtRabjiX3Sl-Gbd4bVy0vS8lMLYBjTAoYQuDzxGJEDgEmGPEnrqC20_YnXU_9kKnvUskPjd6d3PPBERPU6HJ38uVJdU2Y50/w400-h284/NL%20HR%20Leaders.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN-mx-ztWKAE2DsEFwXu_shg8yu7cw7BQxQ-Qtd83864t3vfABxBNNqaDGs_qGyq9tVSCqr9meeiIANhPUim8TBFxEhNJ2HGzESqKac086d3D9o8Fn93SdnKU2jr9fEtukkcFSkAmfNSjfy5dmaSEiWmga5Cx3fw4GxRBy6x7_NqNLTS74S8hVBZs/s2100/AL%20HR%20Leaders.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1498" data-original-width="2100" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN-mx-ztWKAE2DsEFwXu_shg8yu7cw7BQxQ-Qtd83864t3vfABxBNNqaDGs_qGyq9tVSCqr9meeiIANhPUim8TBFxEhNJ2HGzESqKac086d3D9o8Fn93SdnKU2jr9fEtukkcFSkAmfNSjfy5dmaSEiWmga5Cx3fw4GxRBy6x7_NqNLTS74S8hVBZs/w400-h285/AL%20HR%20Leaders.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Ahh, that's better. I always like seeing the NL & AL official logos on my baseball cards. The peak of 19th century graphic design, still going in the 21st century. Now I won't forget that Joey Votto didn't just Walk all the time, and that Adam Dunn played in the National League, too. This is why I write this blog - writing out my thoughts on cards is an enormous aid in clarifying those thoughts and in this case, deciding which ones to keep — I won't say "unfortunately" right there. I am quite pleased with my ever so slowly developing ability to begin a better editing of my collection. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Wait, what? I'm not keeping all the League Leaders cards? I'm not keeping this set? Not, completely. I am in the beginning phases of making my baseball card collection fit my future life style - which will be living in a basically small amount of square feet of space. I already live a fairly mobile life with my work in the tree seed business; I have no plans to maintain a large home mainly to hold physical objects no matter how much I love those objects. With many types of "media" I can enjoy them immensely in their "digital," near-zero-storage-space forms, wherever I go. With baseball cards, not so much. It would be nice to have a big ole screen saver set up showing a slide show of scanned favorites from my collection, something I do look forward to building some day. But for cards that's not really good enough, for me, either. I also have a strong feeling that I will enjoy a permanent collection more, if it is less overwhelming to attempt to look through once in a while.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Thus for most sets I will continue opening new baseball cards to continue following the sport of Baseball in my preferred way. But I will not plan on owning every Complete Set, but rather only a few favorites. Instead, I will focus on just certain elements of them - a Tigers Team Set, and a few others, as we'll see, right now —</div></div><p><b>Highlights</b>: 2011 Topps does include some Highlights cards although they are easy to miss:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUpckEJ51Rwn3yf1Vklc0aNtnWSMsM1RF8GRO_z2ymxuBFsLXV9Vaqi3XLcz7rypz2ybtZHK76hxC0aUom6NzjpZF6Hm0v1kXGofMmnnIcJx1ehVJWC1_cCsRdv-KNhhGmbV-Nd0YOYL4Qpwp0jK0ZZjZlmKnEDdVs_6JUZ5ZNdJ27W54W2lcNGn4/s2096/Halladay%20Highlight.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2096" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUpckEJ51Rwn3yf1Vklc0aNtnWSMsM1RF8GRO_z2ymxuBFsLXV9Vaqi3XLcz7rypz2ybtZHK76hxC0aUom6NzjpZF6Hm0v1kXGofMmnnIcJx1ehVJWC1_cCsRdv-KNhhGmbV-Nd0YOYL4Qpwp0jK0ZZjZlmKnEDdVs_6JUZ5ZNdJ27W54W2lcNGn4/s320/Halladay%20Highlight.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">FIRST POSTSEASON NO-HITTER SINCE 1956</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">...is what the foil printed text says there above the player name / team color arch. Your only real hope of reading that text is with the actual baseball card quite up close; there is zero other content about the season highlight itself - the back of the card functions as a Checklist card. There are 5 of these cards covering each Series, 1 & 2.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I always like Highlights cards, so will be collecting/keeping them. With just checklist boxes on the back, I won't feel too bad about creating binder pages of 18 of them in sequence. Later in the 10s Topps got tired from all this work that is baseball cards, and quit trying to spotlight any season highlights in the Topps Baseball set. The checklist cards are still there, but become simple "duals" in the set. Here's to hoping for a return of some Highlights.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Post-Season</b>: Alas, there are no cards depicting the 2010 Post-Season in the 2011 Topps Baseball set.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Awards</b>: I do not know when Topps began placing a card in the Topps Baseball set for the biggest player achievement awards, such as the MVPs, Cy Young, and Rookie-of-the-Year award winners in the 2011 set. But they seem like a perfect card type to see in a run on a binder page, from set to set.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpOSBtVtZVqz_Wcx82VWOQUd2POPrTE59NrSLRdVGfAQtAbDfdxh5mvhUDPZlQxRerklcrIsRM8cNQ_SJU0EdunBM4usP5T2WtJMKjwc92ajc7HH1bJjUV40r3xbj87xaM-IZL5NjIKrhHDA5Z8wl7SixIzhL64dV8ssd6EgvdcKm4qJa7vTBzOyQ/s2096/Posey%20ROY.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2096" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpOSBtVtZVqz_Wcx82VWOQUd2POPrTE59NrSLRdVGfAQtAbDfdxh5mvhUDPZlQxRerklcrIsRM8cNQ_SJU0EdunBM4usP5T2WtJMKjwc92ajc7HH1bJjUV40r3xbj87xaM-IZL5NjIKrhHDA5Z8wl7SixIzhL64dV8ssd6EgvdcKm4qJa7vTBzOyQ/s320/Posey%20ROY.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">2010 NL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Rookie Cup</b>: Buster Posey does very well in this set; he also appears on a card with the Topps Rookie Cup logo. And in this set, all of the Rookie Cup players receive a separate, unique card - one card with the Rookie Cup, one without. Each with a distinct write up on the back, though not for the threepeats of Posey and AL ROY Neftali Feliz.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgva0BsLqDn0SPAbUcelk4aDg8gpxj8B5mxQ1PKEFTjzCO8kQWSLAuQmWIfiBdc_-kawhQsBSB0EhwmSksGhfgPsplFJH0pT7FMV18PHZYC_jeynYFoYdcz6xvSDNaW2yfuqRfgN_pMNqvkd0NCbuOMLD8teZCxwh9Clp5pDylVR9RD-yIEsNZjM_4/s6828/Rookie%20Cup%20Page.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="6828" data-original-width="4852" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgva0BsLqDn0SPAbUcelk4aDg8gpxj8B5mxQ1PKEFTjzCO8kQWSLAuQmWIfiBdc_-kawhQsBSB0EhwmSksGhfgPsplFJH0pT7FMV18PHZYC_jeynYFoYdcz6xvSDNaW2yfuqRfgN_pMNqvkd0NCbuOMLD8teZCxwh9Clp5pDylVR9RD-yIEsNZjM_4/w454-h640/Rookie%20Cup%20Page.jpeg" width="454" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Topps aced the basic idea of placing their own signature set element in this set, something that would unfortunately not always be the case in the 2010s. All 11 players have their Rookie Cup card included correctly. Ordering them by position, as Topps always does in announcing the selections after the World Series each year, leaves 2 more cards to show you:<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPHGcdkSyT5PhSSznOttp6HXNlphyCQ07ZyWB9nBUu9uCiqNHg_Q7S5aFVR_Pmwzk9wE_Ad2GGWVPVWxbk3WrLB5QdhRD2eNgRiccAFJWkKnghiroMjRousJ_-Dsd-Ai-NVfnmRmV_enaooP3XaL93ZqE63fqvoufG1AaKyRi5g2nzmphHfWYE7Ts/s2100/Garcia%20Rookie%20Cup.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPHGcdkSyT5PhSSznOttp6HXNlphyCQ07ZyWB9nBUu9uCiqNHg_Q7S5aFVR_Pmwzk9wE_Ad2GGWVPVWxbk3WrLB5QdhRD2eNgRiccAFJWkKnghiroMjRousJ_-Dsd-Ai-NVfnmRmV_enaooP3XaL93ZqE63fqvoufG1AaKyRi5g2nzmphHfWYE7Ts/s320/Garcia%20Rookie%20Cup.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg1SIcABYzO831HbeLLnyAtY2cqUt_NSG2IlfWlSnHKlZQH-RN6JM10knIIE_RPezqoNdOT2BQd3CT6Ph0UKyVf4qdA2RY-lBH2ZY-zEYAHozo27rA8HqDhGl12DKUkkYWBs9WcbsBewF-YZkXUmjfk-wy6JbOKWoFqP3JP0ntS6c7WenI5QlFVFs/s2100/Feliz%20Rookie%20Cup.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg1SIcABYzO831HbeLLnyAtY2cqUt_NSG2IlfWlSnHKlZQH-RN6JM10knIIE_RPezqoNdOT2BQd3CT6Ph0UKyVf4qdA2RY-lBH2ZY-zEYAHozo27rA8HqDhGl12DKUkkYWBs9WcbsBewF-YZkXUmjfk-wy6JbOKWoFqP3JP0ntS6c7WenI5QlFVFs/s320/Feliz%20Rookie%20Cup.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I have been looking forward to assembling a continuing Rookie Cup collection for a long, long time.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>The KEY Rookie Cards</b>: There is one, essentially:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCN5I5DBIvbSy9i9ESH05FP573L0PLspvYjRRfR6AAuSqYU7w_l4muQGGj-PHfD8wjMU07KPwN8vWrTa47uRnc8idCgdpCPgtfQwj0mArN4P10QjU8bLHEc4tuodSH81LqOW5BOOct6EYwz3BU9G5-1K-52wHTIsN_Y_quHTN_DA4VrwWNhEmLwUI/s2384/Freeman%20RC.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2384" data-original-width="1824" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCN5I5DBIvbSy9i9ESH05FP573L0PLspvYjRRfR6AAuSqYU7w_l4muQGGj-PHfD8wjMU07KPwN8vWrTa47uRnc8idCgdpCPgtfQwj0mArN4P10QjU8bLHEc4tuodSH81LqOW5BOOct6EYwz3BU9G5-1K-52wHTIsN_Y_quHTN_DA4VrwWNhEmLwUI/s320/Freeman%20RC.jpeg" width="245" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">If one wishes to sell a copy of this set, the whole idea will be judged on just one thing by any buyer — the condition of card #145, the Freddie Freeman RC.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There used to be a couple other "key" RC in this set, but the standing of the 2 players in "The Hobby" (always sounds like a cult) has diminished considerably amidst the relentless Hall-of-Fame-or-just-trash mentality on the part of sooooooo many "collectors" - i.e. their basic value has probably declined now rather than continued to appreciate. Horrors. One of those is one of my favorite RC cards of the 2010s, featuring Aroldis Chapman:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6Hnm_bpHUZKimqJ46LlaJ4RQ7ASRpv3VulmhJKUXu4dSCqG66S-gCzoPqPeo_9KaS6NO5Pz0YaVOJVipYsduTuMbVdrZwjfXej3xonXunQsTiVHk__5ZGodg22vQkfIJGHTF7oV6OWjouMrAo_yMeDnvHtfLvtCBEnYX02eGWYVmGYsVXyEa-ZAo/s2100/Aroldis%20Chapman%20RC.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1482" data-original-width="2100" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6Hnm_bpHUZKimqJ46LlaJ4RQ7ASRpv3VulmhJKUXu4dSCqG66S-gCzoPqPeo_9KaS6NO5Pz0YaVOJVipYsduTuMbVdrZwjfXej3xonXunQsTiVHk__5ZGodg22vQkfIJGHTF7oV6OWjouMrAo_yMeDnvHtfLvtCBEnYX02eGWYVmGYsVXyEa-ZAo/s320/Aroldis%20Chapman%20RC.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I love 'twilight' cards like this one.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">2011 Topps is quite a 'sunlit' set; it appears to me that the set editor attempted to select a sunny day photo whenever possible. There are relatively few cards from any neutrally lit indoor stadium (mostly Rays), just some Night Cards (nowhere near the blizzard of them in 2018 Update), and it seems even very few cards from a game with clouds overhead, though some, largely from perhaps a single in Miami between the Marlins and Braves. This is just an impression I have had for a long time with this set; I won't be attempting to quantify that set characteristic, though I will be checking into some others. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">One result of that is a smattering of cards showing the crowd now sitting in late afternoon shade, which was something commonly seen on cards in the 70s and 80s, but has now become quite rare in a set of baseball cards. A shaded crowd and a sunlit player always seems to up the drama, with the player out in the bright spotlight of the game action moment.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I like that card so much I once splurged a whole $5 on what I thought was a copy of the "Topps Black" edition but was actually a "WalMart All Black" copy that is similar, but different. Oh well.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The other formerly key RC is the #65 Chris Sale RC, seen here the way I will be absorbing a lot of this set in future years:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN7k6kzrwc81GZMkmPAV8e2W-D_gVynZXxZOWC1VhPcnQ93vqZEFfkk10ucJHGS_flsZZd7XwTTib0_0wkjiKM1B1xSmKyM7o4Ozraqi4MrGhpHWkDYW32LFoFRjZ_GK6y2tziX1vEErNTXcBq61LhExu4RjK_HQXUvAnXubKeS9YSDhLK3h_EVzc/s6800/RC%20Page%201.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="6800" data-original-width="4916" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN7k6kzrwc81GZMkmPAV8e2W-D_gVynZXxZOWC1VhPcnQ93vqZEFfkk10ucJHGS_flsZZd7XwTTib0_0wkjiKM1B1xSmKyM7o4Ozraqi4MrGhpHWkDYW32LFoFRjZ_GK6y2tziX1vEErNTXcBq61LhExu4RjK_HQXUvAnXubKeS9YSDhLK3h_EVzc/w462-h640/RC%20Page%201.jpeg" width="462" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That's the very first page of a new binder I will be assembling, for a complete run of Topps Rookie Cards, though starting in 2011. Although I won't have a complete set of all 990 cards on the 2011 Topps Baseball design to look through, a set of just the Rookie Cards (and all of the Tigers) will still give me a decent enough view of the set whenever I wish.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And that won't be purely a look at just the RC logo cards. You eagle eye baseball card blog readers probably already noticed one of those cards doesn't have an RC logo. Which is because Topps is naturally far from perfect in application of that logo, which isn't all that surprising given the raw quantity of unique baseball cards they produce every year. Nor all that concerning, to me; on the scale of possible errors on baseball cards, inadvertently omitting an RC logo, well, is quite low in importance overall. So really that particular collection will be more like an older concept in cards, one called "FTC" cards, for First Topps Card of each individual player.</div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The cards in that page are in sequential checklist order, which is conundrum-ing me. These days, when I place 9 baseball cards in a binder, I have begun ignoring checklist numbering not just for some RC inserts as I was writing the other day, but I have also begun assembling pages of purely horizontal and purely vertical cards. I find those much more enjoyable to view that way. However for this somewhat more official/historical look at RC/FTC cards, I still feel compelled to keep them in official sequential checklist order for some reason I can't quite explain. Baseball cards.</div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>How Many Rookie Cards? I count 65</b> here in Series 1 & 2 2011 Topps Baseball, or 9.8% of the set.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That is it for separating out the cards — the way Topps designated them into easily, concretely defined subsets. However I enjoy collecting baseball cards via adding some of my own designations.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Memorials</b>: This is an idea I picked up from the <a href="http://garveyceyrusselllopes.blogspot.com/">Garvey Cey Russell Lopes blog</a>, more specifically the series there specifically about <a href="http://garveyceyrusselllopes.blogspot.com/search/label/memorials">Memorial patches on baseball uniforms</a>. Do not be confused by the seeming end date of the original GCRL blog; he is still an active blogger at <a href="http://cardsasiseethem.blogspot.com/">"cards as I see them"</a> and if you keep wandering around in his first blog (well worth it), you may even see updated bits from subsequent releases, such as the 2021 Topps Archives 2011 Topps cards like the one I admire way up above there.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I am not going to build an exhaustive collection of these, but I thought it would be nice to assemble a concise collection of sightings of these tributes as I build my 2011- History of Baseball type collection. I will just keep one example of the uniform patch for each baseball personality so honored, rather than some of the ones worn after horrific events in the regular News. As a priority, if possible, I will use the best example from the main Topps Baseball set although sometimes images in other sets can be more clear.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This effort is off to a rough start on it's minty fresh new binder page - the slot for an Ernie Harwell patch is missing. Although it appears in the 2011 Topps set on the Jose Valverde card, that card is not yet in my possession as it is on the short list of cards I still need from this set. Additionally the best view of it is on a 2010 Update card (Brennan Boesch RC) that I also do not yet own. That one is also featured on a box-topper size effort that I also might acquire some day. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">To get this rolling I selected the #424 card in 2011 Topps, the Yankees Team card; this actually shows 3 tributes simultaneously, for long-time Yankee Stadium announcer Bob Shepherd, George Steinbrenner, and Ralph Houk, all 3 of whom passed on during the 2010 season.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwyXkTqIwvV4pQvUhrzMoeNPKSuN3ttx8BdjVrLGrWEtDXsEP0dnbcU2NhOFi2Z_1Oqcl0rmesoiUOGgAAVm8KZpP74LQmIAnP8bVK2v4fbVEvIAESp2ENcCYbQZO7nhcokiOfkK84zfvx4UMKT4RrhHPGac0MKUEx-w_wJQH5djaoNFC6JAGY3vc/s2102/Yankees%20Memorial.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1496" data-original-width="2102" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwyXkTqIwvV4pQvUhrzMoeNPKSuN3ttx8BdjVrLGrWEtDXsEP0dnbcU2NhOFi2Z_1Oqcl0rmesoiUOGgAAVm8KZpP74LQmIAnP8bVK2v4fbVEvIAESp2ENcCYbQZO7nhcokiOfkK84zfvx4UMKT4RrhHPGac0MKUEx-w_wJQH5djaoNFC6JAGY3vc/s320/Yankees%20Memorial.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">For a thorough look, see <a href="https://garveyceyrusselllopes.blogspot.com/2015/03/yankee-memorials-for-voice-of-god-boss.html">gcrl's post</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">For now, i.e. through 2011 Topps only, I am adding just one more card, the #460 Cole Hamels, which shows off the "36" patch the Phillies began wearing in 2010 for Robin Roberts.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfjJ7t86mlRJU6ZcvNfL4jyh3rgslrG746UPmP0kZmO2W56oxcNuuugpV8iNRukAQb9rIabDNEc6VVD1OZwcYtHxo3oRAqbs7W8lLr_vnzCUjG-hqchKuABZyM30VrLEnR_2saPMoaKgOgPv8MGejx8ebQR9iDhlwBmGp_Wo5yCHMhdwsRor0sGSY/s2088/Hamels%20Memorial.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2088" data-original-width="1502" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfjJ7t86mlRJU6ZcvNfL4jyh3rgslrG746UPmP0kZmO2W56oxcNuuugpV8iNRukAQb9rIabDNEc6VVD1OZwcYtHxo3oRAqbs7W8lLr_vnzCUjG-hqchKuABZyM30VrLEnR_2saPMoaKgOgPv8MGejx8ebQR9iDhlwBmGp_Wo5yCHMhdwsRor0sGSY/s320/Hamels%20Memorial.jpeg" width="230" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Throwbacks</b>: A photo choice I quite like on my baseball cards is the use of images from those few certain games featuring a team's older uniforms. In 2011 Topps, I found 4 of them:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOLQ-lO1QjidJIPM9UElnjTgTkMcHUovz9fBxzErRT0D8McdnD1PdmnxJU5kRM0CKBKKv30L4Kv_MFDDnYNgoqdgYAKG7g1FPMVinl4s9kpapOt5LiMQ7AlK81Q_vkOkidBY-Zx3XTn5iUm9LyYkVR4EAQKrnF6DIXZFgxAdrIGhW1hg3GsiMm9lE/s2100/Wainwright%20Throwback.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOLQ-lO1QjidJIPM9UElnjTgTkMcHUovz9fBxzErRT0D8McdnD1PdmnxJU5kRM0CKBKKv30L4Kv_MFDDnYNgoqdgYAKG7g1FPMVinl4s9kpapOt5LiMQ7AlK81Q_vkOkidBY-Zx3XTn5iUm9LyYkVR4EAQKrnF6DIXZFgxAdrIGhW1hg3GsiMm9lE/s320/Wainwright%20Throwback.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIvebKTsdIVKn1Nkfg33b7xKi8dNWT7d9aS1xXwVtwEmR_4RoxQAZS6Niw4IWZ0vmZ92ONFrJhC4UBqbpTnYWST1NpKsFgxMSVNF5ScxXhsjEuOGedOiYB_giX4g8NbCoaTfZN9DmvBDoxDogoj4Vhhqrt55BeNWZ5gIpbx10C-7ui4Z_pCOfqYGI/s2100/Padres%20Throwback.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIvebKTsdIVKn1Nkfg33b7xKi8dNWT7d9aS1xXwVtwEmR_4RoxQAZS6Niw4IWZ0vmZ92ONFrJhC4UBqbpTnYWST1NpKsFgxMSVNF5ScxXhsjEuOGedOiYB_giX4g8NbCoaTfZN9DmvBDoxDogoj4Vhhqrt55BeNWZ5gIpbx10C-7ui4Z_pCOfqYGI/s320/Padres%20Throwback.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">There are 2 more of these; the Chase Headley card is quite dramatic.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The Headley card, when it arrives, will likely get a spot in my Shoulder Patch collection.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDZCXbO6JizU0Nzkh82bU9H3xNIAGpkT7zgkOU38VLDM8_MEzgbZpE08V5bCcSQldeHYdKp0dHSUmWRNE5leAh_bvhfUq_fYQI5DmDoMXidUdcCXiatlf6HO7wsYj0cWm33r4SCPGwawFNO0MXX_IKCPf5iFhDnofc7Ksa47yp7UQFwk7nvGLn2t4/s2098/Senators%20Throwback.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="2098" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDZCXbO6JizU0Nzkh82bU9H3xNIAGpkT7zgkOU38VLDM8_MEzgbZpE08V5bCcSQldeHYdKp0dHSUmWRNE5leAh_bvhfUq_fYQI5DmDoMXidUdcCXiatlf6HO7wsYj0cWm33r4SCPGwawFNO0MXX_IKCPf5iFhDnofc7Ksa47yp7UQFwk7nvGLn2t4/s320/Senators%20Throwback.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDqUmVA40uJbhd9mZOzN2IYb9_Pq9bE23P4L3zvaxzwOgphWjS0agXraULKFtIyLZJOaqaYDRS4I4pCzSQbteA_xGHowoXSnbUw0MMQ2Q7iTSXAltesg2hjwe6ragNhqEzqisZgF-xnLyvtfJNhIadCOILjs-XKfL082lXl6ZrUhCyYZBuS09K0GM/s2100/Cahill%20Sparkle.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1496" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDqUmVA40uJbhd9mZOzN2IYb9_Pq9bE23P4L3zvaxzwOgphWjS0agXraULKFtIyLZJOaqaYDRS4I4pCzSQbteA_xGHowoXSnbUw0MMQ2Q7iTSXAltesg2hjwe6ragNhqEzqisZgF-xnLyvtfJNhIadCOILjs-XKfL082lXl6ZrUhCyYZBuS09K0GM/s320/Cahill%20Sparkle.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I like the lurking yellow Outfielder.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">What's going on with the baseball there in Trevor's hand? That's a kind of 'Easter Egg' in this set I guess, and I think the first example of the "Diamond Sparkles" - to commemorate Topps' Diamond Anniversary of course. I found this one while finally sorting my 9-11 year old card purchases. There are a lot of them in this set; a fair amount of them are hidden in white parts of the player uniform, too. I could spend way too much time carefully looking for more of them and then probably not find any, anyways; there is <a href="https://www.tradercracks.com/baseball/baseball-card-news/2011-topps-diamond-sparkle-variations">a visual guide available</a>. As we in the Midwest would say, Yeah, No.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That A's uniform becomes a popular choice for Topps in later sets; I might or might not just give it a whole binder page eventually.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Sunglasses</b>: There are a LOT of cards with players wearing sunglasses in this sunny set of baseball cards. So many that my initial idea - setting up binder pages of every card featuring a pair of Sunglasses - would clearly be using up too much space for something that is sometimes rather repetitive. So, instead, I will make this a purely subjective decision. In 2011 Topps, the Royals are the Sharp Dressed Men, that I can tell you:<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjUpBmV3hLWNUKMoyVMM_N_xrsdcwvSlqbXcBfemDfS7nwPJUdNe5UvwE3dOtHyyvJzg1QkpAHhK27AFsAlBSfGvJ2QvLSSxQdM_qQXiIZl3ki3f_j3QZ5yHydagVnEY0urNq159Jqz2-P3pHxGn5Pc_u0bycu74LjAC4wxQV01N4tqdfXZAcuUdg/s2098/Getz%20Sunglasses.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1496" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjUpBmV3hLWNUKMoyVMM_N_xrsdcwvSlqbXcBfemDfS7nwPJUdNe5UvwE3dOtHyyvJzg1QkpAHhK27AFsAlBSfGvJ2QvLSSxQdM_qQXiIZl3ki3f_j3QZ5yHydagVnEY0urNq159Jqz2-P3pHxGn5Pc_u0bycu74LjAC4wxQV01N4tqdfXZAcuUdg/s320/Getz%20Sunglasses.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8rPrcTbRr8rQm96jUGLbYTU-JcsPsIahWi5f9bSOK_RHMHFEVcq8muCdHRMzQyV2_TrB4yIteSLGeAV9tW1FK9Vv-v50vvu_A-0O6F4BQO0Rf8iNp_F4DiiRG03MF2148-GwPRa228dkWuFJ9zNUGlnB4uwBlXLvxVFAcxVLOAo-UJWstK05pTmE/s2092/Aviles%20Sunglasses.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2092" data-original-width="1502" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8rPrcTbRr8rQm96jUGLbYTU-JcsPsIahWi5f9bSOK_RHMHFEVcq8muCdHRMzQyV2_TrB4yIteSLGeAV9tW1FK9Vv-v50vvu_A-0O6F4BQO0Rf8iNp_F4DiiRG03MF2148-GwPRa228dkWuFJ9zNUGlnB4uwBlXLvxVFAcxVLOAo-UJWstK05pTmE/s320/Aviles%20Sunglasses.jpeg" width="230" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The best of these, will come along later.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgha0jAuvCKW1c-_0qqFbt18BeiUf6EZ46Ez5cYKoaNf5jm2lcMLi3N7dePq7ZOv0gNsDj230RdSSVEHIPi5arEbq3Pm5nPkXfHv3adAPIx-jb7mSPyjktvfpWN-SMMz9uFtdH7B9IBPU9qgjhJ9ICe-tXkuvTFf5oCKtTpo4uvbtUXxmJyqhBotPs/s2098/Kearns%20Sunglasses.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgha0jAuvCKW1c-_0qqFbt18BeiUf6EZ46Ez5cYKoaNf5jm2lcMLi3N7dePq7ZOv0gNsDj230RdSSVEHIPi5arEbq3Pm5nPkXfHv3adAPIx-jb7mSPyjktvfpWN-SMMz9uFtdH7B9IBPU9qgjhJ9ICe-tXkuvTFf5oCKtTpo4uvbtUXxmJyqhBotPs/s320/Kearns%20Sunglasses.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm81MbdFhQTJrQPlWxWZB70aLi9G5x8q1jpggPGwu5wahu9lPOHaqN9ivUiIeyVeoNoj_zVSUV4UrE--Gw-vQYZSDHMvRpLZs0mK5F7tw9uJCsko9fz6pppfqKrTd_NTRlGQId8bQ5GD4V8xfG4wr_ZPTu4hXZ0C9N5asH6Q90l_Rr5L5rcvJ_R5M/s2098/Ellis%20Sunglasses.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm81MbdFhQTJrQPlWxWZB70aLi9G5x8q1jpggPGwu5wahu9lPOHaqN9ivUiIeyVeoNoj_zVSUV4UrE--Gw-vQYZSDHMvRpLZs0mK5F7tw9uJCsko9fz6pppfqKrTd_NTRlGQId8bQ5GD4V8xfG4wr_ZPTu4hXZ0C9N5asH6Q90l_Rr5L5rcvJ_R5M/s320/Ellis%20Sunglasses.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYgBmxNayIMT9dTUXXtLrrgZNT3uCnsV5CeX_TuC-Zv9A9MMzp3lMtNkr4h0dMC-5UJECQrIbnZ1h21Q55sDHxpS_nvg4HjHuHKnQrcBh06CJS0IQTQ35BXfB-Du1hvpCYAk5SEvrDlj4kgEt-qOqZrOo5tO5Ks5N79Dm6cs528y_XUgRPyR9X5K8/s2100/Ramirez.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYgBmxNayIMT9dTUXXtLrrgZNT3uCnsV5CeX_TuC-Zv9A9MMzp3lMtNkr4h0dMC-5UJECQrIbnZ1h21Q55sDHxpS_nvg4HjHuHKnQrcBh06CJS0IQTQ35BXfB-Du1hvpCYAk5SEvrDlj4kgEt-qOqZrOo5tO5Ks5N79Dm6cs528y_XUgRPyR9X5K8/s320/Ramirez.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>A Classic Card</b>: This next card I picked out as perhaps the most 'baseball card' in the set. Obscure the 'Topps' in the corner and all of the graphics at the bottom and most people would still instantly recognize this image as likely originating from a baseball card. This is Mike/Giancarlo Stanton's non-Rookie Cup card; there are several Marlins cards shot from this same angle, and some Braves cards too. All could easily be from the same game. 1977 Wrapper, anyone? Trout RC? Coming soon...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7cjFBnB4uMB79mwoFnWTfn5mhxQ_Lv51c5gBaq0-_Duiqc93YopjbakKA7u4FGm-jTaUepsa58h_kX44kqAjyxehKRz2f6fzTiksPJ-SfbB9I2IcpztdEJ4yZkPPz10hZGHlOLgYjE9SIKn1fm8aCrdvtvl5a9Cf8bm9DlxsIL2md-EMpMd_VUYw/s2100/Giancarlo%20Stanton.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7cjFBnB4uMB79mwoFnWTfn5mhxQ_Lv51c5gBaq0-_Duiqc93YopjbakKA7u4FGm-jTaUepsa58h_kX44kqAjyxehKRz2f6fzTiksPJ-SfbB9I2IcpztdEJ4yZkPPz10hZGHlOLgYjE9SIKn1fm8aCrdvtvl5a9Cf8bm9DlxsIL2md-EMpMd_VUYw/s320/Giancarlo%20Stanton.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>9 Verticals I Like</b>: The hardest part of NOT collecting an entire set is picking out just a portion of it to keep. This just goes straight across the grain of how collecting things is supposed to work. Making my 'final cuts' from the set was an enjoyable stroll back in time the last several days, and I know it must be done to some day fit my collection into a manageable size. After keeping the various official and subjective subsets shown above, I will also be keeping a single page of the very best cards in the set, not already picked for some other sub-collection. The verticals:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVyU0R2Ok2044PsKGUFSec03OPMjHm3nObWNlQ1C-fswWzLeIQrh9iegkWEixuAp9YzHLr1actgt4G15hfjuWJf9C_23ZXw73HzHW1-J6hkQoWyhc-D44HWpLHxrYFvJBZ86lU4EE0KgH0Oe1cTmHfUbS6MNLTZPps3QZd3RM_B8MkDIZuZZguvU4/s6740/9%20Verticals.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="6740" data-original-width="4918" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVyU0R2Ok2044PsKGUFSec03OPMjHm3nObWNlQ1C-fswWzLeIQrh9iegkWEixuAp9YzHLr1actgt4G15hfjuWJf9C_23ZXw73HzHW1-J6hkQoWyhc-D44HWpLHxrYFvJBZ86lU4EE0KgH0Oe1cTmHfUbS6MNLTZPps3QZd3RM_B8MkDIZuZZguvU4/w466-h640/9%20Verticals.jpeg" width="466" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I could not solve the mystery of the young Madison Bumgarner's white SF Giants cap there. That probably would have been more do-able ten years ago, but at this point, the expected World-Wide-Web-Knows-Everything-Ever resources are becoming scarce.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The rest of those cards are just the ones that caught my eye. At one point there were 18 of them, but that included the Sunglasses cards and a variety of other +/- decisions along the way to this post, and no longer wondering just what to do with all these 2011 Topps Baseball cards.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>9 Horizontals I like</b>:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiANjWNUCnJkqr1XdpvYWTj390FcuBEKb-N30v9_5NokTFj0N2JTNfn5oN_-1PVmF7BJGRdGQQJuZSyWz5NJuTimz6hnbDg86Z9MNf0oPyPH3ctMt2MgVqrIFB5E_mkiDD9AT6S3TR1EUSihsQ_eiFG9fCezwTvZ_4DUSc7bqNCz2-0hJCz4Wy_HdY/s6738/9%20Horizontals.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4910" data-original-width="6738" height="466" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiANjWNUCnJkqr1XdpvYWTj390FcuBEKb-N30v9_5NokTFj0N2JTNfn5oN_-1PVmF7BJGRdGQQJuZSyWz5NJuTimz6hnbDg86Z9MNf0oPyPH3ctMt2MgVqrIFB5E_mkiDD9AT6S3TR1EUSihsQ_eiFG9fCezwTvZ_4DUSc7bqNCz2-0hJCz4Wy_HdY/w640-h466/9%20Horizontals.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This is The Way</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Horizontal baseball cards look sooo much better like this. Whenever possible, this is how they will be kept in my binders. It is highly likely pages like this will end up in their very own binder, even, and that one will also highly likely be the one that gets flipped through the most often, in years to come.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I never care for reading comments on the web slagging horizontal cards. Some of them are lazy efforts on the part of Topps, to be sure. But when they work, they can be among the very best baseball cards made. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A key problem with them is when they are just randomly mixed in with horizontal cards through a checklist. This, I do not understand. It is clear from the way they arrive in packs that the horizontal cards are placed all together on the production sheets used to print the cards. Would it be too much trouble to then just place the horizontals all together on the checklist? No, it would not. And...can we have a brand new, all horizontal set, even if it's just an insert effort? Pretty please? A '56 Topps Retro, done up right, warm analog Living Set style, though without the limited print run making them cost too much for me to collect? Pretty, pretty - please. The recent appearance of the '56 Homage called Topps Big, in Archives, was just basically ruined by making them foil cards, both times they appeared.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">One final thing I want to spotlight from this set is a rather endearing feature of this set - an occasional photo clearly from Spring Training -</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXORj7qcIi71bErdLnP48bE5Lt807N7pZYHaX9oJEjoAAyWT8nsMyTzyEumz7U3tZeqylREtnXnIGPcmVEeT94DzNqlty4RKBluPXRERpEUQh6aCQ80LgJjpHH8WD16CRXKvxH7qxEx84CkoamgwbrbYP5PrJ6_mdwc7pmcWJtzAD7dSI-X8EKg-Q/s2098/Pirates%20RC.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1502" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXORj7qcIi71bErdLnP48bE5Lt807N7pZYHaX9oJEjoAAyWT8nsMyTzyEumz7U3tZeqylREtnXnIGPcmVEeT94DzNqlty4RKBluPXRERpEUQh6aCQ80LgJjpHH8WD16CRXKvxH7qxEx84CkoamgwbrbYP5PrJ6_mdwc7pmcWJtzAD7dSI-X8EKg-Q/s320/Pirates%20RC.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">Although that card quickly becomes a Michael Who? if one ponders his very brief MLB career, it has baseball card glory all over it. This is an attractive set, at root level. After 2011, cards like this become extremely rare to completely non-existent, most years, in the Topps Baseball set, and that is a shame. I will return to the concept of baseball card sets and Spring Training photos and even be using the Pittsburgh Pirates as an example of where Topps has been with this type of image lately, on a post here soon.</span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Most examples of that type of photo source occur with the Rookie Cards, but there are a few examples of non-RC cards with these photos, such as the quite rare appearance of a Spring Training cap in the set:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieyT6vf-EE2s2TGm1pQiXKFgapF1RVFYanFui5qs96ztZQytXrtpRfPq5i-fLdjJx4eaxW2-dBSguHiz-ynnU3-SZoHhJO-utEC5dkQeH9hWrEv0EhwbPRNOUg04ZHAXQi1vYQGYkdu4xXEqUOUSw9HGlpijinbkZhtDuLmJvia5ToHF2OqiMz7Hg/s2100/Orioles%20ST.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieyT6vf-EE2s2TGm1pQiXKFgapF1RVFYanFui5qs96ztZQytXrtpRfPq5i-fLdjJx4eaxW2-dBSguHiz-ynnU3-SZoHhJO-utEC5dkQeH9hWrEv0EhwbPRNOUg04ZHAXQi1vYQGYkdu4xXEqUOUSw9HGlpijinbkZhtDuLmJvia5ToHF2OqiMz7Hg/s320/Orioles%20ST.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />Now I am wondering if you might have noticed anything about all the cards seen so far here, before those last 2 cards at least. 2011 Topps has a different look to it, compared to even the very next set in the long history of Topps Baseball sets, in 2012. There are far more images of complete baseball players, from their cap to their shoes, than we will see on Topps Baseball sets after this one.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I do like a baseball card that lets me see a day at the ballpark and 2011 Topps definitely comes through with those, as here:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilO-Y31dCGF7rlHxLZMZu7wL2QQ1uFM207uYukaQ6iFH3vSwV_F0qStowmshZn68HYmidOnbbsD_Q5u7rP1hwlOa5i0fbcE0haJPUWiBDkHAOfkmWj-ZBTUUh8CHF-E1JnpvSWTlxE_Q-1T65DyyqQDZkdpbeaGDFf-1yIAocim16fXIUUhjQXMcE/s2102/V-Mart.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2102" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilO-Y31dCGF7rlHxLZMZu7wL2QQ1uFM207uYukaQ6iFH3vSwV_F0qStowmshZn68HYmidOnbbsD_Q5u7rP1hwlOa5i0fbcE0haJPUWiBDkHAOfkmWj-ZBTUUh8CHF-E1JnpvSWTlxE_Q-1T65DyyqQDZkdpbeaGDFf-1yIAocim16fXIUUhjQXMcE/s320/V-Mart.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The price we pay as viewers for these grand slices of a moment from a game, is a bit less recognizability of the specific player, sometimes far less. I am not much into 'Player Collecting' and generally just keep (no surprise for you, Dear Reader, by now, I'm sure), yupp, 9 cards of each player. So if I had a Victor Martinez collection going, this one probably wouldn't make the cut because it is hard for me to see V-Mart here, all that well. So I thought something that might best illustrate this is 3 cards from (quite likely) Hall of Fame players in the set -<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ08_2Fr4l__-5YucbkPLZEkvvi33kxD-aoSDCyu_wZL1QFfiS-ok5hzJewRxR1hnXSV9l4pOrYRaTYJ-p8g40TAsQqkfWNxXg1QBZyAX7rGgGD4dc5jxrhIKITL6YMu8mV_0zL__K-2wPPLhdFUqdtK3OX7rmtCkRQ7ilusubEAe4KDSOv8444ho/s2098/Rivera.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ08_2Fr4l__-5YucbkPLZEkvvi33kxD-aoSDCyu_wZL1QFfiS-ok5hzJewRxR1hnXSV9l4pOrYRaTYJ-p8g40TAsQqkfWNxXg1QBZyAX7rGgGD4dc5jxrhIKITL6YMu8mV_0zL__K-2wPPLhdFUqdtK3OX7rmtCkRQ7ilusubEAe4KDSOv8444ho/s320/Rivera.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That's card #42 in the set, by the way. The true seeds of the big departure from checklist tradition that was the 2013 set, using uniform #s for card #s to a huge degree probably came from the #7/Mantle card trick which stretches back to 1996 or so, and then in 2011 the idea began to grow. In another 2011 set, Lineage, Jackie Robinson is card #42. The uni/card # idea has continued on at a low level ever since, though generally only most noticeably for #27 cards.</div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb4_7w3u3HsvEKKGCi_oLq6VxweA7QcjW85EXlL_U9QG3Ls8RQhsCBMdFivwfidYln6sQH6v4oF1qUJd3ZAgE78K4wetqUpMB6EVwO4INQnA4TXcnSViAknezrWDUFd-nUgUFPRpcjw7h-jPGjAUwsXfuFtVB2wjjC4TSmcjeA6uHmnwvGgr2xFn4/s2101/Yadi.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2101" data-original-width="1497" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb4_7w3u3HsvEKKGCi_oLq6VxweA7QcjW85EXlL_U9QG3Ls8RQhsCBMdFivwfidYln6sQH6v4oF1qUJd3ZAgE78K4wetqUpMB6EVwO4INQnA4TXcnSViAknezrWDUFd-nUgUFPRpcjw7h-jPGjAUwsXfuFtVB2wjjC4TSmcjeA6uHmnwvGgr2xFn4/s320/Yadi.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCg0ZUCcDkkFIzdzES1fgCpy10SwTLY9AF3ZaLhFYWXAHITJedh-mTgf6xcCDjk-Xu6nG_Dmx3iJEVhFC9zAWMpSIDJXKWzUeOh47g8oC9TLQ_biEVRn60Dqg5wWr2lbUKDFgDGjCAB9CtZlGcKmrSkMU2VKAe7WA7GShuSjrGobsjol79klOVT5c/s2098/Beltre.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCg0ZUCcDkkFIzdzES1fgCpy10SwTLY9AF3ZaLhFYWXAHITJedh-mTgf6xcCDjk-Xu6nG_Dmx3iJEVhFC9zAWMpSIDJXKWzUeOh47g8oC9TLQ_biEVRn60Dqg5wWr2lbUKDFgDGjCAB9CtZlGcKmrSkMU2VKAe7WA7GShuSjrGobsjol79klOVT5c/s320/Beltre.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Plenty of day-at-the-ballpark to absorb on these cards, and that I like. But, also, not the instant recognition that becomes a hallmark of most cards in the Topps Baseball set, even while using live game photos, which is something I have come to think may have taken off -after- this set, in 2012.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now I do want to clarify that I like ALL types of baseball cards in this regard. The key to a good set of cards, in my opinion, is to keep the images varied as the set moves along. And 2011 Topps does do that as well as any other set. But it still has a distinctly different feel without quite so many zoomed/cropped cards. I have wanted to figure out how different the sets are in this regard for some time.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now as I have sliced and diced 2011 into my own personal archives I have finally calculated what I am calling the <b>Zoom Index</b>. To do this without going any further out in to the baseball card weeds, I dreamed up a simple 1, 2, or 3 rating system for each card. 1 point (minimum) for each card, 2 points for seeing a player's knees, and 3 points for seeing a player's shoes. If shoes or knees are hidden behind the graphic elements of the cards I just imagine the image without those graphics and proceed.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now there is some subjectivity required at times, because baseball players largely aren't standing perfectly straight while they play the game of baseball:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKIOnGfk3h_OAPTDNbks65fNrkod6JlL_XxzD35XHbeH061Rzda_GOx-YvD9Uax3c8kc-jUSOwcfKAYE7657j2jEFZknMg3DmO8TUf-Dneh8R1iNGujQna5Tjb1TPzdKMjGMXDfANkd4J7UPWUFHQnkDoT9uFlaAiPU_iplVz_s97faXMhSYeVUVc/s2100/Zoom%20Example.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1498" data-original-width="2100" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKIOnGfk3h_OAPTDNbks65fNrkod6JlL_XxzD35XHbeH061Rzda_GOx-YvD9Uax3c8kc-jUSOwcfKAYE7657j2jEFZknMg3DmO8TUf-Dneh8R1iNGujQna5Tjb1TPzdKMjGMXDfANkd4J7UPWUFHQnkDoT9uFlaAiPU_iplVz_s97faXMhSYeVUVc/s320/Zoom%20Example.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So some cards I just skip, or make a quick judgement call. And I have already spent way too much time on this project; I decided well ahead of time to just use the first 100 useable cards in the set to calculate this, while skipping over cards that just don't work, such as the League Leader and Team cards and such.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>The 2011 Topps Baseball Zoom Index: 2.67</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This means that a large majority of the cards scored a 3 in my little rating system - the whole player is visible. I am quite looking forward to comparing this number in other sets, maybe some day even a vintage set, which I expect will have quite a low number, comparatively. And there is a good chance that 2011 Topps may have one of the highest possible scores. There are a LOT of somewhat distant shots of players busy playing the game of baseball, with their entire bodies visible. Something not nearly as true in the rest of the 2010s.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A final element I will be checking into as I put each Topps Baseball set to bed, as it were, will be the use of images wherein the players are wearing the striking solid color "Alternate" uniforms. Recently I was flipping through my 2014 set, still in it's 'complete' form, and the amount of Alternates in that one seems as high as Topps could possibly make it. We'll find out here, some day.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">When I first became acquainted with the idea of making my own "Frankensets" courtesy of all the wonderful baseball card blogs, an initial attempt I made at such was just assembling all the Alternate Uniform cards in a set, sequentially. The first such page I assembled was using 2012 Update:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3pjLWyJqbOBpNYvrZWQuHje9wlPdEdV5Rw6mh9hKNHHs-sAjc-p3NlXDcJjRZcGs3qrxC2qfLDccscTZFy-JudS8UOTHZNjwIkhik3PaxYkhzvDq8FLKagCRod-25mKOF1av_UYW4ebJOVB_cnpOx-N0Fvvt5Sv37xPiF3a_ux63P7Ma0hKC6jyk/s6784/2012%20Update%20Alternates.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="6784" data-original-width="4878" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3pjLWyJqbOBpNYvrZWQuHje9wlPdEdV5Rw6mh9hKNHHs-sAjc-p3NlXDcJjRZcGs3qrxC2qfLDccscTZFy-JudS8UOTHZNjwIkhik3PaxYkhzvDq8FLKagCRod-25mKOF1av_UYW4ebJOVB_cnpOx-N0Fvvt5Sv37xPiF3a_ux63P7Ma0hKC6jyk/w460-h640/2012%20Update%20Alternates.jpeg" width="460" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Now, THAT, is a striking page of cards.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The Zoom Index of those 9 cards, by the way, would be 18 points / 9 cards = 2</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I am more than a little tempted to just build a collection of all Alternate Uniform cards. However the use of such a photo does not automatically create a good baseball card. Sometimes, they are just not that remarkable - an inescapable fact about baseball cards. And though this idea CAN make for some great looking cards, other times I think Topps might be blissfully unaware of the possibilities with these.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In 2016 Opening Day, they picked up this idea and ran with it on a 15 card insert set:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdo2sb3u3BAYZF0Cd0732zRNMfOQC9RpMG1nJqwKjS8ci8pHADSQzpqBt55DtjBIekXwqP0rNqvH1jB4ghcBKX-_NXu7DV4e7kKu_h4QvKWZGxUecE8kWB92GA2kuzRTYyvCELLodXcmWNSzPhiAUsho7QFsBZj9iXa6K8LDcySjSTA0meM06mS5E/s6788/2016%20OD%20Alternate%20Reality.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="6788" data-original-width="4900" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdo2sb3u3BAYZF0Cd0732zRNMfOQC9RpMG1nJqwKjS8ci8pHADSQzpqBt55DtjBIekXwqP0rNqvH1jB4ghcBKX-_NXu7DV4e7kKu_h4QvKWZGxUecE8kWB92GA2kuzRTYyvCELLodXcmWNSzPhiAUsho7QFsBZj9iXa6K8LDcySjSTA0meM06mS5E/w462-h640/2016%20OD%20Alternate%20Reality.jpeg" width="462" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Leave it to Topps to theme a checklist around a visual aspect of the game, and then pick almost exclusively images that completely fail to show off that aspect. As with so many things they do, I will frequently not understand their thought process along the way to me ripping open a pack of baseball cards.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So back in 2011 Topps, an Alternate Uniform themed collection would look like this on the first page -<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn8D4TWyzhtCimZ9ZoBvm4naWmuCyppBtBjYRFeizlckoqUu36nSksnpbvGIdAgrxNmM8ieBKdG2--G3oUDvqfkJ2gz0QeaD8Udolu-aTskXU74CjSlCROwR34ytRwFSL9LsZW5HspRNiflOWvutKxIbKSnrOuC3hb6oDZXpCTlDgtQ-5ALkf8zgk/s6778/1st%209%20Alternates.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="6778" data-original-width="4866" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn8D4TWyzhtCimZ9ZoBvm4naWmuCyppBtBjYRFeizlckoqUu36nSksnpbvGIdAgrxNmM8ieBKdG2--G3oUDvqfkJ2gz0QeaD8Udolu-aTskXU74CjSlCROwR34ytRwFSL9LsZW5HspRNiflOWvutKxIbKSnrOuC3hb6oDZXpCTlDgtQ-5ALkf8zgk/w460-h640/1st%209%20Alternates.jpeg" width="460" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">With the much more distant photos, the colorful uniforms are a fair bit less striking than in the live game images the very next year.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>2011 Topps Alternate Uniform Use: 23% </b>in first 103 cards, skipping the decision on 3 cards.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That basically concludes my look at 2011 Topps. I have a short list of cards to acquire to fill out some of my declared subsets, and I had some good news while sorting, sorting, sorting this great big ole pile of baseball cards: this set is worth keeping/selling, in a financial sense. A recent completed sale on eBay went for $50, iirc, obviously with the $15-ish Freeman RC included. This was in quite some contrast to the Lineage set that year, a copy of which was recently "allowed to ride" as a 99¢ minimum bid auction - which was the final sale price. A bit, discouraging, that one.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">All told I would estimate I had around 1,500 cards from Series 1 & 2, which still left me at about 93% complete. But given a $50 value, I decided to keep the set together / complete, even after putting aside my subset needs from the doubles/dupes wherever possible. This leaves me needing 80 or so cards in total to fill out one Complete Set and my special needs sets. That should be easy enough to obtain via Sportlots some time soon. Though if you are sitting on a pile of a couple thousand 2011 Topps Baseball cards looking for a home, I'm sure I could find something you might want to exchange for those 80 'commons' - & aside from the Freddie Freeman RC, which I don't need, they are all commons, now.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Several cards headed off to inclusion in weird little theme pages did elude my scanning efforts for this post, but that's OK. They should appear here, eventually, some day, maybe, perhaps. They will look better around their compatriots when 9 of them have been assembled together, anyway.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">One new collection I look forward to building is a look at the slowly but steadily growing resurgence of the use of classic 1970s Powder Blue uniforms in Major League Baseball. In 2011, only two teams were proudly sporting the 'powder; the Rays, and the Royals. While starting a history of the game on cards in 2011, this is a bit early to ponder the topic, but in this 2011 Topps Baseball set I did find a great looking card that will definitely anchor a spot in this theme:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM7pnE0FBxgNORmNrPYIzAzmiFpp4Yww4fr98B7uUfbCAxVoeU6k1DaK-tjrUrPTaNoExyk9cXWKBYYCgubYrMSK8LG0vl28Js6svO2d1b9qAiUGtPL4dBU5dI0aBLsZZQ2uFgRusYe_OoGzo0LXkLdyRzINwY-H-G-V4vSlgjvgYRnzeT__orT8g/s2100/Betemit%20Sunglasses.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM7pnE0FBxgNORmNrPYIzAzmiFpp4Yww4fr98B7uUfbCAxVoeU6k1DaK-tjrUrPTaNoExyk9cXWKBYYCgubYrMSK8LG0vl28Js6svO2d1b9qAiUGtPL4dBU5dI0aBLsZZQ2uFgRusYe_OoGzo0LXkLdyRzINwY-H-G-V4vSlgjvgYRnzeT__orT8g/s320/Betemit%20Sunglasses.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">This fab card, we will see again on this blog.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div><br /></div></div><br /></div><br /></div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /></div><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br /></div><br /><p></p>BaseSetCallinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05508114484929386332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7573896101004946985.post-28388244108109311122023-01-01T17:07:00.001-05:002023-01-01T22:08:30.836-05:00Breaking the Checklist Rule<p> I did a thing! I finished collecting a whole checklist:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMh4r5nQjzsinZ4AO-gxarfyxjjKUkzIkXR2nGQBaaCDtSBsBnM_N7L1-VARaBOvKN6eS_oMNC1EwHwKQmHGUlHQlXz2-ISrkbhC0LIzU0ODpFyyuWMssPkXhv5v0VxyAml60ukCHv2MvlN-UL3jZczxuv-jOCOOE-VT6b_-QMg1IKO06XMS-wIBM/s2096/Judge.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2096" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMh4r5nQjzsinZ4AO-gxarfyxjjKUkzIkXR2nGQBaaCDtSBsBnM_N7L1-VARaBOvKN6eS_oMNC1EwHwKQmHGUlHQlXz2-ISrkbhC0LIzU0ODpFyyuWMssPkXhv5v0VxyAml60ukCHv2MvlN-UL3jZczxuv-jOCOOE-VT6b_-QMg1IKO06XMS-wIBM/s320/Judge.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Yeah, thanks Aaron, this is quite the Me #1 thing to do for a change. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I quite liked these "1952 Redux" inserts in 2021 Topps Series One packs. 1952 Topps is of course the most classic of classic baseball card designs essentially, and what quickly grabbed me about these inserts is a key break with the traditional style: using action shots instead of portraits. Many cards worked out very well this way:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTqXw9Zy74y056XFMz1CHsjQahwEf09AScnJsR83NoMkfu9_AK1qCG2HArMr-OzRpm_-qGB1WtUpvjeLsu83f14gpX896yRAK4nr9XHCCGEDYjt17W55tNMyO1ASYk_-cFL8JPOEF_rlxKHpRHajPBUKiP1FTbZq7gwpKgGao0AG-LMKZCGNVpfLA/s2098/Yelich.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTqXw9Zy74y056XFMz1CHsjQahwEf09AScnJsR83NoMkfu9_AK1qCG2HArMr-OzRpm_-qGB1WtUpvjeLsu83f14gpX896yRAK4nr9XHCCGEDYjt17W55tNMyO1ASYk_-cFL8JPOEF_rlxKHpRHajPBUKiP1FTbZq7gwpKgGao0AG-LMKZCGNVpfLA/s320/Yelich.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Forgot to tag this as <b>Best Ivy Card runner-up </b>in my previous post here.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There is more than the usual amount of All-Stars shown playing out on the field of play here; a less common baseball card archetype for the Stars of the game.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8x7Zg-UFe0V_HaZpy6P-ow2FiTEnokRWlbshTLx8LEvgeNMuc6j7vNZKUc_TyIVC-JhjdEgd3nM2hoF1E6ZNP3e1A1UNwlrskXqdg_nn6d1Dh43cDMIMksntv7S8khWIG3-kiqlX7EquXexrhgCVuwDj5REiT0mxjAv-yzruiyjbQm37GhnPJzCQ/s2096/Alonso.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2096" data-original-width="1502" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8x7Zg-UFe0V_HaZpy6P-ow2FiTEnokRWlbshTLx8LEvgeNMuc6j7vNZKUc_TyIVC-JhjdEgd3nM2hoF1E6ZNP3e1A1UNwlrskXqdg_nn6d1Dh43cDMIMksntv7S8khWIG3-kiqlX7EquXexrhgCVuwDj5REiT0mxjAv-yzruiyjbQm37GhnPJzCQ/s320/Alonso.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Of course there will be good Hitters hitting baseball cards, too, as always -<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFxthq5aQV0gL5zOYon9JZjHG_c_cGwKT1ulDz4V25KCbrlVieONOAgveq7oPMrqJjXzwJtVvHaunaYWfNiFX4l0Fn1C9WE4B5OUzUraCbl88-aqDWSm-A3CaMJbZtHCf9iIJkainJvk4C9BlItYXIeCeeCtFhxY0Khf_KCxzwSKnsnEssOCe4O88/s2102/Freeman.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2102" data-original-width="1502" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFxthq5aQV0gL5zOYon9JZjHG_c_cGwKT1ulDz4V25KCbrlVieONOAgveq7oPMrqJjXzwJtVvHaunaYWfNiFX4l0Fn1C9WE4B5OUzUraCbl88-aqDWSm-A3CaMJbZtHCf9iIJkainJvk4C9BlItYXIeCeeCtFhxY0Khf_KCxzwSKnsnEssOCe4O88/s320/Freeman.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Another feature I like is that the printing of the 'facsimile' signature is kept from the official '52 style. Most collectors today have more than enough money to collect actual autographs of baseball players, but that's not how I choose to spend my money. So I like seeing these signatures; most of the players on this checklist seemed to take signing the signature card seriously with a simple accurate sig and few examples of the pointless scrawls often seen on cards today. A couple Stars even add a uni # inscription:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ7cc9ru0s_utv_6vN3MfuVCm9h-7awg6ZEgF59MovB5cNTDDJUy_z6G6BfgviSmDx9s3TJhprEzm_cwFLwm1fmxypxw5c63Wzih6OJoo6gQdr2Ijpge3oucWcMbFtsmgxZbHIvdY40Mq09Fpwfao9khPVAvyR0Vri83TDBJTwBzm6vU0A4-nl8ts/s2096/Ohtani.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2096" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ7cc9ru0s_utv_6vN3MfuVCm9h-7awg6ZEgF59MovB5cNTDDJUy_z6G6BfgviSmDx9s3TJhprEzm_cwFLwm1fmxypxw5c63Wzih6OJoo6gQdr2Ijpge3oucWcMbFtsmgxZbHIvdY40Mq09Fpwfao9khPVAvyR0Vri83TDBJTwBzm6vU0A4-nl8ts/s320/Ohtani.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I like seeing the tape on the bat there.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">These cards were handled very well in the how-much-Zoom decision.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Another thing I like with this checklist is that there are no horizontal cards. I like horizontal cards a whole bunch sometimes, but I am burning out on them being mixed together with vertical cards, on main checklists at least; such is not usually a problem with insert checklists. This is a topic I will return to in coming weeks & posts.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now that COMC is back to shipping cards in a normal manner after all the new problems in the 2020s that we all know and dislike, I recently just clicked my way through completing this set quickly and efficiently and - a week EARLY - these new cards pleasantly arrived at my door.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">While pawing my way through the satisfyingly complete stack of 50 of these true baseball card cardboard beauties, one thing quickly jumps up from the card images, as this checklist does have another feature of pretty much ALL checklists Topps creates these days. Rookies:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9lLOpQYDefALsd2ElMwnjnK33RLjtvDXaZ1qWOqif3PcvV7ZKrbuOdsf2p55lz_ntn4OnmM5Kvl42FPlh6Y7ISoC3KnMYcyQ7YvBNCN9LUUDNr_jeyk8MllzsYrt2vRVoRu_z3Y_ekHuxF0nQzX4d8Zj1a9w34dw_VKDYmMhDF15a92QFffO_Lq0/s2098/Evan.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9lLOpQYDefALsd2ElMwnjnK33RLjtvDXaZ1qWOqif3PcvV7ZKrbuOdsf2p55lz_ntn4OnmM5Kvl42FPlh6Y7ISoC3KnMYcyQ7YvBNCN9LUUDNr_jeyk8MllzsYrt2vRVoRu_z3Y_ekHuxF0nQzX4d8Zj1a9w34dw_VKDYmMhDF15a92QFffO_Lq0/s320/Evan.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Who?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Such forced-upon-us efforts reach a yet lower nadir on checklists that mix Hall-of-Famers, Fan Favorites, GOATs, Hall-of-Very-Gooders, current All-Stars, and then all of a sudden in the middle a Rookie who fizzled out of the Bigs after just a couple quarter seasons. This checklist just features 43 players from the upper reaches of 2021 MLB, & 7 Rookies, but even without famous retired players the RC juxtaposition still gets just, weird.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The last insert checklist, that I felt moved to collect anyway, that avoided this now seeming automatic checklist content, i.e. did NOT use rookies on it, was a set of "3000 Hit Club" inserts in 2016 Update which by it's very nature precludes any chance for a 'rook to be included. There are probably others in the deluge of insert checklists amongst the deluge of baseball card products we can all assemble our collections from. But I am not recalling many such no-RC efforts right now.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As much as I would kind of like to, I can't keep this pleasing little stack of cardboard around as a stack of cardboard to just pick up and flip through once in a while. For the long-term, I am not into forgetting all about cards stored in a box. I want to see them, and of course this is where the 9 card binder page comes in:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaV79DPbOTzWbXiXLLVKlZC-AESjDRClWpPW-3fQ8pwCWjX56uKxw9kwsl5z5JbQQyLyOdzYLFipBm3DIKyeOGdNgnDjZFWgDS_DCB6wR2KJ0rN-8ZdELK5y3fkwBptXFWaPXP0CVv05QlLF-MVum6He1jtHB5Frw7TwseJDQ1uznEVNh8hkoaG8c/s6806/page%201.1.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="6806" data-original-width="4870" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaV79DPbOTzWbXiXLLVKlZC-AESjDRClWpPW-3fQ8pwCWjX56uKxw9kwsl5z5JbQQyLyOdzYLFipBm3DIKyeOGdNgnDjZFWgDS_DCB6wR2KJ0rN-8ZdELK5y3fkwBptXFWaPXP0CVv05QlLF-MVum6He1jtHB5Frw7TwseJDQ1uznEVNh8hkoaG8c/w458-h640/page%201.1.jpeg" width="458" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">A Tigers hot page? How did that happen?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The one-of-these-is-not-like-the-others card is the #7 card in the bottom left corner - a Casey Mize RC. As a former 1-1 pick (first player in first round) by the Tigers, Mize is known to most baseball fans so his inclusion on Topps Baseball cards is perfectly fine. (One of my weird new collecting goals is to obtain a 1/1 card of a 1-1 pick, though it will have to be from one of several failed 1-1 picks for me to pick from).</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Where this might get odd, though, is when I flip open the binder holding this page 5 years from now. Casey Mize's career can still go in any direction as I write, though we won't know anything about that either way until the All-Star Break in 2024 as he will spend 2023 rehabbing from Tommy John surgery after a basically average Rookie campaign for a starting pitcher. As a Tigers fan I will still recognize Mize just fine of course, but what if that Mariners Rookie had fallen on this page? Do I want to reach for Baseball Reference dot com every time I see this page, trying to recall just who the heck Evan White was? For me, nope, not really. Even though, Yeah, I Read The Backs, I don't necessarily want to flip over a card just to figure out who is on the front. Most of the time, I want to see famous baseball players. I have an ongoing Rookie Card collection chock full of cup-of-coffee style players I can flip through if I desire, to be seen here soon.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So I decided some time ago to simply banish this goofiness from my baseball card binder. And even for Tigers RC cards, I am going with my own personal rule of assembling binder pages, like this -<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo5VekmLuzLgc-LTXkIISsZKV_cb4o9gixMFEa5kf1DGZSrUPVZzLvmUYijpQj27AoMOBOvidMlb1Z319KVPjHcpgDLckRXh7w23r4b_eDzsipotTAN1r2PQOjjFtX5EhvEvQITONm7ovlcTri8qoYZ1aYvX2PNToslDGue4iPb8Zk2cklaMo1dVY/s6810/page%201.2.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="6810" data-original-width="4886" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo5VekmLuzLgc-LTXkIISsZKV_cb4o9gixMFEa5kf1DGZSrUPVZzLvmUYijpQj27AoMOBOvidMlb1Z319KVPjHcpgDLckRXh7w23r4b_eDzsipotTAN1r2PQOjjFtX5EhvEvQITONm7ovlcTri8qoYZ1aYvX2PNToslDGue4iPb8Zk2cklaMo1dVY/w288-h400/page%201.2.jpeg" width="288" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">No more Forgots here.</div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So what happened to Rookie Casey? Don't worry, he gets to hang out with Shohei forever after:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0EcaawkMR7catG4kTXIEJ1vd1Uux3mj48gAva7j5faf9J8FQ1-mZUaMiHABAj6jf3wjZgdoYT8v1M2QHUK4PpczSkgNByv8_uUaQ82hQ1xteigkd1B5gfk8uVfUA7txZdDMEQDJT8pM-k6W3aGl6bp9eYE18U-1CsEPb6QWXsfukwQwqZwjUzWbo/s6790/page%205.1.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="6790" data-original-width="4886" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0EcaawkMR7catG4kTXIEJ1vd1Uux3mj48gAva7j5faf9J8FQ1-mZUaMiHABAj6jf3wjZgdoYT8v1M2QHUK4PpczSkgNByv8_uUaQ82hQ1xteigkd1B5gfk8uVfUA7txZdDMEQDJT8pM-k6W3aGl6bp9eYE18U-1CsEPb6QWXsfukwQwqZwjUzWbo/w460-h640/page%205.1.jpeg" width="460" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The Yelich card is the final card on the checklist, so 2 of the 7 RC can squeeze in here just fine. As it turns out, these would be the two I judge most likely I have not forgotten some years from now, still in the original sequential order, of a sort, at #7 and #14.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But that leaves 5 more cards to place in their final resting places. Where do they go?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD72FrBnKjALAvq8CryyYXAULtiYtZbkShGHbuPtzu-I9FecGvvLkxPM8EJY_BaNiBL2kgBCKbBrgqBifuYdFWC2jQ0A8SIRcVvshP41rUOBxRAa_utqitJlqLDsell9Dr2e9KS4KK6TAmUegf1n5ud7HyeOIqZVNwH6YscrHox0NRLhSPJewDXIo/s6820/page%205.2.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="6820" data-original-width="4952" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD72FrBnKjALAvq8CryyYXAULtiYtZbkShGHbuPtzu-I9FecGvvLkxPM8EJY_BaNiBL2kgBCKbBrgqBifuYdFWC2jQ0A8SIRcVvshP41rUOBxRAa_utqitJlqLDsell9Dr2e9KS4KK6TAmUegf1n5ud7HyeOIqZVNwH6YscrHox0NRLhSPJewDXIo/w464-h640/page%205.2.jpeg" width="464" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This little set has nice clean consistent card-backs courtesy of the 2 stat line '52 design.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Another key problem with bindering up baseball cards, which increases in significance directly with the shorter checklist lengths, is that checklists are basically NEVER divisible by 9 cards. Oh how I would like to see such a thing, but that will never happen, because cards are produced in sheets and those are set up in lines and columns of 10 cards for simpler production math for the people and machines that make our wonderful baseball picture card products for us. No one really wants double printed cards as a work-around, either, just to satisfy some weirdo more interested in 9 card harmony than valuable Rookie Cards like everybody else.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As this checklist now crumbles here at my re-designated end of it, odds are pretty darn good these particular last 5 RC might not make it into eternity in one of my binders. Two of these players have already had to leave MLB fields by the ever more relentless and unforgiving application of The Data, and 2 more seem likely to follow, soon. I do think Dylan Carlson will kick around in the St. Louis outfield for another season or 3 and then one other AAAA team like the Tigers, but if I want a Dylan Carlson card to remember forever and ever, he is on a whole lot of other 2021 checklists anyway and will thus appear on at least one, minimum, other binder page in my collection. Which is true of all Rookie Card cards the way I will be collecting, and for so many Rookies, one keeper baseball card is perhaps too many for me to even keep, anyway.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The Nate Pearson card does a very nice job of showing off a Memorial patch for Tony Fernandez which was a part of Blue Jays uniforms in 2021; if that is the best such view of it (odds are more than fair), that card might become a representative in the Memorial pages I am slowly starting to assemble.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Overall I am still quite pleased with these 45 baseball cards I have deemed "binder worthy." I quite look forward to finishing off the "1965 Redux" inserts from 2021 Series Two much like these, with an action image on an originally all-portrait set that is even more colorful. For the also pleasing1992 style cards that came along with 2021 Update, I will probably settle for just a single 9 card page for multiple reasons; by the time we essentially reach 101-150 choices for this effort, even with repeats, the star power is diluting steadily and the Who? RC numbers start going up. Plus I hit the same exact sequence of 4 of those 92s - four times! Uggh. So I don't have a lot of those to pick from, anyway.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But the bottom line is, as always, collect how you want. And as the ever more dated Captain Phillips meme goes - Look At Me. I'm The Checklist Editor Now. </div><br /></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><br /></div><br /></div><br /></div><br /></div><br /></div><p></p>BaseSetCallinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05508114484929386332noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7573896101004946985.post-50436405648800096742022-12-27T17:20:00.004-05:002022-12-27T18:03:06.299-05:00There's Always Last Year in Baseball Cards<p>Well hello there, and Happy Holidays!</p><p>I was able to spend some Holiday time with my baseball cards, and I used that time to winnow all of the 2021 baseball cards I purchased, down to the "keepers." Although I had thought to next write up a look at 2022 Opening Day as I usually do, nothing in that set was really grabbing my attention anyway. And an always useful characteristic of baseball cards is their timelessness.</p><p>As I sorted and sorted all those 2021 baseball cards, I continually set aside the memorable ones for a Year in Review post, just in time for 2022 to draw to a close. Ahh well. So grease up the scroll wheel or your track pad or your phone fingertip, cuz I have plenty of baseball cards to show off. Too many?</p><h2 style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Most Why Do I Own This? Card</span></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3FmFla5CRgtdN1tZbf-JJujGsuySfaHTx3xSH7lJtEH22KBukaBFYQS-NaUo4peZ6Nm_ZjUUq_OylzqxLQ22DEPCqBDACK8TEm07KAKe87kT65Y4nIOFgPhAz2arj_HQMtsmrYvPiHQtyEBu2CFzgv_A85DCe4ya8maG6apfzzmHO2FCE8WDBQSI/s2098/romero%20auto.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1520" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3FmFla5CRgtdN1tZbf-JJujGsuySfaHTx3xSH7lJtEH22KBukaBFYQS-NaUo4peZ6Nm_ZjUUq_OylzqxLQ22DEPCqBDACK8TEm07KAKe87kT65Y4nIOFgPhAz2arj_HQMtsmrYvPiHQtyEBu2CFzgv_A85DCe4ya8maG6apfzzmHO2FCE8WDBQSI/s320/romero%20auto.jpeg" width="232" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Seth Romero got 8 outs (2.2 IP) for the Nationals in the 2020 season and has not yet returned to MLB.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">But I own his autograph.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Favorite Fielding Card</span></h2><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRfqRoACIh2jF8irjwANt1ZhMlA1ps9ZqqNs5NOsOsoaVZC6QLb-qCi0dSY9uwtQGZxXq8sfJwqEs6ErHV37LD27QFPvnox00oTOQR5mvCMSmUIXptyFINnzDfdu3xwZabd06vIHAVR5hBm1DM1uf6xdkX1zxVxo8NWnaEnH3Ks2BKlrPZlLD4zZ0/s2106/Muncy%20fielding.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2106" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRfqRoACIh2jF8irjwANt1ZhMlA1ps9ZqqNs5NOsOsoaVZC6QLb-qCi0dSY9uwtQGZxXq8sfJwqEs6ErHV37LD27QFPvnox00oTOQR5mvCMSmUIXptyFINnzDfdu3xwZabd06vIHAVR5hBm1DM1uf6xdkX1zxVxo8NWnaEnH3Ks2BKlrPZlLD4zZ0/s320/Muncy%20fielding.jpeg" width="228" /></a></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Normally the fielding First Basemen cards that stick with me are the ones where the incoming baseball is part of the image. Here, I am just entranced by the concentration evident as Max Muncy plays the game of baseball. The capture of live game action is excellent. The diametrically opposed lines on the card help it's memorability, too.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Although I really just do not care for the 2021 Topps Baseball design with that main extraneous parallelogram jutting in to every image, this photo (as many cards in the set do) exploits the basic set-up just exactly perfectly. It has been said that all Topps designs can tend to grow on you as you are around them for a longer time. I do not think that will be true for me with this one except in one certain way: the best baseball photographs, placed on this design, are able to make me forget the design. Which isn't really how graphic design is supposed to work, but, hey, I did get at least some pleasant baseball cards in the set.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I also like that Muncy seems to be wearing the official Los Angeles Dodgers socks, although this card doesn't show much in the way of a team element there.</div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Best Fielding Card</span></h2><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqcPE68s84FYpzSrxLrAkR_PDsK9geyUCnNTOvJTqb1CYGQGi7RzHthmeS6LyEkGcQI8VX7E-8FZ7JuB7B8Vzky0MWf6KhNADWtHJEI0JxN5nWSsJMCz4RkS6lAz7hjgA7WFar8PrMSLKtSgtTTdaPaoJ-0KcZ_akUtV73HD8Tue8NswCdTVff74Q/s2098/Maldonado%20fielding.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqcPE68s84FYpzSrxLrAkR_PDsK9geyUCnNTOvJTqb1CYGQGi7RzHthmeS6LyEkGcQI8VX7E-8FZ7JuB7B8Vzky0MWf6KhNADWtHJEI0JxN5nWSsJMCz4RkS6lAz7hjgA7WFar8PrMSLKtSgtTTdaPaoJ-0KcZ_akUtV73HD8Tue8NswCdTVff74Q/s320/Maldonado%20fielding.jpeg" width="228" /></a></h2><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;">There aren't too many Pop-Up action shots on baseball cards, but this one is outstanding.</span></span></h2><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Best Lurking Umpire Card</span></b></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL0jpHWS8Xs6qyUrBZw_aliNYLAce4bqHCQc1wCaXIKbmkdD3E6CWhBsKlQ7A6YXXWbyhPf-YK0ghdQFe6xvCEeEzn6WeUSx6IgfbXvrYWxmsddGpmWQXweFxJPoXkV90cyKvxffWAxZOUHM8gQmUqSisZIPYpLobtcn75p_43g1GMiDftFbv4q7A/s2106/Pujols%20Umpire.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1490" data-original-width="2106" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL0jpHWS8Xs6qyUrBZw_aliNYLAce4bqHCQc1wCaXIKbmkdD3E6CWhBsKlQ7A6YXXWbyhPf-YK0ghdQFe6xvCEeEzn6WeUSx6IgfbXvrYWxmsddGpmWQXweFxJPoXkV90cyKvxffWAxZOUHM8gQmUqSisZIPYpLobtcn75p_43g1GMiDftFbv4q7A/s320/Pujols%20Umpire.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Umpire Cards are on the upswing a little, seems like.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Best Replay Card</span></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7MQLE6_WiCoP0-_AS5AZnge0LszMjZ21FSSncPvhHCFMoPXwB3kIAdKG9Z-QG5BxW8z0YYEA9sQ4cMCorllfPpTKTSfEWHwB7xNy-cPw4pUUipbCraXFI7WDBi0fpbqb_XhHucJot736Yb3ZQOU6Fw_jEsEQ_LzB4fq8Dw2Dt9Jkt24o-WMxu8Xo/s2101/Alberto%20replay.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1495" data-original-width="2101" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7MQLE6_WiCoP0-_AS5AZnge0LszMjZ21FSSncPvhHCFMoPXwB3kIAdKG9Z-QG5BxW8z0YYEA9sQ4cMCorllfPpTKTSfEWHwB7xNy-cPw4pUUipbCraXFI7WDBi0fpbqb_XhHucJot736Yb3ZQOU6Fw_jEsEQ_LzB4fq8Dw2Dt9Jkt24o-WMxu8Xo/s320/Alberto%20replay.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Just like they see it in New York, but on cardboard!</div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Most There Was No Play At The Plate Card</span></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyK9f8rwf85Lxx66lS8yYZGvMwM34hfD5rnfziucl8dac7kT05BcF64YKdlzRBfngAwqDe57KOrYjGsaZmXMFsRapBgy2DW1S0CxFe-F3g25fKGjWrFfCCr62idUyuMCpGFzz1XQf1COIhgdu0CaQyaEOo6fqzmEXHqZh1P5bX8aanLDfHpCszR8U/s2096/conforto%20Safe.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1488" data-original-width="2096" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyK9f8rwf85Lxx66lS8yYZGvMwM34hfD5rnfziucl8dac7kT05BcF64YKdlzRBfngAwqDe57KOrYjGsaZmXMFsRapBgy2DW1S0CxFe-F3g25fKGjWrFfCCr62idUyuMCpGFzz1XQf1COIhgdu0CaQyaEOo6fqzmEXHqZh1P5bX8aanLDfHpCszR8U/s320/conforto%20Safe.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Favorite Base Running Card</span></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVOO7FnJGgmeQu8meDj8S0hDq44FgqFUiNpwKmryDcvATHCR05WgS8AU9pPLmMVbvKreaTA-26qukC2WHrHz1__uI0cmzeRveAZ4x0TJ2EgY1RuV0Ywvr4qdV5eOIIPckRfhvfr62_QFKliJ5isV9UPbyoeb6z_IcRX8u3TOvXvsRhw3fl8OKrFg8/s2098/ohtani%20base%20running.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1512" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVOO7FnJGgmeQu8meDj8S0hDq44FgqFUiNpwKmryDcvATHCR05WgS8AU9pPLmMVbvKreaTA-26qukC2WHrHz1__uI0cmzeRveAZ4x0TJ2EgY1RuV0Ywvr4qdV5eOIIPckRfhvfr62_QFKliJ5isV9UPbyoeb6z_IcRX8u3TOvXvsRhw3fl8OKrFg8/s320/ohtani%20base%20running.jpeg" width="231" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Best Lead-Off Card</span></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzzVRNK2o4AluDsxipjGnwspPZzjA-jm-13fz-cgxZxeow_W91PEXIxKrY46iDOZvYri_FP5S8zMo0pe5_myRDgCluUfZhf94OxtR1lcVaNLJwsX7f-njeIuK5oF2TdPIGl0ffJ1y0KT0RhcgLUOt_yiM_1Cjrp8jeeq4xSzx8pKqJux2fxXC5k24/s2096/albies%20Lead%20Off.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1506" data-original-width="2096" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzzVRNK2o4AluDsxipjGnwspPZzjA-jm-13fz-cgxZxeow_W91PEXIxKrY46iDOZvYri_FP5S8zMo0pe5_myRDgCluUfZhf94OxtR1lcVaNLJwsX7f-njeIuK5oF2TdPIGl0ffJ1y0KT0RhcgLUOt_yiM_1Cjrp8jeeq4xSzx8pKqJux2fxXC5k24/s320/albies%20Lead%20Off.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This was a favorite from very early in the 2021 card season.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">As with the Muncy and Moldanado cards, the capture of player focus during live play is excellent.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Best Tatooine Card</span></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrCTxQYlXZcErpr5qRkutSWpiq_BVxWZmesaaJa7rStaIDcVihZYc7RTLhVFFsoJvuUxsiXbioLigAxsB6t194Dqwny8tGBwJKtp784rWgBGXmifkmEnvM714M53IjvhalCsLazxeLqYLcM5PAz0EP10KVTss4MfsSoaxopJo2g0UI6ql8reHeXGo/s2104/Tattoine.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2104" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrCTxQYlXZcErpr5qRkutSWpiq_BVxWZmesaaJa7rStaIDcVihZYc7RTLhVFFsoJvuUxsiXbioLigAxsB6t194Dqwny8tGBwJKtp784rWgBGXmifkmEnvM714M53IjvhalCsLazxeLqYLcM5PAz0EP10KVTss4MfsSoaxopJo2g0UI6ql8reHeXGo/s320/Tattoine.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Best (only) Bat Flip Card</span></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiOkrXfvTZX9AddH3RHK9gzXMbCg_SldhOstOwNVxBHtffGPPaCrEWAVn9ofTgvFClY8RpBkpD-yeM7ykBxVuPR492nHogg7A7erFNcEsdDK8qHRh1aB5zsGKNOUxjRS3G8FtmqSyIa5e1cTIlGabIRw5XOVuEbVYx2EGevr63435nL_xY_3jhRns/s2096/Stanton%20Bat%20Flip.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1488" data-original-width="2096" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiOkrXfvTZX9AddH3RHK9gzXMbCg_SldhOstOwNVxBHtffGPPaCrEWAVn9ofTgvFClY8RpBkpD-yeM7ykBxVuPR492nHogg7A7erFNcEsdDK8qHRh1aB5zsGKNOUxjRS3G8FtmqSyIa5e1cTIlGabIRw5XOVuEbVYx2EGevr63435nL_xY_3jhRns/s320/Stanton%20Bat%20Flip.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I like watching the Dug-Out watching it fly, too.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I should note here that I did not complete any of the sets in this post, nor do I plan to.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Best Pirate Shoulder Patch</span></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL5yhVUzpsXP5KCcdcMcRFvaEcTglMBoOOpdLvDT2xMhNcSjGBtmZHYfmNC07VF_wwWOciqVcsXM-db2tuDVKOju-QCfxdWdZIjYXi0JPi_vBM8UZRjenlOKfbcBT1tK3L5srt2bfDju9_fAqeAE9FRLeGucjCu6e3esfeXpIdN8ks5My-hrtXu3Y/s2104/Pirate%20shoulder%20patch.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2104" data-original-width="1494" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL5yhVUzpsXP5KCcdcMcRFvaEcTglMBoOOpdLvDT2xMhNcSjGBtmZHYfmNC07VF_wwWOciqVcsXM-db2tuDVKOju-QCfxdWdZIjYXi0JPi_vBM8UZRjenlOKfbcBT1tK3L5srt2bfDju9_fAqeAE9FRLeGucjCu6e3esfeXpIdN8ks5My-hrtXu3Y/s320/Pirate%20shoulder%20patch.jpeg" width="227" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Not the best year for this exact category, but I always keep looking...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Best A's Shoulder Patch</span></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyb-fWQvWVQJhcdL454B3M1bfKzlTN3k9uTkc5-AheNC7ZkeNkU9uYetdckfs0qEEKrSuOHNu3y2y7KA85Kd3bc7E5_u1o9UO-8qUf1gBGSMInkqvPZdMDa4NLq3NT3k0Wlv5HG4UwDFpYc4FWZ3QYget_-FBaAdbWa1EBMqjkw5HsH7lthGbpZTI/s2100/A's%20shoulder%20patch.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1504" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyb-fWQvWVQJhcdL454B3M1bfKzlTN3k9uTkc5-AheNC7ZkeNkU9uYetdckfs0qEEKrSuOHNu3y2y7KA85Kd3bc7E5_u1o9UO-8qUf1gBGSMInkqvPZdMDa4NLq3NT3k0Wlv5HG4UwDFpYc4FWZ3QYget_-FBaAdbWa1EBMqjkw5HsH7lthGbpZTI/s320/A's%20shoulder%20patch.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"> Best New Shoulder Patch</span></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Qh14O32F5XTXM2z-QJFInbKrzYxK060nqAYhkPM3akF6_DSaCxxfh_4bUyNZ1j6MJLuBVhgCdJ-rIDDlLmu9zgGKq5NAJMJLak4Bx1oFLJDIiCp6k38wodvTU3vTZ16230a3QKiiQYBtntKM8SX6N6x8g0miDMdf_QWfyxTr5KaiWpCX69CkZro/s2096/Marlins%20shoulder%20patch.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2096" data-original-width="1510" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Qh14O32F5XTXM2z-QJFInbKrzYxK060nqAYhkPM3akF6_DSaCxxfh_4bUyNZ1j6MJLuBVhgCdJ-rIDDlLmu9zgGKq5NAJMJLak4Bx1oFLJDIiCp6k38wodvTU3vTZ16230a3QKiiQYBtntKM8SX6N6x8g0miDMdf_QWfyxTr5KaiWpCX69CkZro/s320/Marlins%20shoulder%20patch.jpeg" width="231" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I think these first appeared in the 2019 season. I only discovered them a couple days ago.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Thus, I will be paying a little more attention to the final filing of the 2020 Marlins cards, yet another baseball card task still to finish. I would think I would have noticed such a sweet patch before now, but then in 2020 it was so durn hard to ever buy very many baseball cards.</div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Best Rays Shoulder Patch</span></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGthFZUK6e-_K51bUEJ4UcwKGk8uGKFyHuB2jrDWj5poxcNIilK69vFFzKdQ8XjGRroWRqQN9axDzSHB5H7Ktk1X16GIohkhkjJSGczaRMRP0uuI6QlbNSC1mBN-ki3JmBHy_qkCc8ZNuEKnXz7avkReOFB7a8B1W-EPDNCMNYG6z30G0DP8uefW8/s2098/Rays%20shoulder%20patch%201.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGthFZUK6e-_K51bUEJ4UcwKGk8uGKFyHuB2jrDWj5poxcNIilK69vFFzKdQ8XjGRroWRqQN9axDzSHB5H7Ktk1X16GIohkhkjJSGczaRMRP0uuI6QlbNSC1mBN-ki3JmBHy_qkCc8ZNuEKnXz7avkReOFB7a8B1W-EPDNCMNYG6z30G0DP8uefW8/s320/Rays%20shoulder%20patch%201.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This is often a favorite card for me, and almost won this year...</div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Best Shoulder Patch Card</span></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqjNAe8V0soZrkTu16kCws90mffkYGsGQ4TxOXLU-yIa7QZKCXPySQquYv-ySxj5iS0_lXtoXHYKkH6nTbQb4rSPMxt05djT__CvWWnIa8PLz8fQqNkhbt764fXkKAKxL8AH5Ww1WFAqKlNo0KauQCioMty0jEvMv5drfco4kv0C4gChPAgHPwY1g/s2090/Reds%20shoulder%20patch.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2090" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqjNAe8V0soZrkTu16kCws90mffkYGsGQ4TxOXLU-yIa7QZKCXPySQquYv-ySxj5iS0_lXtoXHYKkH6nTbQb4rSPMxt05djT__CvWWnIa8PLz8fQqNkhbt764fXkKAKxL8AH5Ww1WFAqKlNo0KauQCioMty0jEvMv5drfco4kv0C4gChPAgHPwY1g/s320/Reds%20shoulder%20patch.jpeg" width="230" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Heritage is usually best for these.</div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></h2><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Best Socks</span></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8hoboPBs7kSQ5iwzgnQY4_8DHPmEjs_kENXERJ6kJHFbZJPZwY9DfH5y9qTw728dH5Rtoh1Y2x-nXtaHb44go3SOXw32wOkIjvFl5t4lUKPDPnZlMzvJ0bD_HEzXZ6_udSr0Y0QVBBPXxHTWY754KCl4Ho0u1geZce6Mes2zTxbgA7iw49sYSOpM/s2096/Tigers%20socks.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2096" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8hoboPBs7kSQ5iwzgnQY4_8DHPmEjs_kENXERJ6kJHFbZJPZwY9DfH5y9qTw728dH5Rtoh1Y2x-nXtaHb44go3SOXw32wOkIjvFl5t4lUKPDPnZlMzvJ0bD_HEzXZ6_udSr0Y0QVBBPXxHTWY754KCl4Ho0u1geZce6Mes2zTxbgA7iw49sYSOpM/s320/Tigers%20socks.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I think every team in MLB -might- have a set of these, but am not sure. I will be assembling the best example from each team. Also, I have a feeling we might see this card again on the blog some day.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Best Flair: Kolten Wong</span></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjvVMqRpZnbBsfzi8FyHaWjAA6BB-D7IGjb-8kBUZ2zJWDH-mwQ2MHNv3QtN28_sd79J7E1NWYsojxD5tbUlE3pkcqn3QtX1J88x2vE_JW9g9auZn6bqp8Yq7vM6U8FuGfC8KGwH9ruraLerSfV-nr5NQv3_09SxKdlvh0Hlkfll83KCfIGIkGGGI/s2100/Wong1.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1506" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjvVMqRpZnbBsfzi8FyHaWjAA6BB-D7IGjb-8kBUZ2zJWDH-mwQ2MHNv3QtN28_sd79J7E1NWYsojxD5tbUlE3pkcqn3QtX1J88x2vE_JW9g9auZn6bqp8Yq7vM6U8FuGfC8KGwH9ruraLerSfV-nr5NQv3_09SxKdlvh0Hlkfll83KCfIGIkGGGI/s320/Wong1.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The uniform add-on there tells me this is likely from a special day of some sort at the ball park in Milwaukee. The only thing that comes to mind is a VFW Poppy connection, as on the day when VFW does a fund-raising drive every year, but I'm not sure. Even with digital zoom I can't read the text inscription on the flower. Kolten, though, is ready to play with style every day, I think.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmwpCSU9RaO1EiGswk_DWpGv5bXUtv6in83dYvp8QY6FbzaU4SnoECaqxLokNkWp_ecnhgdZZsERgLI5Mi_RxGemOYKmjs46lmnLU_0EO4nMtmKdp2HBwacUvCzW-p90nPq46-tPTAQYTV8EY9v17T9UhY1sz2BddP8xzOag-yufRFPugELXtbUcI/s2096/Wong2.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2096" data-original-width="1496" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmwpCSU9RaO1EiGswk_DWpGv5bXUtv6in83dYvp8QY6FbzaU4SnoECaqxLokNkWp_ecnhgdZZsERgLI5Mi_RxGemOYKmjs46lmnLU_0EO4nMtmKdp2HBwacUvCzW-p90nPq46-tPTAQYTV8EY9v17T9UhY1sz2BddP8xzOag-yufRFPugELXtbUcI/s320/Wong2.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Best Return of the Powder Blues Card</span></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh36sZpAwMENUlBTAbRzDxxP8JJpdgLTuSzYxBhZLvtDZlsy-WK_zybOTKTpwGoAHoJZcD8cfX5YU14l48JJXbk_RgF4OZLBvywaNxyepLwJwjnuaOeMnYor7bWQoXcwdeZALLw3kRQbWbGzbO7aznKdoWR8JBmee1KDxSyKAnZOyjJEg41DnKv10/s2116/Powder%20Blue!.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2116" data-original-width="1506" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh36sZpAwMENUlBTAbRzDxxP8JJpdgLTuSzYxBhZLvtDZlsy-WK_zybOTKTpwGoAHoJZcD8cfX5YU14l48JJXbk_RgF4OZLBvywaNxyepLwJwjnuaOeMnYor7bWQoXcwdeZALLw3kRQbWbGzbO7aznKdoWR8JBmee1KDxSyKAnZOyjJEg41DnKv10/s320/Powder%20Blue!.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Even the shoes!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Another Twins card features a Powder Blue shin guard. They are All In with this.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Best Racing Stripe Card (tie)</span></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrrBeIMJxMumSmFYT2fNRyQa34b-HGEmwl6YEZsVThV3-FGSJPTGUXrChFJxcjb2GC_Ktmpht4njgKxOfftQsSBWAhBBwyhGWOzKZ1KP3RDLZJPEq4feMXXRL2U0nf144e3HBBZHFtaTEEaDy7HrFk1QDSX5QrDT5zahXOGoQG-Vc1ayZXa3jr4Ms/s2100/racing%20stripe%201.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrrBeIMJxMumSmFYT2fNRyQa34b-HGEmwl6YEZsVThV3-FGSJPTGUXrChFJxcjb2GC_Ktmpht4njgKxOfftQsSBWAhBBwyhGWOzKZ1KP3RDLZJPEq4feMXXRL2U0nf144e3HBBZHFtaTEEaDy7HrFk1QDSX5QrDT5zahXOGoQG-Vc1ayZXa3jr4Ms/s320/racing%20stripe%201.jpeg" width="229" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxJmVcoDA8pq4xL8RwzX8RxRCL1rsvInhWiIdAwHbkHpBo6j_VT5kFVJya03beMfIop8rST_T6uAh8t5IIqy7i0mD_NnlI8COUyUC5x_t9juaqCdkXGAVoSldFzjQ1rhpGkanGDYPB738Cp8FY86BtaFpjS56zD5TSkT7AglW47JZ1kYMZLbjm1HU/s2104/racing%20stripe%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2104" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxJmVcoDA8pq4xL8RwzX8RxRCL1rsvInhWiIdAwHbkHpBo6j_VT5kFVJya03beMfIop8rST_T6uAh8t5IIqy7i0mD_NnlI8COUyUC5x_t9juaqCdkXGAVoSldFzjQ1rhpGkanGDYPB738Cp8FY86BtaFpjS56zD5TSkT7AglW47JZ1kYMZLbjm1HU/s320/racing%20stripe%202.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;">This coulda been a contender for Best Phillies patch, but too much sunlight.</div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Best Home Alternate Throwback Uniform Card</span></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6rm54qD73SiaQKQlW-TCPOBd2MgIh8oqR_6UIlvZDWd_OkZsWgW-6gH8WP9rMiuO-7cbKxrsydbNNHkNsIAENitp5T48HpufotYSvHxUzUSMEENvYkkeJmurogg72fohQ4R-SiX4ejJMEi2RQeGD5VEkaRvJTyqpjAdAmUqIQhCuCUWXY0rjlI2M/s2094/cards%20throwback%3F.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2094" data-original-width="1504" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6rm54qD73SiaQKQlW-TCPOBd2MgIh8oqR_6UIlvZDWd_OkZsWgW-6gH8WP9rMiuO-7cbKxrsydbNNHkNsIAENitp5T48HpufotYSvHxUzUSMEENvYkkeJmurogg72fohQ4R-SiX4ejJMEi2RQeGD5VEkaRvJTyqpjAdAmUqIQhCuCUWXY0rjlI2M/s320/cards%20throwback%3F.jpeg" width="230" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This really is a Home uni, worn on Saturdays only.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Best Road Alternate Uniform Card</span></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvkkrs7k3Pl7Z5yyGc0j6HoVPIcCXsyTajtAE6r555oul7IcxNBrpUVQed2PxxcXtriyxuyQ5LpbC9MluiF3j9W9Gigtx8tZ3TgRJFMXOhPN1ctyx6I-EUDbKcHSDTz42fk2OzqO3x5yI6yjrvGCnuU6-0XTrq3wCWiHee5n-U36diVUXnmOaAAI8/s2098/road%20alternate.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1506" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvkkrs7k3Pl7Z5yyGc0j6HoVPIcCXsyTajtAE6r555oul7IcxNBrpUVQed2PxxcXtriyxuyQ5LpbC9MluiF3j9W9Gigtx8tZ3TgRJFMXOhPN1ctyx6I-EUDbKcHSDTz42fk2OzqO3x5yI6yjrvGCnuU6-0XTrq3wCWiHee5n-U36diVUXnmOaAAI8/s320/road%20alternate.jpeg" width="230" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I'm beginning to think the solid color Road Alternate Uniforms are one of the best for the creation of baseball cards. However not all teams have these, and they are maybe worn once per road series at the most, dunno how that works. Although back in the 2010s, Topps seemed to be deliberately using as many Alternate Uniform images as possible in the Topps Baseball set, use of them seems to have declined some now. The colorful Alternate Uniforms most easily make you forget all about the card design.</div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Most Confusing Card</span></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXKGy3SHGfZraP41k_gPoCI5MO2ooC9xMC2ud5jiDOnHSalV9XoGX3KuEDoCV5d7BpLLP1CQLNyPc96zgfKEmnWekZWPks4sWFYPU4pHLcagKKLMdH2TQV-53uwLl8xlYe5LpVlc0J5LS_AoGudqSk-LvLtKPOMvfIwc5IA5rx12JpaQu8hPlxoXY/s2092/confusing%20Rays.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2092" data-original-width="1508" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXKGy3SHGfZraP41k_gPoCI5MO2ooC9xMC2ud5jiDOnHSalV9XoGX3KuEDoCV5d7BpLLP1CQLNyPc96zgfKEmnWekZWPks4sWFYPU4pHLcagKKLMdH2TQV-53uwLl8xlYe5LpVlc0J5LS_AoGudqSk-LvLtKPOMvfIwc5IA5rx12JpaQu8hPlxoXY/s320/confusing%20Rays.jpeg" width="231" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Here we have probably a Road Grey uniform with the only team-indicative graphic in the photo being the easy-to-miss "TB" on the batting helmet. Meanwhile "Rays" about disappears into the matching team color graphic base.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But that's not why I picked this card as the <b>Most Confusing Card</b> of 2021. That's because this Mejia guy has played for Tampa, Cleveland, AND San Diego, three teams that seemingly wheel and deal every player contract they ever sign, amongst the 3 of them in particular. But all of MLB seems to be players that were prospects in one of those 3 systems at some point. And every other Ray, Guardian, or Padre, seems to appear on a card for one of the 3 clubs when I am thinking they are still on one of the other 2 teams.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There is no chance I will ever accurately remember where Francisco Mejia played, when. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That card was also runner-up in the next category...</div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Best Empty Seats Card, Hitters</span></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRBFNEs_kcdDdgH_lnRMZ-ZorDIR7dBY0ddilLbCfkdiEGX7oGU1fFZLRcrLSAt2_W3txeG60R5PN9I2CBp-SqJnJf8RQZ2dCHR2ZjGntDVDqoqfIqwZWtt84Q3GWVNRLDzhRqpsfUi5txot6zfJMOSa9kCklNzSd4ZsPEGQ74azn5PNAZxdp5Kp4/s2108/rizzo%20empty%20seats.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2108" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRBFNEs_kcdDdgH_lnRMZ-ZorDIR7dBY0ddilLbCfkdiEGX7oGU1fFZLRcrLSAt2_W3txeG60R5PN9I2CBp-SqJnJf8RQZ2dCHR2ZjGntDVDqoqfIqwZWtt84Q3GWVNRLDzhRqpsfUi5txot6zfJMOSa9kCklNzSd4ZsPEGQ74azn5PNAZxdp5Kp4/s320/rizzo%20empty%20seats.jpeg" width="227" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I knew there would be a lot of these in 2021 sets. It's not often that I find one of a Hitter busy hitting that includes it's own little constellation of blurry seats behind him. Usually, the Pitchers get those...</div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Best Empty Seats Card, Pitchers</span></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnSMh2kzNXdLqmEcQ68zLZdcRt6c-ybaYQLef5alnR8LEm7JIfGnnUoEmv8zrDBFLYkogEkCXy2CqCSDowkE3nNOCKBrpsSDYuL-wOWSO3klnUPJHE06bP1XmB5_O_L2DzWHQIiNEVyE9okVuRELUEDYrzsajaqJ50MioSkMNHy0sY8TvH5GUR8Ks/s2098/musgrove%20empty%20seats.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1496" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnSMh2kzNXdLqmEcQ68zLZdcRt6c-ybaYQLef5alnR8LEm7JIfGnnUoEmv8zrDBFLYkogEkCXy2CqCSDowkE3nNOCKBrpsSDYuL-wOWSO3klnUPJHE06bP1XmB5_O_L2DzWHQIiNEVyE9okVuRELUEDYrzsajaqJ50MioSkMNHy0sY8TvH5GUR8Ks/s320/musgrove%20empty%20seats.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I love these. They are like my very own Shimmer Wave Refractor Mojo Prism parallel. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">That I don't have to pay extra for.</div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Happiest Baseball Cards, runners-up</span></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitWcJfGJ0ni8sR1fv3INI7vbhpM3SxEr62lvfFLgt2q-8PNHtiz4ZwGiioFE-KTWIPPbpZDCcgLOOConRqtckzBZHhdJIl310xjSlPHdIGm_zf78GysHijvNA1UhXYXj6-aUNm5WNYdPFcbwni1YG802D2GGKYx6ngKozOnedjlklR2kJ07lS8Qtw/s2090/smith%20happy.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2090" data-original-width="1506" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitWcJfGJ0ni8sR1fv3INI7vbhpM3SxEr62lvfFLgt2q-8PNHtiz4ZwGiioFE-KTWIPPbpZDCcgLOOConRqtckzBZHhdJIl310xjSlPHdIGm_zf78GysHijvNA1UhXYXj6-aUNm5WNYdPFcbwni1YG802D2GGKYx6ngKozOnedjlklR2kJ07lS8Qtw/s320/smith%20happy.jpeg" width="231" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis4gNpsD0bNLDL8asDDfkQXKh9thk8qRdqL2puqJ2UxeLRqxg2OVYgz0eR5NcQNItWUro8QGYMBN9s8oe_OyKtD2k2TjFsFuIoJqmGxENYl72_34-ciSY16gdSTlNVI6N5T2LzWGcUvEsmGjMjTpFq2JC0LVImP9rhsSW7Kqu_AeTKLqJxR6Xg_50/s2092/valdez%20happy%201.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2092" data-original-width="1504" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis4gNpsD0bNLDL8asDDfkQXKh9thk8qRdqL2puqJ2UxeLRqxg2OVYgz0eR5NcQNItWUro8QGYMBN9s8oe_OyKtD2k2TjFsFuIoJqmGxENYl72_34-ciSY16gdSTlNVI6N5T2LzWGcUvEsmGjMjTpFq2JC0LVImP9rhsSW7Kqu_AeTKLqJxR6Xg_50/s320/valdez%20happy%201.jpeg" width="230" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There aren't many of these in the all action, all the time Topps Baseball set. When Topps does select a Smiling Player game photo from an MLB stadium, they usually use it as a Photo Variation card that I will never own.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Happiest Baseball Card</span></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfL9sGP_xno3gh15x9fHOISd3iOeNGXn9hd1KB3d8Mx7B2qjV9NLVdDVcbn-b08TETDcPwdX20bNn8bXbWA5pWAot04uLPHevQBL_IkadW1CVfJuEbUZF-E_dM71CQcj0KdBchu6O0iRK789Emo1mf1ADquJF-ztR9CEJOv2q9IOLoR0_w4erU9ic/s2096/teheran%20happy.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2096" data-original-width="1508" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfL9sGP_xno3gh15x9fHOISd3iOeNGXn9hd1KB3d8Mx7B2qjV9NLVdDVcbn-b08TETDcPwdX20bNn8bXbWA5pWAot04uLPHevQBL_IkadW1CVfJuEbUZF-E_dM71CQcj0KdBchu6O0iRK789Emo1mf1ADquJF-ztR9CEJOv2q9IOLoR0_w4erU9ic/s320/teheran%20happy.jpeg" width="230" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Of course with cards made using images from Photo Day at the beginning of Spring Training, players have the opportunity to smile for the camera. Few take up the idea, and when they do, more often than not, the authenticity, as it were, is obviously lacking.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Not on this Julio Teheran card, which is nice, but has a sad epitaph. Teheran did not re-sign with the Angels and was moving on to Detroit when this card hit the shelves; for the Tigers he would pitch only one scintillating what-might-have-been game before injury has prevented any further appearance in Major League Baseball. Baseball card checklists are the poorer for this as he has some other cards that lighten the mood, like this one. At press time word is he has a current "minor league deal" so perhaps he will make it back to The Show.</div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Best Submariner Card</span></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDDtZhhaxzCllMeb5j9TXJvTVuBuZ5TmXK3bjZun_EK-MuhO2WMGWtj69fucuMJkOBOUHN-90ozeVPraUTk-qA4YFp0AhW2rM68_rjU3XysDMDtCXvEJhcRTkuQlHAttCCVHxL-em5phIBnntFk1f70yJ5oWKYRTLVKagez_ScvTP4pd7ixxPjNI8/s2092/cimber%20submariner.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1492" data-original-width="2092" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDDtZhhaxzCllMeb5j9TXJvTVuBuZ5TmXK3bjZun_EK-MuhO2WMGWtj69fucuMJkOBOUHN-90ozeVPraUTk-qA4YFp0AhW2rM68_rjU3XysDMDtCXvEJhcRTkuQlHAttCCVHxL-em5phIBnntFk1f70yJ5oWKYRTLVKagez_ScvTP4pd7ixxPjNI8/s320/cimber%20submariner.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Since Brad Ziegler retired, someone needs to hold down this award annually and Cimber is stepping up, or down, or to the side, or something, once again.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Also obviously the <b>Best Canadian Card</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Best Christmas Card</span></b></h2><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhytz3sY47JtdkWEMs733CYuhxBYXTVGeaBlqaOZEIYU9kJh9SmqN0eQ33OHwrVonpdPloSQYq8lR-s8-iiGhgjQ2Ooey3jhVfTTkQwu-aTpFsqHJwTJe_Lx0IlqPS8pJ9eMyLqt4qlehvrMM6CblM-IS4vs3YCkOGeiBX21S6RgAzDY08ObMlzAns/s2096/verdugo%20s1.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1498" data-original-width="2096" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhytz3sY47JtdkWEMs733CYuhxBYXTVGeaBlqaOZEIYU9kJh9SmqN0eQ33OHwrVonpdPloSQYq8lR-s8-iiGhgjQ2Ooey3jhVfTTkQwu-aTpFsqHJwTJe_Lx0IlqPS8pJ9eMyLqt4qlehvrMM6CblM-IS4vs3YCkOGeiBX21S6RgAzDY08ObMlzAns/s320/verdugo%20s1.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Another favorite from early in the season; as the card season moves along, Series One becomes more and more of an afterthought product sometimes, beneath the blizzard of new releases that follows it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But this one has plenty of Red & Green, a fantastic glove, a big helping of baseball tradition, and even a bit of shiny. Already back in March of 2021 I was thinking "Christmas" about this one, and, for once, it feels appropriate to dress it up like a real Christmas card...</div><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqB5SeeHxGxbJgzpPbiN9ElNtaP4X4zoFhmtRzVhxpoQKe8ujCMVMjOIREORn1UhnYDno_VJmQzWJtLbdFHGKs3J5u-gYuPCUKiSSS8OJ8btvc-cTYYsD-wSo6f6dPmC8oOdfvRG7cmnNqwdluc-s_GNHUeSc9nonSxfDgd1otcCvjeA8eMPT7eTg/s2102/verdugo%20holiday.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1498" data-original-width="2102" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqB5SeeHxGxbJgzpPbiN9ElNtaP4X4zoFhmtRzVhxpoQKe8ujCMVMjOIREORn1UhnYDno_VJmQzWJtLbdFHGKs3J5u-gYuPCUKiSSS8OJ8btvc-cTYYsD-wSo6f6dPmC8oOdfvRG7cmnNqwdluc-s_GNHUeSc9nonSxfDgd1otcCvjeA8eMPT7eTg/s320/verdugo%20holiday.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Another thing makes me happy about selecting this one - in 2022, I finally conquered my desire to buy a box of Topps Holiday, "just to see it." These cards seem fun at the time, but 6 months later in the middle of the actual Baseball season, gazing upon them is way too much of a <b>Why Do I Own This?</b> However in 2021 I had not yet definitively decided that Baseball just has exactly nothing to do with Winter, so I just had to look, one last time...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Best Steelers Offensive Lineman Card</span></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMji7ZGXLsFOjf3NyaHKqdlNgEpMGoBrPI1D9ejRsjjT61aqCK3zkyMIhtG__6zYJqENrnFqasxGdXIhutSGb3L4JQMAF1iV1DDfMt9V5UbMjUqx3KT526qA1im0jXCTHqHeBqlf3bBqZPwvC3sosYFADf-CWMYxJg-PCfLrkgRm1Mp31A4gpb9R8/s2098/football%20holiday.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1504" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMji7ZGXLsFOjf3NyaHKqdlNgEpMGoBrPI1D9ejRsjjT61aqCK3zkyMIhtG__6zYJqENrnFqasxGdXIhutSGb3L4JQMAF1iV1DDfMt9V5UbMjUqx3KT526qA1im0jXCTHqHeBqlf3bBqZPwvC3sosYFADf-CWMYxJg-PCfLrkgRm1Mp31A4gpb9R8/s320/football%20holiday.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Almost as glorious as the baseball chaos in 2020 Update; it is clear to me now that bizarre Rookie Card shenanigans are a feature, not a bug.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Best Playoffs Card</span></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmJ-M4isAWLMGLAobVSQ0We-n6hAmjz8lokgn_ZgS9hrrJc8NCzKAR_GzV1evR4cMt1WVxbrg4OP-isKUPLtiCHB4xOB4FwkLkW56Uw2QdkUJA-2cJbWJhxaTqU7p8EESn2R_V0F-RKS54PtbXdwPSDQBkeezW7XJhGoPhWGkCDfoAJo-lE6zquvA/s2098/playoffs%20card.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1502" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmJ-M4isAWLMGLAobVSQ0We-n6hAmjz8lokgn_ZgS9hrrJc8NCzKAR_GzV1evR4cMt1WVxbrg4OP-isKUPLtiCHB4xOB4FwkLkW56Uw2QdkUJA-2cJbWJhxaTqU7p8EESn2R_V0F-RKS54PtbXdwPSDQBkeezW7XJhGoPhWGkCDfoAJo-lE6zquvA/s320/playoffs%20card.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Perfect.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Miles better than a Winning Team Celebrates card where you mostly look at player's backsides.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Most 15 Minutes Card</span></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifJInZ1K9zRPIo_plqFDsxe468XKtbt0ncMoQOYdLTraTardS_OJR-yAd3CNexbGg74N7tTfoi8UJNw2pQ4oKpn0vUbWd58nTaF7-O1HqMugn3oN69-youJTQTexfQQyTqnfzXH0T3e0G82MzidpVl3RLL5kSlVogHbVpbCQaY65ptIRDx8sQWAc8/s2098/phillips%2015%20minutes.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="2098" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifJInZ1K9zRPIo_plqFDsxe468XKtbt0ncMoQOYdLTraTardS_OJR-yAd3CNexbGg74N7tTfoi8UJNw2pQ4oKpn0vUbWd58nTaF7-O1HqMugn3oN69-youJTQTexfQQyTqnfzXH0T3e0G82MzidpVl3RLL5kSlVogHbVpbCQaY65ptIRDx8sQWAc8/s320/phillips%2015%20minutes.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Sometimes, a baseball player becomes known for just a single game. This is one of those times. In the Topps Baseball set, only the team winning the World Series gets cards for that; seems reasonable enough and the Dodgers do have a quite nice set of four cards in 2021 Series One. But Topps still managed to extend the love to the Rays in the set by issuing this card - & several other cards across products all from basically the same moment. (Heritage includes a card for each WS game, as per '72). </div><br /><h2 style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Most Memorable Rookie Card Name 10 Years Later</span></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLQ6rDcNpoJpEyXgNo40UPri_0GzW5WdjWmCLpWbrnxu6YPjEtchNuNmp1lLmy8Iav_dsBInxYJmEMl5_C9hDzvcYn3VScGloOgcoruoJyWwggwgeSnIVD8Bx9kaTBk6oNtm6lCxVhRab7BuM6wnU1EYKkWGJduJJ-AumwftxkXBwvfjW3voNLtno/s2104/poteet%20rc.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2104" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLQ6rDcNpoJpEyXgNo40UPri_0GzW5WdjWmCLpWbrnxu6YPjEtchNuNmp1lLmy8Iav_dsBInxYJmEMl5_C9hDzvcYn3VScGloOgcoruoJyWwggwgeSnIVD8Bx9kaTBk6oNtm6lCxVhRab7BuM6wnU1EYKkWGJduJJ-AumwftxkXBwvfjW3voNLtno/s320/poteet%20rc.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Or, would be, if Topps could be bothered to print out an authentic sized example card on basic card stock from any office supply store on an inkjet printer right in their own offices three months before the product is printed, rather than just looking at a blown-up mock-up on their nifty full size computer monitor. All so we could garner basic information from our baseball cards, like, the player's name.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Best Rookie Card Name, runner-up</span></h2><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW7xYtd2Qext0UUueFISbFGPbXkATd5Rf9CGaWHYX3-W3SWGvPCeMVM_fJkmRaGlLEndXFQYXWFlcQ9Lu79hGQ31Y53A2DaWc_JUEgSK-vLWHEcbDH0o1c3EzL9_xIF2RYBg48uUI_HIFAKgji5SMFtGcbLvZZIV4pnib-GL8lB_XDZrUQpKjNZaw/s2104/scrubb%20rc.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2104" data-original-width="1508" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW7xYtd2Qext0UUueFISbFGPbXkATd5Rf9CGaWHYX3-W3SWGvPCeMVM_fJkmRaGlLEndXFQYXWFlcQ9Lu79hGQ31Y53A2DaWc_JUEgSK-vLWHEcbDH0o1c3EzL9_xIF2RYBg48uUI_HIFAKgji5SMFtGcbLvZZIV4pnib-GL8lB_XDZrUQpKjNZaw/s320/scrubb%20rc.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Also, of course, <b>Most Unfortunate Baseball Player Name</b>. For once the 2021 design helps a player out.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Scrubb had a more memorable appearance in 2021 Topps Baseball, where his card answers the question you have always wondered: who are all those players you don't recognize on the Team Cards?</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVWkq98QV3z4kXOJX6pmTG9R4vmwHWU656bCoyCp4aG-wZRcX22raaZaurOLjfGvjKi4GYJU_pbfgpRlstVxDAdNgnAASXJWyNyz6e7Jh97rVugKp9XLyljQlk6kh2PHkc-zqzrR3fjmczESIWuDNxqiUzEc1e1NSUyrYvtlb3GKUIkAoNvl9YBsg/s2091/scrubb%20cameo.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="2091" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVWkq98QV3z4kXOJX6pmTG9R4vmwHWU656bCoyCp4aG-wZRcX22raaZaurOLjfGvjKi4GYJU_pbfgpRlstVxDAdNgnAASXJWyNyz6e7Jh97rVugKp9XLyljQlk6kh2PHkc-zqzrR3fjmczESIWuDNxqiUzEc1e1NSUyrYvtlb3GKUIkAoNvl9YBsg/s320/scrubb%20cameo.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Best Rookie Card Name</span></h2><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3nXvljQr4eJF5QRTjj5joePwA32tw2hu243hwMq8fSiC8EFOlKdxp_Tjkh9SBOP1ouhsIUVNbJW6lGsTSfli_SlWQ9MfSS7r_3ikoYRjdXX8Eb1sXw-YXL6ghR9MgXX8CGlkAkvtDJ_O-ajY3limFGxsNy_WvFSzUlIK7sLHBo_hljg1VOQhFNEg/s2106/rooker%20patch.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1492" data-original-width="2106" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3nXvljQr4eJF5QRTjj5joePwA32tw2hu243hwMq8fSiC8EFOlKdxp_Tjkh9SBOP1ouhsIUVNbJW6lGsTSfli_SlWQ9MfSS7r_3ikoYRjdXX8Eb1sXw-YXL6ghR9MgXX8CGlkAkvtDJ_O-ajY3limFGxsNy_WvFSzUlIK7sLHBo_hljg1VOQhFNEg/s320/rooker%20patch.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This is another contestant in the <b>Why Do I Own This?</b> category.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">And, I just keep waiting for Rooker to knock the head-off the Snow man, but he never does.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">And, this card infernally makes me want a whole 'nother card: a far more reasonable Powder Blue swatch card. I have never wanted a swatch card, ever before. But now, I do. Well done, Topps. Sorta.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Worst Parallel</span></h2><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBt8-cPZGDW6lDYYQeYG0MffwCQPJlYvnXN9N6q668-_yKj8FcfSQ4swLDm6KMbdTGDHWW0oeCEV-9JtMIg5vJ35Ut7Y22WqJq-BR6gMmAml1OZZwXG9IfFnUq1dhwonGf87O9IJPlOJlQLQ2rAtR_spYUF5_okBLDRZH04dGQBZ4SaQxKBy4UHIY/s2088/Thomas%20orange.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1488" data-original-width="2088" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBt8-cPZGDW6lDYYQeYG0MffwCQPJlYvnXN9N6q668-_yKj8FcfSQ4swLDm6KMbdTGDHWW0oeCEV-9JtMIg5vJ35Ut7Y22WqJq-BR6gMmAml1OZZwXG9IfFnUq1dhwonGf87O9IJPlOJlQLQ2rAtR_spYUF5_okBLDRZH04dGQBZ4SaQxKBy4UHIY/s320/Thomas%20orange.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This is the "Orange," I think. Might also be the "Sepia." Who knows?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Right up there with 100% useless Stadium Club parallels are useless Gallery parallels.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">PRINTER PROOF, uggh.</div><br /><h2 style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Most Triumphant Retro Team Color Match</span></h2></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgntCj3uviz6eZtZLVGi-9SIL4Q5xUgGM_-vHL7u8oqJ1MM1V-ctXRPNnb5kKDlFHLxwsPT2owf0ERe_F8thoBbuQdhgP5Zi0l9mrOom4o5_xs0XWece2FOhahphmkF53cUrpDe4nZ2usTttkxOwfBRIUu2tcRPP7HAyWhOtRLtgI4c7gf5a6s2ljE/s2104/Marte%2091.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2104" data-original-width="1508" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgntCj3uviz6eZtZLVGi-9SIL4Q5xUgGM_-vHL7u8oqJ1MM1V-ctXRPNnb5kKDlFHLxwsPT2owf0ERe_F8thoBbuQdhgP5Zi0l9mrOom4o5_xs0XWece2FOhahphmkF53cUrpDe4nZ2usTttkxOwfBRIUu2tcRPP7HAyWhOtRLtgI4c7gf5a6s2ljE/s320/Marte%2091.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I posted this card before, in my look at the single Archives blaster I purchased. I pulled 3 other 91s, from sadly only 20 on the checklist (fortunately there are a couple forgettable RC cards that can be easily forgotten about when a nice double card binder page of this effort is assembled, some day). It appears that they ALL have this glorious feature. Could you imagine a whole set produced like this? </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I can.</div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></h2><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Most Useless Retro Issue</span></h2><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcK57jaE6F0KBGhDPXXzohVVJFNL8mtTr9WLU1sxuHV2NHXb3O7sYq4PKYtAdd9V7KerN5pzRnn9HHmy5ZuZg_Crnd_nj31g3wSSrJrchS5PgdhyXaQQvv6LoZsFRsAEtfSRZ1XKnh28jVRIzS0EOFb8qIX3hiZ8C1oD52jbV54biIxoh9_02zXhg/s2090/anderson%20archives.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2090" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcK57jaE6F0KBGhDPXXzohVVJFNL8mtTr9WLU1sxuHV2NHXb3O7sYq4PKYtAdd9V7KerN5pzRnn9HHmy5ZuZg_Crnd_nj31g3wSSrJrchS5PgdhyXaQQvv6LoZsFRsAEtfSRZ1XKnh28jVRIzS0EOFb8qIX3hiZ8C1oD52jbV54biIxoh9_02zXhg/s320/anderson%20archives.jpeg" width="230" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">2021 Archives was an odd product. One set per decade was summoned to the checklist. 1973 is a cool set and all, but coming along just 3 months later, was this 2022 card:</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDg5p-k1cFGXH56ol6pacsB18SW5c0DjqqU3K9Z5Oe6yepdzuzE0DYeB9M473Sit3GNghlRo_H_95ezL_GM8wP6n0qdhWNiMb9gNZwMOadJT6kIo5PpvDpeuyDfI5UT5zXcx2HGthNLYBjIWwarXBptv1tUlmW2rGvLBMy8x27wdL6uNUKEoYJrPY/s2104/anderson%20heritage.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2104" data-original-width="1512" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDg5p-k1cFGXH56ol6pacsB18SW5c0DjqqU3K9Z5Oe6yepdzuzE0DYeB9M473Sit3GNghlRo_H_95ezL_GM8wP6n0qdhWNiMb9gNZwMOadJT6kIo5PpvDpeuyDfI5UT5zXcx2HGthNLYBjIWwarXBptv1tUlmW2rGvLBMy8x27wdL6uNUKEoYJrPY/s320/anderson%20heritage.jpeg" width="230" /></a></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Best Warm Fuzzy Vintage Card Memory Card, Almost</span></h2><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnAKYcoQRew4r8Pbs_XB86CQOq6lG1hNGRMcvuC4Rcw_aMXfq97lkeI7EHBWe7FVcCDYW5_urukMtLCprTssfdQed5yFad9qQnDRSp-SyjDxOONIiYaU_OCYqQYQ27L2M-hW99JxMUY0iR8-xveXeFaePuSYNGrVKQA1jqX99cijxRqJv0swFImlM/s2092/anderson%20Marlins%20heritage.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2092" data-original-width="1506" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnAKYcoQRew4r8Pbs_XB86CQOq6lG1hNGRMcvuC4Rcw_aMXfq97lkeI7EHBWe7FVcCDYW5_urukMtLCprTssfdQed5yFad9qQnDRSp-SyjDxOONIiYaU_OCYqQYQ27L2M-hW99JxMUY0iR8-xveXeFaePuSYNGrVKQA1jqX99cijxRqJv0swFImlM/s320/anderson%20Marlins%20heritage.jpeg" width="230" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Who doesn't like a little flashback to their beloved PSA 2.5 battered and rounded George Brett Rookie Card with the nifty vanishing line perspective that just makes for a good photograph? But why, Almost?</div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAOth4SZvjLSN3GF61cEX0_E5glniC41RSYhm5D4kEkOiXCXWdijJRqf9-ZLKyICfeP1DhvlM8l6_zswtNCU9nfWx-lZUtCv5Tah-dvM-KjjNCqN1eiQCAhFdXr832rkJIqAsUmHlmFuKW1110T_6O1kzBibBE7626vzmgBue9TqiSMFOmz11r4V0/s2100/Rojas%20Marlins%20heritage.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1506" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAOth4SZvjLSN3GF61cEX0_E5glniC41RSYhm5D4kEkOiXCXWdijJRqf9-ZLKyICfeP1DhvlM8l6_zswtNCU9nfWx-lZUtCv5Tah-dvM-KjjNCqN1eiQCAhFdXr832rkJIqAsUmHlmFuKW1110T_6O1kzBibBE7626vzmgBue9TqiSMFOmz11r4V0/s320/Rojas%20Marlins%20heritage.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This is why.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Which one is a middling 3B and which one is a middling SS? How am I supposed to know, when I get so many same-same cards out of a pack of Heritage? This card is probably an even better Marlins Shoulder Patch card than the Marte card though. Maybe if I keep them in separate binders, my usually suppressed, inner OCD nut will be mollified. Maybe.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Also, that Rojas card is the <b>Most Evil Eye Baseball Card </b>this year. DO NOT look at it blown up in size on your computer screen. I'm warning you.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Best New Trend</span></h2><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX4IV2asXEzvra_TZZnDnVD3Nw00eUZuBolA4_fZ01Jbif9V-BTzaAr6hYeMmStOdFwosdAPDD1W9iYyBf6c7UV23xkg7OsmZzv6SWBlR3Cu6xVxnSa6xruce-sgV1L6oG2YYKwd9OvELvPM1Rx3UGvdks2Q7Rb1ZShwUKk-gSSnJ2umnGQiClowA/s2100/Satchel%20Paige.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX4IV2asXEzvra_TZZnDnVD3Nw00eUZuBolA4_fZ01Jbif9V-BTzaAr6hYeMmStOdFwosdAPDD1W9iYyBf6c7UV23xkg7OsmZzv6SWBlR3Cu6xVxnSa6xruce-sgV1L6oG2YYKwd9OvELvPM1Rx3UGvdks2Q7Rb1ZShwUKk-gSSnJ2umnGQiClowA/s320/Satchel%20Paige.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Topps may have cut a new deal to use Negro League players on their cards, not sure. Or at least with some of the key family rights holders; I found a few more in 2022.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Worst Worsening Trend</span></h2><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA0yZhsYnR60MlqR59ML0eHLoZl3OLDvB1WHF1c68hqin-ulVa-LlL76jhn_9Y9HmTlae231TLgR-RMwvd7MB9TaLBYsInLW14j1MivnQM47-DYcjZJMEO39jQjr7sjZ-pcXwW5mILYK4UCqOBXFLoDzLdacWfZlUsFll5Hei9e6dBw1aPKbYWbuk/s2102/faceless%20brewer.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1508" data-original-width="2102" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA0yZhsYnR60MlqR59ML0eHLoZl3OLDvB1WHF1c68hqin-ulVa-LlL76jhn_9Y9HmTlae231TLgR-RMwvd7MB9TaLBYsInLW14j1MivnQM47-DYcjZJMEO39jQjr7sjZ-pcXwW5mILYK4UCqOBXFLoDzLdacWfZlUsFll5Hei9e6dBw1aPKbYWbuk/s320/faceless%20brewer.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Did Topps watch too many Game of Thrones re-reruns with the Faceless Men cult in them? Sometimes, a live game action shot is so good that it can be marginally OK to issue a baseball card that doesn't accurately show a player's face. A player in the simple act of hitting is not one of those times. I could post several more of these, but this next one...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWwiKC9SXgCfTE3i4w0iYl-hR4yK3AlkcbUqrrTgyjjwgf7tFQfYVTUSCYKFCqFIgWkqVli_llZ5zWdQBe-vIliJ8c-_XcVbHdYmbfzHXlJZAJPJuDDo73V1UN4Zx751oVsGJX48hdvTlWbAkLZyrUPBGp-7izrwwMLHNDxNSiRXqLieCZbaiQdtE/s2108/faceless%20posey.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2108" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWwiKC9SXgCfTE3i4w0iYl-hR4yK3AlkcbUqrrTgyjjwgf7tFQfYVTUSCYKFCqFIgWkqVli_llZ5zWdQBe-vIliJ8c-_XcVbHdYmbfzHXlJZAJPJuDDo73V1UN4Zx751oVsGJX48hdvTlWbAkLZyrUPBGp-7izrwwMLHNDxNSiRXqLieCZbaiQdtE/s320/faceless%20posey.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">On a superstar card? Lame.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Laziest Insert Card</span></h2><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-AY5MomHhLnou4hLN-UJcdfUtqqjP97qY-PEny-myzf4oI3x0ptEStH6yy2njW6lF21VKW9jShA4T_6y4jplAnbe9NqK8mzyFQCIj8ryk6Fi1_O2aiM60iok9Z-QtLpeLOThNQS9Fp0kf9YNZQTYXnztZ5PLavFjGsHbFScf--zDZhPMzgdrBDV8/s2108/lazy%20insert.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2108" data-original-width="1494" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-AY5MomHhLnou4hLN-UJcdfUtqqjP97qY-PEny-myzf4oI3x0ptEStH6yy2njW6lF21VKW9jShA4T_6y4jplAnbe9NqK8mzyFQCIj8ryk6Fi1_O2aiM60iok9Z-QtLpeLOThNQS9Fp0kf9YNZQTYXnztZ5PLavFjGsHbFScf--zDZhPMzgdrBDV8/s320/lazy%20insert.jpeg" width="227" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This card is perfectly acceptable, as-is. A modest design, a nice full-color, full-baseball player shot with a hulking lurking 1970s TV camera as a bonus. It is absurdly lazy, however, because of this card:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFjdLB94be0kpl6Je9X-Zqd6c4uAGgikTkcU_WUENbhKz7FTqaavn1HonQUtCS7StULGdJ_56vcGllRDdFsGtv-Qwrau_6h5KEm-yZmLd1mnys1yve181G6jUXL0Hk23QuWCQYK9XQDOaTUuQDr_0TeqgKioyxRHtnCUhp-iKYdfInUCVcAWa0gxs/s2094/72%20flashback.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2094" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFjdLB94be0kpl6Je9X-Zqd6c4uAGgikTkcU_WUENbhKz7FTqaavn1HonQUtCS7StULGdJ_56vcGllRDdFsGtv-Qwrau_6h5KEm-yZmLd1mnys1yve181G6jUXL0Hk23QuWCQYK9XQDOaTUuQDr_0TeqgKioyxRHtnCUhp-iKYdfInUCVcAWa0gxs/s320/72%20flashback.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">From the very same set, essentially.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Most Useless Baseball Picture Card Card</span></h2><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpHeIRoYmtOuF-N1pJaRvlrHgXLiuT3VjqPYkQdrlqCKPn8jBuKTfa8_34y1TYvXaAZTHdCEnt3VG4bw4n1ste5wgSxh81USo1AZBK7qp7-pDpnDA0j6HfSKxsxbXfLG7yi6h8FrP9Osc1r9xH849jSrV7_bjPdpXAqjECrpqGgawxn7bUCi6KJfU/s2274/SC%20Master%20Photo%201.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2274" data-original-width="2078" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpHeIRoYmtOuF-N1pJaRvlrHgXLiuT3VjqPYkQdrlqCKPn8jBuKTfa8_34y1TYvXaAZTHdCEnt3VG4bw4n1ste5wgSxh81USo1AZBK7qp7-pDpnDA0j6HfSKxsxbXfLG7yi6h8FrP9Osc1r9xH849jSrV7_bjPdpXAqjECrpqGgawxn7bUCi6KJfU/w365-h400/SC%20Master%20Photo%201.jpeg" width="365" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Way to go. A card that is simultaneously too big, AND too small. Genius! These things are way bigger than all the other baseball cards - I almost never like that, though sometimes 'box topper' cards are nice to have. But then, the actual image here, a repeat from DeGrom's base card in Stadium Club, is tinier than the actual baseball card. How useless is that? An Over-Sized Mini. The worst thing about this "card" is I own 2 of them, receiving one each in the 2 Stadium Club blasters I purchased. Yay, me. This is yet another contestant (an All Timer?) in the <b>Why Do I Own This? </b>category, which is growing far, far too large. Look out, here comes another one...</div><br /><h2 style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Most Useless Topps Product Acquired</span></h2></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSbfw00FpBx91MSSL86esZWRiRq7ZYAhI9_i17TDHx3-1Yg9nRjs6qX30_9GuaU-ws75RKlcFZC5P2bxzMmShdNx25aLZEQu6N_EVsxJu5S7F0UFaP10O952ntutjdd7mXktRnMPQhQ10riIgEkZUrOZP6X9e5MMglmzDREDRSOVCZPK0MV--wApc/s1388/candy%20lid.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1388" data-original-width="1368" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSbfw00FpBx91MSSL86esZWRiRq7ZYAhI9_i17TDHx3-1Yg9nRjs6qX30_9GuaU-ws75RKlcFZC5P2bxzMmShdNx25aLZEQu6N_EVsxJu5S7F0UFaP10O952ntutjdd7mXktRnMPQhQ10riIgEkZUrOZP6X9e5MMglmzDREDRSOVCZPK0MV--wApc/s320/candy%20lid.jpeg" width="315" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That's a "Candy Lid." What am I going to do with this thing? It took me thirty some years to throw out my little pile of Topps Coins from the early 80s - they were starting to rust, so I had to do it. They never did find an acceptable storage spot amongst my too many possessions. I am still a little traumatized by having to do that to a usually automatically beloved Topps Chewing Gum Co. Inc. product. <span style="text-align: center;">Speaking of which...</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilRVtYLi52K9JofT3s4U3jiC375ZbYKluauDWwtWQnDL1ST4VxagHxqIC5WNNcVAapKQoJu4LebeqHm2F5Og0vuHgWHm8SqFKXaXx6GoO4UG8VE4-QiggvndKtZFLeYcrJGUSuTTpRghZsl81TZwZbw63OagG4dhXFh34gnD4UkJ4090F5efeHYnQ/s1400/candy%20lid%20back.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1400" data-original-width="1202" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilRVtYLi52K9JofT3s4U3jiC375ZbYKluauDWwtWQnDL1ST4VxagHxqIC5WNNcVAapKQoJu4LebeqHm2F5Og0vuHgWHm8SqFKXaXx6GoO4UG8VE4-QiggvndKtZFLeYcrJGUSuTTpRghZsl81TZwZbw63OagG4dhXFh34gnD4UkJ4090F5efeHYnQ/s320/candy%20lid%20back.jpeg" width="275" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">WHERE'S MY BUBBLE GUM?!?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Why can't I have some bubble gum with my baseball cards any more?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Oh, yeah, because Topps owns the rights to the concept, but refuses to ever use it again.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I hate the "Candy Lids."</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Worst Baseball Card</span></h2><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7znTTLROkFjduScNu5imk4prCishoyTmg3fmNGxvYdzNWEHzLE7VBoiDM9_Mj3EMl1NDWA5sSni4_bSnaZJmO3k55dIPjHF4grLgmqna5DseKZim4l8gd4-KHQLwsbC8_qzdNo-vhvl1teNzhla7dGQsE0ce7p7N7RfVBZ0CSblE1139NGGbeDsg/s2092/alvarez%20worst.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2092" data-original-width="1504" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7znTTLROkFjduScNu5imk4prCishoyTmg3fmNGxvYdzNWEHzLE7VBoiDM9_Mj3EMl1NDWA5sSni4_bSnaZJmO3k55dIPjHF4grLgmqna5DseKZim4l8gd4-KHQLwsbC8_qzdNo-vhvl1teNzhla7dGQsE0ce7p7N7RfVBZ0CSblE1139NGGbeDsg/s320/alvarez%20worst.jpeg" width="230" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Sigh. I quite like non-sensical baseball cards. Like a budding superstar, randomly knocking a ball somewhere in his warm-up duds, while standing in the outfield corner (?), but with fans already around. And what gives with the Foul Line break there?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I dunno. There is so much Blur here, this card just shouldn't have made the cut.</div><br /><h2><span style="font-size: x-large;">Best (only) 75 Wrapper Homage</span></h2></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIf1aRNvGVgOYeQt0UeVVqnX9jTLyUDDn5jEN__A6CyMU9mqb4bfNwN-t5nXK9HdjaeXrpy7sKKbb23PgHRas_Kd3Eu5TCJn4YgPwxkGfA04P850WdDEYkZjKwY_JDlwvoYw4MzauwAxBkNg2r0BUbh5llx7qI40vqUbxnE2HE_fdMEZuY9oA4vjI/s2096/gonzalez%2075.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2096" data-original-width="1504" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIf1aRNvGVgOYeQt0UeVVqnX9jTLyUDDn5jEN__A6CyMU9mqb4bfNwN-t5nXK9HdjaeXrpy7sKKbb23PgHRas_Kd3Eu5TCJn4YgPwxkGfA04P850WdDEYkZjKwY_JDlwvoYw4MzauwAxBkNg2r0BUbh5llx7qI40vqUbxnE2HE_fdMEZuY9oA4vjI/s320/gonzalez%2075.jpeg" width="230" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">One of my favorite categories. A little thin this year.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><h2 style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">The Broken Clock Card</span></h2><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO70RzuzerB3ogR99x95cZaLLbPqfz4uF0jknc4FYVb6HZne_uAi2P63jn6inVwoES56rQpCC2AGY7RfibL0bMqTGyK56sgkMmWK6YIVzNLd3xk-2yWmiv6NRtN96R6MWx0linruX5bzvs18ibSaH1ClZW63XA64J9r3iClHpdZ98I8E3SS9DcMw0/s2100/broken%20clock.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1496" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO70RzuzerB3ogR99x95cZaLLbPqfz4uF0jknc4FYVb6HZne_uAi2P63jn6inVwoES56rQpCC2AGY7RfibL0bMqTGyK56sgkMmWK6YIVzNLd3xk-2yWmiv6NRtN96R6MWx0linruX5bzvs18ibSaH1ClZW63XA64J9r3iClHpdZ98I8E3SS9DcMw0/s320/broken%20clock.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On February 17, 2021, just as Series One was being released, Adam Duvall signed as a free agent in Miami. On July 30, 2021, Duvall was traded back to Atlanta just as this Series Two card was being released.</div></div></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Best Advertising Card</span></h2><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1ackdnC-ltaUx3kJGiZoqT9tsVIhKlHPYVXit2IGgVGxtCTJrabghUj3m4I0r-4424aWfq52FjdgZzTdA_jD33kcoSykBGiRKFZSnslFuB-0diRiZO7-lS8oHi2e4MtfUNiI-QKIQx2UysEYI99D8S0HcrPA1O9YzBzPCV_Kpr8W8JHvC8MDrzgY/s2100/myers%20advertising.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1502" data-original-width="2100" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1ackdnC-ltaUx3kJGiZoqT9tsVIhKlHPYVXit2IGgVGxtCTJrabghUj3m4I0r-4424aWfq52FjdgZzTdA_jD33kcoSykBGiRKFZSnslFuB-0diRiZO7-lS8oHi2e4MtfUNiI-QKIQx2UysEYI99D8S0HcrPA1O9YzBzPCV_Kpr8W8JHvC8MDrzgY/s320/myers%20advertising.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Not the most well produced card, the print residue was there fresh from the pack.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Worst Advertising Card</span></h2><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq2YlEXJCrIrwsCh0mh9vNcoIvNxRUpsLcuR6I0jjB-CJIGAC2nkk1EMLJaSeIHeDEYk5fj4rdMwEYZdc632fnsXWcEUmFVFg-3pY8QWu1wZdN9Ur53Ej55goO44SkiF8bE615lAmMXs6P-qMQEplPu0KFHBTukOqJPHG07Bw6EQlmTkemaWwmFxo/s2094/Marlins%20advertising.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1486" data-original-width="2094" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq2YlEXJCrIrwsCh0mh9vNcoIvNxRUpsLcuR6I0jjB-CJIGAC2nkk1EMLJaSeIHeDEYk5fj4rdMwEYZdc632fnsXWcEUmFVFg-3pY8QWu1wZdN9Ur53Ej55goO44SkiF8bE615lAmMXs6P-qMQEplPu0KFHBTukOqJPHG07Bw6EQlmTkemaWwmFxo/s320/Marlins%20advertising.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Best Grey Hair Card</span></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPvMs1RLR23rnsrP7gOj0_i-XMmCW7hrIZhmpw0Q6SnHWfDL3jq67y_ns62Ab9o33DK-jVjHMaJMXWSHc7jpXbgL9SDDXy7SG-FgAa6P3A2B2GHex_zAabjbCpwtm_feIBi6yqurOtLloJtkGCkTEkFDvLIfddpaZciszlxqtibr-9b3G139aWsuA/s2090/Oliver%20Perez.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="2090" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPvMs1RLR23rnsrP7gOj0_i-XMmCW7hrIZhmpw0Q6SnHWfDL3jq67y_ns62Ab9o33DK-jVjHMaJMXWSHc7jpXbgL9SDDXy7SG-FgAa6P3A2B2GHex_zAabjbCpwtm_feIBi6yqurOtLloJtkGCkTEkFDvLIfddpaZciszlxqtibr-9b3G139aWsuA/s320/Oliver%20Perez.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">You don't see too much grey hair on baseball cards, which is as it should be to gaze upon the Boys of Summer. So when it appears, it is a bit striking (bring back the Manager cards!); this is one of those times.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Oliver Perez averaged 53 appearances per season across his 22, yes, 22 seasons in Major League Baseball. Topps only saw fit to issue a Topps Baseball set, including Update, card for him 11 times.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">His last appearance in Topps Baseball was 5 years previously. This is not his "Sunset" card as he pitched in both 2021 and 2022; though it is highly likely to be his last Topps card. The true Faceless Men are the ones in the bullpen.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Best Sunset Card</span></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRABsnH7SkAOrNTRIcx4OP0FtdBkzUpPNu887Ng2Jrm0L-AdLEwIGDWSRiTG0JdVRj6h5aleLaD-pefSBekODflQiKxLDd69T1zEtOjX-2bz-RMD2EDCZ6co_CotcAaNfwD0M2pmTaVjsuGvzmchGqCNIxtPz2mnrbm7QlJCAIXY2IgMWtMotkwhw/s2092/sunset.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2092" data-original-width="1504" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRABsnH7SkAOrNTRIcx4OP0FtdBkzUpPNu887Ng2Jrm0L-AdLEwIGDWSRiTG0JdVRj6h5aleLaD-pefSBekODflQiKxLDd69T1zEtOjX-2bz-RMD2EDCZ6co_CotcAaNfwD0M2pmTaVjsuGvzmchGqCNIxtPz2mnrbm7QlJCAIXY2IgMWtMotkwhw/s320/sunset.jpeg" width="230" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Also <b>Best</b> <b>Padres Shoulder Patch Card.</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Best Alex Gordon Card</span></b></h2><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQd9kgMW7-mYrN6swiqIavL2yXb_ubRsnvh6AMRJ-NNrk1rx9xoBzyRLbCimi6rSHc9Q-tDShFaj_hrWzKOl3585Q_um25CA1PWGzB46lwJRh1Ieeg44ADb3lKAyg9RAldSJ19UwQ3gDV3uJ9M3tzOjdJKd-ZuWj51hMVhG252RVlh8KkpEjYKjrI/s2096/hunter%20dozier.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2096" data-original-width="1508" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQd9kgMW7-mYrN6swiqIavL2yXb_ubRsnvh6AMRJ-NNrk1rx9xoBzyRLbCimi6rSHc9Q-tDShFaj_hrWzKOl3585Q_um25CA1PWGzB46lwJRh1Ieeg44ADb3lKAyg9RAldSJ19UwQ3gDV3uJ9M3tzOjdJKd-ZuWj51hMVhG252RVlh8KkpEjYKjrI/s320/hunter%20dozier.jpeg" width="230" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This still gets me every time. Especially this year with those <span style="font-size: xx-small;">teeny-tiny names.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It might still happen next year, too, but there won't be a new Alex Gordon card to confuse it with. Gordon retired after an illustrious career at the end of the 2020 season, and Topps came through with a true Sunset card for him in Series One. They actually produced a number of such cards in 2021; though it took me a while to understand why - the chaos of 2020 made it difficult to fill checklist spots with all those 2.2 IP Rookie Card cards everyone wants. So I think Topps quite sensibly fell back on some fond farewells for long-time players who did not appear on the field of play in 2021:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT0ImY7aiZP9JxS4M70pw0ahBpjnfQMTe2RNLgd34z-huIf2Bus2Ozm9yazzTnbTJA1eGjxXUNNrefBntVsq3eL998-0XRiWfobPjKcbfwNm4xLNCQtG_kP-oyYOoT7Fg3JqntJ6VXUVltoHdFFMyJul71rR0gVJ6OkELtM4OLSYsDGWo3Lg7X0J8/s2108/alex%20gordon.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1490" data-original-width="2108" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT0ImY7aiZP9JxS4M70pw0ahBpjnfQMTe2RNLgd34z-huIf2Bus2Ozm9yazzTnbTJA1eGjxXUNNrefBntVsq3eL998-0XRiWfobPjKcbfwNm4xLNCQtG_kP-oyYOoT7Fg3JqntJ6VXUVltoHdFFMyJul71rR0gVJ6OkELtM4OLSYsDGWo3Lg7X0J8/s320/alex%20gordon.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivKji-IGKEckJpb_UKMlWrdeapK_ygR9_IZlKYreYLuoR7xKE1YOp0pWaeLUuRQczzk2G_f2vhzewamP-stEes3oOrKFmsN1LXlKrAHCZaxf4cdoQzinMcz8-aHTYgx9gv7_VTdUrm95mGUMRDy0MZwz1NMRNV9VbFNrSRtdUEkhoENMdMJdx71Vo/s2094/gio%20gonzalez.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2094" data-original-width="1502" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivKji-IGKEckJpb_UKMlWrdeapK_ygR9_IZlKYreYLuoR7xKE1YOp0pWaeLUuRQczzk2G_f2vhzewamP-stEes3oOrKFmsN1LXlKrAHCZaxf4cdoQzinMcz8-aHTYgx9gv7_VTdUrm95mGUMRDy0MZwz1NMRNV9VbFNrSRtdUEkhoENMdMJdx71Vo/s320/gio%20gonzalez.jpeg" width="230" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiezwHcOjQ1cOexBKz1L3dfJplhErSsqLzeDYVkqAW3uEb0Bqy23tagqZFD-4JiTSBbdz-aPvBHhi9uTytY6Jg6v2hoD7cozxyCYerFHB667GJpr2dsvWQ8DyxGa66QAZhV2fK69_QPeWirT8r852yDaOjzpUHIx2Av0OrSQnoQo8nzpIaUs3R5By4/s2086/kendrick.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2086" data-original-width="1508" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiezwHcOjQ1cOexBKz1L3dfJplhErSsqLzeDYVkqAW3uEb0Bqy23tagqZFD-4JiTSBbdz-aPvBHhi9uTytY6Jg6v2hoD7cozxyCYerFHB667GJpr2dsvWQ8DyxGa66QAZhV2fK69_QPeWirT8r852yDaOjzpUHIx2Av0OrSQnoQo8nzpIaUs3R5By4/s320/kendrick.jpeg" width="231" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMBk0GuNeKi5s27GaIGOIHswT8NXbVaJ5xHBXib0r8qawDYEFFEIPvsN36KIlboxraY67Lwl9-UfcVkKezFdzlzMDp4SWlXppgwyDTmNWBGpRrjZe4o64n6UD1laFAq5NgO74zNPLhfJ6seEB540msIiRkFA9JhNbi8_3nOI9FK0z7zwID8o0--3I/s2092/choo.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2092" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMBk0GuNeKi5s27GaIGOIHswT8NXbVaJ5xHBXib0r8qawDYEFFEIPvsN36KIlboxraY67Lwl9-UfcVkKezFdzlzMDp4SWlXppgwyDTmNWBGpRrjZe4o64n6UD1laFAq5NgO74zNPLhfJ6seEB540msIiRkFA9JhNbi8_3nOI9FK0z7zwID8o0--3I/s320/choo.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAQHz_4DidEto9CXuTIxmMQMOmIp3UCGOmARLK1l75qQVXMP7uOdvWd171J18Ldepa3UdI6L61oX2vXRHvNwJBjb0YIY5Pr2LEFrJ4D4wG95dKss4Qx7ZdkdS_wj3x3bcihSpZzNJUMEOU3Rh3_Vh5VToctuL3CuDi2Jr9xh8uFjR_lxgWIzZ3ItM/s2092/kipnis.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2092" data-original-width="1504" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAQHz_4DidEto9CXuTIxmMQMOmIp3UCGOmARLK1l75qQVXMP7uOdvWd171J18Ldepa3UdI6L61oX2vXRHvNwJBjb0YIY5Pr2LEFrJ4D4wG95dKss4Qx7ZdkdS_wj3x3bcihSpZzNJUMEOU3Rh3_Vh5VToctuL3CuDi2Jr9xh8uFjR_lxgWIzZ3ItM/s320/kipnis.jpeg" width="230" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Cole Hamels also had a similar card which managed to elude my Series Two ripping.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">And Topps gave another card like this to Ryan Braun, after printing a nice curtain call image card for him in 2020. You'll have to look up that one on your own time.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Most Oddly Poignant Final Card</span></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipjgiC96kcQ1vhTXhyRESfa8Am61p2F9JK2KgVWTo6IbND6sUo5lPrltsTPv5o6opjSSotuyVJEWaHCz4kv5CnJ9tmTXtpzbWr5kOBXw1JlqTzoPlQjzcN_UA2gPSsoBndKytf8EbXogd2Z0LWAe1URF0Y3PisJatCejDoEJKxFv68I_TCO5r_lqA/s2096/khristopher.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2096" data-original-width="1504" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipjgiC96kcQ1vhTXhyRESfa8Am61p2F9JK2KgVWTo6IbND6sUo5lPrltsTPv5o6opjSSotuyVJEWaHCz4kv5CnJ9tmTXtpzbWr5kOBXw1JlqTzoPlQjzcN_UA2gPSsoBndKytf8EbXogd2Z0LWAe1URF0Y3PisJatCejDoEJKxFv68I_TCO5r_lqA/s320/khristopher.jpeg" width="230" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">From Leading the League in Home Runs (2018) to being out of Baseball after just 3 more seasons, I wonder if anyone understands just what happened to Khristopher Davis. Stadium Club Chrome became, I think, the final 2021 Topps Baseball Picture Card product issued in early 2022, which has a Chrome version of this card, making this kinda-technically his last baseball card.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Best Gift to the Topps Card Back Writer</span></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii2wO_kpc84a-P2fYVrLvvF0t2pfdTnbtNPG8Pv3BhSMvp9gC7o8rjN2TLleNDGMyyBmPnolW59halhWfVcBN5g-Hd-8IR6NiTWAChML6kACKV8FMi-6GeOmItMRAQtbxO2xMAgomsG5NaMI7Pju7EVUkZBrxdJeYYKOdtS_gdQnEnRmJ3OnxmsXM/s2098/davis.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii2wO_kpc84a-P2fYVrLvvF0t2pfdTnbtNPG8Pv3BhSMvp9gC7o8rjN2TLleNDGMyyBmPnolW59halhWfVcBN5g-Hd-8IR6NiTWAChML6kACKV8FMi-6GeOmItMRAQtbxO2xMAgomsG5NaMI7Pju7EVUkZBrxdJeYYKOdtS_gdQnEnRmJ3OnxmsXM/s320/davis.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Though of course Davis' career has long been long enough for Topps to just print the stats anyway. And though one would expect this is his final Topps baseball card issued promptly in Series One in 2021, Topps gonna Topps so they found fit to give Orioles fans one more Chris Davis Card in 2021 Heritage High Numbers.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Best 60s Photo</span></span></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidAbBqbqotsJv4jpWwZzzn7QgvdvlaJzGfrgKq-PX4k2C86EoJWurWga0uUNPk6Cl05jfO2cmm7QzJV4mtu9KoNU-gD3hqBNcBbxflpbpnLHLjB1JoCVccJ25O2qXkg4CNEijb3WcJdwD_2VhQLQLDymlzzXBKzqBDmYt2wpdeX1RIIZSg48JTzpc/s2104/banks.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2104" data-original-width="1502" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidAbBqbqotsJv4jpWwZzzn7QgvdvlaJzGfrgKq-PX4k2C86EoJWurWga0uUNPk6Cl05jfO2cmm7QzJV4mtu9KoNU-gD3hqBNcBbxflpbpnLHLjB1JoCVccJ25O2qXkg4CNEijb3WcJdwD_2VhQLQLDymlzzXBKzqBDmYt2wpdeX1RIIZSg48JTzpc/s320/banks.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Best 70s Photo</span></h2><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgdHIFBtVhKylZO--xeJM62p8f2WEBh_dEheUnc6ItnHuslOyLun9Uzgcsu2MeAKTk7vTzhL5F3gmtbMOHKCNNMACO0QIelZQNbyWT-gkfb1BHFrrubAbTgzHG6lG8eTn5m_VwWfbD85em9OYQGjrU3Y_uMVzahjsSIslZOFIIi6tfobpnfHCBDT0/s2090/brooks%20robinson.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2090" data-original-width="1504" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgdHIFBtVhKylZO--xeJM62p8f2WEBh_dEheUnc6ItnHuslOyLun9Uzgcsu2MeAKTk7vTzhL5F3gmtbMOHKCNNMACO0QIelZQNbyWT-gkfb1BHFrrubAbTgzHG6lG8eTn5m_VwWfbD85em9OYQGjrU3Y_uMVzahjsSIslZOFIIi6tfobpnfHCBDT0/s320/brooks%20robinson.jpeg" width="230" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Yess! The '74 Garvey effect, love it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This then becomes the <b>Best Warm Fuzzy Vintage Card Memory Card</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Best 80s Photo</span></h2><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFrvG6_ZKhB-wIJk80uFQSZrJ3WRiC6ezKvRUKdzYSe7m7ymv_pkxJd_W8Ar0BX0THwiGqqTeQ1KjXhq_NrPmv7KdGuyuwUgO9JKd0GXQCcbtX46TqYOV64CaV1FaVJRYUUDclgQBIhcV_SkV9VDYIzEx-vATjwGQj2YXrHXpsGw0KPnhTXmMVPuo/s2104/strawberry.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2104" data-original-width="1502" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFrvG6_ZKhB-wIJk80uFQSZrJ3WRiC6ezKvRUKdzYSe7m7ymv_pkxJd_W8Ar0BX0THwiGqqTeQ1KjXhq_NrPmv7KdGuyuwUgO9JKd0GXQCcbtX46TqYOV64CaV1FaVJRYUUDclgQBIhcV_SkV9VDYIzEx-vATjwGQj2YXrHXpsGw0KPnhTXmMVPuo/s320/strawberry.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Ok, ok, so I'm a sucker for whatever digital image filter they used to make 2021 Gallery.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Most Baseball Card Baseball Card</span></h2><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghYke6vL7lkPsXPfEDApBq-Q7SiZ6z95O2awqGM1-YoT5wFoP4aCg70abzNH9aknWeg6mTDxRiLqPyPPFvF_8Xy3VrG0lCH1Smio3opSXItj7K9yPgZjRmEq0ComKwFWpkIxoFghAs-oLWmuqkN86XGr0qgKx2X43Pm-jgjrQLZXB0WK8Kkdo1Di0/s2098/Wisdom.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1502" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghYke6vL7lkPsXPfEDApBq-Q7SiZ6z95O2awqGM1-YoT5wFoP4aCg70abzNH9aknWeg6mTDxRiLqPyPPFvF_8Xy3VrG0lCH1Smio3opSXItj7K9yPgZjRmEq0ComKwFWpkIxoFghAs-oLWmuqkN86XGr0qgKx2X43Pm-jgjrQLZXB0WK8Kkdo1Di0/s320/Wisdom.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">He hits Home Runs, too, I'm pretty sure.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The Cubs get great Baseball Cards.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And now it's time for the Ding! Ding! Winner! Winner! Card Of The Year. Despite my best efforts pawing through stacks and stacks of 2021 Topps Baseball Cards, I never really found one that encapsulated some thought I had on the state of Baseball Cards in 2021. Perhaps the Satchell Paige card could be a candidate, or the Maldonado card to salute excellence in photography.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Instead I am going to go with a card that has already been on the blog, because I most enjoy gazing upon it. It might also be my most valuable "pull" in 2021, which would make it #1 automatically for many a "collector." It is also most definitely the <b>2021 Psychedelic Card of the Year, </b>a category I hardly ever get around to reporting on here, which is as it should be for the mysterious world of Psychedelic objects, whatever those are.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><h1 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">2021 Baseball Card Of The Year</span></h1><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUWifEyeIbeORWSgAEFF_pFFqxhVUZr7n-RaPIPWbj_SaZ-cG3qr8op-xSrRUQffSWZrjBPAZBWkfRO3cX0Y74cjaNnyDYGYVm_gDOXcnGGpKD-fvC3MVCidp1dKz4Sw_wELk4-VqmQN0iepHwvLpbBTT-c6tqXVeW9iYwrsDs354A0CL0rJi7ubA/s2116/VGjr.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2116" data-original-width="1509" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUWifEyeIbeORWSgAEFF_pFFqxhVUZr7n-RaPIPWbj_SaZ-cG3qr8op-xSrRUQffSWZrjBPAZBWkfRO3cX0Y74cjaNnyDYGYVm_gDOXcnGGpKD-fvC3MVCidp1dKz4Sw_wELk4-VqmQN0iepHwvLpbBTT-c6tqXVeW9iYwrsDs354A0CL0rJi7ubA/s320/VGjr.jpg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Oooooohhhhhhh, Shiny!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Well I hope you enjoyed a scroll through 2021 Baseball Cards. I might take a final final look at a few more when some of these actually get placed in to binder pages, we'll see. And I collected some 2022 Baseball Cards, too. We'll take a look at those, Next Year. Or, maybe, the year after that...</div><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><br /><div><br /></div><br /><div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></div><br /><div><br /></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></h2><div><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div></div><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><br /></div></div><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><br /><div><br /></div><br /><div><br /></div><br /><div><br /></div><br /><br /><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><div><br /></div><br /><div><br /></div><br />BaseSetCallinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05508114484929386332noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7573896101004946985.post-32946189364855895352022-04-08T00:10:00.003-04:002022-04-08T00:10:56.522-04:00The best Ho-Hum Baseball Cards in quite a while<p> Happy Opening Day!</p><p>I scored a pack of brand new baseball cards the other day - just in time!</p><p>This one greeted me to the year two thousand, twenty two:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKo5XmcYQNCMCOFzd9Udlgj8dWpwdcno6Kipc2APyNSSo_UKBmBB7Oi6tN2XCCQGStrZJjbHPkyn8v2ogGbnCE9trUtGz0n9uT84o0ur-bFJKQxL3dzIuUBQuScICQ3-qVUBooBM46kQzrbyE1nEP-jC_QKkYh6oPYyX8QQ4b7Rfa5i0hg_SiwRRk/s2104/Gilbert.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2104" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKo5XmcYQNCMCOFzd9Udlgj8dWpwdcno6Kipc2APyNSSo_UKBmBB7Oi6tN2XCCQGStrZJjbHPkyn8v2ogGbnCE9trUtGz0n9uT84o0ur-bFJKQxL3dzIuUBQuScICQ3-qVUBooBM46kQzrbyE1nEP-jC_QKkYh6oPYyX8QQ4b7Rfa5i0hg_SiwRRk/s320/Gilbert.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Alrighty then. A brand new player on a team I am always barely conscious of, since they tend to play baseball while I am falling asleep. But that is quite specifically why I purchase brand new baseball cards. Things seem quite intriguing for the Diamondbacks with this particular player. Spring, hope, eternal, etc., etc.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I quite like this 2022 Topps Baseball design. All those flowing curves — soothing. White border returns after a long absence — classic. Team logo — check. Clearly readable player name — let's just forget all about 2021 Topps Baseball, shall we?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Sadly, try as it might, Topps can just never seem to throw a perfect card no matter how hard (?) it tries. What is up with that little dog ear tab on the bottom right of the image frame? Is it a button you push to reveal a secret about the player? I mean, a baseball was already used, quite nicely, over there on the other side of the card, so it can't be a baseball, I think.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Ahh yes, I forgot, Topps always seems to make this Old Man trying to enjoy a memory of Youth to instead remember that I am, indeed, Old, now, by forcing me to squint a little bit. This time to figure out what is going on in that little tab thing-a-ma-jig there: the player's Position. Why couldn't they have used a nice simple black capital letter there: <b>P</b> - for Pitcher. See how easy that was?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I can tell already that I will enjoy collecting this brand new set of clean, well framed Topps Baseball cards. But that positional goof-up requires that I can only hand out an <b style="font-size: large;">A- </b>here.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Each year now, I try strenuously to not see the incoming Topps Baseball card design before the simple pleasure of opening a pack of the cards, starting the year before of course. It is always a challenge. This year was only a partial success; I have failed in this goal in several ways and each year brings a new FAIL point. In 2022, it was a nefarious eBay lister, who decided to randomly package up one of these new cards with one my beloved Sea Turtle cards from 2013 in an offering that got included in one of my saved searches on the ole 'Bay. I looked away quickly, but the damage was done. I guess with my annual desire to just experience a pack of Topps Baseball cards just like I did each spring in my youth - with zero foreknowledge - well, there's always next year.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As soon as I finish fully absorbing the front of a brand new card each year, I am also still quite looking forward to seeing the back, too. No one ever bothers ruining that for me:</div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCO3JF5Kx9snpegbO7k0N0yyq2PVo5tSwenYcm6i5rjDEkeDTPCzlZxDP2jD2jy4K7ROkntOxJM3TvCg4Au1MmWRhjA5V6xMLk2HCO7AmRn-Ne61Id8L1irCFOz_vfUJi3REi8amsjzOmgpNC1aD8KjYcnMWQ3dZCaQLHLAJlN_giJ-7rOikJXkNc/s2106/Gilbert%20back.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1510" data-original-width="2106" height="458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCO3JF5Kx9snpegbO7k0N0yyq2PVo5tSwenYcm6i5rjDEkeDTPCzlZxDP2jD2jy4K7ROkntOxJM3TvCg4Au1MmWRhjA5V6xMLk2HCO7AmRn-Ne61Id8L1irCFOz_vfUJi3REi8amsjzOmgpNC1aD8KjYcnMWQ3dZCaQLHLAJlN_giJ-7rOikJXkNc/w640-h458/Gilbert%20back.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Here the front image frame nearly repeats completely; perhaps one of the closest such repetitions I can remember. But then it has been more years than I can quickly remember since Topps Baseball cards had a white border, so ... this works, I guess. That white space above the write-up seems kinda wasteful however. The always interesting (to me) write-ups would have looked a bit more Pro there if they had been centered on the vertical in that space, in my cranky opinion.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I'm not sure stats really need an enclosing frame like this, but everything seems to be in order, with no real changes from past efforts. I always hope Topps will pick up an old Donruss card back feature of listing contract status, but that seems increasingly unlikely as MLB players have ever shorter careers with ever quicker pinballing from team to team, it seems.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And even the fronts of the cards frequently remind me of that:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEzvor0pxhFSOgB0EZneoHZPoK9LSnQ5jcl_fxAd3c_o31Sn08Tmigi82fAxl-DQg_w-nvPwtyqJcKqsR0Do4RdG76stCWvUQ8FGwCjcxl2pB47BRYsJv8Fo6XPJLsXZaHL1raJJDSZi1xnZdCd4mhEOFRy8Y1Y10Oo6Mf9N76rWBLJLYBiFHJFes/s2100/Mullins.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEzvor0pxhFSOgB0EZneoHZPoK9LSnQ5jcl_fxAd3c_o31Sn08Tmigi82fAxl-DQg_w-nvPwtyqJcKqsR0Do4RdG76stCWvUQ8FGwCjcxl2pB47BRYsJv8Fo6XPJLsXZaHL1raJJDSZi1xnZdCd4mhEOFRy8Y1Y10Oo6Mf9N76rWBLJLYBiFHJFes/s320/Mullins.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This is a great card. Dynamic. Best player on his team. You are the Pitcher having just completed your follow through; Mullins is looking right at you, you think, initially. No, he is looking towards Home as he is about to zoom out of your visual frame towards 2nd Base. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It's the start of a brand new baseball season. O's fans will have Cedric Mullins, at least. Thanks, Topps. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now, which team will I see him on in Update, I think, just before I paw past him on to the next card. Oh, wait, Update doesn't show traded players any more. Still, these great cards of great players on bad teams with little chance in the brand new baseball season - yet again, the reason I purchase Topps Baseball cards.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Not just for the Stars of MLB, like this one:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzhl31R47ieHQNgSRj2t7SNBkf-P_q-M3OeYOBHaaVVRPt8EyaXjYRMx3hQieX_YgMXVW75HXaSDa62PaaCZCux0cNIOwUunuIZL-6uj7ojxBUoPlnticxWqUleya5FHcTwgwy_YcuQWujDPDx_nv3h_T1kksyx6sHyDyEDC6_V1NyJXMaD8kDjOc/s2098/Wheeler.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzhl31R47ieHQNgSRj2t7SNBkf-P_q-M3OeYOBHaaVVRPt8EyaXjYRMx3hQieX_YgMXVW75HXaSDa62PaaCZCux0cNIOwUunuIZL-6uj7ojxBUoPlnticxWqUleya5FHcTwgwy_YcuQWujDPDx_nv3h_T1kksyx6sHyDyEDC6_V1NyJXMaD8kDjOc/s320/Wheeler.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Another great "pull," for me, because although the doings in the NL East are nearly as famous as the AL East given the media concentration around its cities — and I am thus less dependent on Topps for my baseball news — I just happen to enjoy the story of Zack Wheeler's career. Cut loose by the Mets only to sign with a divisional rival and start racking up Cy Young votes, annually now. And Topps comes through for me with no less than 4 <i><span style="color: red;">League Leader in Italics</span></i> on the back, though amazingly his solid 1.01 WHIP was not one of them. I guess I will have to flip over more baseball cards to figure out who led that one.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But one thing is almost always for sure in a pack of Topps Baseball cards - you won't hang out in the stars for long -<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwk8Z2rsEUrkEgUa_JKpiSPnUAINSO7W1Gm-2OulFRNeJLwQpWfYcXsWr-moW05Ej1qsoDSRaUSByOvriCohiLkollcj3De7FBimB-aCLbnW6yKzR1keWMb3y0tEOE6wekA8OJcJEtlyfFTVwQRzL2i0t4M87fdt_Jf5gOUZEPfqt7adU9MhtlxsE/s2096/Castro.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2096" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwk8Z2rsEUrkEgUa_JKpiSPnUAINSO7W1Gm-2OulFRNeJLwQpWfYcXsWr-moW05Ej1qsoDSRaUSByOvriCohiLkollcj3De7FBimB-aCLbnW6yKzR1keWMb3y0tEOE6wekA8OJcJEtlyfFTVwQRzL2i0t4M87fdt_Jf5gOUZEPfqt7adU9MhtlxsE/s320/Castro.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Though being the first player in MLB history to record their first 5 hits as Home Runs should always earn you a Topps Baseball card. As should having 3 sequential letter "O"s in your name too, I guess?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I could only catch a few brief minutes of Bob Walk and Joe Black discussing the Pirates this Spring Training, but I believe I heard them say 2nd Base was one of the probable open spots on the team, so this card is quite mysterious to me. I had a tough Spring Training, myself. I worked 29 days in March, and those 2 "off" days were just a blur of being tired, or one day, sick; after that 2nd day I worked through a strong cold. No, not THE virus - I took my first Covid test of this whole 2 year pandemic, and it was negative. Just, a cold. Like in the old days. That bout of illness was both a PITA, and really cool, too. Just, a cold.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But thoughts of baseball were just hard to cozy up to, particularly before the lock-out finally ended. I knew cards were in some stores, at least - but I didn't go buy any. They weren't in my local grocery store, just a mile away, yet, and I couldn't be bothered to wheel in elsewhere and pursue new cards like I normally would. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Compounding my what, baseball? thoughts was/is the war in Ukraine. Reading military history has been another life-long hobby of mine; now I have the chance to read military history in the daily news, as it happens. I have been far too hooked on that.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And yet I would faithfully check the card section when I scrounged up the time to buy groceries; the new 2022 Topps Baseball cards just would not appear, in my brand of Big Box (Meijers). Then, the weirdest thing happened - Opening Day cards appeared there, -before- Series One. The world gets stranger every day.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I love Opening Day, at least a little bit, and always try to open some on Opening Day. But for me, following the Tigers, that is tomorrow. So the Opening Day cards are still in their Topps shrinkwrap for a little while longer.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">When Series One did finally appear at Meijers a few days ago, I snatched up the last 3 single pack blister packs on offer. And then, an even stranger thing happened: I didn't open any of them. For a whole 24 hours. Tired, working, checking the Ukraine headlines while falling asleep. Baseball cards? Ho-hum.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Fortunately, Topps has come through for me, with nice bright baseball cards:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9bvat2odRCIRxSHy3B8pjlF10N9-3rRVl6_FbCZcGCivFrR6A5zFAqDhlUIpIQgNkCNsZ3OpmAjbMVUOfHQHN_UWVOxgE4Sl7O6TZfgUCOgTLbPQu7GrWgpnrs-_V8HtY5GzjR6rlgFH_uYoO0IT4SYwrGiev6aV7U_V8dgBwThGvpCyX0JGtVvM/s2100/Mancini.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1506" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9bvat2odRCIRxSHy3B8pjlF10N9-3rRVl6_FbCZcGCivFrR6A5zFAqDhlUIpIQgNkCNsZ3OpmAjbMVUOfHQHN_UWVOxgE4Sl7O6TZfgUCOgTLbPQu7GrWgpnrs-_V8HtY5GzjR6rlgFH_uYoO0IT4SYwrGiev6aV7U_V8dgBwThGvpCyX0JGtVvM/s320/Mancini.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">You love to see it. We can beat fearsome diseases and go back to hitting Home Runs. Another Thanks, Topps.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Of course, baseball isn't always played on perfect summer afternoons -<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil5Nst6kx9BzlFcC4ex8_yxIgEAx72Ft7YIkZ6jwmiGqEm9trtMEU5etNLGGtnAAVhoc7akzrPqrNEG20VWDQ1LmAYeP3BBwo5JmGgsHe6sv72VnwjQXW5bNeL36c8AlJFt1w5UISFTP5rYMfa8T7nECeRZJ81hqm1roo3eUW38TGF5BEtReB4MdY/s2098/Kelly.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1506" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil5Nst6kx9BzlFcC4ex8_yxIgEAx72Ft7YIkZ6jwmiGqEm9trtMEU5etNLGGtnAAVhoc7akzrPqrNEG20VWDQ1LmAYeP3BBwo5JmGgsHe6sv72VnwjQXW5bNeL36c8AlJFt1w5UISFTP5rYMfa8T7nECeRZJ81hqm1roo3eUW38TGF5BEtReB4MdY/s320/Kelly.jpeg" width="230" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Last year I thought I finally figured out where all the Night Cards come from lately - Arizona. But these are their road grey uniforms, it appears - I am wrong. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That nice baseball card has no demerits on the front. The back though, bummed me right out - it is flipped, compared to all the other vertical cards I just examined. This maddening habit by Topps has been running for a few years now. Make it stop. Please.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Bitch, and ye shall receive, perhaps:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAq7FztvIrlxy8pfv7_EeFkLg_yxt3Z8ixj0h4WQE6XV2_p3pA7yp64PCoTGAzIt5lX3cSPvGoR5gp0y_PGtm0lwLDrW8ebS5i_pEhG41WW47IJUVvXltER-sM0ZgXKCrqdpcmzGpK4A7ZPb45jTuFCr6T005fIs0OcmGU4O-8Q6eHaNlwKxUZGLs/s2100/Cards.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1504" data-original-width="2100" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAq7FztvIrlxy8pfv7_EeFkLg_yxt3Z8ixj0h4WQE6XV2_p3pA7yp64PCoTGAzIt5lX3cSPvGoR5gp0y_PGtm0lwLDrW8ebS5i_pEhG41WW47IJUVvXltER-sM0ZgXKCrqdpcmzGpK4A7ZPb45jTuFCr6T005fIs0OcmGU4O-8Q6eHaNlwKxUZGLs/s320/Cards.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I had to quit crying about flipped backs when the fronts switch to the now annually required horizontal cards. I quite like horizontal baseball cards and am glad to see the design works well here, too. And am pleased to see that Arenado got to keep his #28 in St. Louis. And see some actual baseball fans, not blurs, on a baseball card.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Though I will have to wait for final judgement on this year's horizontals when I see an actual player card<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjtG_uy-l6-LoVF_z_kykiK-_OnJ9Ecyjuw6nOmziApIka-I3kimNj_lLvPGHqyN0RtuRYP3959Rz9gJtL3QVtSgzp-sY5XFhP2Mzn-eKGlSVEBK4k5-dgxAmTygBdsBNWmN5TnZJlREuXlGZKwmREcaewukI0vpmvVnyxo_U0PH2T02FR_XQAbTo/s2098/Cards%201.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1504" data-original-width="2098" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjtG_uy-l6-LoVF_z_kykiK-_OnJ9Ecyjuw6nOmziApIka-I3kimNj_lLvPGHqyN0RtuRYP3959Rz9gJtL3QVtSgzp-sY5XFhP2Mzn-eKGlSVEBK4k5-dgxAmTygBdsBNWmN5TnZJlREuXlGZKwmREcaewukI0vpmvVnyxo_U0PH2T02FR_XQAbTo/s320/Cards%201.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Personally, if I must receive an Astros Team Card annually, I truly wish I could get one with Dusty Baker on it. But I don't see Fanatics coughing up a little money to the Managers to ever make that happen any time soon. There's always next year?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There are still 28 teams to go of course<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdPGD7thFpzuj0LY2hd63u3-aMx7wpSIWBSct_TnBtoRSMIlUA7cfQetvpAgudX5PdcyIcS5ODZVIf78XY7IeKyRrO2lb3UTetndfl5p9HefA8N1jEQOG7rrMjuC1RLt_pC8ewp2mbth5sgMn_OyPXTU7flCN6cpX9EDz_LzRawy-Ip9jqPK1FKtU/s2104/Pads.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1502" data-original-width="2104" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdPGD7thFpzuj0LY2hd63u3-aMx7wpSIWBSct_TnBtoRSMIlUA7cfQetvpAgudX5PdcyIcS5ODZVIf78XY7IeKyRrO2lb3UTetndfl5p9HefA8N1jEQOG7rrMjuC1RLt_pC8ewp2mbth5sgMn_OyPXTU7flCN6cpX9EDz_LzRawy-Ip9jqPK1FKtU/s320/Pads.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There's that stadium again. The one where all the teams play while I sleep. Although the West teams are mysteries to me, I did know the basics of the Padres season last year. What a battle that Division was. Just don't ask me what the heck is going on with the player on the right's bicep back-side. These team cards do a nice job of summarizing things, though I am starting to suspect all the cellar dweller teams will get cards in Series 2 maybe and I will have to wait a bit to commiserate with Topps Card Back Writer when assigned to say something about, well, you pick which challenging text you will flip over to read.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Still waiting for a horizontal player card though:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2qOPMEIavhZArcBMPDFW14hbtToSnfFSvWPj8MHpg5rXur_0Rg10WKrAb8EIm-Zy_5JWHjtPJDxTsH3G2TMsfqIvL8IR1Jd4PMyconRxTPn3wTLoTXdE1-SVA3rORetSeSi8b7mfKnzGKN9YHnzu41WsSel6tcMFDX6hH4RMJJuUCok6v6rq46Kk/s2092/Darvish.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2092" data-original-width="1502" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2qOPMEIavhZArcBMPDFW14hbtToSnfFSvWPj8MHpg5rXur_0Rg10WKrAb8EIm-Zy_5JWHjtPJDxTsH3G2TMsfqIvL8IR1Jd4PMyconRxTPn3wTLoTXdE1-SVA3rORetSeSi8b7mfKnzGKN9YHnzu41WsSel6tcMFDX6hH4RMJJuUCok6v6rq46Kk/s320/Darvish.jpeg" width="230" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Another nice dynamic baseball card here. Your eyes move with Darvish to the glove back to the ball he is about to throw and back off towards Home with Darvish's eyes again. Don't forget your seasick pills.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Anyone else remember when the Padres "team color" was blue for a while? I'm starting to miss that. This pack of cards can't seem to gin up a blue team for me. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCtAUAKB07wo_IslKeXomjtCQIFomEXzZAlP6_PdiJdgzV4wvMtmH2ChKGd5xwYQDysMWBK_XDjARxQ7fE2BCEhd3iQHL9fSJMC9kjXmhBI7ckpkp7EevkpomiYxlZuzRMig-PAtYZC5nuodjupZiWhgwJ9vSDbnJsf1dboE6ied0fA5BdGuX1L34/s2104/Perez%201.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2104" data-original-width="1510" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCtAUAKB07wo_IslKeXomjtCQIFomEXzZAlP6_PdiJdgzV4wvMtmH2ChKGd5xwYQDysMWBK_XDjARxQ7fE2BCEhd3iQHL9fSJMC9kjXmhBI7ckpkp7EevkpomiYxlZuzRMig-PAtYZC5nuodjupZiWhgwJ9vSDbnJsf1dboE6ied0fA5BdGuX1L34/s320/Perez%201.jpeg" width="230" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This card has an issue - Martin is sadly a bit blurry, there - I never like that on a baseball card.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But I always hope to pull a Red Sox card in my first pack every year. I want to see if they will once again get a special exception from Topps, as when they use the pair of red socks for the graphic image, which is their shoulder patch, not their cap logo - and thus unlike the other 29 teams in the set, usually. This year, Boston gets the cap logo, like everyone else. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This card, by the way, basically repeats the observations about Perez on the back of the card as delivered just a few months ago in the Update set. This time labeling him "distinctive." I hope to see how his secondary data stats, the ones rarely ever brought up on the backs of baseball cards, might fit in with the rather distinctive ball park he will pitch half of his games in. But I will probably have to depend on Topps to help me with that, in some future set, I hope.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I think I might like these red team cards the best, so far. And I always like seeing a solid color "Alternate" uniform.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOEQ13D0Zviv-EPsGXCYGQ0XI7h7STo27ZkBZm-bb22HB11Pfm4-iwri8VnhDzQD0MFBOxZZFbyoSGQGLrq7YzyeUBJ__0XFW9RKHfCBkI9PP-kFfrXIc7SqiQZSY84JSLuOAv50lTzGRo9Z5a07KDgCCKk2_ItaXpO3-Df0D2JsMJSfdIMA0UZc0/s2100/Keller.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1506" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOEQ13D0Zviv-EPsGXCYGQ0XI7h7STo27ZkBZm-bb22HB11Pfm4-iwri8VnhDzQD0MFBOxZZFbyoSGQGLrq7YzyeUBJ__0XFW9RKHfCBkI9PP-kFfrXIc7SqiQZSY84JSLuOAv50lTzGRo9Z5a07KDgCCKk2_ItaXpO3-Df0D2JsMJSfdIMA0UZc0/s320/Keller.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Which is good, cuz the Road Alternate here saves this card. These yellow team cards (only 2 teams? I forget) aren't getting-r-done in this design. That team color needs to be at least double in width to really work, imo. Although the colors used so far in this pack - Red, Orange, & Yellow - don't suffer from an all too easy fade towards a pastel tint that always drives me nuts, the thin line does evidence a bit of continuing residual fear of bright primary colors by Topps - the ones that make for the most memorable baseball cards. Last seen in 2019 really, and in less than half of the 2010s sets.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">One long time Topps Baseball set tradition continues, after seeming to disappear in recent Update sets -<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbuf5_x5hWZGEQywwMpdzOJXE5Xvfu-9rlrgq3D_cYWLjg3sCUByABbviXsaC3mz4jOOqysiXgDe49_Zp7L78lJMICZC0-fGjifVTnGUTzovhDRSPj9RK2Hs7AUHQgNTa0eugVW9BQ31gSFV8hXOIzdyu1uHP7jG_nRA7A8F8p-jnq3bJiyWghVY4/s2098/Checklist.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1504" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbuf5_x5hWZGEQywwMpdzOJXE5Xvfu-9rlrgq3D_cYWLjg3sCUByABbviXsaC3mz4jOOqysiXgDe49_Zp7L78lJMICZC0-fGjifVTnGUTzovhDRSPj9RK2Hs7AUHQgNTa0eugVW9BQ31gSFV8hXOIzdyu1uHP7jG_nRA7A8F8p-jnq3bJiyWghVY4/s320/Checklist.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">A checklist card.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Though of course not apparent on the front. But I quite like it. I always like seeing the logos for the 2 Leagues in MLB - a touch of 19th century graphic design subtly whispers 'baseball history' to me. And this card has a cool factoid in the subtext: "Hometown friends catch up during pregame" - that I would have never learned otherwise. And a bit surprisingly, the card doesn't hit you over the head to blare the player names at you. An understated thing, from Topps? Nice.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">At least I got to see a blue team card, sorta. The back of the card has a few quirks. For one, it is card #329, but covers cards #67 through #99. No, I am not going to be checking the little boxes (still included). But 8 year old me would get mad that I have to check the box for a checklist card on a different checklist card altogether.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This card also revealed something else to me. Card #3 in this pack, for a likely footnote Rookie player for the Pirates, does not feature Rooolfo Castro as the card seems to read. His name is actually Rodolfo Castro, which the font used in the checklist clearly reveals. At first I thought the font used for player names on the front of these cards was a straight use of the font used back in my favorite set, 2013, but now I am not sure. And I will have to go back and see how well "D" vs "O" gets kerned in 2013, too. That will be pleasant, though also a sad reminder of my limited time to work on that special 2013 project, and that set blog - which shall return, some day.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now I always like 'racing stripe' cards, like this one<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGUnmoX9gnyml0bMCamttpR7jgpt3UTSi2Dyu2wRrzHDYVch2MKhwWSxGOVQW-tgoAmcIkssbVvpVWgBgPj_0ZoMsP_GR2PVgh9QJi_YcoK-9yftRlKjzNM55k211ph8t_N1tNHz4VOUKl99REg8WdUlu3spbv-IL0_ZjiePdsmmmsRZY0Y9_3to4/s2098/Galvis.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1510" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGUnmoX9gnyml0bMCamttpR7jgpt3UTSi2Dyu2wRrzHDYVch2MKhwWSxGOVQW-tgoAmcIkssbVvpVWgBgPj_0ZoMsP_GR2PVgh9QJi_YcoK-9yftRlKjzNM55k211ph8t_N1tNHz4VOUKl99REg8WdUlu3spbv-IL0_ZjiePdsmmmsRZY0Y9_3to4/s320/Galvis.jpeg" width="230" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But I also dislike Topps steady habit of just printing Series One cards regardless of contract status. Cut the day after the World Series - here you go. In this case Galvis signed in Japan in early December. So perhaps we will see him again some day, and he probably won't make it in to the 2022 Phillies team set blister pack, at least.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I guess, like baseball, things may change, but things stay the same, too, in packs of Topps Baseball cards. Which must mean it's time for - the inserts:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZL-pbbKM1hcQMRYvnBS28CKUsVrPqt7VzSG4YxG0wENBhkCETIziTiKanDCnyE6w3COzFyPurM7D7h0LKRMoNtOxhGUISSUYDVOqOxiY1tOZezG6fjO2vbZSUYXXqKBDk7-p84pY8PnZ-qCL2M9lSJa4HdQDYn--nYRX9A_gKZUldg-atBH_dq9w/s2080/Chrome%20Ramirez.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2080" data-original-width="1504" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZL-pbbKM1hcQMRYvnBS28CKUsVrPqt7VzSG4YxG0wENBhkCETIziTiKanDCnyE6w3COzFyPurM7D7h0LKRMoNtOxhGUISSUYDVOqOxiY1tOZezG6fjO2vbZSUYXXqKBDk7-p84pY8PnZ-qCL2M9lSJa4HdQDYn--nYRX9A_gKZUldg-atBH_dq9w/s320/Chrome%20Ramirez.jpeg" width="231" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I believe this will be the main insert in Series One this year. By 'main' I mean the one that will appear one per pack in the hard-to-find classical single packs that I prefer (16 cards, this year) as well as in guaranteed quantities in all the other formats, rather than just 1:3 or whatever.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I truly like these. I'm not super excited that there must be a Chrome version and a regular version, though these are nice Chromes. There is 'frame break' going on in all sorts of directions; a bit unfortunately here where Jose Ramirez is just a "Tar of MLB" - it's the little things, Topps. I quite admire Jose Ramirez, who just soldiers on every year for an ownership group that ... does anyone like Cleveland's owners? Or Baltimore's? Or Pittsburgh's? This pack sure seemed to want to keep me on the sad side of MLB, it seemed. Perhaps not pulling any Tigers in my first pack is a good sign, this year.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But that Ramirez insert is only card #15, so -</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOwscnkQ-rnQ-cTJWAk64DPkNEvtd5EKrbeekqtkG4XFz0ZuPKLgaOiof9FATv-86fKcmDqZ07JMNVaonAMpAmyD_Acg_m9h5jMeNh8Yv6cQ3vrEHGOiivJz7FuP6jSGUgBmd-3JAcSq10bDVgbG__Cg8kEmBK6rCXDFe5KhkgfjfMiCjrzewXGhY/s2080/Bregman%20insert.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2080" data-original-width="1512" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOwscnkQ-rnQ-cTJWAk64DPkNEvtd5EKrbeekqtkG4XFz0ZuPKLgaOiof9FATv-86fKcmDqZ07JMNVaonAMpAmyD_Acg_m9h5jMeNh8Yv6cQ3vrEHGOiivJz7FuP6jSGUgBmd-3JAcSq10bDVgbG__Cg8kEmBK6rCXDFe5KhkgfjfMiCjrzewXGhY/s320/Bregman%20insert.jpeg" width="233" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now the stars are out, though I don't really like this particular star. I think I will really like pulling more of these inserts though. Pizazz. There is no rule that I have to put this exact card in the binder with the other ones, is there?</div></div></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>I did mention that my local Big Box store, which perhaps wisely kept Series One off the shelf until I was finally ready for a baseball card pick-me-up, is Meijers - home of the purple parallels. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This year, only one per blister pack, which means only one scratch off box in the big Wander lottery this Series:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitWsrgZTNcJQpv-sqSSuDkgm_GXmz4zmnlnCs9WycsGfBjE4DBGGEq6wspB7TvJpLiriG6oxI9vlxY1ZKWTvdTWVhwVzopW_i8vmh7JH3_mF01vUDCqqWQoNQOS2PR8DetN359aSmBDnapC6VJnZR4fBeaKaHHgeOT4mD8eCRT2iU0TnAshAV0i-A/s2112/Pache%20purple.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1488" data-original-width="2112" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitWsrgZTNcJQpv-sqSSuDkgm_GXmz4zmnlnCs9WycsGfBjE4DBGGEq6wspB7TvJpLiriG6oxI9vlxY1ZKWTvdTWVhwVzopW_i8vmh7JH3_mF01vUDCqqWQoNQOS2PR8DetN359aSmBDnapC6VJnZR4fBeaKaHHgeOT4mD8eCRT2iU0TnAshAV0i-A/s320/Pache%20purple.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Hey look, a hot RC!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">No, wait, that was last year at this time. I think recall listings for actual old time 100 lot Rookie Card cards of Cristian Pache, just about a year ago. I can never decide if it is nice of Topps to continue their Rookie optimism with the Future Stars designation, the next year, or a cruel twist.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A nice enough parallel, I guess. Adding a bit of graphic-y-ness probably helps; can't decide. At least I got to see a horizontal player card. But probably not enough color banging going on here to want to chase these.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Except, of course, for that always tantalizing lottery action in the deal. There's always next pack.</div><br /></div><br /></div><br /></div><br /></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /></div><br /></div><br /></div><br /></div><br /></div><br />BaseSetCallinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05508114484929386332noreply@blogger.com0