Summer Plans

The rising prices of certain baseball and basketball cards has been on my mind a lot lately.

 

There is a stack of 35 graded cards sitting on my desk. One of them (not pictured) is selling for over $1,000. The entire stack could fetch over $3,000 if I sell them all. Right now I'm debating which ones to sell - and what to buy if I do sell them. My 1956 Topps set build isn't even 50% complete - and I still need eleven Hall of Famers.

It would be fun to acquire a Dream Card this summer, and the values of some of these cards on my desk will never be higher - meaning some singles on my "bucket list" that seemed out of reach might finally be attainable.

I've shipped out all of my trade packages and care packages in order to clear the runway for my 100,000th card. Those of you who have over 100,000 sports cards or don't pay attention to such milestones might be wondering why this is so important to me. To be honest, it's been such a difficult year that I kind of just feel like celebrating something and since I'm close enough to acquiring said card I decided to make it special. 

After the three major "waves" of cards that arrived earlier this month I decided to send out some small trade offers on TCDB before closing up shop for the summer. Most of them were accepted but I'm still waiting on a reply from one user. Three users rejected my offers - one was for personal reasons while another declined my trade offer because he only does small PWE trades and I was asking for (checks notes)... nine cards. 

As of Friday morning my card count stood at 98,824. This does not count the 121 cards held up at COMC for who knows how long - though I have added each one to my In-Transit list. However it does count all 660 cards in the 2011 Topps Diamond Anniversary Factory Set - which should be counted as one factory set but there doesn't appear to be an option to do so. I'm planning a hand-count of my entire collection sometime in June, along with some major eBay transactions, so that I have an exact number before I approach 100k.

However there's no doubt that 99k is close at hand. And Friday's mailday helped me inch ever closer to that number:

This Brett Favre Rewind to 1997 jersey had been sitting at the top of my COMC watch list for a while. I decided to trim down a lot of that list and bought this one on eBay instead. It was cheaper, it arrived in hand much faster, and 10% of the profit went to Wounded Warrior Project. This is my 813th Favre card. Not particularly close to 1,000 - but not too far off, either.

Red Sox cards acquired in various trades. The David Ortiz has some corner wear on the back.

Some Packers I didn't have including a Brian Noble Pro Set en Espanol and a Robert Brooks Stadium Club high# RC. I found this surprisingly easy to acquire given the price of a (non-RC) Brett Favre from this set. Some cool vintage-design cards fill out the scan. The D.B. Cooper card was a must-have as soon as I saw it; that's one of my favorite modern news stories.

Set fillers. I've finished 2018 Topps Big League and I've got about 2/3 of the Players Weekend variations so I'm adding them to the binder. Still chipping away at the 2017 Topps Heritage "master" set - in quotes because I'm definitely not chasing all of the inserts. I traded for nine singles from 1988-89 Topps and tossed the other six in my growing TCDB Trade Trash pile. Another reason why I've turned off trading there - you'd be amazed at how many damaged modern cards traders will send out.


I have no idea what to do with the discard pile. If anyone wants about 15-20 well-loved singles, no questions asked, I'll be happy to send a PWE to the first two readers who ask for them. Otherwise I might just throw them out because I would not send these in trades. 

One more set filler.. look who's finally here!

Thanks to CrazieJoe for helping me complete the 2003-04 Topps Pristine base set! There were some extra cards included, which increased my card count to 98,870 cards. At some point I might scan up all the Prisitne singles to celebrate the completion of this 16-year project. I wouldn't expect anyone to be interested in a scan-heavy post of a hundred hockey cards .. but I'm always surprised at which types of posts get comments (or don't.)

Obviously Free Card Friday posts will bring in traffic, but I'm surprised that Frankenset Sunday posts are popular as well. My last post, on the other hand..

 
The Athlete/Entertainer comparison game had just four players, but the combined guesses of Shane, Brian, Fuji, and Josh correctly identified five of the six subjects:

Comparison #1

• Once-in-a generation talent
• Has earned several individual accolades
• Carried a franchise in their early twenties
• Has yet to celebrate their 30th birthday

Mike Trout and Jennifer Lawrence

Comparison #2

• Tall, versatile import
• Entered the scene at the end of the 1990s
• Won a major individual award
• Model of consistency for over two decades
• Internationally known and still underrated

Dirk Nowitzki and Charlize Theron

Comparison #3

• Long, lanky superstar in their prime
• Ascended to stardom around 2007
• Initially image-conscious and sensitive to haters
• Occasionally eclipsed by an even bigger star

Kevin Durant and Taylor Swift


I'm not sure if I'll publish a Frankenset Sunday post tomorrow, but my next team was going to be the Chicago Cubs. (bet'cha that will get a bunch'a comments!) I'm tempted to super-size that post with some thoughts on Sammy Sosa and the Cubs items in my collection in advance of Long Gone Summer so perhaps I'll sub in a last-minute replacement team...



Thanks for reading!




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Allen and Anna - A Crossover Comparison

With all the new sports cards I've received this month and a three day weekend on the calendar I was planning to complete a sorting project or update my card count these past few days. My in-laws had their usual Memorial Day cookout and I stayed home - not because I'm afraid I'll get the Corona (though I'm taking it more seriously than they are) but because I simply needed a day off. It's been four months since I've had the house to myself, and I'm sure my family was happy to have a break from me.

But as Saturday approached I felt fatigued. Whenever I have any free time I default to something sports card related: sort cards, shop for cards, catalog my collection, read blogs.. this hobby of ours is a lot of work. And last weekend I was just tired of it all. I needed a day off from cards. 

I didn't want to spend my three-day weekend falling into an OCD sorting spiral, and so I caught up on non-card things I've wanted to do for quite a while. That included watching a movie my wife had no interest in, and reading some of the online articles that were overflowing my bookmarked folder. 

A couple of the articles were sports related but many of them were current and not-so-current news about books, movies, and actresses that have caught my interest. I read commentary from multiple sources about Anna Kendrick, my current fave, and the consensus seems to be that she isn't selective enough about the projects she chooses.

I won't bore you with the details of that take, except to say that it all led me to The Ringer, and the sequel to an article entitled "What's Your Plan, Anna Kendrick?" Here's one sentence regarding her new series Love Life that jumped right off the page:

Watching Kendrick in it is like watching Allen Iverson on the turn-of-the-century Sixers: a small, dynamic, eminently lovable performer trying like hell to carry an enterprise built on obsolete ideas.

I've never thoroughly compared an entertainer to a sports star, but I was intrigued by the idea. And so I tried to come up with some other comparisons. See if you can think of who I'm thinking of:

Comparison #1

• Once-in-a generation talent
• Has earned several individual accolades
• Carried a franchise in their early twenties
• Has yet to celebrate their 30th birthday

Comparison #2

• Tall, versatile import
• Entered the scene at the end of the 1990s
• Won a major individual award
• Model of consistency for over two decades
• Internationally known and still underrated

Comparison #3

• Long, lanky superstar in their prime
• Ascended to stardom around 2007
• Initially image-conscious and sensitive to haters
• Occasionally eclipsed by an even bigger star

I'll give you a couple of clues: all three entertainers are women, and none of the athletes are NFL stars. 

Answers - and some sports card content - in my next post :)

Thanks for reading!


 

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Frankenset Sunday - We'll never be Royals

This week's Frankenset Sunday post concerns the Kansas City Royals. 

I'm going to post a Sports Illustrated cover with each of these, assuming there is one for every MLB team.

The Royals entered the MLB in 1969, their All-Time team doesn't have a lot of star power, and their back-to-back World Series appearances in 2014 and 2015 occurred while I was shifting my collecting focus from hockey back to baseball. Also they don't have a large national following. 

Perhaps this explains why I'm one John Mayberry card away from completing the Royals team set. Here's the Royals All-Time team to date:

Did you know Kevin Appier was traded straight-up for Mo Vaughn? I remember the Royals trading Appier to the A's but I forgot all about that Angels-Mets swap. This Jeff Montgomery Firemen insert was part of my trade with TCDB user colonel98801.

I actually had a John Mayberry Royals card but I traded it, and it was a multi-player card anyhow. The Heritage Ned Yost is one of nine 2013 Topps Heritage Royals I acquired in a Nachos Grande trade stack. The 1986 Topps Hal McRae matches a Bret Saberhagen I have and I wondered if every Royals player in that set had their photo taken at the exact same spot at Yankee Stadium. Turns out only those two and Mike Jones were posed in the same place.

Saberhagen and Salvador Perez are guys I semi-collect so there were a fair amount of options. The only other Frank White card I have is PSA-graded so I had to go with 1990 Fleer. Patek needs an upgrade, and one is on the way. The open third base slot will be filled with a George Brett card -- which George Brett card is up to you.

"Mr. Royal" has had some fantastic cards. If I had one of these I'd slot it right into the binder and ask my readers to vote on Bret Saberhagen or Alex Gordon instead. But I don't, so..

I have 56 George Brett cards. 16 are in set builds, leaving 40 eligible for the binder. Here are my five favorite cards of #5:

1990 Leaf

1993 Stadium Club

2003 Flair Greats

2016 Stadium Club

2018 Topps Big League blue parallel

Which George Brett card should I slide into the binder? Vote for your choice in comments.

Thanks for reading!


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The Third Wave

The Third Wave arrived last Friday. Fuji and Tom posted their dime-store finds from Baseballcardstore.ca, and I've been looking forward to showing off my spoils. My entire order cost just $16.09 including shipping. Here are the highlights:

As you know I am not a Michael Jordan fanboy and I didn't watch a second of The Last Dance. That said, this card was featured on the website's front page so I added it to my cart quickly before someone else snatched it up.

I placed my order near the end of April and probably missed out on a lot of set needs as a result. There were still a few 1988-89 Fleer singles available so I grabbed all the cards I needed - and a couple that I didn't (like the two Celtics.) These cards and a couple recent trades bring my set build to over 35%, though I doubt I'll ever finish it thanks to that damn MJ.

1989-90 Fleer seems like a much more reasonable goal. The singles are easier to acquire in trades and have far fewer centering issues. I'm already approaching 25% of this set. 

Plenty of stars for ten cents apiece. Dale Ellis was a beast back in the day. The base set single is clean but the sticker is diamond cut :/

I was thrilled to find Anderson, Stokes, and Powell for ten cents each. That leaves me just ten cards short of the 2014-15 Panini Prizm set. Unfortunately there are some big names left.

Football finds, including the only Brett Favre card for sale on the site that I didn't have. That makes 812 unique singles of #4.

Here's an interesting stat courtesy of TCDB: Packers cards represent 30 percent of my total football card collection. I'm fairly close to 3,000 GB singles and just over 9,200 football cards. 

 

After searching by team and set I decided to hit some player PCs. My Dan Marino collection had been dormant for a while, and I was happy to find this trio, especially the 1992 Upper Deck gold single. The Jimmie Giles is an upgrade (I'm nearly done upgrading the '86 set), The Fantasy Stars insert was the only McCaffrey card on the site. Harbaugh is a refractor; it will probably end up with Dennis at some point but I'd be happy to hold onto it. 

 

On to hockey. I have a bunch of 2016-17 O-Pee-Chee Platinum refractors (or "rainbow" as they're called) as the ePack-COMC connection lowers the price to 27 cents or so. Jonathan Toews is the 18th such single in my collection; if I'd found more for ten cents each I'd go for the whole 200-card set!

 

I can't recall ever seeing Alex Ovechkin or Connor McDavid in an actual dime box, so my eyes lit up when I saw these on the site. The Capitals retro sticker was the only one available. I've been watching a Whalers logo sticker on COMC but it won't budge below $2.60 - or about $2 more than I'm willing to pay.

Speaking of Whalers..

 

I found a few needs, including a Blaine Stoughton sticker. The Peter Worrell Pacific red parallel is a dupe (trip, actually) but I can't pass up that dime deal.

I found lots of great Devils cards on the site (whaddya mean the Devils aren't popular in Canda?) The Taylor Hall at the center-left has been sitting in my COMC inventory since November. Guess I can sell that one. Also, despite the refractors rainbows selling at 27-30 cents on COMC the base Chrome Platinum singles are never that cheap, so I was happy to get these two for a dime apiece.

Same for the O-Pee-Chee base cards and the (non-bronze) Parkhurst card. Martin Brodeur cards were tough to find on the site, but here's one I didn't have. I'm up to 490 unique cards of the GOAT.

 

MoJo! This Marcus Johansson relic was one of two jersey cards I saw on the site. I can't remember the other one, but I was amazed that one would be a Jersey card. Ten cents is the least I have ever paid for a memorabilia card.

I did a quick search for Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz but didn't worry too much about picking up Red Sox singles on BBCs.ca since I can get them in trades and on Cardbarrel.

Most of my baseball card purchases were part of set builds - conventional and Franken. 

Found a few refractors for a dime each, including a purple Alex Gordon. The Clemente Greatest Moments was at the top of the webpage along with the Jordan/Pippen. It's a very nice upgrade for my very sparse Pirates page. 

Some relievers, a couple of George Kell cards, and a Rabbit. The McDonald's Canada cards are neat. Jeff at Wax Pack Wonders sent me a better Ben Oglivie shortly after this order arrived.

When I searched the site for All-Time team needs I started alphabetically and didn't get too far down the list, which explains why I have two Atlanta Braves and three Baltimore Orioles here. You'll see more Royals cards in my next post. 

This concludes the three major sports card shipments of May. I'll probably spend Memorial Day weekend sorting all of the new additions and making the rounds on my blogroll. The family and I usually have a barbecue/birthday party for my brother-in-law but I'm not sure if we'll attend this time. I've been feeling mentally and physically fatigued lately, as I'm sure many of you have. 

If you haven't done any dime box searching at Baseballcardstore.ca I highly recommend it. And if you have shopped there, let's see what you got!

Thanks for reading!

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The King and the Colonel

I received my prize from The Diamond King's Big Fun Game earlier this week.

Woo-hoo! Aaron Rodgers Turkey Red RC! This is only my 2nd Rodgers RC and they're listed at about $25 on COMC - though I should say that using COMC as a price guide is less reliable than using Beckett at this point. This card was offered with five others, including a Brett Favre Ultra RC:

I do have this card already, but it's part of my PSA-graded Favre rookie card collection so this one will go in the Brett box. I'm at well over 800 different cards now. Thanks, DK!


I've been trying to make as many trades on TCDB as possible before the end of May. One such recently completed swap was with user colonel98801. This was another package that I found on my top step at 8am. (When the heck are they delivering mail these days?)

Pacific Legends and Conlon Collection. You know where these are going..

Set fillers, including the elusive Jose Vizcaino Ultra card to complete the 1993 set. I've now got more basketball cards than I can fit into one monster box - nearly 5,000 total cards.

Moar Farvez! Also, I love 1992 Upper Deck Gold. Reminds me of working at a card shop that had a bunch in a box of assorted singles on the counter.

The colonel included some extras. I'm not building the 1991-92 Upper Deck set but maybe I should. Look at that Shawn Kemp single! The "Reign Man" always had cool cards - just ask Jon.

I had originally included this Larry Bird sticker in my trade proposal but I removed it to make the offer equitable. I'm not sure how Duane could have known that, but he added it anyway.

I'm now one card away from completing the 1990-91 Fleer All-Stars set:

Who's missing? Let's see.. we've got Bird and Magic, Stockton and Malone, Olajuwon, Ewing and Robinson..


Aww, dammit. 





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