Stickers!

I hope everyone had a nice Christmas/Hanukkah/Rickey Henderson's birthday. Santa Claus was good to my family - Mom is finally home from the hospital after a long three week stay. The girls got lots of neat gifts, most notably slimeatory goop for H and Fall Out Boy tickets for M. None of my in-laws complained about politics, which was nice.

I only asked for two things and got 'em both from Mrs. Collector: Oppenheimer on DVD, and the book companion to Rob Harvilla's excellent podcast 60 Songs That Explain The '90s. 

There were no trading cards under my Christmas tree, and even though I hand-picked two Starting Lineup figures for my daughters to wrap and put under the tree for me, they a) wrapped them in the boxes they were shipped in otherwise "you'd know what they were" -- as if they had any other gifts to give me -- and b) they didn't put the SLU boxes under the tree. Their gifts took up every inch of space. So that whole idea didn't go as planned but the figures themselves are sharp. I'll show 'em off in a future post.


I did get one hobby-related surprise from my mother in law: a Panini Sticker album!

Much like Starting Lineup figures, this was a throwback to my childhood. The first such sticker book I ever owned was a Panini baseball album - 35 years ago. [I wrote about that album and set here.] Football stickers were harder to find than baseball, but I do recall coming across some back in the day.

Team pages are alphabetical by division, so the Buffalo Bills are first (after an All-Pro page and a Super Bowl page).

Panini no longer expects you to trade duplicate stickers with your friends but they still give you an option to buy some that you're missing, which is cool. What's not cool is that they're still hawking NFTs. 🙄

The album itself is fairly reasonably priced but I doubt the sticker packs are under a dollar. So let's open up the freebies here...

One of these packs yielded two foil stickers (no helmet/logos though). They're much trickier to open than they used to be, due to the standard sized trading card in each pack...

...most of which were wrecked in packaging. Hooker, Mingo, and Taylor have at least one roller line crimping the edge. Jones has a dinged top edge but no roller lines on the side. Only the Tyree Wilson escaped unscathed. Taylor in particular is a bummer, but I did pull his sticker in the packs:

Overall a hodgepodge of rookies, fading stars, and a couple good young players. But wait, there's more:

Look at all these defensive players! Aside from Sauce, Crosby, and a couple others these guys rarely appear in trading card sets. I'd be willing to bet that some of the players in this set don't have any standard trading cards.

There are more goodies inside the album - including a panel of pop-out card checklists (why couldn't they do this for the cards?!?) and two more sheets of stickers:

These are on parchment paper so they can only be left intact or peeled for the album. Some repeated players here including Slay and James. Oh, if only there were a way to trade in my duplicate stickers.

Okay, so... I've got 35 33 stickers here. Should I stick them in the album and try to fill the whole set?

Oh hell no! I'd have to pick up 100+ packs and not get a single duplicate. Guess I'll just slide these into my perfectly-sized sticker box, along with my unpeeled set of 1988 Panini baseball:

Some free/almost free pickups from that online dime store, and some other sticker-cards that are too small for standard sleeves and binder pages:

I do wish there was a better way to preserve these. The nameless hockey stickers are from 1983, and I have a couple Packer stickers from 1981. The backing has noticeably yellowed, more than even the mid-late 1980s issues.

Do you have any Panini (or Topps) sticker albums? Do you have any loose stickers in your collection?

Thanks for reading, and have a Happy New Year!

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Close Enough

Three weeks ago, I announced a contest to stir up some trade offers with the goal of completely clearing out my tradelist of about 300 cards. 

 

After a couple dozen trades and a big assist from Bo, I almost made it.

Technically I have 14 cards left on my trade list. However, I'm waiting for a response to one last offer - which would move out half of them. And then I'm done trading for a while. I'll save the rest for next year.

I also have five incoming trades, which should all arrive no later than the 30th. And then I'll randomize the names of everyone I've traded with since Thanksgiving and give away that Vlad.

Perhaps it will go to one lucky collector in Canada.

 

 

Thanks for reading!


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Cards From Bloggers

Lots of cards incoming and lots of posts upcoming, so let's start by thanking YOU the blogosphere for sending so many great cards to Collector HQ!

I offered GCA of the Collective Mind blog (LoQtus on TCDB) a low-numbered parallel of a Washington RC .. but he doesn't collect Nationals. The Collector regrets the error. But! GCA countered with a very generous offer that included some set fillers and PC players:

A sampling of the 40 cards I received, including one of the nine Robin Younts in this trade, a Mattingly I've had my eye on for quite a while, and one of the '96 Score set fillers I needed to complete the near-set Dennis sent to me (more from Dennis in a minute.) 

The 2018 Panini Classics are a huge boost to the base set I decided to build after offloading at least a dozen singles in prior trades. That Kelce guy sounds familiar for some reason....

Gavin of the Baseball Card Breakdown blog sent this to me six years ago. I would never sell it -- it's Gav's IP to begin with -- but I have wondered how much he could sell these for considering another blogger, Gregory of Nine Pockets, has a nice little side business of custom cards and he isn't taking advantage of Taylor mania (yet?)

Gotta throw this in - I guess I understand why Queen Taylor stayed in an enclosed luxury box at Lambeau Field when the Packers beat her man's squad last Sunday... but Simone Biles was out among the crowd, in the elements, cheering on her man Jonathan Owens. I'm just sayin'.

Speaking of gifts... Tom of The Angels in Order blog (calangels on TCDB) has been sending out some BAGs lately. Just a few hours after reading that Jon Penneysleeves received a Blog Appreciation Gift, Tom send me a TCDB offer which included these:

Moar Yountz!!

Jeremy of the Topps Cards That Never Were blog has been breaking some shiny new baseball blasters. As it happened I bought the Rays slot on Nachos Grande's 2023 Topps Archives break and thought I could send a few over to our resident Rays collector. That got the ball rolling on a nice little trade:

He's Karensjer on TCDB and this was his first completed trade there(assuming he received the cards I sent him?)

Next we have Kerry of the Cards on Cards blog (madding on TCDB) who sent a few set fillers my way:

Cards of Cards from Cards on Cards

And finally we have a third care package from Dennis of the Too Many Verlanders blog. The fella known as FreehanSolo already has a Hall of Fame reputation on TCDB. This was not a TCDB trade, just some good ol' generosity from one of my best blogger bros.

Do any of you remember the 'war' between Bob Walk the Plank and Wes/JayBarkerFan? If I had the budget, I'd drop 'bombs' on Dennis like those guys did, cause these are the types of things he sends me:

No big deal, just a Raffy Devers patch relic from a high-end product. Oh, and these:

Glorious Pacific inserts! Super cool die cuts! I have to say the Clemens is my favorite here; even though I dislike the man he has some fantastic cards. The Brodeur McDonalds cards are awesome as well.


I'm very fortunate to have such generous blogger friends, and I hope that what I'm sending out to some of you is half as good as what you've sent to me. Thank you Greg, Kerry, Tom, Jeremy, and Dennis!

And thank you all for reading and supporting this blog! 

Have a great weekend!



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Player Collection Roll Call

Much of my collecting focus this year was geared toward building and completing sets. However I think I've hit a wall there. Every TCDB trade option has been exhausted - aside from maybe some 1994 Fleer Ultra baseball singles, there's nothing else I can acquire with what's left of my tradelist. 

I've made 15 separate purchases on Sportlots in 2023(which has become my go-to sports card site, eclipsing COMC) plus a couple from TCDB (shoutout supergajit and RSmith1217). And I made a lot of progress! My two-page wantlist shrunk down to two-thirds of a page, and even with four new projects added it's still much cleaner than it was eleven months ago. 

With my team collections nearing capacity and new sets not really thrilling me (except for 2023 Topps Archives) it was time to turn my focus to player PCs. I added a bunch to my TCDB wantlist and began boosting those numbers. So here's an update on some of the players I collect and where my count stands with four weeks left in the year:

Robin Yount

Current Count: 130 (8th overall, 1st among non-Red Sox in my collection)
Incoming via TCDB: 20
Notes: Even with my meager trade bait it's not hard to reel in overproduction-era singles of a Hall of Famer with over 9,000 unique cards. There are some 2000s singles (Fleer Greats, Legendary Cuts) en route as well.

Kris Bryant

Current Count: 68 (19th, 1st among active non-Red Sox)
Incoming via TCDB: None, but not for lack of trying.
Notes: I didn't add Bryant cards to my wantlist and I've wavered on keeping him on my PC player list. But he's one of few active players I like and his cards always look sharp - especially this one:

I asked for this in a potential trade and the user removed it in his counter, so I declined and bought one on COMC - for well under a dollar.

 

 Eric Dickerson

Current Count: 57 (12th, 2nd among non-Packers)
Incoming via TCDB: 2
Notes: The last time I was able to purchase a football repack from the Shop Rite vending machine I pulled an '84 Topps Dickerson (In Action, not the true RC)

Dan Marino

Current Count: 92 (6th, 1st among non-Packers)
Incoming via TCDB: 2
Notes: Marino has over 14,000 different cards. He'd have crossed the 100-card milestone in my collection long ago if there were more football card collectors on the blogs and TCDB.

Christian McCaffrey

Current Count: 42 (21st, 1st among active non-Packers)
Incoming via TCDB: none
Notes: CMC used to be easy for me to collect, since he's an injury prone non-quarterback. It's been a bit tougher now that he's on a more glamorous team - not just due to the abundance of 49ers fans but also because my dislike for the team. This is the only SF McCaffrey card I have to date, and I acquired it in a recent TCDB trade.

Art Monk

Current Count: 45 (20th, 6th among non-Packers)
Incoming via TCDB: None from TCDB; one incoming from COMC
Notes: Some recently completed trades brought in a few of Mr. Monk's early '90s issues I was inexplicably missing. I should be able to add a couple more before I run out of trade bait.

 

 Hakeem Olajuwon

Current Count: 72 (2nd among all NBA players)
Incoming via TCDB: 12, plus one incoming from COMC
Notes: TCDB counts multi-player team cards, like this. I only count them if the player is specifically mentioned, like this:

...which TCDB does not include in my Hakeem card count, for some reason.

Reggie Miller

Current Count: 75 (1st among all NBA players)
Incoming via TCDB: 2
Notes: The race to 100 is on. Hakeem is pulling ahead. and will take the lead from Miller once all these TCDB trades arrive (even when you factor in their wacky accounting). I've been trying to find an affordable Finest or Chrome refractor of Reggie and it just isn't happening. Although I did manage to pick up his Fleer RC for my set build.

Damian Lillard

Current Count: 34 (19th, 1st among active NBA players)
Incoming via TCDB: None
Notes: My Lillard PC was in danger of shutting down this summer as the Portland legend tried to maneuver his way to Miami. When he ended up in Milwaukee instead(my de facto favorite team) I revived my interested in acquiring more Lillard cards, and I'm looking forward to adding my first Dame card as a Buck. 

Alex Ovechkin

Current Count: 180 (1st among active NHL players)
Incoming via TCDB: 5; plus one from COMC
Notes: Ovi's Gr8 chase toward Wayne Gretzky's NHL goals record is slowing down (he's 67 goals away and only has 5 this year) but my Ovechkin collection marches on. I should be able to reach 200 different cards before the end of 2024.

 

There are plenty of other players I collect, but these ten have been my main focus. 

 

Have you acquired any notable cards of your  favorite players lately? What are your hobby goals for 2024?


Thanks for reading!


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TCDB Trading Contest

I've got about 300 cards in my trade box that I'm looking to clear out by the end of the year. If I can find takers for all of them every one I trade with from now until 12/31 will be entered into a drawing for... 

...we'll get to that. If you're on TCDB, take a look at my tradelist and send me an offer if anything interests you. (You can also leave a comment on this post and I'll contact you.) I'd be thrilled to cross off some set fillers from my wantlist but I'll take a look at any tradelists. PC players/teams are always welcome if you want to make it simple. My goal is to get these cards in the hands of collectors who can use them, as quickly and easily as possible.


If I am able to make trades that move out all 300 cards my trade partners will be entered into a random spinning wheel drawing for this card:

2016 Bowman (paper) Vladimir Gurrero Jr. Prospects/1st Bowman card

I'll announce the winner here on my blog and on TCDB but you should follow my blog anyway :)

 

 

Thanks for reading!



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Not my chives, not your chives..

I bought three teams in a two-box break of 2023 Topps Archives hosted by Nachos Grande. After watching the livestream and seeing some of the autographs that were pulled I decided to pick up a few packs at my LCS. 

The shop owner said something about a 'mega pack' - which cost $2 more - and I should have asked him to explain the difference because I walked out with four identical 8-card packs. Scammer.

But... maybe not, because one of the packs yielded an on-card auto. Was it the "mega pack"? Possibly.

Anywho, I can't show you that because it's going out in one of my Chris Kringle gift packs. But I was very happy to pull an auto and now I want to buy a box (::checks Cyber Monday deals:: finds nothing::)

The 1956 Topps design is featured on cards #1-100. They're packed out sequentially so each of the packs I opened and watched on Nachos Grande's stream led with this portion, followed by the 1965 block:

I got the fewest amount of these cards - which is fine with me since '65 is my least favorite design of the three. At least I pulled a Corbin Carroll RC.

Last but not least we have the 2003 section. The blue borders are a nice contrast.

Two Braves named Murphy in the same section. Arozarena actually came from the Nachos Grande break. This is the second (or third?) time I bought the Rays slot at a rock-bottom price. I keep thinking they're a good value because they're the best of the overlooked/under collected teams, and because I've got a theory that a lot of the 'mojo' hits in box breaks are of teams that either don't get claimed or are claimed last.


My theory was correct -- but one of the five autos Chris pulled was on the other Florida fish team :/

As for that break, I did get a complete team set of every one of the three slots I bought, including all seven Rays base cards. No inserts or parallels though. (next time, I'm picking the Pirates.)

The 'mystery' team - which I won't reveal here - yielded an insert to go with the base set. And of course I picked the Red Sox for myself. 16 cards in the base set, $16 for the slot.

Plus a couple of Hit Stars inserts and a Babe Ruth rainbow #d/199. But that's not all!

The first box Chris opened yielded the promised two autographs -- plus a bonus third autograph (actually the second box had three autos also - across two cards.)

Another Hit Star of a Hall of Famer! For a while it looked like I'd pulled the cream of the crop. Someone ended up with an ever better card, but I'm still very satisfied. Hopefully the person who gets my 'mystery team' cards will be, too.


Have you bought any 2023 Topps Archives yet? Any great pulls to report? Are you disappointed by the card backs, especially with the 1956 singles?

 

 Thanks for reading!



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Updates (not 2023 Topps)

Before I take my older daughter to see The Hunger Games prequel, I thought I'd update everyone on some collecting and personal news heading into Black Friday (and Thanksgiving I guess... meh)

 
It's a busy time here at Collector HQ. I've signed up for the Secret Santa exchange on TCDB - where I've already got five trades and a purchase en route - plus a purchase from Sportlots, a couple sales on eBay, and I bought three slots in Nachos Grande's 2023 Topps Archives box break. (Of course I did - did you see what's in this year's set?)

Notice I didn't say COMC there. I was not planning to partake in their Black Friday sale at all this year. However they're offering a discount on PSA grading so I will have to consider it. Depends on how those eBay sales go, I suppose.

It should be noted that a significant portion of the purchases I've already made are with fellow collectors in mind. 'Tis the season, you know. Once I've rounded up the whole haul I'll be sending out holiday cards - with cards.

I seem to have hit a wall at TCDB. With ten stamps burning a hole in my pocket I thought I'd send out a few offers and wrap up trading for 2023. It appears that everyone is already on holiday as I haven't heard back from any of them. I might just send all my traders to Dennis. Got to give him something for the big box of cards he sent me recently.

Which leads me to... my current collecting focus. I've made a lot of progress with completing sets this year and so I've added a few more projects. But this will be the last of my set building because, as you can see, my card shelf is at max capacity.

I've updated my set building wantlist tab, which you can view here and at the top of my blog. There's still a good amount of room in those team binders and I've made loads of room in my closet for team PC 'hits' (inserts/ parallels/relics/autos) as well as player collections. I'll be focusing on those in the new year as well.

My updated player PC list is here and also at the top of my blog. 

I might have to add Craig Breslow to that list. The New Haven native and former Red Sox reliever is now the General Manager of the Sawx. I'm excited to see what my neighbor can do with this mediocre roster (bring Ohtani to Bah-stin!!!) but I gotta admit, I would have preferred Kim Ng.

If you haven't voted in Nachos Grande's End of the Year awards I urge you to do so. We all know who's going to win Blog of the Year but it will be interesting to see who gets the other awards. I was tempted to make my case early this year, but then I changed jobs and got distracted by fiction writing.

Lately I've been playing lots of Stardew Valley with my younger daughter and, as a nod to that, my 2023 blogging Grange Display would consist of the 100 Greatest Non-Hall of Famers, All-Time Teams 2.0 (which reminds me - I need to update that blog tab) Sarah's Surf Shop, the 1956 Topps scan dump (tab coming soon) and The Franchise. My Young Guns hockey series is ineligible; it was posted in 2022.

On a personal note, her soccer team was in the Union County recreational league championship game yesterday. Last weekend they had a 6:30 p.m. playoff game in freezing cold weather and our girls won on penalties. The weather was much better yesterday - sunny and warmer (with a chilly wind) for an 11 a.m. start. The game was at Union Catholic's high school field - where world champion track star Sydney McLauglin trained.

My daughter played the entire first half at her usual back line spot on defense and made some good plays, clearing the ball out of danger and connecting on a couple passes to the midfielder. Unfortunately this team (particularly its very loud coach) cracked the code of our entire offensive strategy. You see, all of our team's goals are scored by the striker, #3. She's a mile ahead of every other player on the team.

But this opponent played tough team defense. #3 was a bit sluggish, possibly frustrated by the Jacques Lemaire-like tactics smothering her time and space. She didn't get going until late in the second half,  when she finally had a flurry rush at the goal and it was stopped.. then the goalie bobbled it and reached back for it just before it crossed the goal line. No goal.

Then the referee blew the whistle. Game over.

Good thing our girls goal five minutes before that :)

Champs!!!

I didn't see who scored the only goal, it might have been #3. But it was a total team effort (for once). You can see the girls holding the trophy in the direction of the bleachers, where all the parents stayed. Except for my rebellious family. My wife got some pictures of the team and our daughter trackside. I took this faraway photo so that you can see the team and the trophy without any privacy issues. (though I'm sure there are dozens of parents' pics on Facebook.)

Shortly after each player got to pose for individual pics with the trophy some douche ordered me and the Mrs. to vacate the playing surface and go back to the bleachers. Dude, the game is over, I'm picking up my kid and.. wait... is it because Syndey ran here? You don't want us pleebs to touch the hallowed ground on which the great McLaughlin once ran? Catholic schools are so strict. I should know.


So... that's why I've been up to lately. I might post some quick trade recaps or something as new cards come in, and if I do they will be shorter posts. Chris Kringle has a list to check 😉

Do you have any sports card-related purchases planned - for yourself or others - this holiday season?


Thanks for reading!



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