Dime Boxes: A Trade

When I started thus blog way back in 2012, I figured it would be a cool place to show off some of my Matt Kemp cards. I was fully committed to #BeastMode back then, focusing almost exclusively on building up my Matt Kemp collection. Eventually I expanded my interests a bit, chasing as many Dodgers' autos and relics as I could get my hands on. 2012 wasn't the most fiscally responsible year of my life. 

Of course my interests eventually expanded, and I moved away from expensive autos to more affordable cards, and not just Dodgers. I had several mini-collections and player collections, yet I primarily dabbled in modern cards--packs I could rip from Target and my local LCS. 

Of course, nearly a decade after I first started collecting, my collection and my collecting habits has narrowed. I have a greater appreciation for vintage stuff, and, if money wasn't a barrier, I'd probably be chasing and showcasing that here more often. But I'm a broke twenty-something, so most of my vintage comes from trades these days. 

Enter Nick of Dime Boxes fame, another twenty-something, with a rich collection of a fantastic cards. I sent him a package way back in early spring, and he sent a return package not too long after featuring a whole bevy of awesome cardboard, including that sweet Lou Johnson from 1966 above. 

It's not too often I run into cards from the 1950s, so seeing this sweet Jim Gilliam card drop out of the bubble mailer Nick sent my way was a definite surprise. I've spent very little time talking about my love for various vintage sets on this blog (something I should do more), and the 1959 set has got to be one of my top 10 favorite sets of all time. 

Ed Roebuck is a new name name for me. While I know the names of most Dodgers legends, I'm still filling in the gaps. Apparently Ed Roebuck was a relief pitcher for the Dodgers (Brooklyn and Los Angeles) in the late 50s and 60s. Fun Fact: he once tied the major league record for striking out twice in the same inning. 

2019 Heritage picked up the 1970 design for its release earlier this year (a set I enjoyed), but Nick included some of the real stuff in this package. While these look like standard cards from the 1970 set, I was in for a surprise.

Yep, that's an OPC. Nick managed to add hundreds of these to his collection a few months ago, and he was nice enough to share the wealth across the blogosphere. I took a couple of years of French in college (Je me souviens de rien), but never did I think I'd have to put it to use.

Of course, Nick included more than just vintage in this swap. In fact, he sent over what is officially the first card in my Jeopardy mini-collection: a glossy parallel of Austin Rogers from 2018 A&G. I talked at large about the lack of Jeopardy cards in the cardboard world a few months back. After doing a bit of research, I managed to only track down just three non-auto cards in existence that highlight the question and answer game show: 2006 A&G Ken Jennings, 2013 Topp Heritage News Flashback, and 2018 Topps A&G Austin Rogers. Thanks to some comments from a few of you, I was also able to locate a few autographs: Alex Trebek has a cut auto in 2014 Topps Archives; Trebek and Jennings have a dual cut auto in 2011 Topps American Pie (both are 1/1s); Rogers has an auto in the 2018 A&G set; and, more recently, James Holzhauser has an auto in 2019 A&G. Unfortunately, my Jeopardy mini-collection doesn't appear as if it will be growing anytime soon. 

My vintage collection, on the other hand, looks better than ever. With gracious trading partners like Nick, maybe I can manage completing some sets before modern cards are considered vintage. Maybe. 

Topps Reveals 2020 Flagship Design...

... and it's not great. 

I'll have a more in-depth post about this sometime in the future when more details emerge, but I wanted to throw some of my initial thoughts out there.

1. Nameplates: The nameplate gets a vertical treatment on all cards and the names rotated 90 degrees. This looks to me like only the second time Topps has treated names in this fashion, maybe as a nod to the 1999 set? Not the set I'd steal design elements from, to be honest. 
2. Bowman?: At first glance, it looks a lot like recent Bowman releases. Don't ask me which ones; I think most Bowman from the last five years or so looks incredibly similar. This doesn't seem to have much personality.
3. Color: The design seems to lack color. The nameplates coordinate with the players' team, but we only get small bursts within the largely semi-transparent frame. Of course, this is a full-bleed design, so most of the color comes from the photo itself, but I would have liked to see a more colorful set. I suppose I'm a border purist when it comes to Flagship. Of course, the backs could contain a ton of color, but we'll have to wait and see.
4. Photos: More of the same with the four photos above. I didn't expect anything less in the sneak peek, and I'm sure there will be gems in the set, but I still would've loved to see more variety. 

From the very limited images we have, I can't say I'm a big fan. The set doesn't feel decidedly "flagship" to me, resembling Bowman or some of Topps' more recent digital releases. The design can still change, however, though based on the production process, it'll likely only be small tweaks here or there. 

What are your thoughts on the 2020 design? 

Opening Up Some 2019 Allen & Ginter

Allen and Ginter is one of my favorite releases of the year. It often takes a lot of slack for the inclusion of non-sports-related cards, but I find that quite fun. There aren't any other sets that combine baseball, canines, trains, flowers, horses, and lost languages. And that's just the 2019 release alone. I doubt those reading a baseball card blog (or running their own) are one-hobby types of folks--I'm certain our interests stretch far and wide beyond baseball--so seeing subsets of things like The History of Flight, subjects that likely don't get any representation anywhere else on cardboard, has the potential to be quite fun. 

Of course, baseball is still the primary draw for me. The design and photography in this year's set is the sharpest it's been in years. I feel Topps got out of its own way this year and opted for a minimul design, similar to the 2010 set. The "framed" sets of the last few years tended to feel closed off and the cards blended too closely together, creating a sort of indistinguisable set of cards. Each of these cards from 2019, however, seems to have its own personality, with the design tying the cards together. 

That said, I'm intrigued by the the background imagery used in the Piazza, Pollock, and Buehler cards above. It seems to be of an old-timey, fictional stadium (a pretty cool touch), though considering the backdrop in all three cards is nearly identical, I wonder if it was used too much throughout the set. Regardless, I'm happy to add a new Buehler to the PC. 

Along with those Dodgers base cards above, I also managed to land a pretty cool Kershaw insert. This cancer isn't into astrology, zodiacs, or star signs, but it's still a pretty cool lense from which to approach a card set. I mean, where else would you find a comparsion likening Kershaw to an "enchanting fish"?

I ended up purchasing three hanging value packs, another cheaper value pack, and a single pack, and I managed to pull the relic below, but it was the two cards from the 15-card Mares and Stallions subset that I was most excited about. As I described in this post several months ago, I decided to start a mini-collection of horse cards. That post featured two minis from the Horse in the Race miniset from 2017 A&G, and until I pulled the two cards above, they were the only cards in that mini-collection. Not a bad day when a couple of packs doubles your PC. 

I'm hunting the cards from this Mares and Stallions set, so please let me know if you have any dupes. You can find my want list here. I'd love to take them off your hands. 

Finally, here is that relic I alluded to above. I don't watch a ton of television, and I certainly never watch American Pickers, so this card didn't do much for me. Still, it's never a bad thing to pull a relic. It's another card to add to the trade bait, for those interested. 

Overall, A&G has definitely been one of my favorite products of the year (as it always is). I got a nice start on that Mares and Stallions set, though I'll still have to chase that elusive Jeopardy James autograph....

Cardboard from Stumptown

The last few months have been crazy, but I have some good news:

1. Moving is finally in the rearview. We're in the new apartment (I don't advise driving through Brooklyn in a Uhaul) and completely unpacked. Let's hope this is more permanent--it's my fifth move since August of 2017. 
2. With moving done, I can finally turn my attention back to cards. They were boxed up for the last several months, so it's good to get them out in the open again.
3. I finally have a scanner again. I've been so looking forward to scanning cards since I rejoined the hobby (taking pictures on my phone just isn't the same); this should help me stay on top of posting. 

With that news out of the way,  let's catch up on a trade I from way back in April. I'm severely behind on trade posts, so this will be the first of many of the next several weeks. First up, some cards from Gavin at Baseball Card Breakdown.

Gavin runs one of my favorite card blogs out there, so when it was time to move on from some Archer cards earlier this year, I knew he might be interested.

In exchange for the Archer set, Gavin sent quite a bit of fun--and vintage--cardboard my way. The Furillo and Alston above (from 1960 and 1969, respectively), as well as the LA Dodgers team card (below) from 1962, inch me closer to building complete Dodgers team sets. I'm nowhere near close completing any vintage sets, so this will take some time. Fun fact: this is the first 1962 card in my collection. 

Would it really be a trade with Gavin without customs though? 

He sent along a pair of fantastic custom Dodgers, including a card from Big League Baseball that never was. I feel there is potential for an Orel Hershiser/Bulldog connection here. The Kersh is nice as well; it's refreshing to see cards featuring the Dodgers blue tops they wear in Spring Training. 

Gavin's package contained a number of other great cards (including an autograph of failed Dodger prospect, Tom Windle), but it's not so often I add new Shawn Green cards to the PC. I was devastated to learn Green was traded to the D-Backs in the winter of 2005 (for Dioner Navarro and a handful of other prospects who never panned out, if you were wondering). It's still tough to see him in that purple pinstriped jersey. 

Thanks for the wonderful deal, Gavin!