Blog Notes: Trade Pile, Last Call for my Contest, and BFG Winnings

The typical summer slowdown at work hasn't happened, as it's actually been much busier than normal due to COVID and all the uncertainty around what's going to happen on college campuses this Fall. But as of 5pm, I'm officially on vacation for the rest of the week, so I'm turning my attention to the blog and a few things that new some catching up on.

1. Last Call on the Contest

If you haven't yet joined in on the fun, today's your last day to do so. The contest I've been running officially ends at midnight, and I'll be adding to the prize pool and announcing winners sometime in the next few days. I likely won't make it to my goal of 100 followers (currently sitting at 96), and that's okay. I appreciate all 96 (and everyone else) that takes the time to check out the blog. Thank you!

Regarding the contest, I was initially planning to hold a winnings draft, in which the winners chose which prize they wanted. But after thinking about it some more, that will likely take a ton of time considering the number of prizes I plan on giving out. Instead, I will add all of the entries into a randomizer, then match up the names with the prize number. Seem fair?

One question remains: how many times should I randomize the list of entries? First comment to answer this question decides it.

2. Blog Reader Bruce?
Trade Pile #3 was claimed earlier this month by a commenter named Blog Reader Bruce, but I don't have their contact info. Bruce, if you're out there, can you send me an email so we can exchange address info? If I don't hear back from you by this Friday, I'll plan to add to the pile.  

3. BFG Winnings from Johnny's Trading Spot 

It feels wrong to post without including at least one card photo, so now is as good a time as ever to catch up on my past winnings in Johnny's Big Fun Game. I've participated the last two months and come away with some cool stuff, and I'm looking forward to this Friday's game as well. (Thanks for hosting, Johnny!) If you haven't yet participated, head over and sign up now!

Rarities

On May 23, 2002, Shawn Green had one of the greatest offensive days in baseball history. Green hammered four home runs (tying a major league record), going 6-for-6 with seven RBIs and setting the major league record for total bases in a single game (19). 

In 2015 Topps released "Rarities" and insert set in Update Series that chronicled Green's phenomenal perfomance.

But it's not the first card (and certainly not the last) to record Green's performance. Just take a look at the backs of these cards. 

These three Shawn Green cards came to me via Nick over at Dime Boxes, and they'll fit nicely into my Green binder. I haven't taken a look yet, but I'm sure I'd be able to find at least a few more cards capturing Green's four-dinger game.

Alongside the Green cards, Nick also sent along one of my Most Wanted cards: 2006 Topps Brad Penny. There's nothing special about this card, though it was one of the two cards remaining from the 2006 Topps set I was missing. With this added to the binder, I'm now just missing the Dodgers Team Card (#612)--it has been added to the Most Wanted list on my sidebar. 

Nick also kindly included a handful of Heritage Dodgers which I can now mark off my lists. The Connor Joe and Josh Sborz are new to my eyes (I've seen the Kelly and Barnes cards elsewhere on the blogosphere), and I had no idea these guys were even featured in the set. I find Joe the most interesting card here, as he's actually never suited up for the major league Dodgers. The Giants selected him in the Rule 5 draft last year, and he totaled 16 plate appearances up in the Bay Area, notching just one hit. The Giants cut bait and he returned him to the Dodgers where he played for Triple-A OKC for the remainder of the season. Anyone know if he ever received a card as a Giants player?

With the exception of the Lux, all of the above cards were sent via a very full PWE after Nick claimed Trade Pile #2. A couple of weeks earlier, Nick sent another PWE (equally packed with cards) which included one of the first Gavin Lux rookie cards in my collection (it joins his base card from S1). I dig the design on these "Spring Has Sprung" cards. 

Since we're on the topic of rookies, I had better mention this beautful Cody Bellinger from 2017 Heritage. I'm including this in my Topps Heritage binder, so I will definitely need to add another to my Bellinger binder. His rookie cards are priced fairly high, so I'm not thrilled that I'm still missing  three (!) of his four base cards from 2017 Update, too. I try not to spend too much money on modern cards, but I think I'll need to take the hit to pick up his rookies sooner rather than later. 

I'm much more willing to spend money on vintage cardboard, but with guys like Nick around I may be able to save a few bucks here and there. He sent me a few fantastic vintage pieces, including this 1968 Topps Game Claude Osteen. It's the first card from this set in my collection, and gosh does it look good. I've long been a sucker for floating head cards (I have no idea why), and the colors on this card are tremendous--not to mention they coincide with the Dodgers color palette perfectly. I had no plan to chase the Dodgers from this set, but that may change. 

A pair of 1981 Scratch-Offs also dropped out of the PWE, featuring Dusty Baker and Steve Garvey. I don't have too many Scratch-Offs, and the early-80s are still underrepresented in my Dodgers box, so these are a nice addition. 

My favorite card to come from these PWEs has got to be this 1959 Solly Drake card. Before opening up the envelope, I'd never even heard of Solly Drake. Though he didn't have a long MLB career, he and his brother Sammy were the first African-American siblings to play in the Majors. That's a pretty cool accomplishment. 

The reason this Drake card stood out to me, however, is becuase it is in absolutely phenomenal shape. The corners and sides are sharp, it's crease-free, and it doesn't have that sort of flimsy feel you get with well-loved vintage cards. I initially thought is was some sort of reprint, but as far as I can tell it's the real deal. 

I don't really care about condition on vintage cards all that much--send me all of your well-loved, creased, and ripped vintage!--but when a 61-year-old card feels as if it just came out of a pack, it feels like a bit of a rarity. 

Thrill of the Chase

A few weeks ago I popped into Target for a grocery run. It was my first time visiting my local Target since early-March and my first time spending substantial time away from the four-block radius around my apartment.

The Target was in a much better shape than it had been since my previous visit. Shleves were stocked, freezers were filled with food, and the checkout lines were organized and well-managed. This was not that case back in March during the nation's great chase for toilet paper, as the Target was flooded with hysterical people and not much else.

While my trip to Target was largely centered around restocking my fridge, I had ulterior motives. I very badly hoped to find some cards in the card aisle. Luckily for me, I managed to snag the last box of cards available...though it's not something I'd typically purchase. 

And here are the contents. pic.twitter.com/WYhjxtY8WT

— Alex Markle (@markle05) June 5, 2020

You might immediately notice that a couple of things from this repack have made their way into my prize pool for the contest I'm currently running, namely the 1988 Donruss hanger pack and the contents of the two Leaf Babe Ruth packs. 

It'd been along time since I last picked up a repack box, and I was hoping I might find some packs from earlier in the decade in there. No luck. I opened way more 2019 S1 than I needed to last year, so finding two packs in the box was a bit of a bummer. The 2019 S2 pack was welcome, as I'm still trying to track down all the Dodgers from that release (anybody have an extra Cody Bellinger 507 or Hyun-Jin Ryu 515?). That said, I didn't pull any Dodgers from the pack, so there was no help there. 

I've never been a big fan of Gypsy Queen, so I typically shy away from it on the shelves. It just feels like such an unnecessary set, and I've never fully understood its appeal. I did manage to pull a new Corey Seager card to add to the binder, so it wasn't all bad. 

My favorite card from the box came from the pack of 2019 Heritage. It's not autographed. It's not an SP. It's not a variation. It's a simple base card of Dodgers' reliver Kenley Jansen. I suppose the card itself isn't anything special, but it did finally prompt me to undertake another collecting goal I've been pondering for at least a year: collect all of the Dodgers team sets from Topps Heritage. 

I've historically been a player collector, but I've shifted away from that a bit over the last several years. I started my quest to collect all of the Dodgers from Topps Flagship a few years back (now the focal point of my collection), though I've never really chased any other sets (with a few exceptions). So now I'm adding another set to chase down, though I imagine it will be much easier and far cheaper to do so. 

I have added my needs (and there are a lot of them) to my Want List page. You can also access my spreadsheet directly here. I'm not sure how much effort I'll spend to chase these down, but my goal is to have at least 10% by the end of the year which is about 45 cards. 

Pimping My Own Contest and Adding to the Prize Pool

It has been a hectic week at work--well, from my kitchen table actually--so I'm a bit behind on sharing many of the new cards that have come in over the last few weeks. (Thanks Nick, Bo, Gavin, Greg, and Johnny.) I'll be catching up on that front soon, but I figured now was a good a time as ever to pimp my own contest and add a few more prizes to the prize pool. I'll likely add a few more prizes before the end of the month, so stay tuned. 

You can earn multiple entries in this contest, so here's what you need to do:

1 entry - Comment on the original contest post with the card(s)/set/etc. that jump started your collection.

1 entry - Subscribe to the blog! Most of you reading this are probably already subscribers, so just let me know you are in the comments. If you are new here, welcome! Give me a follow if you'd like. At the time of writing this, the blog sits at 87 followers. I'll plan to add additional prizes if we can get that number up to 100.

1 entry - Pimp this contest on your blog by June 27th then post a link here in the comments.

That's a maximum of 3 entries per person. I plan to keep the contest open until the end of June, so you have plenty of time to spread the word and get your entries in

Below you will see a list of of some of the prizes that will be up for grabs. I'll likely add additional prizes between now and the end of June and definitely will if the blog reaches 100 followers. I'll end up randomizing the list of entries and we'll hold a prize draft. The plan is for winners to pick their prize on a separate contest results post at the beginning of July. I'll also be tossing in some assorted goodies for all of the winners.

Prize #1 - 2020 Topps t206 Series 1 Box/Pack

Prize #2 - Allen & Ginter Relic Lot

Prize #3 - Bowman's Best Mookie Betts Blue Parallel #'d/150

Prize #4 - First Edition HOF Baseball Hall of Fame Heroes 12 Card Set

Prize #5 - 2019 Topps Hi Tek Lance McCullers Jr. Autograph

Prize #6 - Assorted Pink Refractors from 2018 Topps Chrome

Prize #7 - 1988 Donruss Baseball Hanger Pack

Prize #8 - 2019 Topps Hi Tek George Springer Green and Purple Parallels

Prize #9 - Topps Gold Label Blue Parallels (Stanton and Strasburg)

Prize #10 - 10 Cards from 2016 Leaf Babe Ruth Set 

Trade Pile 3: Rocket Man

The first Trade Pile had six entries in the stack and the second Trade Pile lasted just one entry before it was claimed. The third Trade Pile begins today and I imagine it won't last too long. 

Thanks to all who have entered my contest so far. There are currently 46 total entries, and I'll continue to plug it here. I'll likely be adding a prize or two to the trade pool later this week. 

Remember, if you want to claim the Trade Pile, comment on this post (or email me) and let me know what you plan to send my way from my want lists. All you need to send is a single card I need and the entire stack is yours. I've updated my want lists, so there's an even greater chance you have something I want!

2017 Topps Update Series US87 - Roger Clemens Photo Variation SP

The Anatomy of a Team Set

Sometime last summer I finally completed the task of putting together the checklists of my needs for all of the Topps Dodgers team sets. That was an accomplishment in and of itself, and I love working with spreadsheets. I had a difficult time tracking down team checklists, but I managed. Or so I thought.

Earlier this year, a fellow blogger commented on one of my posts and suggested I look at TCDB to confirm my checklists. I'm glad I did. Somewhere along the way, ninety-nine cards got lost in the shuffle and weren't on my checklists. Oops. 

Bo of the always great Baseball Cards Come to Life recently helped me on my never-ending quest to complete these Dodgers team sets and make up lost ground by sending me several needs from the '78, '79, and '80 sets. 

Steve Garvey and Manny Mota are names I know, but Bill North is a new one. He played just a single season in Dodger blue, batting .234/.371/.266 in 1978. These additions put me just eight cards away from completing the 1979 set. 

Flash forward a year to 1980, and we get another trio of new cards, inlcuding another appearance from Mr. Mota. Manny ended his career with 150 pinch hits, a record he held until 2001 when Lenny Harris of the Mets broke his record. Harris ended his career with 212 pinch hits (still the record) and only Mark Sweeney (with 175) has surpassed Mota's 150. I'm now halfway (14/28) to completing the 1980 set. 

Oh look, it's another Manny Mota sighting! And Tommy Lasorda! And Davy Lopes! And Rick Monday! A lot of Dodgers legends here, and they're all welcome in my binders. Bo added nine new cards to my 1978 set, leaving me just eight away from completing the set. 

I'm fairly confident I can complete the 1978 and 1979 sets this year, which world technically make them the earliest sets completed to date. "But what about the 1975 set you completed a few weeks ago?" you ask. Well, those darned incomplete checklists hit 1975 hard, and what I thought was a completed set was actually nine cards short. Bummer. 

The checklists have since been adjusted, though now I wonder what cards actually constitute the team set. League Leaders? World Series recaps? For now, my checklists have 'em all. But now I pose that question to you:

What cards should be (or should not be) part of a Topps team set? 

Trade Pile 2: Some More Leftovers and a Contest Reminder

If you haven't heard, I'm running a contest with tons of awesome prizes. The contest runs through June, but you should just drop what you're doing and head over there now. You can check out the contest post here. Entering is as easy as leaving a comment.

The first trade pile was claimed last week, so it's time for trade pile number two. What better place to begin than where the last pile ended? Starting off this trade pile is a four card lot of gold-bordered minis from 2019 A&G.

Remember, if you want to claim the Trade Pile, comment on this post (or email me) and let me know what you plan to send my way from my want lists. All you need to send is a single card I need and the entire stack is yours. I've updated my want lists, so there's an even greater chance you have something I want!

2019 Gold A&G Hot Box Minis - Legends and Rookies

The Card that Started it All

When I was 9 years old, I opened up a box of cereal and watching a plastic-wrapped baseball card drop out of the box and onto the floor. I picked it up and placed it on the counter, poured my bowl of cereal, and went on with my morning.

I had always liked baseball, and I often played catch and Wiffleball out in the front yard with my dad and sister. But at this point in my life, I still didn't follow professional baseball in any kind of real way. I wore my Dodgers hat everywhere, but I wouldn't have been able to tell you a single thing about the team or players.

At some point later that day, I saw the packaged card on the counter and decided to open it. I suppose it was the first pack of cards I ever opened (though there was only one card inside, so I guess it was a pack of card?). Inside sat the 2002 Topps Post Shawn Green you see below.

I remember rushing over to my dad and asking him if Shawn Green was any good thinking I hit the jackpot. "He's alright," my dad, ever the pessimist, told me. As the card back shows, Green's 2001 season was more than "alright." He hammered 49 homers (still a Dodgers record) and batted .297. Definitely better than "alright."

I don't exactly remember what happened next, but Shawn Green very quickly became my favorite player and I began to pay very close attention to Dodgers baseball. I started to fall asleep to Vin Scully calling Dodger games on the radio, and I convinced my dad to buy me baseball cards every time we went to Target. My fervent love for baseball, the Dodgers, and Shawn Green only grew from there, all the result of a flimsy baseball card falling out of a box of cereal.

I thought about this story last week and decided to go and take a look through my Shawn Green cards. Lo and behold, I discovered that at least one or two of my binders must still be with my dad back in California, including most of my Shawn Green PC. I'll coordinate with him to have them shipped over to me in New Jersey, and I'm looking forward to their arrival. As such, the Shawn Green scan above was taken from ComC.

What card(s) got you into collecting? 

What better way to solicit answers to this questions than by holding a contest?

You can earn multiple entries in this contest, so here's what you need to do:

1 entry - Comment on this post with the card(s)/set/etc. that jump started your collection.

1 entry - Subscribe to the blog! Most of you reading this are probably already subscribers, so just let me know you are in the comments. If you are new here, welcome! Give me a follow if you'd like. At the time of writing this, the blog sits at 87 followers. I'll plan to add additional prizes if we can get that number up to 100.

1 entry - Pimp this contest on your blog by June 27th then post a link here in the comments.

That's a maximum of 3 entries per person. I plan to keep the contest open until the end of June, so you have plenty of time to spread the word and get your entries in.

Below you will see a list of of some of the prizes that will be up for grabs. I'll likely add additional prizes between now and the end of June and definitely will if the blog reaches 100 followers. I'll end up randomizing the list of entries and we'll hold a prize draft. The plan is for winners to pick their prize on a separate contest results post at the beginning of July. I'll also be tossing in some assorted goodies for all of the winners.

Prize #1 - 2020 Topps t206 Series 1 Box/Pack

Prize #2 - Allen & Ginter Relic Lot

Prize #3 - Bowman's Best Mookie Betts Blue Parallel #'d/150

Prize #4 - First Edition HOF Baseball Hall of Fame Heroes 12 Card Set

Prize #5 - 2019 Topps Hi Tek Lance McCullers Jr. Autograph

Prize #6 - Assorted Pink Refractors from 2018 Topps Chrome

Prize #7 - 1988 Donruss Baseball Hanger Pack

Prize #8 - 2019 Topps Hi Tek George Springer Green and Purple Parallels

Prize #9 - Topps Gold Label Blue Parallels (Stanton and Strasburg)

Prize #10 - 10 Cards from 2016 Leaf Babe Ruth Set 

New Blog Design and Other Important Notes

I've been wanting to redesign the blog for quite some time now, but I finally made it happen. A friend helped me with an updated banner, background, and logo, so a huge shoutout to her for all of her hard and wonderful work. If you've ever been to Dodger Stadium, then the inspiration for the changes is obvious. The new banner image is based on the famous Dodger Stadium entrance signs, the colors have been adjusted to incorporate the classic Brooklyn Dodgers blue, and the new background is a sort of cartoon/minimalistic take on the Dodgers Stadium outfield seats. 

I'm curious to hear what you all think about the new design. Drop a note in the comments and let me know what feedback you have. 

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My buddy over at Nachos Grande has been steadily working through all of the Allen & Ginter mini sets for the last few weeks leading up to his Ultimate A&G Mini Set Bracket and corresponding contest. I've had a blast voting for the best mini set of its respective year over the last few weeks, and I'm looking forward to seeing what the rest of the blogosphere thinks. Head over there to complete your bracket and see which mini set reigns supreme! 

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Speaking of contests, I've been thinking about holding my own contest sometime soon, and I may have picked up a box of Topps T206 as one of the prizes. Hint hint. Be sure you're following the blog to stay updated, as the contest will likely be embedded in one of my posts. 

Trade Pile 1: Hot Box Leftovers

When I first had to step away from the blog and collecting back in 2015, close to 90% of my cards (and I had a lot) were given to Goodwill (or some other charity store I don't remember). I managed to send out a ton of care packages at this time, and I saved my Dodgers and binders, but most of my "inventory" was wiped out.

It's taken a few years of slow and steady collecting, but I've finally reached the point where I have a decent-sized inventory of cards that don't reaaly fit into my collection. This includes a lot of A&G, Fire, Stadium Club, Flagship, and other misc. sets from 2017 to 2020. And with space still a premium here in my New Jersey apartment, it's about time I get some of these cards out to folks who will appreciate them. If you have a need list from any of the sets mentioned above, feel free to send me the link and I'll comb through it to see what I might be able to send your way.

In advance of 2020 A&G, I figured now is as good a time as ever to move on from some of the gold bordered cards I pulled from my hot A&G box last year. Today, I'm adding six new cards to the trade pile--a collection of legendary hurlers and sluggers. And because the entire box featured gold border base cards, I have a ton I'm willing to move. Let me know if you're looking for a specific player/team/etc. 

Remember, if you want to claim the Trade Pile, comment on this post (or email me) and let me know what you plan to send my way from my want lists. All you need to send is a single card I need and the entire stack is yours. 

Note: I'm working to update the blog's design over the next few days, so there may be some weird changes to the layout, colors, etc. Hopefully the changes can get implmente quickly but it's a work in progress. 

2019 Topps Allen & Ginter Gold Borders 

1995 Select Certified Edition Roger Clemens #88

2017 Topps Stadium Club Rickey Henderson Sepia

2017 Topps Gold Label Frank Thomas

2009 Upper Deck Signature Stars Nick Swisher

2017 Topps Bowman's Best Trey Mancini