Best Set Yet

I made my weekly trip to Target for groceries last week, though I did so at a different time and day than typical. While my Target trips typically take place on Friday afternoons, I took a few days off last week and decided to head to the store on Wednesday morning. 

The card aisle vindicated this decision, as the shelves were filled with hanger packs and blaster boxes and a new display for Series 2. There was probably close to fifty blaster boxes/hanger packs and another several hundred single packs of various products. I should have taken a photo considering how unusual the sight was in the current card climate, but I was too stunned at the sight before me to do so. 

I didn't want to be that bro who clears the shelves and resells everything online, but there was some good variety and plenty of stock, so I grabbed more than a few things. I ended up going home with three Series 2 hanger packs, a hanger box of Diamond Kings, and blaster box of Big League. 

There's a lot of fun stuff here, but I'll be splitting what I got into three posts, starting with Big League today. 

Big League has already been talked about extensively on the blogs, so I won't get too into the details about the set here; I'd highly reccommend checking out Nick's post on Big League though. 

The base design is simple and clean, and as many have pointed out, looks similar to the 2009 Upper Deck OPC set. It's a much nicer and cleaner looking set then, say, 2020 Flagship and just looks more like a traditional baseball card to me. I don't mean to compare it to Flagship to illustrate its merits (it's a different set after all), but this iteration of Big League is a reminder of what Flagship should be. 

The backs of the cards are stellar as well. Clear card numbers, interesting descriptions, and a fun "Did You Know?" feature. Who would've thought going up and down stairs would calm an infant?

One of the reasons I enjoy this set so much is the beacuse of the borders. I don't typically go gaga for Dodger cards featuring this much orange, but I love how it pops. 

Maybe the real reason I enjoy Big League is because it contains what I think is Mookie Betts' first card in a Dodger uniform--not one that is photoshopped on. I didn't find his base card in the blaster box, but I this orange parallel does just fine. 

I told myself I wouldn't, but I bringing up Flagship again. Do any of the origianl insert designs from recent years stand out to you? Can you picture one? I sure as hell can't and I just opened up several packs last night. 

Big League packs a punch with their insert sets, bring some memorable designs, fun imagery, and great color. That Muncy at the top of the post is great fun and reminds me of a license plate. This Cody Bellinger sketch card also stands out (though it is a bit creepy), and I'm totally into mispropportioned sketch cards. 

I'm not as enthusiastic about the design on these Flipping Out inserts, but I applaud the color and theme of the set. I'm fully onboard with bat flipping/pimping/etc. 

The blaster box promised several blue-bordered cards, and here they are. The scans came out a bit dark but you get the idea. Dodger cards would look great with these borders, and I dig that Alonso card on the top left. 

I was so amped about the design of this set that I almost forgot to mention the blaster box held two autographs! 

Both of these have decent resale value, so I promptly posted them on eBay and they both sold as I typed this sentence. 

As if picking up great new cards wasn't enough, I recouped most of the money I spent at Target from this one blaster box of Big League alone. 

You can't beat that. 

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. 

Trade with The Bucs Stop Here: A Legend, A Phenom, and Some Rookies

This week's second installment of very belated trade posts features some cardboard sent from my buddy Nate over at The Bucs Stop Here. This was another trade that happened last Fall, and it's unfortunate it's taken me this long to writer about it here on the blog--it was a doozy. 

Nate reached out to me when he returned to blogging last year and we quickly decided on a swap. back when i was pumping out blog posts daily in 2014-15, Nate and I were frequent traders, so I was glad to hear he was coming back to the blogosphere. I have no recollection of what I sent his way, so please let me know if you're waitng on cards from me, Nate, and I will hook you up.

When I first seriously started collecting six or seven years ago, my focus was largely on modern cards, modern players, and big hits. I had a good sense of the Dodgers' history, but I wasn't actively chasing down the organization's legends. Guys like Pee Wee Reese, Don Drysdale, Roy Campanella, and Don Newcombe were important but they never really had a designated spot in my collection. 

Flash forward to 2020, those legends are slowly becoming a bigger part of my PC, especially as I begin to pick up cards from their playing days. Sandy Koufax, Jackie Robinson, and Duke Snider are now "official" player collections for me. Adding to those binders has been a slow process, so I was happy to see the Duke Snider mini above fall out of the pakage Nate sent my way. I'm up to a whopping 7 cards in my Duke Snider PC. 

While Duke is already cemented in Dodgers' history, another center fielder is on his way to doing the same. Cody Bellinger has quickly become one of the best players in the game, and I've made it a point to add as many of his cards to the collection as I can. If he continues to mash like he did in 2019, I might be priced out pretty soon. 

Speaking of expensive cards, it wasn't that long ago that Yasiel Puig's RCs demanded an absurd amount of money. I managed to pick up most of Yasiel's base cards from 2013, but this one from Update Series managed to evade capture for far too long. It was a delight to cross this one of my 2013 Flagship needs. Now, does anyone have an extra Hyun-Jin Ryu (US-192) hanging around? 

Ryu's rookie from 2013 Update Series might be missing from my binder, but his rookie from Topps Archive based on the 1990 set is not. Ryu has been one of my favorite players since he came to the Majors from the KBO, so it was a bummer to see him ditch Dodger blue for Blue Jay blue this offseason. 

Nate also included a number of new cards for some of my PCs, including the following Chrome cards for Corey Seager and Clayton Kershaw. I'm not big on the 2017 design, but I'm a sucker for chrome. 

Nate and I may have gone 5 years between trades, but now that we're both back and blogging, I feel our next swap won't take so long. 

Building a Best of the Decade Team from Flagship

It's admittedly been pretty quiet here on the blog for most of the year. Typical life stuff like work and moving (again!!!) have gotten in the way of blogging and collecting, but with COVID-19 forcing me to work from home and stay inside, I've once again found some time to devote to the blog. (For those wondering, I'm holed up in my apartment in Jersey City, NJ, and staying heathy. I hope you all are as well.) Let's hope I get back on a more regular schedule moving forward. 

2020 has been pretty light in terms of new cards for the collection, so I thought I'd revisit my binders and put together a different kind of post today--a best of the decades post. But rather than simply give a list of the best Dodgers cards of the decade, I decided to make things difficult and give myself a few rules:

1. Select one player for each position (just one starting pitcher and one reliever);
2. Each player has to represent a different year between 2010-2019; and
3. I have to have each player's flagship card in my collection. 

There were a few easy choices here, including a pair of MVP seasons and a Rookie of the Year. Other choices were a bit more difficult. Second base was a revolving door of incompetence for the Dodgers, especially earlier in the decade, which made it difficult to fit into the rest of the puzzle. Without further ado, here's the squad I constructed. 

Catcher - Yasmani Grandal (2017)
Key Stats: 22 HR, .459 SLG%, 2.4 WAR

Grandal was the Dodgers' best catcher of the decade and one of their best players since he joined the team in 2015. His 2017 season was actually his worst for the Dodgers, but I had to get him into this list somehow. 2017 didn't have the best Flagship design, but this is a great photo of Yaz in his catcher's gear. 

1st Base - Adrian Gonzalez (2015)
Key Stats: 28 HR, .275/.350/.480, 4.6 WAR

Vin Scully provided A-Gon with one of my favorite monikers of the decade, often calling him the "butter-and-egg man". Gonzalez drove in 448 runners in his 5+ years with the Dodgers, including 90 RBIs in the 2015 season. I assume he's watching a ball go over the fence in this card from 2015. 

2nd Base - Mark Ellis (2012)
Key Stats: 2.6 WAR

The Dodgers have had a number of guys man second over the years, but there wasn't a constant guy manning the position. Mark Ellis had a fairly productive tenure with the team for a couple of seasons, his value largely provided by his glove. 

3rd Base - Justin Turner (2018)
Key Stats: .312/.406/.518, 4.9 WAR

Turner came to the Dodgers as a non-roster invitee back in 2014 and has since cemented his place as one of the best third baseman in Dodgers' history. 2017 was his best season with the club. If there is no season in 2020, there's a chance he's already played his last game for the Dodgers. 

Shortstop - Corey Seager (2016)
Key Stats: 26 HR, .308/.365/.512, 5.2 WAR, NL Rookie of the Year, Silver Slugger

Seager hit the scene in an impressive fashion, smashing 26 homers in route to the Rookie of the Year award. He's been consistently productive since his debut, though a lost 2018 season due to Tommy John surgery has led many to overlook Seager. Should the 2020 season ever be played, he'll play an integral role in the club's success. 

Left Field - Yasiel Puig (2013)
Key Stats: 19 HR, .319/.391/.534, 4.7 WAR

The decade was one of the most succcessful in team history, and Puig's arrival is a big reason why. His first week in the majors is probably my favorite event of the decade, and his 2013 rookie card is still one of my favorite pieces of cardboard ever. 

Center Field - Matt Kemp (2011)
Key Stats: .324/.399/.586, 39 HR, 40 SB, 8.0 WAR, Gold Glove, Silver Slugger

My pursuit of Matt Kemp carboard was the reason I started this blog in the first place back in 2013. His 2011 season was the best of his career, and he just missed garnering MVP honors, losing to Ryan Bruan. I didn't start collecting on a regular basis unti 2012, so I missed the boat on the great 2011 set, but I managed to get this card into my collection pretty quickly. I'm just 4 cards away from completing the 2011 set, including Kemp's card from Update Series. 

Right Field - Cody Bellinger (2019)
Key Stats: 47 HR, 115 RBI, .305/.406/.629, 9.1 WAR, NL MVP, Gold Glove, Silver Slugger

Bellinger's 2019 was absolutely bonkers, though there's a chance he wouldn't have been the MVP if Christian Yelich didn't go down to injury in the last month of the season. Also of note, the 2019 Flagship design is one of my favorite designs from the decade (and perhaps one of my favorite sets ever).  

Starting Pitcher - Clayton Kershaw (2014)
Key Stats: 1.77 ERA, 10.8 K/9, 7.7 WAR, NL MVP, NL Cy Young

Honestly, any of Kershaw's seasons over the last decade would have been appropriate to include in this position. His production has certainly dropped off over the last few seasons, but he's still an incredible talent and one of the best pitchers in the game. His run of dominance--topped with an MVP award in 2014--from 2010-2015 is one of the best peaks for a pitcher in history, and I'm glad I've been able to see him pitch in person nearly a half-dozen times (including a 2008 game where he faced Max Scherzer of the D-Backs. It was Kershaw's 17th career start and Scherzer's 13th. The game was initially supposed to be a matchup between Greg Maddux and Randy Johnson, but both eventual Hall of Famers were scratched prior to the game.). 

Relief Pitcher - Hong-Chih Kuo (2010)
Key Stats: 1.20 ERA, 12 SV, 3.2 WAR

Kuo had a pair of successful seasons with the Dodgers but was otherwise ineffective during his time in the Majors. His 2010 seasons stands out as one of the best years for a reliever this decade. 

Just for fun, here's what a potential lineup might look like.  
Yasiel Puig - LF
Corey Seager - SS
Cody Bellinger - RF
Matt Kemp - CF
Adrian Gonzalez - 1B
Justin Turner - 3B
Yasmani Grandal - C
Mark Ellis - 2B
Clayton Kershaw - P

Something Old, Something New: Cards from Nick at Dime Boxes

I recently received a wonderful 'Welcome Back' package from my pal Nick over at Dime Boxes. It's been a couple of few years since I last received a bubble mailer of cards (February of 2015, to be exact), so I was ecstatic when I got home late last week to see a loaded bubble mailer sticking out of my mail slot.

The bubble mailer was nice, but the cards within were spectacular. I mean, take a look at this beat up 1966 Walt Alston manager card. I've largely dabbled with the modern stuff over the past few years, so finding this well-loved piece of vintage cardboard is certainly fun. It also inches me a card closer to completing the 1966 Dodgers Team Set--three down, twenty-five to go.

That beautiful Alston wasn't the only throwback card in the mailer. Nick also included this fun Dodgers team card from the 1964 set. It's too bad the Dodgers don't have a celebratory card in this year's set...

Finding cards from the 60s was certainly a welcome surprise, and coming across this Kellogg's 3-D card was also a bit unexpected. Despite spending the first half of this decade collecting, I never actually had one of these in my collection. Super fun.

Nick also passed along some modern cards, this Turner from perhaps the best product of the past few years: Stadium Club. I'm a huge fan of Justin Turner, both for his wonderful play in a Dodgers uni and for his magnificent red mane. I'm a redhead myself (though balding far too quickly), so redheaded players in the majors is a fun time. My exit from collecting coincided with Turner's rise in Los Angeles, so I was never able to collect many of his cards. I'm hoping that changes moving forward.

I don't have a whole lot to say here. You've just got to appreciate the wonderful photography in Stadium Club. Beautiful card.

More fun photography, this time from Flagship. Nick sent me a ton of Flagship, knocking out a ton needs from the past few years. While there were certainly some awesome cards, I definitely needed to comment on this wonderful Rob Segedin. First, it's a card for freaking Rob Segedin--not a household name by any means. Rob hasn't seen the majors since last season and probably won't find his way back onto the Dodgers roster this year, but this RC is fun. Second, how often do we see horizontal cards of outfielders throwing from the outfield? It stood out to me, so I'm guessing it's not all that common.

A Cody Bellinger card! The market was flooded with Bellinger (and Judge) cards last year after a strong rookie campaign, though a Belli card had yet to enter my collection until now. 

Thanks again for the cards. Nick! 

My Life on Bunt: The Autos

So I attempted to make a blogger comback in the summer, promising more posts about the digital world of cards, but that plan quickly broke down as soon as I set up camp in New York at the end of August (an update on that soon). Life got busy pretty quickly and the writing just never happened. I did, however, continue to collect on Topps Bunt, and today's post will feature some of the cooler cards I obtained over the past few months. I'll also have some posts in the coming week or so on some of the non-autos from my Bunt Collection, as well as some of the physical cards I've bought over the past three months. I'll probably put together a couple of care packages for some of my blogger buddies as well--stay tuned for that post and let me know if you are looking for anything in particular.

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Though Bunt has a ton of downsides ("fake" digital cards, limited app capabilities, pricey currency for high-end cards) it has been a boon these last few months. Making friends has been a bit difficult at my new college, and, with the exception of chilling with my girlfriend on the weekends, my social life has hit an all-time low. Anybody in the blogosphere live in New York City or Long Island? Needless to say, I've spent a good number of hours entertaining myself on Bunt, and I've managed to build quite the collection. Oh, and I've done it without spending a dime.

Like most freemium apps, Bunt reserves their high-end cards for users who spend money on the app. Being poor and unwilling to spend money on my fake card collection, I have refused to do so. Still, I have worked to swing some deals notching me high-end cards, though many of my better cards have derived from award chases, a component of the app where users who collect a certain selection of cards by a certain date are given award cards. Take the Clayton Kershaw Laces Auto/Relic below, for example. Bunt ran a 12 Days of Bunt promotion a few weeks ago and released four holiday themed cards a day for its duration. Users who managed to collect all 48 cards by December 26th were awarded the beauty below.

Despite Bunt's numerous flaws, the chase component of the app provides a fun and unique aspect to collecting that we don't have in physical card collecting. Still, Bunt does like to screw over its non-paying users, often including limited edition cards that can only be purchased with diamonds near the end of the chases. Yes, I am speaking from experience. Yes, I am still a bit upset.

I'm slightly less upset about this sweet Bellinger auto that was given out as an award card, and is limited to just 74 copies. Though I wasn't awarded the card, I managed to pick it up in a trade. Bellinger was certainly a highlight in the greatest season of Dodger baseball of my life, and I'm excited to see just how high he can climb next season (World Series MVP would be nice).

Though Bellinger was great all season for the Dodgers, the great play by Austin Barnes in the second-half, coupled with Yasmani Grandal's big slump, pushed Barnes into the starting role throughout the playoffs. I've been a fan of Barnes since the Dodgers acquired him in the Dee Gordon deal a few years back, so I'm glad his potential is finally being recognized at the big league level.

Barnes only has a few cards available on the app, one of them being this signature which I acquired via trade shortly after it was released. I don't think my physical collection has any of Barnes in it, so I think I'll have to fix that when 2018 Flagship is released. 

This triple-auto featuring Bellinger, Turner, and Maeda was the highlight of my collection for a few weeks and remains one of the coolest cards in my collection. I'm still a bit confused by the trio of Dodgers they selected for this card though (I would have opted for Seager instead of Maeda and created a triple-sig of Dodger pitchers). Anybody know if there are any physical cards that resemble this one?

All throughout the past four months I've had my eyes set on trading for a Sandy Koufax auto, though I never had anything enticing enough to swing a deal with other collectors. That said, I finally managed to get my hands on some Koufax digital ink recently.

It's too bad this is in my digital collection rather than my physical one, but I'm happy to be its owner nonetheless. This card was one of my favorites from Stadium Club a couple of years back, so it was certainly cool to nab a signature version.

Though Bunt's downsides often make it frustrating to play, it does provide users with a simple and easy way to trade cards and share their collections. I doubt I'd be able to afford any of the autos above, so being able to collect them on Bunt is a fun consolation prize.

Be sure to check out my full collection on Bunt. I'd be happy to swing a deal with you and hook you up with some cool cards. My username is Chavezravinin (note: there is no 'g' at the end).