What can I really say about Jackie Robinson that hasn't already been said? We all know his story and how his actions changed the landscape of Major League Baseball forever and forced Americans to confront their own racial prejudices, baseball fan or not. Perhaps the most important individual in MLB history, Robinson made his debut for the Dodgers on April 15th, 1947, and MLB teams annually honor him leaguewide on this date by wearing his now universally retired number 42. Let's take a moment to remember his legacy all these years later.
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Of course, one of my primary player collections is Jackie Robinson, despite what my newly updated Player Collections page says. While I've managed to get most of my collection back in my hands in NYC, my dad still has a few of my binders back in California, including my Jackie Robinson/Sandy Koufax binder. Until I can get a better sense of what I do and do not have, I've removed Jackie from that page. I hope to have this updated soon!
Several weeks ago, I dropped by the LCS near my work. Detailed here by Zippy Zappy at Torren' Up Cards, Chameleon Cards & Comics was a 10-minute walk from my office and around the corner from Topps' headquarters. Unfortunately, the landlord decided to hike up the rent, and they had no option but to close--their last day was March 30th. Of course, this was beyond disappointing, especially since I had only recently discovered this LCS and it was by far the best NYC has to offer. Their unfortunate demise, however, resulted in a ton of cheap cards, something my frugality certainly appreciated. There wasn't a whole lot left by the time I made it into the store, but they still had several boxes of Series 1 hanging around. I had most of the Dodgers out of the set by this point, but it's not often I get to rip hobby packs for a buck each. (I'm still chasing a pair of Dodgers to finish up the Series One set.) I bought close to twenty packs of Flagship, though I didn't pull anything staggering. This Robin Yount '84 is one of those 150th Anniversary parallels, meaning it's numbered to 150 (I think). Not bad. I failed to pull any short prints or #'d parallels other than that Yount, but I did get a Yoan Moncada relic. Not very exciting. Maybe he'll finally break out this year and I can flip it to help pay off student loans. A man can dream, right?
While ripping those packs, I noticed a pack of the Topps Silver promo set hanging out behind the register. I asked the clerk about it, and he said it was mine for five bucks. Sign me up!
The silver packs feature shiny chromium "mojo" cards, and the 50-card set list features current and past stars. Each pack includes four cards, and there is a decent shot at pulling some autos and numbered cards. Of course, as a big fan of the '84 design and a bigger fan of chromium/shiny/refractory cards, I was thrilled to rip the pack.
This pack netted me the Mike Trout at the top of this post, as well as the sweet green parallel of Kyle Schwarber you see above. It's #'d /99 and will surely make a Cubs fan happy.
The shop happened to have three more packs, so I bought those, too.
A great mix of all-time greats (Henderson, Ripken, Mattingly), productive veterans (Posey, Altuve, Yelich) and young studs (Soto, Baez).
These are some of the coolest cards I've ever seen, and the chromium finish really makes the colors pop. I'm hoping to get these on a scanner soon because my phone's camera is certainly not doing these cards justice.
Despite the brilliance of the card fronts, the backs are slightly disappointing. Every card comes with the same boilerplate description of the 1984 set (which, fine I guess) but I was hoping Topps would do more to individualize these cards.
While I walked away from the shop with a ton of great new shiny cardboard, this Ohtani takes the cake. I've been following Ohtani's career for nearly six years now, hoping for the longest time that the two-way phenom would sign with the Dodgers last year. And though he signed with the wrong Southern California team, it's hard not to root for the guy. I've been considering starting an Ohtani PC, though his cards are quite pricy, so I've been hesitant to jump in.
I was considering collecting the entire set but decided against it. I plan on holding on to the Ohtani, but the rest of these are fair game for anyone that wants to trade out there.
I only dropped by Chameleon Cards & Comics a handful of times, but I'm sad to see them go. For the city that claims to have it all, it's quite the wasteland for solid card shops. I'm glad I was able to stop in one last time.
It's not that often I find myself buying vintage cardboard. There aren't many good hobby shops nearby and I haven't had the chance to make it to a card show. This means that most of my vintage comes via online purchases, not the most cost-effective way to track down vintage needs. And since I'm pretty light on vintage in my binders now, I need it to be cost-effective.
And what better way to be cost-effective than with an eBay coupon for a whole three dollars off any purchase. I was tipped off to this coupon through Twitter, and I very quickly decided to put it to use. This 1963 Walt Alston, which is in great condition I might add, was originally $3.15 with free shipping. With that coupon, I snagged it for a meager .15 cents. You can't beat that.
Just a few days before that purchase, I was back on eBay searching for deals when I came across this Gilliam from 1960. I put in a bid, went to bed, and woke up to find out it was mine for just a buck. After I threw in another greenback for shipping, I was able to call it mine for a shade under subway fare. Not quite as good as that Alston but not a bad deal at all.
There are 37 Dodgers in the 1960 set and with the addition of the Gilliam, I'm now up to 7 (18.9%). That's nowhere close to completing the set, but it's surprising that I've made this much progress to date considering the large setlist. That Alston card from above marks only the second Dodger I've tracked down from 1963, so there is certainly more work to be done there, too.
Tracking down cheap vintage may not be an easy task, but I still find it quite enjoyable--coupon or not.
I recently completed a swap with Adam of Infield Fly Rule. I had a few Rockies in need of a new home and some fun shiny stuff, so I reached out to Adam and we quickly came to an agreement.
I've been largely working on building my Dodgers team sets from flagship for the past few months, and Adam definitely helped put a dent in some of my want lists.
With the exception of 2015, I''m pretty close to completing most Dodgers sets from the past decade. 2011 Update Series has been a particularly hard set to finish off, so this pair of Ethiers was well-appreciated. I'm six cards away from completing the 2011 set, with four of those needed cards hailing from Update Series. I'm hoping I can knock out this set some point this spring.
While I can probably knock out most of the sets from the 2010s this year, the Dodgers sets from the 2000s will probably take me much longer. Take the fun black-bordered 2007 set, for example. Including Topps Traded, the Dodgers checklist contains 33 cards. With the addition of the Proctor and Drew cards above, I now have three cards from the set. I definitely need to get a move on here.
My lack of cards from the 2000s is quite surprising actually. I started collecting back in 2002 after finding a Shawn Green card in a box of cereal while making myself breakfast. In fact, that card inspired me to really start paying attention to the Dodgers and baseball, and I've been hooked ever since. In hindsight, it's probably the most important bowl of cereal I'll ever eat. Despite the fact that I started collecting back in the 2000s, I only have a handful of cards remaining in my possession and they are mostly in my Shawn Green binder. The rest have been lost to bicycle spokes, ill-fated trips to Goodwill, and various family pets over the years. Most everything else was donated or sent across the blogosphere when I stepped away from collecting a few years ago. Still, I never managed to track down many Dodgers from the start of the millennium, so these two from 2004 are a push in the right direction. I've always been a huge fan of the 2004 set--you gotta love those foil silhouettes--though the cards aren't ideal for folks with iPhones. Lighting was not on my side, so much of the foil work on these cards is difficult to read.
Another needed card from the 2000s, this time from the 2006 set. Hendrickson was a tall lefty listed at a healthy 6'9". His time with the Dodgers in 2006 and 2007 was fairly forgettable, but it's hard to ignore his impressive feat of pitching in the big leagues and playing in the NBA, one of only 13 players to ever do both. It's also hard to ignore the approaching fog behind Hendrickson. Quite the photo.
Of course, Adam included quite a few other fun pieces in this trade, and I'm extremely thankful. Thanks for the trade, Adam!
I've officially been living in New York for a year-and-a-half. That calls for a contest.
This contest is for a 2016 Topps Baseball S1 Cal Ripken Jr. MLB Debut Medallion. Contest ends 4/3/19 at 9:00pm EST. The rules will be explained below. Good luck!
To enter this contest, simply leave a comment on this post. You can enter once per day until the contest ends.
The winner will be selected using Random.org, and will be notified via email. The winner will have one week to send me their mailing address. I will ship the card (along with some other goodies) to the winner for free.
I recently completed my first trade in nearly five (!) years, this time with Dion of Dion's Autograph Collection.
Dion reached out to me in search of some autos, and I had several I was willing to move to help me move closer to completing some sets. And he certainly helped out with that.
Dion sent over a generous hodgepodge of Dodgers from over the years, including the cards from the 70s seen above. It's a bit hidden, but that Walt Alston card is the second card of his I've acquired in the last few weeks.
Most of my Dodgers team sets outside of this millennium are still in their infancy, with the exception of a few sets from the late-80s and early-90s. Dion managed to triple the number of 75s in my collection, while simultaneously alerting me to a few holes in my checklists. While my checklists include all of the normal player base cards from a set, they are often missing other Dodgers cards that aren't player specific, e.g those spectacular MVP cards from the 1975 set above. Where do you all find your checklists for older sets?
I recently shared my thoughts on 2019 Heritage and quickly realized I still didn't have a 1970 Dodgers card in my 70s binder. Dion fixed this with a well-loved rookie of Jack Jenkins and Bill Buckner. One of these guys is more well-known than the other.
More cards I needed from 1983 and 1984 sets, including a fun Ron Cey.
Dion also included a ton of modern cards in this package, including a pair of new cards for my new Justin Turner PC. That Donruss oddly lists Turner as a 2nd baseman, even though Turner has played primarily at third for the Dodgers since arriving to LA in 2014. Hell, Turner hasn't played predominately at second since 2011. Oh well, it's still a pretty cool card. Who doesn't love a dirty jersey?
A pair of new Kershaw's also found their way into this trade. Bask in the full emotional range of Clayton Kershaw.
An errant Shawn Green card found in a box of cereal nearly 17 years ago was one of the catalysts that led to my Dodgers fandom and, later, my baseball card obsession. I hadn't added to my Shawn Green PC in quite some time, so this fun die-cut was a welcome addition. It's a bit hard to see in the photo, but it's also #'d to 99. Cool beans.
There were quite a few more cards included in this wonderful trade--too many to photograph in the dull light of my apartment, however. I really need to get a scanner. Thanks, Dion!
This swap with Dion was my first trade in nearly five years. How I managed to go that long without exchanging cardboard through the mail defeats me, but I do know this swap marks my forceful return to the hobby.
I found myself with time to kill while gallivanting around Manhattan a couple of weeks ago, and I happened to find my way into a card shop. Well, I suppose it's more of a comic shop, but they had some cards and I had some cash, so it seemed like a good fit.
They had a few baseball products (Series 1 and Heritage) but mostly purveyed in non-sports cards. And while I primarily collect baseball, I didn't have much of a choice when I found loose packs of Doctor Who cards.
I am a huge Whovian, that is, a fan of Doctor Who. Or, as my girlfriend would probably say, a huge nerd.
For those unfamiliar, Doctor Who is a long-running show on the BBC that originally premiered in 1963. It aired until 1989 but was revived in 2006. It follows the Doctor (played at times by several different men--and one woman) and his companions as they travel across space and time. It's so incredibly cheesy and dorky, and I love it. If you have Amazon Prime Video and are itching for a new show to watch, I'd highly recommend it--just prepare for some of the worst special effects ever in the first couple of seasons.
There have been a few different Doctor Who products over the past few years, including two signature series sets where the focus has been on the autos. The packs I found at this card shop, however, were not from the signature series sets; rather, they hail from the 2015 Topps Doctor Who set.
The set features a variety of characters and scenes from the show, broken into sets of "Time Lords," "Companions," "Aliens," and Villians," among others. This Krafayis card happens to be an alien (and villian) from one of my favorite Doctor Who episodes: Vincent and the Doctor. I highly suggest any Van Gogh fans check this episode out. Sneak peek below.
The Doctor has had his fair share of gadgets over the years, including the adorable K9. It's a dog and a robot. Twice the pet and none of the mess.
I didn't manage to find an auto in any of the packs I bought (I'll get my hands on a David Tennant signature one of these days), though I did get a nice hit of sorts: a blue parallel #'d to 199 of The War Doctor.
The War Doctor was depicted by John Hurt in a few episodes in 2013. Sadly, Hurt passed away just over two years ago.
The back of these cards are fairly basic but provide some cool information, including a quick recap of the character and an Origin Year which serves as a quick and easy guide to the character's origin. The Tardis is also a cool addition.
While most of the cards in the set focus in on characters and moments from "New" Who (a colloquial term for the revived version of the show) there are some great cards of moments from the first iteration of the show. I've yet to go back and watch any of the original series, but the Fourth Doctor seems like a fun character.
I've considered purchasing a box of Doctor Who cards for some time now, but I haven't yet pulled the trigger. There are some great autos mixed into the product, including David Tennant, Alex Kingston, and Billie Piper, but the price point hasn't been low enough yet. I imagine I'll probably chase the base sets in the near future, however.
The universe is big, it's vast and it's complicated. Any other Whovians out there?
Heritage has always been a hit-or-miss type of set for me, largely dependant on how I view the original set. I've enjoyed the last few years of Heritage and those designs from the late-60s, but I've never really been a fan of the 1970 set which really makes 2019 Heritage a bit lackluster for me. Despite this, I still wanted to join in on the fun and picked up a couple of packs from my local LCS.
I've always felt the 1970 set was one of the most boring ever created, which is particularly frustrating as it fell right in the middle of a string of tremendous Topps designs. There's just something about that drab gray border and lack of color that turns me off from this set.
Of course, that's not to say that it's not a quality product with some fantastic cards. Just take a look at that Pat Neshek card below. It pays tribute the Lowell Palmer card from the 1970 set and seems to be an early favorite for Card of the Year for many collectors.
It's pretty fitting that Neshek is the one to pay tribute. After all, the guy is a huge collector himself. It makes me wonder whose idea this was: did Neshek come up with the tribute idea and pitch it to the photographer? Did Topps plan this and ask Neshek to recreate the Palmer? Either way, it's a sweet card.
Though this year's Heritage isn't in my collecting plans, I do appreciate the variety in photos. With the exception of Stadium Club, the photos in most other products have been a bit stale and a tad over-filtered for the past few years. Of course, photos in Heritage are exclusively posed (with the exception of variations and inserts), and I doubt we'll see many posed photos slip their way into Flagship anytime soon. But that won't stop me from appreciating a great close-up of Strasburg and his huge grin (and beard) or a great shot of Piscotty in one of the quintessential poses for a dude playing baseball.
Despite a strong showing from this year's Heritage, I don't plan on chasing the complete set. I'm still hoping to track down the Dodgers, none of which I found in my two packs, though it's not at the top of my to-do list.
Nope. 2019 Heritage isn't quite for me. But it does mean we're finally approaching 2020 Heritage: the set I might be most excited about.
For the past few weeks, most of my free time has been spent organizing my collection and creating/adjusting my want lists. I've spent considerable time creating new want lists for my Topps Team Set Project, my attempt to collect every Dodgers team set from Flagship dating back to 1952. They even have pretty pictures of each Topps design and collection stats, which I am almost certainly mentioning so you go and check them out. Or you can keep reading; I'm a blogger, not a cop.
I've been working on this project for a while, starting it way back in 2013, but I never really made much progress or focused too much of my attention on it. I have a good chunk of the late-'80s and early-'90s knocked out, as well as the early-to-mid-2010s. But while tinkering with these lists, I discovered that I had yet to track down a card from the '50s. So that had to change.
I did some browsing on eBay, but didn't find much for cheap right away. I decided to turn to Twitter in the hopes someone there had some inexpensive vintage they were willing to move. Enter Cards from the Attic.
He regularly runs sales on Twitter, lots ranging from cheap vintage to expensive modern stuff. I ran across a thread with some '52s for sale, and we very quickly came to an agreement.
I picked up three much-needed cards from the '52 set, as well as a 1967 Walt Alston for just $12.00 shipped--about $2.50 a card. I know very little about appropriate pricing on vintage stuff, but I was just happy to add these to the collection and mark them off the checklist.
I have actually never heard of any of the three guys on these '52s, and based on what I've learned about them on their card backs, there's a reason for it.
A lifetime 5.23 ERA doesn't get you very far.
I was initially drawn to the Dodgers hat Mr.Russell here is wearing, but quickly deduced it's not a Dodgers hat at all--it's a Boston Braves hat. I suppose the uniform beneath the nameplate gave it away, but it certainly threw me for a loop at first.
I also added this Alston to the collection, helping jumpstart the '67 set for me. I was a bit surprised to find I hadn't added anything from '67 yet, so this was a definitely a boon.
This is just the beginning of a larger focus on vintage for me. I secured my first cards--gorgeous, albeit in rough shape--from the 1952 and 1967 sets, and that makes me a happy collector.
