Garvey auto and also Khris Davis 9-pocket PC

In a way, Steve Garvey is my oldest PC. I had an oddball bread card of his as a kid before I really started collecting cards. Still got it today. The only cards I've owned for longer than that are 3 commons from 1980 Topps, and I've yet to start a Mickey Klutts PC, so that gives the collecting longevity honor to Garvey.

Ha, gcrl just posted this card today, but I had already started this draft. I too was compelled to snag this gorgeous Steve Garvey autograph from 2021 Stadium Club, which extends his active PC streak record in my collection. Savor the moment, Mr. Clean!

Oh, since we're coming off of blue tape and pull-tab awareness week, I figured I'd look at the packaging job by this seller. I wouldn't say it was "bad", but still a bit unorthodox, using blue tape on a paper towel wrapping the cards. (It originally looked nicer, but I restaged it after I thought to snap a photo.) No pull-tabs, though. The thrifty sumbitch I am, I was still able to salvage a few inches of usable tape to reuse. And when I get paper towels in packaging like this, I end up using it (like for wiping countertops and whatnot). Sometimes if the packages are big enough, I'll use them for picking up dog crap in the backyard. I figure that's a "green" thing to do.. save a bag, right? lol. But this one was too small, so it got trashed. (Just let me know if you want me to go more in-depth about my "poop patrol" innovations.)

But anyways, inside the paper towel was a team bag that contained the Garvey in a top-loader flanked by a few surprise 2021 Series 2 cards. Hey, always love random commons as a buffer bonus. I can often find a keeper or two for my collection. In fact, I was able to complete another "9-Pocket PC" page with a card from this lot.

Yeah, Khris Davis is a guy I kinda-sorta thought about collecting for a minute back during his historic run of batting exactly .247 for four consecutive seasons. Seems like a good dude. Hit some big blasts in his prime. Never quite added his name to my "PC guy" list, but I'll settle for a solid page of his cards here and call it good. A sharp Chrome RC gets center-square. That's a fishfractor below it, though not a great pic of it in action here. Looks like the lowly Rangers released Khris last month and he's still a free-agent, so that 2021 Series 2 card might end up being his flagship swansong.

My photo of the backs turned out blurry, but instead please accept some good fishfraction. (sorry, but I refuse to call these prism refractors. But I would also accept dragonfractor.)

Thanks for popping by, kind readers.

Portlanders giving cards, not stabbings

Did you hear about the incident in Portland on Friday where the crazy guy was harassing a couple Muslim women on the train, and when a couple guys tried to get him to chill out, the fucker pulled out a knife and fatally stabbed the guys who were trying to help? (A third heroic person was injured but survived the attack.) It's a tragic story. And close to home for me, as it happened right at the stop where I get off to go home. I usually take that train but a little later. My wife gets off work earlier than me and perhaps would have been on that very train on a normal day, but drove Friday.

And the Friday before that, there was a stabbing at the next stop before on my route home. Just some creepy guy hitting on a woman, then stabbing her when she turned him down.

Yikes! Why is Portland getting so stabby lately? And on my route home, no less!

Well, I don't know a good way to segue that into showing off baseball cards, but let's wrap up the remaining highlights from the big lot fellow Portland resident Padrographs Rod kindly gave me a month ago.

There was a nice lot of 2016 Bowman/Bowman Chrome, with plenty of shiny. I probably could have gotten a full post out of these, but I'll keep things moving along since I've got a lot to post about at the moment.

These are pretty cool.. Here's about half of the Topps' Rookie of the Week insert set from a while back, with reimagined rookie cards of legendary players (most of whom I collect).

Who's still working on 2016 Stadium Club? Hit me up. Nice stack here with some keepers for me including a Bryce insert and popcorn Donaldson.

Minor league team sets are fun.

A few basketball cards, heavy on Lakers, including a few Jerry West cards (it happens to be his birthday today) which I'll likely end up sending over to Matt Scott (WVU content). And how have I never heard of a guy named Smush? I love fun names like that.

Look at this big lot of minor league team logo cards. Pretty cool, if somewhat strange.

And there were 2 copies of the Topps Now holiday bonus card. I haven't bought a Topps Now card directly from Topps, so I never got one of these. Cool to get two of them! One's definitely going toward the Kris Bryant PC, while the second one will likely go to the Ichiro PC (with him getting the slight nod over Big Papi since I've already got 100+ cards of Ortiz.)

And just some more various cool cards. Love seeing Jesse Orosco as a Friar. There were also several TTM autos in the lot (Padrograph doubles, no doubt). Nice framed Eddie Murray card. And howbout that John Kruk card from back when he was a relatively slim minor leaguer?!

Food oddballs! Most of these are from Carl's Jr. Don't recall seeing them before, but I like 'em!

A bunch of non-sports, heavy on US presidents. These don't really fit my collection.. anybody interesting in trading for them? (There were also many Beach Boys cards, but I'm holding off on going though them until I bust the box I bought.)

And a bunch of Olympic cards, also available. Not often you see a sportscard with a guy aiming a gun at you. At least he's not stabbing anybody!

Again, huge thanks for the cards, Rod!

Card show overview and a 2016 Stadium Club blaster

Pretty solid card show haul for me today. I picked up a bunch of cards, with about half of them earmarked as trade fodder. I'll need to sort through everything later and get another post or two out of it within the next few days. So stay tuned. For today, let's just rip open the half-priced 2016 Stadium Club blaster I picked up.

A couple nice Cubs. Pretty sure I already have the Bryant, so it might be available.

A couple decent gold parallels.

Black & white beauties. I actually had just picked up 3 of these 4 from a dimebox (all except the Killer), so I suppose they are available, too.

And a diecut Robin Roberts that's kinda cool. These should have been refractors.

And of course several more cards that weren't interesting enough to show, available for trade.
Not the best box, but a fun little ripping experience for $10.

Thanks for stopping by.

2016 Stadium Club hobby box (with case hit!)

The other day my lovely wife randomly sent me a link for an eBay discount code that was expiring within the hour. I searched around for a wanted card or card lot over the minimum dollar amount so I could take advantage of it. At first I couldn't find anything good that fit in that price range, but then I searched for hobby boxes, and when 2016 SC popped up, that worked for me so I pulled the trigger. The coupon code brought my cost down to a tick below the trending price, so I was happy with that.

Let's check out what the box had in store for me...

Starting out with some inserts, I think this is the first time I'd ever been able to piece together a couple of those Triumvirate die-cuts, so that was kinda cool. I think the "Luminous" cards are supposed to only be one per box, so guess I got lucky pulling a second one.

I kept seeing the back of the inserts as I was opening the packs, seeing names like Trout and Kershaw and getting excited for a second thinking "Maybe this is one of my 2 promised autos!" But nope, I'd flip them over and realize they were just regular inserts.

Here're some base cards of current superstars.

And some of this year's hot rookies.

Here are the parallels I got. The Rondon is black, while the rest are gold. I was happy to pull the Giancarlo, though the rest are available for trade.

Here are some retired stars I grew up watching.

And some guys from before my time. Lou Brock tragically got boring cards most of his playing career, usually just standing around, so it's nice to see an exciting photo of him on a card for once.

A few more active guys I collect. Per usual, Stadium Club delivers with some great photos.

My autos didn't really knock my socks off, gotta say. Rob Refsnyder and Kevin Plawecki. I've already pulled autos of both these guys from Panini products within the past year, so I had some "Not him again?!" feelings. Both are decent young players (and hey New York teams so big fanbase) though definitely not among the better names on the auto checklist to hope for. As I pulled the second auto (Plawecki) from the dwindling packs, I began to worry the box was a bit of a bust for me (I know, I know.. Stadium Club isn't about the hits). But that feeling only lasted a brief moment because the very next card in that pack was this case hit:

Boom! Coverboy Carlos Correa Members Only parallel! Again, these Members Only parallels are one per case. To pull a big name such as the reigning AL ROY is quite lucky on my part. These aren't serial numbered unfortunately, but we're talking about a print run in single digits. If I wanted to sell it, it's reasonable to think I might be able to fully recoup the cost of the box with this one card, or at least get close. There don't seem to be any on eBay yet, either in current or completed listings, so it's hard to say. But I like the idea of having a good card of Correa, so I plan to hang onto it.

So yeah, thanks in large part to the Members Only hit, this turned out to be a pretty sweet box for me.
Thanks for stopping by and checking it out! I'll have plenty of base cards to trade for you guys working on the set.

P.S. Don't forget it's Pull Tab Awareness Week! I've got a little contest going n' everything, if you missed it yesterday.

Pack Skirmish: 2015 Stadium Club vs. the Junkiest of Junk

It's time for another filler post, er, I mean Pack Skirmish! This time, my last coupe packs from the discounted 2015 Stadium Club blaster will be matching up against the junkiest of the junk wax that Topps has to offer.

The first challenger is 1988 Topps.
GUM CHECK: It's good! Let's give it a point for pure, pink gum. Cracked, but otherwise still in fine condition. I ate the whole thing, ain't gonna lie. No ill effects. Took me back to my carefree days as a kid.

Since Stadium Club only has 5 cards to a pack, they'll have to fight off multiple junk foes. Cueto here feels no pressure, and fends off Neil Allen, Lee Mazzilli (creased inside the pack), and a micro appearance of Jack Clark.
Tied at 1.

Oh, it's a mano-y-mano matchup of future Padres. Current third base coach Glenn Hoffman vs. current closer Fernando Rodney. Man, I can choose between this pair of Friars. Pass!

Josh Harrison is pretty good, squeaking past an Astros onslaught. SC 2, Topps 1.

Wil Myers gold parallel.. nice card of a guy I collect, but I already have this one (thanks again, SCC), so it'll probably end up with Marcus. Since it's a dupe, I'll reluctantly give the point to the trio of decent names. Well, Maddux might be a decent name due to Mike's brother, but close enough. 2-all tie.

It's a BATTLE ROYALE as we close out the last cards of each pack. Pads in the Hall Sparky Anderson and Ozzie Smith, not to mention cardsphere gold Tim Wallach.. but damn, that's a fine looking Puig card with the So Cal sunset in the background. I had been hoping to land that card for my collection for a while now.

It definitely came right down to the wire, but Stadium Club wins by the skin of its teeth. Exciting!


Bout 2: Stadium Club defends its title vs. 1989 Topps.

Nasty! GUM CHECK: It's no good! Gum dust! Not edible. '89 Topps loses a point right out of the gate. It's 0 to -1. I threw away that Mark Williamson card too. It's gonna be an uphill climb for the flagship.

All-Time Cardinal favorites Lou Brock and Tom Herr team up to knock down JJ Hardy and redeem the disappointing gum. We're back to no score.

Ah man, where was Roger McDowell during the previous Pack Skirmish post when a Seinfeld theme was unsuccessfully forced?! The Candy Man and Eric The Red (slight water stain on the left?) are also hard hitters, but that shot of Elvis stealing second is just too awesome. Stadium Club up 1-0.

Meh, Hrbek is always fun to pull I guess. Let's give the point to Topps. 1-1 tie.

Oh wow, a Luminous diecut of a dude I collect.. nice! That's good enough to beat a HOFer and a couple other solid players. SC 2, Topps 1.

And this is it! Topps wheels out Frank Tanana and a couple Rangers scrubs. No match for Mr. Andrew McCutchen!

Stadium Club handily wins this one. Topps could never recover from the gum debacle. Congrats, SC.

And for the highlights from the other packs in my Stadium Club blaster? Well, there weren't any, really. Just a couple dudes I passively collect, Darvish and Pujols. Overall it wasn't a very exciting box. The Alex Gordon insert was the best card, with the Puig and McCutchen also being keepers for me. But hey, the price was right, and lots of collectors are working on this set, so it's always good for trade fodder.

It would be impossible to find packs of MLB baseball cards that interest me less than 1988 and 1989 Topps, but hey, even so, I still love ripping packs, so this was fun. Plus I pulled a few "pack fresh" PC guys who might be upgrades for me. And it's always nice to run into a Wallach for the Wallach Guy. BTW, I was privately racing him to 1000 copies of any particular card. Sadly for me, he won recently by reaching 4-digits with Wallach's 1982 card, meanwhile I'm still at 350-ish cards of 1990 Upper Deck Marquis Grissom like a chump. I keep hoping for a huge lot to hit eBay and help me take a big stride, but no dice.

Thanks for tuning in. See you next time!

Summoning a Crystal Ball from 2015 Stadium Club

Everybody  knows 2015 Stadium Club is an incredible set. But I'm not really a set builder (at least not modern, full-size sets), so all I bought from it was one blaster that didn't pack much punch aside from the cool photos. But from reading about the set online, what really got my attention were the Crystal Ball inserts. Each of these things were purported to be a huge brick of a card and give off a cool visual effect in-hand. I'm a sucker for an innovative/gimmicky card, so I made a note to land one once the prices cooled off a bit. Seeded at one-per-case, they're definitely one of the scarcer hits you could pull.

Here's the checklist via Cardboard Connection:

2015 Topps Stadium Club Crystal Ball

10 cards. 1 per case. Serial numbered #/70.
PARALLEL CARDS: Gold Foil #/30
CB-01 Mike Trout - Los Angeles Angels
CB-02 Bryce Harper - Washington Nationals
CB-03 Jorge Soler - Chicago Cubs
CB-04 Yordano Ventura - Kansas City Royals
CB-05 George Springer - Houston Astros
CB-06 Mookie Betts - Boston Red Sox
CB-07 Javier Baez - Chicago Cubs
CB-08 Taijuan Walker - Seattle Mariners
CB-09 Jacob deGrom - New York Mets
CB-10 Daniel Norris - Toronto Blue Jays

Trout and Harper would be cool, but very pricey. After those two big stars, the checklist takes a steep downturn to young guys with just a year or two of major league service under their belt (I guess that goes with the whole theme of a crystal ball-- "looking into the future of these promising young players" or whatever). Out of the remaining names, Mookie Betts was the most intriguing to me. He seems to be a solid 5-tool player who quietly wrapped up an impressive first full season in the bigs. Maybe if Boston was in contention this year he would have gotten more attention.

And so anyways here we are and I've landed one of the #/30 Gold Foil parallels for about the price of a blaster plus tax.

It's a pretty cool card (if you can call it a "card"!) It's kind of like a shadowbox thing, with the player's photo on the bottom of a "well" area, and a clear dome over it, giving off somewhat of a spherical look, with a flat top layer over that all with a clear window down into the "crystal ball" hole. If these things were super cheap, I'd love to dissect it like how I did with a Gallery of Greats card the other day.

thick

While it's a neat item, I'm not quite so enamored with it to where I'm eager to blow a couple hundred bucks chasing the full set of 10. But I might keep an eye on eBay to maybe try snatching up some of the others if I can land them in the single-digit range.

The rest of a 2015 Stadium Club blaster

For reasons I can't quite put my finger on, I'm not typically a big Stadium Club guy, but this year's set looked real good around the blogs. I like the design and I'm glad they didn't go quite as nuts with the photo filters as they did last year. So I had planned on picking up a blaster at the grocery store one of these weeks. But a dealer at the card show had some for cheaper, so I went ahead and bought one from him. I showed the results of the first pack yesterday, but now let's take a look at the rest.

Kennys Vargas seems to be a gold parallel?

Nice to see Fred McGriff in the set. Would love to see him included as a Padre in a modern product sometime, but I'm not holding my breath.

As for the Miguel Cabrera True Colors insert, it's fine. Really it just gets this song stuck in my head..

Gwynn! Happy to pull that card. Not sure why Albert Belle is getting included in sets these days.. does anybody out there get excited to pull an Albert Belle card anymore? The guy was a notorious prick. The Joey Votto insert isn't very interesting. Great photo on that Elvis card.

The Dallas Keuchel is another gold parallel, I believe. It's not numbered or anything.

Cool to pull the Rusney, though he hasn't done much yet this year. The James McCann seems to be a parallel of some sort, as the foil is black, I guess.. not the usual silver. It's not numbered so it's dirt to me.

Looking good. I think this was my only pack that was 100% base cards, no inserts or parallels.

Final pack has a nice Zack Wheeler diecut. It was super cool that the last card of the blaster was Bip! You know I love the heck out of Bip Roberts and was very happy to see him included in the set, with a fun yet headscratching photo choice.

There you have it. Much of these cards are available for trade, so let me know if you wanna work out a deal for anything. Thanks.