I was gifted another reusable grocery bag full of cards n' stuff from Padrographs Rod recently. Had a blast going through it, and now it's time to show off some highlights.
I've said it many times before, but since I don't mess with current product much these days, it's great when I get an influx like this from Rod to help my collection stay "current" to some degree, with the hot rookies of the moment and the new Black Gold designs they're still whipping up. I remember when Topps first paid homage to the original '93 Black Gold inserts a few years back and I even gave an effort to complete them (and the Chrome versions) before petering out around halfway. Then they went with the '94 Black Gold design a year later, and after that, just started making up new Black Gold designs since they originally only lasted those couple years. They seem to have improved their production method, as the foil background doesn't bleed through the player image as the earlier retreads did.
Seems like it was decades of collectors lobbying to have parallels featuring baby chicks hatching in the background before Fanatics finally listened and gave the people what they wanted. I'm just kidding, of course, and these are pointless parallels just trying to manufacture some scarcity, but happy to throw that Kershaw in the PC. I didn't end up having to write a post titled "Tampa Bay Rocks, Too" since the Brewers beat 'em, but had it come to that, a couple of these would've likely made that post.
There were a handful of Panini Prizm cards included, with the cake taken by this Greg Maddux refractor (aka "Prizm prizm").
That really only scratches the surface of the miscellaneous mostly modern cards, but let's keep things moving. The bulk of the bag was Padres team sets. Rod checked with me first before the dump, as being a "team collector" isn't really my hobby focus, but I was happy to bulk up the Padres representation in my collection.
Included was a near-complete run of Topps Heritage team sets stretching back to the 2001 ('52 design) beginning, all paged up in order. Probably deserves more than just a photo of page one, but I won't hit you over the head with a parade of random old Padres. Several years were complete, but overall the sets were probably about 85% complete (not counting any SSP variations, of course), and I was able to bring that up to around 90% with cards I already had, and I'll try to fill the remaining holes through Sportlots orders and TCDB trades. I'm undecided as to attempting to keep this project current with future Heritage releases. As Night Owl has blogged about lately, Heritage sucks more now that it ever has (This paragraph originally had a lot more ranting, re: unreadable backs, etc). Perhaps that's why Rod cut bait with this part of his collection. But I'm happy to find a place for it, and will likely try to keep it going, if a bit half-assed.
They gave it a good run in '84. I found a place to put these up in the "music area" of the basement were I try to "rock out" for a few minutes a day.
I bet you weren't expecting to see a chicken sensually kissing a bear today. Back to the Padres team sets. These were also paged but less complete than the Heritage, with I assume Rod pulling some of the cards for PCs (no Gwynns included) or maybe for Padrographs.
Here are partial sets (~80% complete?) for what I think is the full run of Mother's Cookies giveaways from Jack Murphy Stadium. Fun easter egg to find an autograph on the back of Jerry Davis. Such a rarity to see that "AUTOGRAPH" line actually get utilized. Sure, collectors would rather the front get signed, but you gotta appreciate the novelty of seeing that line on the back not be blank for once.
Mother's gave way to Keebler for the SGA team sets.
Yet more Padres team sets.
Last group to show off are a couple minor league team sets and a 2019 Portland Pickles set (featuring a few signed cards and several customs Rod made to fill out the roster and team brass). I had a big post on the set when I got one at the original promotional night at the ballpark in '19.
Lots of great stuff. Thanks so much, Rod!
