Retired Refractor Review: 2004 Dale Murphy

This is the first of what I'm envisioning will be a recurring series on the blog. One-card posts for when I don't have anything interesting lined up but still want to post something that day.

I love the card product trilogy that is Topps Retired Signature Edition. It was even topic of the first substantial post of this blog back in 2013. It came out from 2003 through 2005, with the middle child being my favorite. And I especially love the refractor parallels of the autographs. The 2004 ref auto set is my #1 collecting goal. I also sometimes pick up 2003 and 2005 auto refractors when they pop up at a reasonable price.

Today we're taking a look at Dale Murphy.

Lovely card. I believe I accidentally wound up with two of these. Oh well, I guess I've got a nice card of offer a Braves collector in case of a big trade opportunity, or maybe I'll try to flip it on eBay for a little profit.

As for the player, Dale Murphy was among the best hitters in the game in the 80s. Just look at all those red stats! The guy could mash. He looked like a sure-thing HOFer, but his skills diminished near the end of the decade as he finished his career with largely forgettable stints with the Phillies and Rockies.

He was a rare clean-living ballplayer who didn't drink or curse, and was just a genuinely good guy. These days you can find him on Twitter, where he's got an active and entertaining account at @DaleMurphy3.

That's it for today. Thanks for stopping by.

P.S. Fuck you, America. Seriously!?? Oh-kaaaay! Brace for it. This is gonna suuuuuck. Seriously!! WHAT THE FUCKKK????!!!

shaking out a contest winner

Thanks to everybody who entered my 700th Post contest. Here's the lineup of entrants, first in alphabetical order:

Adam Kaningher
Admin
Al Kawamoto
Andy Stetson*
Big Tone
Billy Kingsley*
Bo*
Captain Canuck
Corky*
cynicalbuddha*
Daniel Dubay
Dennis
E polk
Fuji
Greg Zakwin*
irondequoit36
itsJeff
Jafronius
JediJeff
John Miller*
Jon*
Jupiterhill*
Kevin P.*
KO Rob
Mark Aubrey*
Mark Hoyle
Matt (not Scott)
Matthew Scott
Matthew Scott (Joey Pants bonus entry)
Mike Matson*
Nachos Grande
Nick
night owl
night owl (Randy Jones bonus entry)
Nolan Tucker
P-town Tom
Paul Hadsall
Play at the Plate
RAZ
Red Cardboard
Rod (Padrographs)
Shane Kroeker
shoeboxlegends
SIXTYfeetSIXinches
SpastikMooss
Sport Card Collectors*
Stack22
Stealing Home*
Stephen Radford*
the bowl cut kid
The Dimwit
The Lost Collector
Tim B. (Cubs post bonus entry)
Tim B.*
Tony Burbs
Tony L.
Tracy LeVeaux
Twitch
Warren Zvon
Wilson*
xavier higgins
zman40


That's 59 guys, plus 3 bonus entries. And here there are in a randomized order..

Usually to randomly find a winner, I'll use the results of an upcoming baseball game, but games haven't started yet and I don't have the time to screw around, having just started this new job that doesn't afford me the "screwing around" time I used to have, so I'm going to announce #1 Fuji as the winner, as selected by random.org. Congrats, Fuji!

I'll do the "second chance" drawing next post, which will be between all the guys with an asterisk after their name.

Thanks again to everyone who entered. As someone who often takes it hard when I lose a contest, I feel your pain. If it really breaks your heart to miss out, I could probably sell you an unsigned Boggs custom for a few bucks, and then you can send it to Boggs with a little donation and hopefully get it signed by him yourself. Just email me if interested.

Now howbout a card to feature in this post? I recently knocked another 2004 Topps Retired Refractor of my wantlist.

Gotta give it up to Dale Murphy. Back to back MVP 82-83 and by all accounts a good guy.

Great looking card and takes me one step closer toward my #1 collecting goal of getting all 76 of the 2004 Retired refractors. Once I finish that, all my other collecting pursuits will just be gravy!

Ripping 2004 Topps Retired Signature Edition (Parts 1 & 2 [of 5])

Last time I talked about 2004 Topps Retired Signature Edition, I mentioned I dropped a chunk of change on a hobby box (5 packs) of this ultra-super-deluxe set. Well, it arrived the other day and I opened a couple packs.

Pack 1.. drum roll..
..And the uncirculated autograph is...
[swing and a miss]
Bobby Grich
Dang, already have this one. And it's probably the easiest/cheapest one to find (about $5-10). Oh well, trading fodder, I guess. I gotta admit I wasn't familiar with Mr. Grich before getting into this set. He just somehow eluded my awareness. But learning about him, he was a damn fine ballplayer. Four-time Gold Glove winner, and home run champ in 1981. Guy's got my respect. That said, still a disappointment to pull this double.
I couldn't resist opening another pack to ease the pain...

Pack 2...
Dale Murphy
Ok, here's a good (not great) card to pull. I didn't have this one yet. It's somewhat common to find on eBay, but usually with a higher asking price than you'd expect (You'd expect it around $10-20. For over $20, the player should be in the Hall of Fame or deceased; Dale is neither of these things.)
Mr. Murphy was one of the best hitters of the '80s, winning back-to-back MVP awards (1982 & 1983). Unfortunately for him, he was stuck on the Braves, who sucked back then. He was traded to the Phillies in the early 90s, and his numbers went south, leaving him on the cusp of HOF-caliber numbers, but ultimately falling short.
Since I needed this card, I'm happy to get it, though it's not much of a "hit".

As far as the non-auto cards in these 2 packs:
Tony Fernandez (black parallel #25/99).. sweet!
Bob Gibson
Al Hrabosky
George Foster
Carl Yastrzemski
Jim Rice
Fernando Valenzuela
Ron Swoboda
...Not a bad lot of guys. Gibson and Yaz, especially.

So yep, 2 packs down, 3 left to go. Hopefully there's somebody in the remaining 3 packs who'll justify what I spent on that box. But even if not, oh well, it's fun and exciting to open an expensive pack of baseball cards. Like a smaller scale version of blowing money in Vegas.. sure, you end up in the red most of the time, but it was fun, right? I'm planning to save the remaining packs for "special occasions" over the next month or so. I'll be sure to post about them when I open them, so stick around to find out what they've got hidden within their shiny wrappers.

The hobby box also included a handy checklist in it, with the base cards on one side and the autos on the other. Also, interesting to see the "groups" of the autos. The bottom of the box lists who's in each group, and the wrapper gives the odds of each group, from 1:675 for Group A, to 1:33 for Group H. I read online somewhere that the production count for the top 3 groups are 25 printed for Group A, 50 for Group B, and 75 for Group C.. though I couldn't say for sure if that's accurate.

It's funny how some of these "scarcity numbers" don't always match up with what I've seen them going for. And kinda funny to see poor Roy Face listed all by himself as the most common. Much love to the man and his still-standing single-season record of 18 relief wins.
I've got most of the lower 3 groups, and a few scattered in the rarer groups, with my "best" ones being Mike Schmidt and Frank Robinson. I'll try to post my "wantlist" soon.

So yeah, there's my lastest post regarding 2004 Topps Retired Signature Edition.. stay tuned for more.