I wanna be your backdoor man

I'm back with some more "backdoored" stuff for my collection purchased from a certain eBay seller with a large selection of internal proof cards and whatnot that were never intended to make it out into the world.

These Ring Leaders inserts from 1995 Topps Stadium Club are ostentatious enough as they are-- but a slightly oversized proof?! Even more intense! I wanna make this image my desktop background. Looks even better in hand, all nice n' shiny.

For comparison, here's the packed-out version. You can see the edges have been trimmed off of the original artwork. The proof has more of the eagle wing and a bit of Crime Dog's shoe.

I also got a similar Gwynn, but this one has a color bar attached to it too. The googly-eyed Bip is there for scale (and comic relief). These are both blank-backed, btw.

My way of thinking is if you're gonna do the oversized card thing, make it a shiny card. The more shiny, the better.. right? These Power Players inserts from 2000 Topps are pretty cool looking.. and the untrimmed proofs add a little more to the story. These have standard backs. The Nomar was picked up as trade bait, so if any of my Sox-collecting trade buddies want me to set it aside for you, just let me know.

The 2009 Bowman red parallel is an unnumbered proof (regular size). The packed-out versions of this parallel are 1/1. Just a neat little addition for my Xavier Nady PC.

Basketball even got into the action, picking up a pair of shiny untrimmed Tim Duncan proofs. These look great.

Foil-less, untrimmed proofs of Dwight Evans (1992 Stadium Club) and Eric Owens (1996 Topps Gallery).

Some Fleer stuff too. More slightly oversized proofs. 2005 Fleer Classic Clippings Gavin Floyd, Khalil Greene, Brian Giles, and Adrian Beltre.

Some of the big names are priced a bit steep-- occasionally outrageous even-- but Bagwell and Thome here were just a buck each, so I added them to my cart, spicing up those little PCs with an out-of-the-ordinary item. Most of the cards in this post were a buck or two. The Gwynn Ring Leader was the priciest card at $3.

The Hoyt is a blank-back of his 1991 Archives card, a 1953 Topps reprint. Not very exciting, but happy to add another Hoyt to the collection as I work toward my goal of 100 different cards. And yes, I definitely count these backdoored cards in my PC totals, though some collectors may choose not to. Cards like this obviously aren't listed in Beckett or TCDB or whatnot, but I just consider them bonus oddballs. Maybe a step above customs and unofficial sketch cards.

Rod Beck was the star of the order with 8 different cards. As for the two cards that look like dupes, one is blank-backed and the other has a standard back. The 1995 Topps Finest refractor (bottom right) isn't a proof or anything.. just a regular card the seller had that was a good price and I needed it, so I threw it in the cart. It is possibly a backdoored card, but no real way to tell the difference with a packed-out version in this instance, I guess.

Let's close out with a Bip Roberts lot, another of my favorite under-the-radar guys to collect.

Here are the backs. Again, just some quirky PC additions.

Typically, I'm not a fan of oversized cards as they're more of a pain to store, but these cards that are only slightly oversized are still small enough to fit in boxes with the rest of my cards, so it's not too bad. I might just have to put them in team bags instead of penny sleeves.

Have a great weekend, everybody.

more card show keepers

My haul from this past weekend's card show was pretty much evenly split between cards for my collection (pictured left) and cards picked up with others in mind / trade bait (right).

This post will feature some more of my keepers. Again, they're all numbered parallels I picked out of a 50¢ box.

Lots of shiny here. The non-shiny card is /99.. the only copy of which on COMC right now is $10+, so I'll count that as a nice deal for me.

Red Sox legends Yaz and Dewy.

More HOFers. The Smoltz is the lowest numbered of this bunch at /100.

Slugging 3rd basemen. I'm thrilled my Padres signed Machado, but with such a big, long deal, you can't help but be nervous. But give me just one championship over those 10 years and I'll be over the moon.

More San Diego-centric cards.

New cards for my PCs of Mike Jacobs (though it's technically a Hanley Ramirez card) and Mark Buehrle (though it's technically a Paul Konerko card).

A pair of /99 Tigers.

Here are more cards. Vlad, D-Lee, and Chili.

Some hip young dudes with blue hues. Lewis Brinson has been having an incredible spring training with Miami (5 HR in 26 AB as of this writing).. maybe this'll be his breakout year.

Let's end on some thicc cards. Tribute, Triple Threads, Inception, etc.

Solid card show haul. I think I've got one more post to get out of it: the trade baits. Coming soon.

No Name on Front

No Name on Front cards are some of the coolest error cards out there, I'd say.

There was recently some talk on Twitter of an eBay seller with a nice selection of 1992 Topps cards with no names on the front. I thought the cards looked great.. a fresh spin on an old classic. Just a simple, elegant frame around a photo. They were just a buck each plus flat $3 shipping, so I grabbed a few guys I collect. If you don't recognize him out of his Red Sox uni, that's Dwight Evans above.

Caminiti, Joyner, Templeton, and Maas here. What these cards are are Gold parallels missing the gold foil. Turns out this is the same seller from whom I bought a few proof cards back in 2017.. she must have either worked at Topps in the 90s (or perhaps at the print shop Topps used?) or have a close associate who did. She has thousands of backdoored stuff like this in her eBay store. (In fact, I just placed another order of stuff from her while working on this post!)

They have regular backs. You can tell they're Gold parallels by the logo in the background of the stats box.

While I'm talking about NNOF cards, I figured I'd include a couple others I've got, such as this 2014 Bowman Draft card of Gavin LaValley that's missing the foil, and therefore the name. Nice unofficial variation for that rainbow.

Of course the best known example of a no-name error is the 1990 Topps Frank Thomas. I'd love to pick one up someday when I've got 4-figures to burn on a baseball card, but for now I'm content with official reprints. These are both from 2010 Topps.

One is the standard Cards Your Mom Threw Out insert, and the other is the more scarce original back reprint. The latter is probably my favorite reprint in my collection... love it!

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

Triad of the PWE

I received three PWEs full of cards over the past few days. Let's take a look.

This first one is from GCA, packing a punch with sweet vintage 1954 Topps Hoyt Wilhelm. While I overpaid for a copy a few card shows back, I'm still very happy with this. I've got several open pockets in the '54 Topps page of my Flagship Binder, and this will be a fantastic addition there.

Greg also kindly kept a lookout for cards on my wantlist during a recent card show, and ended up scoring 3 of the Sandlot inserts I needed. Thanks, GCA! Now I'm just Hercules away from completion......

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Next up is Dimebox Nick...

Boom.. that's a big doggie! Thanks to Greg and Nick, I've finished the (non-auto card) Sandlot inserts from 2018 Archives. Now I just need a few of the coins (from blasters) and the Karen Allen auto (from hobby boxes) and I'll be done. (There are also parallels for everything, but I'm not bothering with those. If there were refractor parallels, then yes, I would likely hunt them down.)

The streak of this post showing nothing but Sandlot and Wilhelm cards continues with this pair of oddball Hoyt needs.

Nick also threw in some assorted Padres.

Love the Eric Lauer /99 green shimmer parallel. I feel like I've got a dozen different versions of that Hunter Renfroe RC, but needed the metallic snowflake.

Some future stars and hot rookies. I think that Judge is my first card from the 2018 Baseball Card Day promotion.

Thanks, Nick! I'll get a return out to you soon. As for your dad being interested in another round of music customs, sure just shoot over the details and a reasonable selection of cards from my wantlist (older the better) and we can make it happen!

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Last up today is what I believe is my first time trading with Matt from Diamond Jesters.

The '78 base cards are from Matt's neat Time Travel Trading series, but the Nolan record breaker was an awesome surprise. Great to check these off my setbuild (though the Ivie is in just rough enough condition to where I'll probably hold out for a better copy. He's got some surface wear that he appears to be upset about.)

And a few from the don't-call-it-junk period. Mr. Haverkamp narrowly beat Matt to knocking the Minton off my '87 Fleer Update quest the other day, but it's the thought that counts. And always love adding new Kirby and Dewy. It is a strange feeling to be excited over receiving '90 and '91 Donruss cards in the mail here in 2018, but no, I legitimately was! Needed 'em both for the PC!

Closing out with some modern cards, including a pair of Hosmer, a Snell RC, and George Springer staring into space.

Thanks for the trade, Matt! And thanks again to Greg and Nick, too.

Out Ta Get Me

Been hidin' out and layin' low with a nasty cold for the past few days, but now I'm playing catch-up with a jumbo trade recap post. Yep, my trader buds have been out ta get me closer to finishing up some classic sets.

Turrdog has hooked me up with some great cards in the past, but may have outdone himself this time. Along with the Gwynn I already had, this pair knocks off the Big 3 rookies in 1983 Topps.

And lots of starpower here, too.

And he crossed off a bunch of my remaining 1984 Fleer needs with these 10 HOFers.

Big thanks, Turrdog! I'll do my best to round up some thank-you cards soon.

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Next up is GCA.

Another nice lot of '83 Topps needs.

Some guys I collect, with Dewys and a Puckett and Madlock (had the Madlock in the PC, but needed one for the '87 Fleer Update build).

But the real star of GCA's package was the onslaught of Bo Jackson cards. He's got a pretty legit Bo PC and was able to dig up a bunch of dupes I could use.

Great selection from various sets.

Thanks a lot, GCA! I'll hit you back with some cards right away.

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Next up is good ol' mr. haverkamp lending a helping hand again.

Ripken and Rose were big ones to cross off the '84 Fleer list.

A bunch of good '83 Topps cards too. I'm really nearing the finish line with these 2 sets now! My updated wantlists can be found on this post.

Jim also found some '64 Topps needs for me. Slowly creeping up to 50% complete there.

And a Mad Dog. Had this in my '80 Topps set, but now here's one for the PC.

Thanks as always, mr haverkamp! Just let me know if I can ever return the favor!

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Next up is a package from Paul at Scribbled Ink, who recently sent out a bunch of cards in conjunction with a contest he ran while pissed at Miguel Cabrera for pulling out of the Tigers preseason fan event.

Love the "1/1"! That shiny Hank is a beauty too. And the thrill of receiving Aaron Judge cards in trade hasn't worn off for me quite yet.

And a nice lot for my Marquis Grissom PC.

Also a couple cards for my '64 setbuild. Already had the Dalrymple, but needed the Boozer. Cheers!

Great stuff.. thanks, Paul!

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And here's a surprise mailing from Bru at Remember the Astrodome.

He sent me some Padres 8x10s from the late 80s, highlighted by Gwynn and Robby. (UPDATE: These are 1989 T&M oversized 8x10 cards.)

Thanks for thinking of me, Bru. I'll shoot some Astros your way soon.

- - ---o

Last package for today comes via the Lost Collector.

Solid assortment of 2018 Topps Padres. Didn't have any of these yet.

And some older Padres cards, highlighted by a Caminiti trio.

But the gem of the package was this manurelic (that Topps erroneously refers to as a patch) of young slugger Rhys Hoskins. My first "hit" of the guy, it's a blue parallel, numbered /99 on the back.

Thanks a lot for the trade, AJ!

-  - ---o

Bummer. Looks like there should have been one more mailing in this post, but the mystery sender skimped on the postage. Hopefully I end up with it sooner or later.

Take that one to heart! Thanks for stopping by.