Topps Retired Triad of HOF 2003 refractor autos

Haven't done one of these in a while. My "Topps Retired Triad" series is where I show off 3 additions to my hoard of Topps Retired Signature Edition cards, which I consider my top collecting priority, as far as allocating hobby funds. While sometimes I mix it up among the 3 years of the product, this post is pure 2003 refractions, and all Cooperstown homeboys, at that. Hitting you with three shots each: a couple different refractings and a shot of the back.

Frank Robinson was a nice one for me to grab recently. 

Looks like a storm brewing behind Frank thanks to the weird reflection in this pic.

An all-time great, no doubt about it.

Robin Roberts is another good one. I've had the base version of this auto for a while, so it was nice to upgrade to a refractor.

Baseball-reference has him at #22 all-time on the list of great pitchers as measured by career WAR, though Justin Verlander might overtake him assuming he keeps pitching adequately for another season or so.

Here's another notable right-hander. This Juan Marichal is a "prodigal son" of a card for me that I'm happy to welcome back to the fold. I scored a refractor a few years back, ended up selling it for a hefty profit to a hobby acquaintance, and thankfully have since lucked into this replacement at quite the bargain. (Now if I could only have similar luck with the Willie Mays ref auto I also sold to Dan.)

I now have 99 of the 119 players with autographs in 2003 Topps Retired, though that's factoring in base autos as well (which I'll ideally upgrade to refractors someday). 

Last off the line here, with 25/25 serial numbering.

Thanks for stopping by. My big COMC order has arrived, so I should have more posts for y'all soon.

Frank Robinson 2001 Archives Reserve auto

Finally back to work this week after being out of commision last week. Lots to catch up on, and January and February are looking like very busy months for me, so I'll likely be posting sporadically for the next few weeks.

Here's a quick one-card post, an addition to my Archives Reserve Master Set quest.

Ooh, that's a pretty card! I know some collectors take issue with the disconnect of refractor reprints of vintage cards, though they are A-OK in my book (evidenced by me being such a fan of Archives Reserve.. which is basically a product line of nothing but refractor reprints of old cards).

I picked up Frank Robinson's rookie card a couple years ago for my 1957 Topps setbuild. It's a great card, and I'm happy to now be able to complement that with a shiny, autographed version. Frank unfortunately left us last year at age 83. He was generous with his signature, so thankfully we collectors can score an auto of his without breaking the bank (this one ran me $36 shipped-- my first purchase of the new decade [cards or otherwise]). Not bad for a pack-certified, on-card signature of one of the greatest baseball players of all-time. And like most old-time greats, he clearly took pride in his penmanship. And I love that he wisely identified the sleeve as the best place to sign. I'll bet he signed this image countless times over the course of his life, whether the original '57 issue or the various reprints that followed.

The backs. As someone who enjoys making custom cards, I'm no stranger to recreating old designs, both front and back, trying to get them looking as close to the real thing as possible. So like in the upper right here where on the original "Texas" is directly under "Throws".... but on the reprint "Texas" is well before "Throws"... stuff like that would bug me if I were the guy working it up. Not a big deal, but just something I noticed. (Also check out the text on the front, such as where the second "o" in Robinson is in relation to his pants.)

Frank had a big rookie season in 1956, unanimously running away with NL Rookie of the Year. Of course there was no Topps Update back then, so young Reds fans had to wait until 1957 to score one of his cards. If it happened in modern times, he'd have literally thousands of different "RC" cards flooding the market before the end of the year, and probably have an entire insert set dedicated to him the following year along with thousands more cards. Different times!

It's a long-term project, for sure, but I love adding a new Archives Reserve card here and there. I recently nearly burned a big eBay gift card I got for Christmas on a Johnny Unitas autograph-- that would have been a big one to check off of the football portion of the ARMS wantlist!-- but sadly some other dipshit bidder out there wanted it just a little bit more than I did. Oh well, maybe someday.

more card show pickups

You wanna see some more card show pickups?! You got em!
It's mostly oddballs and vintage in this post.

Did somebody say oddballs?
That Ted Williams is a cool card, though I haven't been able to find out more info on it. Then a pair of similar Frank Robinson cards. Rollie rockin' the brown & gold. Luke Appling card convention card. And a Nolan Ryan card convention card (that doesn't actually picture Nolan Ryan) might be my best pickup of the show according to COMC prices, as it's currently listed at the yuletide price of $12.25. (All the cards in this post ran me under 50¢ a pop... well, most of them were actually under 25¢.)

Some oddball reprints. F. Robby making another appearance.. another card convention exclusive.

HOYT! Hope I needed one or two of these.

Oddballs a poppin! Can you identify these badboys on sight? Mothers? Broders? Other?

Answer key. Mickey Brantley isn't a guy I collect, but an old school Broders card that even has Rob Broder credited on the back seemed kinda cool.

Some trade fodder. Who wants 'em?

Harry and the Hendersons (not pictured: Harry). Dave Henderson is among my favorite "common" guys to collect. Always seems to be having fun.

Some vintage sets I'm working on. The '57 is pretty beat, but for a quarter, figured it'd be a fine spot filler.

A little more vintage, including the infamous "bat boy" card from '69, a poor condition '58, an off-center '59, a Richard Pole, and a Pete Broberg which seems to be signed.

Cut long ago from boxes of food.

A few big names from '80s Fleer. Hope to finish these sets someday, but I have a long way to go.

Scooped up some old football cards, highlighted by guys who went on to play Hunter and Sloth.

Also grabbed some vintage basketball.
For what it's worth, I also got a couple hockey cards (Cam Neely, same year in both Topps and OPC) which didn't save for some reason when I took a pic.

But the biggest stack of cards I got at the show was a few dozen '72 Topps cards. These take me up to 56.6% complete with the set. At the show, I checked my list and was sure to only set aside cards I needed (plus the Dock Ellis, which was a dupe for the PC), but sadly when I went to update my list later, turns out there were a few I already had. I must've grabbed a "reject" pile somewhere along the line when I was adding to my stack.. D'oh! Hopefully I didn't put back a corresponding "need" pile by mistake. Oh well, that's how it goes sometimes.

That closes out my haul from the August card show. I've got a COMC shipment on the way, so the cards'll keep on comin'.

1957 Mantle/Berra

I just bought my "dream card".. my most expensive card purchase by a large margin. But you'll have to wait for that post till after it arrives. But today's card is no slouch either!

1957 Topps Mickey Mantle / Yogi Berra "Yankees' Power Hitters". Not sure if I'll be able to complete my '57 setbuild by the end of 2019, but I'll give it a shot. This was one of the few "big" cards left for me. My base '57 Mantle is a raw beater, snagged years ago, but I ponied up for a graded specimen of this combo card.

"Statisticians have tape measures ready when Mickey steps up." This is the last card in the 407-card set. There are also some unnumbered checklists and contest cards that I'm kinda thinking about not going after because they are pretty expensive for such boring cards. I may decide to just go for the 407 cards in the numbered set and call it good.

-  - - ---o

Sad to hear of Frank Robinson passing. A great man and a great player. Here's a neat gif I made last year. Rest In Peace.

You're Crazy (acoustic) to pass up a Tom Seaver 2nd-year card for $1.75

I recently won an auction for a Garry Templeton auto I had been searching for, then checked out the seller's other auctions. Ended up with some good stuff, including this slabbed 1968 Topps Tom Seaver for just $1.25 plus 50 cents additional shipping. Even in rough shape, you're crazy if you pass that up!

The back is decent too. Super cool to pick up the first solo card of an all-time great for less than the price of a Starbucks. I recently "retired" my Tom Terrific PC into the Hundred Card Club, but still had to jump on that deal.

Here's another legend I picked up cheap. This '64 Frank Robinson was mine for under $3 plus combined shipping. A little off-center, but otherwise pristine!

Happy to check another A-lister off my 1964 Topps setbuild. (Though at that price, I'd probably have picked it up ever if I weren't working on the set.)

How about another vintage first-ballot HOFer? This '57 Al Kaline wasn't quite the steal as the above 2 cards, but still a solid deal.

It's a beaut, and checks another big name off my 1957 Topps set.

Last one for today is another need for my '57 setbuild. While he doesn't have a plaque in the Hall, Don Larsen is a household name to even casual baseball fans thanks to his incredible World Series heroics in 1956.

Seeing as this is the first card to come out since his legendary performance, it's no surprise the write-up on the back focuses on the perfect game... as would pretty much every card he ever got from that point on. But I suppose you're crazy if you ignore it.

Thanks for reading and have a great weekend, everybody!

2004 Topps Retired Frank Robinson refractor auto

My #1 collecting goal is 2004 Topps Retired refractor autos (see my title banner above). I recently checked another one off my list.

The great Frank Robinson! He's gotten a lot of facetime on my blog lately thanks to recently picking up his '57 rookie card and a couple 2011 sparkly variations. Snatched this ref auto up at a steal of a buy-it-now a few days ago. (Hell, I think I paid more for my base auto version, which is now available for trade, btw.)

He's undoubtedly one of the best hitters ever, though still has the "Mr. Underrated HOFer" tag. He hit a ton of home runs, but not as many as Aaron or Mays. He won the triple crown, though Yaz usually gets the credit when people think of triple crown winners from that era. And let's not forget the groundbreaking being the first black manager in the MLB. And how cool is it that he was a player-manager? God, I hope baseball has another player-manager in my lifetime!

COMC pickups + Joy of a Completed Set: 1984 Fleer + joining TCDB

Just got in my first COMC order since last Black Friday. I probably should have waited till the "Spring Cleaning Sale Event" (or whatever) when they might offer free shipping, but I got impatient.

Frank Robinson's getting lots of face time on my blog lately, first with a '57 rookie card the other day, now a couple of legend variations from 2011.

More sweet legends variations, coincidentally three New York players here.

And yet more liquorfractors for my 2011 Topps parallel frankenset. Highlights for me here include the last Padres Cy Young winner, Jake Peavy, and fellow Grossmont College alum, Sean O'Sullivan. 44.86% complete now (576/1284).

Also snagged a half-dozen needs for my 2004 Topps Chrome black refractor parallel set. Can't get enough of these! 28.95% complete now.

Sometimes I search 1957 Topps by cheapest-first and see what needs I can pick up for a buck or less. These are all "filler grade" and I wouldn't mind upgrading them someday (though I'd be fine with an off-condition set), but I'm happy to check them off my wantlist. Regular readers of this blog are likely getting sick of seeing '57 Topps on here, but these will likely be the last of it for a while. Now up to 29.98% complete.. Just a card away from cracking 30%!

More from my COMC order coming soon, but let's end this post with a card generously sent to me by friendly reader Fred S...

This Rickey Henderson brings me to 100% complete on 1984 Fleer! It's a very nice looking set. I never had many cards from it in my collection, but always liked it. Feels great to own the complete set now. (Would love to compliment it with the '84 Fleer Update set, though that one might be tougher to complete thanks to Clemens and Puckett. Maybe someday!) And like '83 Topps before it, I completed this one entirely through trading, no purchases, which makes it a bit more special to me. Got it done pretty quickly, too. Night Owl got the build going just last August.

Big thanks for the generous PWE, Fred!
(He also included a 2017 Bowman Chrome Gavin Lux.) Check him out on the Trading Card Database, user CubinSTL and CubinSTLSets. One of these days I'll figure out how to use TCDB and dig up something to return the favor.

In fact, I just went ahead and registered (user defgav), and while I don't think I'll ever enter my entire collection to the site, I'll likely try to use it to work up some trade help for sets and whatnot. Any TCDB users have tips for me?

Chugging along with a big 57 rookie and some Twitter trades

The other day I celebrated getting a raise by picking up a 1957 Topps Roberto Clemente. And this was hot on the heels of splurging on a '57 Ted Williams with motivation from a 20% off eBay coupon code. The same day I got the Clemente, I threw a bid on a Frank Robinson rookie and ended up winning it for a solid price.

Love it! Not in perfect condition, but good enough shape to where I doubt I'll ever worry about upgrading it. The "Underrated Hall of Famer" Frank Robinson has always been a guy I liked and had a small PC going for, but never really collected him too hard. Who would have thought I'd eventually end up owning his rookie card. Pretty neat.

I'll likely cool it on picking up more big names for my '57 set for a while now, but I do have a bunch of commons on the way via a pending COMC order and a recently agreed-upon trade.

- - ---o

The other vintage set I'm focused on at the moment is '64 Topps, and I recently got some surprise help there through Nick Vossbrink, whom I became familiar with on Twitter (@vossbrink), though he's also a blogger (NJWV). He's got some interesting insights, so be sure to check his stuff out if you haven't yet. He's a Giants collector, and had some '64 dupes that needed a home. He also knows a lot about photography and printing, so he could probably give you a good explanation why these cards have varying orange/yellow tints.

Nick also hooked me up with this glorious Bill Madlock oddball. I little research reveals this card as part of the 1979 KNBR San Francisco Giants San Francisco Police set.

And here's the back, if you were curious. It's a bit taller than a standard card. Nice addition to my Mad Dog PC.

Thanks, Nick! Dropped a little thank-you package of cards in the mail for you today.

-  - - --o

Last thing to mention today is a 2-card PWE via Twitter.

Tim (@MaxxPower68) kindly got in touch with me regarding some of the last remaining '84 Fleer cards I needed. Even though I struck out finding a good return for him quite yet, he went ahead and sent Nolan and Gaylord my way for future trade considerations. Very nice.. Thanks, Tim! He's currently working on '84 Donruss (a set I hope to get cranking on soon) and is a big Rams fan, so consider reaching out to him if you've got some such cards to trade.

Anyways, now I'm only one last card away from completing '84 Fleer (Rickey), and I think I've got that on the way from a friendly reader named Fred (he says it was mailed today).. so I'm hoping that shows up soon and I can put this set to bed.