Rocket Queen (COMC order finale)

This post wraps up the highlights from my latest COMC order. It also completes the series of posts over the past several weeks titled after Appetite For Destruction songs.

1. "Welcome to the Jungle"
2. "It's So Easy"
3. "Nightrain"
4. "Out ta Get Me"
5. "Mr. Brownstone"
6. "Paradise City"
7. "My Michelle"
8. "Think About You"
9. "Sweet Child o' Mine"
10. "You're Crazy"
11. "Anything Goes"
12. "Rocket Queen"

Maybe I overestimated the Venn diagram intersection of card collectors and Guns N' Roses fans, but whatever, I'm a big fan of the band and I'll likely continue my "Guns N' Randoms" posts with the Lies album up next. Why not, right?

Gotta admit I added this card to my COMC inventory for the sole reason of having a hit card to cleverly include in my "Rocket Queen" post. A "Rocket" Roger Clemens Gypsy Queen relic did the trick. But I also kinda collect him since he's a member of the Springfield Nine (I collect any baseball player who guested on The Simpsons), so it'll have a home in that PC, not just used as a prop for a blog post.

I saw one of these on Sport Card Collectors and had to grab one for myself. I'm a big fan of 30 Rock's Katrina Bowden, and this is my second card of hers after an auto I got a couple years ago. It's got a neat "film strip" thing going on with the acetate inset picture.

Sometimes I search COMC for serial-numbered cards by lowest-price-first and look for anything cool/interesting/cheap, and that's how I ended up with this /150 Bartolo. Pretty neat that the old guy had a no-hitter going deep into a game last week.

A couple more cheap numbered refractors I picked up. Looks like Heyward is having an ok 2018 so far. As for Christian Friedrich, I kinda liked him during his 2016 stint with the Padres, so that was enough for me to pull the trigger on this Bowman Chrome insert a few months ago, though I probably wouldn't today. He seems to be without a team this season.

Another lowest-price-first search, but this time with Topps Throw-back Thursdays, the little online-only print-to-order sets they crank out on a regular basis. Grabbed this "1996 Star Power Design" (print run of 1118) to spice up my little Cespedes PC. A nice thing about these is they're on hearty Heritage-type stock.

Finally, here's what might be my new favorite (non-framed) mini in my collection.. or at least in the top ten. It's a Chrome-ish Ginter refractor from eTopps. Between the time that I bought it and when I received it, Jim Thome was elected into the Hall of Fame, so that's pretty cool. I just bought my first mini magnetic one-touch for it to display it in style, I like it so much.

The card celebrates his 500th home run. Numbered 968/999. And with eTopps, you gotta figure a lot of that print run is sitting in a Topps warehouse forgotten about by the owners. Anyways, this shiny mini pairs nicely with the autograph I recently picked up as the best cards in my Thome PC.

Thanks for reading, guys, and remember:
If you need a shoulder
Or if you need a friend
I'll be here standing
Until the bitter end

Anything Goes (nickelboxing)

Most of the time at the card show, you gotta be discerning with what you put on your stack, but when it comes to nickelboxing, anything goes! Plucked out a nice score this past weekend, which technically came to 4¢ per card with the dealer's 25-for-a-buck deal, scooping up 50 cards for $2. I thought that deal was pretty...

...Cool, indeed. I don't have many of these kooky Emotion cards, but this is a welcome addition to the Crime Dog PC.

I only really started collecting Jim Thome like a year ago, so I don't have that many of his cards. Great to bulk up the PC a bit with 6 cards that ran me under a quarter combined.

Grouping this pair of Auburn standouts together. A trio of Big Hurts and a couple Bo oddballs ("Boddballs?").

A couple Conforto cards from 2017 Update.

Klesko gold parallel, Julio Franco LL, and former community college classmate of mine, Mike Jacobs.

I've been thinkin' 'bout
Thinkin' 'bout sets
Always hungry for somethin'
That I haven't completed yet

Being right on the cusp of completing '80 Topps and '83 Topps (and '84 Fleer), I'm thinking about future setbuilds, and while '74 Topps isn't at the top of my list, it's scratching at my "maybe someday" list (with a broad '73 thru '85 Topps run in the back of my mind). So I couldn't resist nabbing a nice little lot for the cost of a pack of gum, as I'm quietly building a little starter stack in anticipation of one day going after the set.

Flipping through a nickelbox, a couple types of cards I'll blindly throw on my stack regardless of team/player: refractors and serial-numbered cards. Even if it's just some Bowman prospect from years ago who never got out of A-ball, they're nice to add some shine to a trade package. The Denard Span rookie might be the best one in this lot.

Well, that pretty much wraps up the nickelbox dig, with a few additional cards not pictured because they're already set aside for trader buds.

Thanks for reading.

Happy HOF Day

Quick post today congratulating the 2018 Hall of Fame class.

If you had been following along with early voting results, you know that Chipper, Vlad, and Thome were shoe-ins, with the only questions being could Trevor and Edgar hang on to their slim margins, and also maybe a long shot for Mussina to claw his way to 75%.

I had been meaning to snag a Jim Thome auto for a while now, and finally landed this badboy a few weeks back (actually my last card purchase of 2017, winning the auction on NYE). And yes, you're right, it's the "HOF vote percentage needed" eBay 1/1! LOL. Thome got well over the ¾ needed votes for a first ballot election.

But it goes without saying, I'm most happy about Trevor Hoffman getting the Call to the Hall (HOF, man).

This is an old pickup I've showed on the blog before. Has there been another player in modern history who started his pro career as a position player, then converted to pitcher and eventually made the Hall of Fame? Or vice versa? (Dave Winfield was drafted as a pitcher, but went straight to San Diego's outfield from college.)

"TREVOR HOFFMAN — SHORTSTOP" Never gets old.

A few other highlights of my Trevor Hoffman PC.

His career synced up loosely with the height of my Padres fandom (and loyal game broadcast viewing), so I've probably watched him more than any other player in my life (I didn't get into baseball till 1990, so I missed many of Gwynn's prime years). It was always such a great moment when he came jogging out to the mound to "Hell's Bells" over the PA. So yeah, feels good to see him get that great honor today.

And of course I love Vlad, too. That guy was a beast in his prime. I really need to sort out my PC of his cards one of these days, so maybe that'll be an upcoming post.

And congrats to Chipper Jones. Not a guy I collect, but don't harbor him any ill-will either.
Better luck next time, Edgar!