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.
Freakin' 2018 Topps Archives hobby boxes have been delayed again, now not coming out until late October (10/24/2018)! Crazy it's taking them so long, seeing as retail packs and blasters were released back in the middle of August (8/15/2018). Geez.. What's the hold up? Frustrating for me since I pre-ordered a couple hobby boxes back in the spring. Getting impatient.
So I've had to tinker with the planned schedule for my stockpile of unopened cards that I ration out each month. My Archives boxes will have to become my November break now. So for September, I dug out what I had originally planned to save for November: 2009 Upper Deck Signature Stars Baseball hobby box. Nothing too exciting, but let's check it out.
A pair of highlights from the inserts. Andrew McCutchen doesn't have many Upper Deck cards, seeing as he was coming up just as UD was being sued out of the baseball card market.. so it's kinda neat to get this one to mix in my PC with all the Topps and Panini cards.
Some of the base card highlights, including an early Kershaw.
The box (which I paid a blaster-and-a-half for during a Black Friday sale last year) promises 4 hits, but the downside is most of them are no-name Team USA kids. And seeing as the product came out nearly a decade ago, if you haven't heard of them by now, you never will. These 3 cards are available for trade. Luke Scott had a respectable 9-year MLB stint swatting 135 career dingers, mostly for the Astros and Orioles. Asher Wojciechowski made the show in 2015 and also pitched in 25 games for the Reds back in 2017. He's still active but spent 2018 in AAA. Matt Newman played in the Blue Jays chain, but topped out at AA a few years back.
Every pack included a thick "dummy" blank card for some reason (I guess to dissuade pack-searchers, but it wouldn't be hard for them to figure out and work around, as the dummy card is thicker than all the hits, at least in my box). So that was kind of annoying, but at least I can repurpose them for making sketch cards.
But let's wrap up with my 4th hit, which was a solid one..
Hey, Manny Machado! There's a guy who panned out. Cool to add a pre-rookie relic card to my PC of his, even though it's not a very interesting card.. with just a boring little plain white swatch. But it kept me from feeling like the box was a dud, at least.
Well, dang it, I've come to another big round number. This one is a little scary for me, as I'm an admitted semi triskaidekaphobe. I'm not super militant against it, but like when my car stereo had a numeral volume level, I would set it at 12 or 14, even though 13 was the optimal setting.. and at the gym when I ride the exercise bike, I never set the resistance on 13, just because I'm weak minded and think maybe it will bring bad luck (like a douchey guy will enter the gym. Full disclosure I don't like most of the other regulars at my work gym, but I'm just easily annoyed.)
As far as baseball players who were brave enough to wear jersey number 13, the best active player is Manny Machado (I guess Hanley Ramirez isn't officially retired yet.. but.. you know.)
(Edit: whoops, missed Greinke up there. But he no longer wears #13, so whatever.)
So I figured I'd use this as an excuse to sort out my Manny Machado PC and show it off.
Here are my earliest cards of him. His "1st Bowman" is in 2010.. would be nice to add one someday. And he's got some Team USA cards in 2009.
Lots of 2013 RCs.
2014 pt 1, featuring my only relic card of the guy.
2014 pt 2.
2015 pt 1
2015 pt 2
2016 pt 1. Here's another look at the only Manny Machado auto I've got.. I like it! Another nice pickup from 2016 Topps The Mint.
And check out those 2 cards on the bottom.. Sure seem to be from the same photoshoot, but one has a real background, and the other has an "enhanced for Heritage" background by Topps. Funny.
2016 pt 2
2016 pt 3.
2016 pt 4
2017 pt 1
2017 pt 2, featuring a plastic Jackie "patch".
2017 pt 3.
2017 pt 4, including a half-assed sketchcard I made.
And finally 2018.
By my count, that's 97 unique cards. And I know for a fact I've got other cards from him sitting in 3 complete sets that I didn't bother digging out for this post, so I think I can now consider him a member of my Hundred Card Club. As such, I'll likely bump him off my official wantlist soon, though I'll still be happy to accept any cards of his I don't have, via trades or opening packs. He's an exciting young player and fun to watch. Doesn't look like he'll be with the Orioles much longer; it'll be interesting to see where he ends up.
Here's a pile of dupes I weeded out while sorting the PC. Available for trade!
I'd hate to do a milestone-number post without a contest, and it's been a while, so let's do it. Just leave a comment on this post to enter, and I'll random off a winner in a few days. The prize will be some solid cards tailored to the winner's collecting preference. I'll do a little shopping if necessary. If the winner hasn't commented on any of my other posts so far in 2018, the prize will be a PWE. (Come on, guys, don't be afraid to comment on non-contest posts! I know I'm not always the best at replying to comments unless I've got something to add, but the interaction/feedback is much appreciated.) Otherwise it'll probably be a more substantial package.
Thanks as always for reading and have a great weekend!
Holy shit. I just remembered today is my blog's anniversary. Seriously, I typed up this whole thing and then it hit me. Baseball Card Breakdown turns 5 today! What a coincidence that it's also the 1300th post. (Funny enough, my 500th post was on the 2 year anniversary, though I sorta planned for that one to coincide.) Ok, I guess I'll have to pick a couple winners, one celebrating the 1300th post, and another celebrating 5 years. So yeah, comment below to be entered in both. Thanks!
(UPDATE 6/19/18: ok, the entry period is now closed. Thanks to all who entered!)
Like most collectors, I didn't pay much attention to 2013 Panini Pinnacle when it came out. No logos, black overload, and not much in the way of big hits to chase (a weak auto checklist of 100% stickergraphs).. it was hard to justify the price. But last Black Friday when a hobby box was on sale for the price of a blaster, I jumped at it. And it's my scheduled box break for May, so here we go.
Since I never ripped any of this stuff (and haven't gotten much of it in trades over the years), there were plenty of player-collection needs for me. Oh hey, there's Ichiro. I'm so disappointed with how things went down. Wish the Mariners would have given him a couple more games so he could have faced Ohtani, and let him get a proper on-field sendoff and have him tip his cap to a big ovation. Really feels like us fans got robbed of a couple amazing moments. Oh well. I know I'm fickle, but I've removed Ichiro from my wantlist for now.
Panini squeezed in some big names from the past. I usually like black borders (see my love of 1971 Topps and 1985 Donruss, for example), but this design just doesn't work. I kinda liked the original Score Pinnacle back in the day, but was never a huge fan of it, to be honest.
Respectable crop of rookies.
Instead of doing colored parallels (which probably would have been a refreshing change of pace), there are parallels that have a modest level of dufex action going on (I think Panini calls them Museum Collection parallels). Don't look like much in the photos, but kinda cool in hand. (These 3 are all available for trade.)
Some dufexed inserts. I collect Giancarlo, but the other 2 are up for trade. Bummer I don't collect David Price, as I kinda like the metallic look of that "Ace" card.
These two are pretty cool. That wraps up the dufexy cards.
Howbout we cleanse our palate with some acetate cards. A couple PC hits for me here with Reggie and Votto.
Nice Kershaw here. Other two available for trade. (was somewhat of a Brewers hot box).
A few more inserts here, plus a Matt Harvey artist's proof parallel (not serially numbered). Looks like Harvey is done in New York.. at least in the NL. Besides the Rose and Stanton, these are up for trade.
Another addition for my Manny Machado PC with this Team 2020 insert.
Panini went 5-for-5 with these Awaiting The Call predictions, with only Tim Raines making it close. The Randy Johnson is a diecut parallel.
Clear Vision inserts might be what 2013 Pinnacle is best remembered for these days. The Kershaw and Molitor are nice hits for my collection. Edwin and Howard are available for trade.
And finally, my autos. As expected, they're far from being big names but hey-- they're both Artist Proofs, #/25! So at least there's that! The only numbered cards of the box. (Too bad neither was 12/25.) Brock Holt has been a valuable utility guy for the Red Sox so far this season. Josh Thole has been out of the game since 2016, but had a respectable 8-year career behind the dish split between the Mets and Blue Jays.
These are both open for trade offers. Also got plenty of base cards to get rid of if anyone is working on the set or a team set.. just let me know.
Not a bad box, all things considered! Especially for the discounted price. Thanks for checking it out with me. Have a great weekend.
Matt at Red Cardboard generously surprised me with a bonus package of cards in the wake of our recent swap.
Leading off with a vintage oddball of Tony Perez.
And more HOFers.
Sweet-ass lot of Reggie Sanders!, most of which are 90s parallels. Nice bump to the PC.
Plenty of active guys were included, too, such as Kris Bryant. The 2015 RC is actually a Berger's Best reprint (--unlike the '75 George Brett reprint above, I need to point this out.)
Nice Nolan Arenado lot.
Coming up Cutch.
Lindor to my door.
More and more Manny Machado.
Altuve por mi aqui.
Springer and a Bregman.
Mookie had a huge game today.
Closing out with a Kershaw reprint and a Bryce. Expect to see plenty of Gavin LaValley on my blog in the near future, as he was included in 2018 Bowman and I've been going after some of the parallels lately.
Thanks again, Matt! Dropped a little something in the mail for you the other day.
