A Classic Rookie!

I bought this set at a card show for 20 dollars sometime in the 90s. My Dad, my brother and I used to go to the Philly card show together in King of Prussia PA. That's one of the few shows that still runs 3 times a year. It usually has some good signers and about 200-250 tables or so. Some deals to be had usually or at least some nice cards to look at that are overpriced, either way a good time!

The classic rookie I am talking about is none other then Barry Bonds 1986 Topps Traded...

This guy's career will go down in history. When he was skinny he had already amassed 3 MVP's by 1993.. then he bulked up a bit and won 4 more from 2001 to 2004. He did never win a world series though. Got really close but the Angels won Game 6 and 7 to knock the Giants out.

This last hall of fame voting he received 44% of the vote. I personally don't think he will get the required votes in the 10 years he will be eligible. I think down the line eventually probably after he passes away the veterans committee will put him in. His top 3 similar players according to baseball reference are Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth. Pretty legendary company to be among.

Love him or Hate him Barry Bonds was always interesting!

Thanks for reading!

Silver Signatures!

I always enjoyed opening Collector's Choice. Not very expensive, good looking photography and the ever fun gold and silver parallels! The gold's were roughly one per box (I never hit a big name) but the silvers were one per pack, so occasionally I'd get lucky.

Two of the biggest names out there! Griffey and Thomas! Always thrilled to get those 2 guys in the same box.

How about Villanova! That's the only team in my bracket still alive (picked them to win it all!) but very excited they made the final four! Should be a couple of good games in Houston.

Hope everyone had a nice holiday weekend, thanks for reading!

A Whole lot of Hurt!

I recently completed a Frank Thomas for Frank Thomas swap. I sent out a whole bunch of my doubles and he sent me back a whole bunch of his! Worked great! I am now up to 755 unique Frank Thomas cards! I know he has a ton out there but I only started this a couple years ago (and its hard for me to afford those high-end autos).

Robert sent me a whole bunch of cool inserts and base I didn't have. I just scanned a nice cross-section.

 

I really like the Triple Play inset on the bottom right. Those are nice looking cards with the nicknames big and bold. Pinnacle Aficionado is a very underrated set. The foil and the thickness of those cards make them really stand out. 

Probably my favorite card of the whole package was the Excellence insert on the bottom right. They are really sharp looking cards in person. The Avant card at the top is a framed card which is nice too.

Thanks for the trade and thanks for reading!

A Rookie Card I Pulled!

Everyone* (may not be for everyone) loves pulling a vintage rookie out of a pack. Now-a-days it seems like cards have rookies in 15 products or more and in multiple years! Who can keep track of how many rookie autos one guy has. I believe I pulled this card on my 13th Birthday. I was born in 1985 so my Dad bought me a few rack packs of 1985 Topps. At the time the McGwire, Clemens and Puckett were all relatively worth the same according to Beckett. This was right before McGwire's home run craze.

I was lucky enough to pull the Puckett!

Not centered great and clearly not perfect but it's awesome to me! Can't say I have opened many packs 1985 or before and actually pulled a keeper card!

Thanks for reading!

Want List Ninja!

I recently received cards from Mr. Mark Hoyle. He took a nice chunk out of my Phillies Team sets want lists!

Nothing like some 70s vintage cards! One day I will get all of these cards! Thanks for the package!

My 2nd Greatest Pull of All Time!

Thanks for all the comments on the previous post. I attempted (I googled it while sitting here) to find out the odds on pulling an Elite out of 1993 Donruss and nothing concrete popped up. Yes it was awesome and yes it was surprise. This card while slightly easier to pull still was just as fun. I believe this after a pilgrimage (mom driving my brother and I) to Toy Trains and Sports Cards (no idea if that store is still there). We were each allowed to get one item or box. I settled on 1995 Score because I liked the one per pack gold cards. Figured I'd enjoy opening those no matter what else happened to be in the box.

Luckily enough I pulled this card 1 in 720 packs (according to google)..

1995 Signed Greatness Ryan Klesko! The next big thing for the Braves at First Base! I know I'm a Phillies fan but it was still awesome! On-card auto! (not that I cared when I was ten) This was a run around the house and tell everyone card! I believe it can be had on ebay now for about 5 dollars! That's a steal!

(btw these are scans from last week so the cards are still in good shape)

Thanks for reading!

My Greatest Pull of All Time!

Nothing will ever top this pull. Yes, I have pulled a Mike Trout wood mini 1/1 (still in the PC), a Yasiel Puig Red auto (traded for Michael Jordan 1986 Fleer), Bryce Harper Topps Chrome Black rookie auto and a few other notables... but nothing will ever top this beast!

The year was 1993. We were up in Massachusetts visiting my Aunt, Uncle and Cousin. Somehow my brother and I convinced Dad to buy us each a box of Baseball cards. I of course got the amazing box of 1993 Donruss. The collation was always was fantasticly bad but it was all good when in the 2nd to last pack I hit this monster!

Numbered out of 10,000!!! That means there's only ten thousand of them! That's it! Ridiculous! Book value of 130 dollars, I was rich!!!! 8 year old me had struck gold! (all kidding aside this card still sells for a decent amount) This was a lap around the house worthy. I did post it on some message board on AOL for sale and someone offered me (if i remember correctly) around 40 dollars. I decided to keep it, and thus my collecting nature began! I don't mind trading (as many of you know) but selling is harder for me, cause I would just turn around and use the money on other cards!

Thanks for letting me share that story an thanks for reading!

Contest Winnings from Bob Walk the Plank!

If you haven't been reading Bob Walk the Plank you should start .. right after you read this post! I was lucky enough to win one of his contests. He said it would be something good.. and he stuck true to his word.

2 cards.. but 2 nice ones!

 

A sweet on-card auto of one of the best Phillies pitchers and Hall of Famer Steve Carlton. He has a nice legible signature. A solid action shot on this card too.

A really sweet dual auto of Huston Street and Ryan Howard. Anyone who sends me a main PC auto is great in my book!

Thanks for the cards Matt! Always on the lookout for Pirates!

Thanks for reading!

Cards from Off Hiatus Baseball!

Tony has been super at trading (see what I did there hashtag supertraders) and is way ahead of me at sending packages. I am finally getting more organized (although don't look at the card room there are piles everywhere!) (which is great cause it means I have a lot of cards!) (Baseball cards rule!)

Anyways.. got sidetracked.. Tony from Off Hiatus Baseball is kind enough to shoot me Phillies cards! Always interesting, never dull and usually some good stuff!

 

I actually really like the look of the Panini College cards. The logos are nice and bold and they pop out pretty nice. I really hope JP Crawford is the real deal. If he and Franco can be the new core of the team that would be awesome.

Some nice stuff in this batch as well. A mini refractor of aforementioned Franco. He's looking solid at spring training, hopefully just plays confident this year and keeps them competitive. No one is expecting a World Series this year.

Thanks for the cards and Thanks for reading!

Refractors are shiny!

In less then 3 weeks I was able to pick up another 1993 Finest refractor! My third one of the Phillies and my 4th one overall. I'm really close to the set now! Only several thousand (10ish?) needed more to get all the cards!

Check it out.. Nails himself..

Not going to lie, I really liked Dykstra when I was younger, now I think he's an idiot. Go and watch the piece Jim Cramer did on him on how Dykstra was making money in the stock market (you know or committing fraud whatevs) His methods literally made no sense. It's amazing he was able to get on TV. (I personally find Jim Cramer annoying but to each their own)

Still a nice looking card! Shiny = awesome, and first print run of shiny = double awesome!

Have a great Monday!

Thanks for reading!

Cards from Wes!

Wes has been his usual card sending self. I am a bit behind on posting and mailing. I have tons of extras junk wax now. My dad dropped off some stuff he had from the basement. It was about 9,000 cards of early 90s goodness. My wife is in the process of sorting by team set. We keep a 800 count box of each team for extras and trades. Quite a few of them are filling up. In the near future I will be sending cards to people. (*near future being as soon as I can)

Also, more importantly I found my old "top loader worthy" cards. I will be scanning them in the next few days and sharing them! Some good stuff in there.

Back to the cards that Wes sent! If you didn't know he runs Jay Barker's Fan's Junk! Check it out!

 

Mike Lieberthal was always a fan favorite. If you think about it he's in the Top 3 of greatest Phillies Catchers ever. Bob Boone and/or Carlos Ruiz are number 1/2 and then I'd rank Leiby 3 and Daulton 4th. I could see arguments to bring Daulton up but Lieberthal was a Phillies player longer. 

Also, really like Upper Deck masterpieces. The cards are still real sharp. That's a box I'd like to open just so I have more cards from that set. 

Nice to get 2 Museum Collection cards. I've never purchased a box of it but the Canvas Collections really look good. Of course a relic of Rolen (2nd best 3rd basemen behind Schmidt!) is always welcome.

Thanks for the cards Wes!

Thanks for reading!