Baseball Season is upon us!

I'm super excited for Opening Day! Unfortunately the Phillies home opener lands on a day that there is no way I can make it, but I already have plans to attend 2 games in April. Hopefully they start off the season strong. I really like the Kingery signing. Such low risk money for huge potential. They bought out his arbitration years and then 3 option years of Free Agency. If he has any talent (and it sure seems like it) its a great contract for the Phillies and Kingery himself guaranteed his financial future. From what I heard on the radio (so obviously must be true) this is the first contract of this type for a player who has never played a game and wasn't on the 40 man roster. Jon Singleton got 10 million or so from the Astros but he was on the 40-man (also was traded to the Astros by the Philles).

To show some baseball card love here are my best Rhys Hoskins cards (I don't have very many been priced out of a lot of them)

 

This is the regular short print variation. I tried chasing the Super Short Print variation recently but it went for about 86 dollars and that was out of budget.

 

This is the base card. Honestly a way better picture then the short print.

Can't beat the shininess of this card. A recent card show pickup and looking on ebay I actually didn't overpay (imagine my surprise!) I really like the Silver pack cards this year. They really pop.

Thanks for reading! Go Phillies!

1951 Bowman!

I recently started to go back and fill in the Bowman team sets for the Phillies from the 1950s. In my Topps run I did manage to complete 1955 Bowman (really like that set) but I neglected the earlier Bowman sets. I have the 1949 Bowman Richie Ashburn which is a big card but there are a few more key cards I need to acquire. Here is my start!

All of them in pretty decent shape. I'm thinking of getting them all in SGC Graded cases cause they look really nice in them. The Roberts is slightly lower graded because there is some staining on the back but nothing major. The Sawyer and Jimmy look real nice up close. Can't wait til I get all of these together and have them to display!

Thanks for reading!

Cards and more from Dennis!

Work got a little crazy this week so I didn't have time to post but back at it! Priorities am I right?! I still have more card show purchases to show but I am long overdue in showing the generous package the Dennis over at Too Many Verlanders sent me. He actually sent to my old address and was patient enough to wait for the package to bounce back to him and then re-send. Much appreciated. I need to find something decent to send back.

 

All the Ryan Howard's were new additions. Always appreciate people looking out and finding numbered ones. It's hard for me to find them all! 

 

Look at that 2003 Bowman's Best auto rise! I now own 3 of them personally but I wasn't collecting in 2003 so I didn't pay the 350+ price tag. Howard finished with 382 Home Runs. Not too shabby. Definitely Phillies Hall of Fame worthy.

 

Everyone loves Dutch in Philadelphia. Very sad when he passed away from a brain tumor. He was extremely personable and would always take time out of his day to talk to people in public. I've never heard a negative word from him and the few times I've had a chance to meet him were all positive.

 

Look at all the big players at the Phanatic Birthday party! 

 

2006 was a good year for the Phillies. You could see the team starting to rise and the young talent really playing up to their capabilities. 

 

Mr Thome the Hall of Famer. Even though he blocked Ryan Howard for a couple years. (Thankfully they did not trade Howard for this reason) He was a huge signing for Philly. He was the guy they brought in when the new ballpark opened. It was a signal of the end of the last decade of losing and set them up on the right path to ultimately win a world series in 2008.

Thanks for reading and thank you for the thoughtful package!

A Couple more Rookies.. one future HOFer and one who knows?

I also was able to add a few more modern cards of rookies I wanted at the show. Paid basically fair prices. (25 for the Pujols, 20 for the Bryant) No crazy deal here but I didn't get ripped or anything. The Bryant enabled me to be done with 2015 Topps Chrome. I now have the 5 short print rookies and the Bryant Rookie. All I need is the Phillies team set but I'm not concerned about finding that. (Although no idea if some of you traded me some of them in 2015 I am not organized in my team sets for modern cards)

Without further introduction:

 

I believe this Pujols is considered the 'gold' one. Doesn't make a difference to me the card looks nice. His career has been quite remarkable. He should be a first ballot hall of famer.

I promise the Bryant isn't missing a edge. My scanner likes to crop sometimes. All the white specks on both scans are dust just ignore them. Bryant has had a real strong start to his career with an MVP and World Series ring. He's an exciting young player and I hope he keeps up the accolades and is one of the guys along with Harper, Machado, Trout that are the next generation of great players.

Thanks for reading!

The Franchise Rookie card!

According to Google that is his nickname! I was able to pick up this pretty cool rookie card at the show this past weekend. It adds to my other smaller PC of Hall of Fame Rookie cards!

 

I paid 70 dollars which I thought was a pretty decent deal already graded and authenticated.No real major flaws besides centering which is rather common in 1962 cards. No creases or anything like that. It will definitely look nice in my display case on the wall! This was actually my last purchase of the day. (Seller originally wanted 80 and we settled for 10 dollars less) I usually don't go crazy negotiating but usually if you ask or combine deals its easy to get 5 or 10 bucks off. If you do that for every deal that adds up to a free Lou Brock rookie card if you think about it! 

In his career he stole 938 bases and had 900 RBI's. That's an interesting stat anamoly. 

Also the Cubs traded him to the Cardinals 2 years into his career. What a mistake that was! Can't win them all.

Thanks for reading!

Some Rookie cards! (Rhys Hoskins!)

I have yet to open any 2018 Topps Series 1. Not sure I will this year but that's ok. I have no plans to complete the set or anything like that. I was able to grab some of cards of none other then Rhys Hoskins! He's the new power potential on the team and hopefully he lives up to it. I've listened to several radio interviews and he seems to have a good head on his shoulders. With the pitching staff I don't think anyone is expecting great things from the Phillies but maybe the lineup can hit a little bit with Hoskins, Santana, Kingery, Crawford, Odubel and Altherr. Lineup at least has potential!

Here is the base card (dealer was kind enough to throw it in after we made a deal for the other 2 cards)

A nice action shot

This is the Short Print variation photo that fall about 1 per box or so (from what I've been told)

This card really pops! It's super shiny in the light and numbered out of 50. I actually paid under ebay from the in person dealer and considering I was too lazy to look it up when I was standing there I'm pretty proud I judged the current market correctly. Even if Hoskins isn't great (knock on wood) this card is very visually appealing.

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for more cool stuff!

Another Shiny card!!

I am officially one card away from completing the 1993 Topps Finest Refractor Phillies Team set. I am missing the most expensive one of course, Curt Schilling. I was able to snag this Daulton at a decent price. Maybe overpaid by a buck or 2 but no big deal. It's in nice shape and its shiny!

Check it out!

Went to the Philly show last weekend. It was a blast. Tons of cool things to look at and it was super crowded. Granted (if you didn't know) the Eagles won the super bowl and a lot of the players came out to sign autographs. It's always awesome to see so many sports fans and collectors in one spot. I just finished scanning what I got and some other stuff so I plan on posting in the coming days!

Thanks for reading!

A little shiny .. 1993 Finest Refractor!

I've been actively trying to complete my 1993 Topps Finest Phillies Team set. Sometimes the cards are hard to find at a fair price (that being the key) Sure always 1 or 2 on ebay at ridiculous buy it nows. Have to wait to find a reasonable buy it now or an auction. Without further introduction one of the most beloved Phillies John Kruk. I met him last year at the Phillies cook off that they did before a home game. It was a blast and all the players were super friendly. He was there along with Dickie Noles, Tommy Greene and even Schmidt made an appearance. Also, of course the Phillie Phanatic. JC Romero randomly showed up as well even though he technically wasn't involved in the event I think. They had a charity auction as well. I threw some tickets in but didn't win anything but thats ok.. I still got this card off ebay!

 

One step closer to completing a fairly rare team set. Opinions from the readers. One of mine was bought graded (Dykstra PSA 8) Should I bother to get the rest graded. I don't think I have any 10s cause they seem to be historically hard on these cards but maybe a 9 probably 8's to my untrained eye. Or should I just topload and display? What makes more sense to you?

Thanks for reading!