A rare Rhys!

I've been half collecting Rhys Hoskins. I say half because I am only really going after his rookie stuff for the large majority. I have a couple non rookie cards but that isn't my main focus. This card I had been after for a little while but there was only 1 on ebay for forever and the seller refused to budge off his price. Eventually another copy came up for auction and I got it for less then half of the other one. 

This is the super short print from Flagship. 

 The clapping variation as it is called. Here is the short print:

Much easier to find. I'm sure I didn't spend a lot on it back in 2018.

Here is the base:

Pretty sure a nice dealer after purchasing another card just gave me one from his stack. Didn't even ask for an extra buck or anything. 

It's nice to check the super short print off the proverbial list. The SSP fell 1 in 1,619 packs. And by my quick eye counter there was 26 of them. 

Have another big insert coming in soon, hopefully the mail gets it here. Won 2 Fantasy Football championships last weekend so treated myself to a nice card! 

Thanks for reading!

A couple of Triple Threads

I've never personally broken a box of Triple Threads. A bit too high risk for my tastes and there is many cards in there that I have no interest in going after. That being said I do like the Phillies cards from the sets. I've picked up quite a few singles through the years. 

I grabbed these 2 off the same seller. They are solid looking cards in person. 

The Nola is the gold version and the Harper is the green. It's cool that the Harper has 3 different colors and the Nola has an obvious patch in it. 

It's been a bit disheartening to see the Phillies not do much this off season. The bullpen clearly needs an overhaul since they were historically bad last year. Even if they were just bad and not historically bad they would've probably made the playoffs. It's annoying when billionaires cry poor. Owning an MLB team is an investment and not all investments go up all the time. Sell it to me for a lot less, I'll take the risk. 

Anyway off my soap box, the cards are nice. I know Ryan Howard was in this years set but I haven't been able to snag any autos yet. We shall see!

Thanks for reading!

 

A rare insert from 2000

I've been half collecting 2000 Upper Deck Ionix. I really like the cards but I don't want to pour a ton of resources into it. If I see a decent deal I'll try to grab it but I'm not overly going out of my way. I have the main set (with the rookie short prints) and a couple insert sets all but done. I am missing most of the Pyrotechnics and the Warp Zone's are real tough to come by at a fair price. They were the elusive 1 in 288 pack insert. I haven't really gone after the reciprocals but I don't think any of them are overly expensive.  

I was shockingly able to grab the Jeter Warp Zone for about 20 bucks. In the listing the seller pointed out a defect but in hand it's really hard to spot so I'm perfectly fine with this card. 

The white spot on his face is my scanner. There's something with the top edge that the seller pointed out but I had trouble finding it. I'm sure it wouldn't grade great but thankfully I do not care about that. The card is pretty sharp in person and looks as good as these inserts should look. 1 down, 14 to go! 

Thanks for reading!

Did someone say wood.. minis?

 Remember the wood mini fiasco from a few years ago in Ginter. Where none of them were packed out? We still don't know what happened to them. They haven't shown up for sale in one fell swoop or anything. I bet they got stuck under some machinery at the factory and whomever line worker messed up was like not taking the blame for this one and just got rid of them.  This year Topps did not mess up putting into packs the wood mini's. I was able to grab the Ryan Howard.. it was listed as Frank Howard on ebay. Still went for about what I was willing to spend on it. This is now my 3rd Ryan Howard wood mini! 

I think the white stuff is just from my scanner. I don't keep it dust free. It tends to sit there all day. Either way it's a nice card. I've become a bigger fan of the wood mini's in general. 

Here are the 2011 and 2008 versions respectively. I have no plans to grade the ungraded ones. I purchased the PSA one already like that. It does look nice in the case though, not gonna lie about that. 2008 was a great year for the Phillies, at this rate their last championship in the next 30 or so years. 

Thanks for reading!

A Cleat? Yes a Cleat!

 Not so creative blog headings not withstanding. I am pretty psyched I was able to pick up this card. I have seen 3 of these hit ebay (all different) and I was outbid on the other 2. This one went for the cheapest of the 3. It may be the thickest card I own. I did not have a toploader to hold it so I used a snap case and put penny sleeves on both sides so the card won't wiggle and it isn't brushing up against the case. That's the best I could think of. 

And yes its a cleat!

This is my 2nd card from Diamond Icons this year (grabbed a Jim Thome Phillies auto previously posted here). I would love to open this product I just cannot justify the 2k or so price tag for 10 cards in a box. I got this card for less then the average per card price so that's a win! Also, knowing myself if I hit a monster trout or something else, I'd probably keep it since if I sold it I would have a hard time replacing it. When I hit the lottery big I'll  be sure to buy a case or 2! 

Thanks for reading!

A rising star ... in the 90s!

Way back when in the 1990's I actually pulled this regular insert in a box. I still have it and it's awesome. I purchased this card for not all that much but it's fancy as you can see...

 It has a really shiny Gold Medallion on the bottom left corner. For those that don't know this enterprising card is from 1995. That was a good year. I was ten. Bought my first CD's ever (well Dad bought them for me). I was a trendy 10 year old, Alanis Morsette -- Jagged Little Pill, Weird Al Yankovic -- Bad Hair Day and Hootie and the Blowfish -- Cracked Rearview Mirror. I actually saw Weird Al in person about 2 years ago now down in Atlantic City. Still rather entertaining. 

I like many people out there enjoy a good 90s insert. This particular card is 1 in 370 packs so kinda rare! The regular insert is 1:37 so maybe 1 per box. 

Thanks for reading!

Balllllers!

I wasn't able to buy a box of the Ben Baller Topps Chrome at MSRP and that's ok. I would've opened it and taken my chances (I rarely keep much sealed, except rip cards, that bothers my wife immensely) I was able to buy the team set and the Harper die-cut insert for not too much money. Way less then the box cost that's for sure. Thankfully got the team set in one shot from someone so no extra shipping or anything like that. 

 Also, got one of the color refractors of Nola for pretty cheap. The Die-cut insert is a nice card in general. It lives up to the shininess factor of Chrome. I know Topps capitalized on the hype but I feel like this product won't be one of those ones that collectors will be seeking in the future. More of a one and done oh that was nice type of thing. Just my opinion (as pretty much everything I wrote on my own blog is). Sorry if this was semi incoherent, works been crazy. Go Phillies!

Thanks for reading!

A really nice Triple Threads Ryan Howard!

I am always on the lookout for rare Triple Threads cards. I have a few nice ones and always good to see them up for auction. The buy it nows tend to be outrageously high but in an auction I feel like I have a shot. I was able to get this one! I already had one numbered out of 3 so it was nice to add this to the collection. 

 Really nice patches on both sides. 

Here is the other one that I have. They look nice together.

Both are visually pleasing. If the others ever pop up I'll be sure to take a run at them. These are both from 2009. 

Shaping up to be a weird quiet off-season. We will see if the Phillies hang onto Realmuto or they traded Sixto for a 1.5 year rental. 

Thanks for reading!

Red Ink is nice!

I said a few posts ago that I wasn't actively going after the red ink ones. Then a bunch popped up and I was able to get this one at a price I was comfortable with. It was already graded by someone more enterprising then myself. 

It's nice to have the rookie one first! I would like to get the other regular heritage ones to go along with the blue autos I already have. A mini auto set through the years. 

A whole lot of player options got declined in the last couple days. Very interesting to see how free agency goes this year. Phillies are betting Realmuto won't find a better deal then what they offer. Brad Hand is available and he would be perfect for the Phillies awful bullpen. 

Thanks for reading!

Ginter X Box break -- a couple nice ones!

I was able to pick up a Ginter X box from Topps at MSRP. 18 packs in a box for 100 bucks. Not exactly cheap but in this market a bargain! Secondary box prices aren't as crazy I think but if I didn't get it at regular price I probably wouldn't have bothered. Topps limited these to 1 per email address on their site so it didn't sell out instantly. There are no inserts, all base with short prints one every 2 packs. I do like the base card design. Also, 1 mini per pack, can still hit a brooklyn back and exclusive to Ginter X is the red mini out of 5 and a silver mini out of 1. You are also guaranteed 1 auto per box which is nice for Ginter. 

I only scanned 3 cards but they were the highlights!

Last pack I hit this mini.. didn't realize it and almost sat on it when I threw the wrappers away. 

 You may have heard of Luis Robert. He seems to  have a promising future, needs to learn how to hit some off speed stuff and he could be really good. 

The next hit was the auto.. not a baseball hit but pretty nice!

This is the gold auto out of 5. It's actually the rarest auto hit you can get in these boxes. 1 in 259 packs. 

If  you want to learn about her.. https://www.kelseycook.com/

Last but certainly not least. I was hoping for a red or silver mini. I had never seen 1 in person. 

Mr Ken Griffey Jr! This is obviously the red, it's hand numbered 2 out of 5 on the back. 

I am very happy with my single box break. No complaints about hitting 2 cards that more then pay for the box I think. Not that I sell too much. 

Thanks for reading! 

Diamond Icons -- Jim Thome!

I had always wanted a Thome autograph with him in a Phillies uniform. I remember when he signed here right before the new stadium opened. It was a big deal for the Phillies to get such a big name. He doesn't have a ton of options in a Phillies uniform. Some nice Dynasty stuff but that was a bit more then the budget. I was able to offer on this card and the seller accepted. 

It's from a nice high-end product. 

 Solid signature, low numbered, sharp looking card. I'd love to open Diamond Icons but I'm not paying 2k a box or whatever crazy number it is. 

Congrats to the Rays! I hope they win it all. I personally can't cheer for the Dodgers or Braves to win. I do like those teams for Fantasy Baseball though they score a lot of runs. As of this typing the game si 3-2 Braves so we'll see what happens!

Thanks for reading!

Major League Materials!

I was able to acquire some nice Ryan Howard cards from 2020. Got sniped on 2 last night but that's ok. Thankfully after some effort I landed these 3 nice cards that go as a 'set'. The one of one obviously only had 1 shot at and hit a price I was comfortable with. The other 2 I was able to bide my time and got for way less then the high water mark. 

The 1/1, /25 and the /50 all together! I do appreciate that Topps put in nicer patches in the lower numbered cards. Hopefully Howard is hitting a home run in that picture out of the batters box. According to cardboard connection this is the full rainbow! 

Thanks for reading!
 

Elite!

 I recently received my 5th copy of this card in the mail. 5 down 95 to go! (It's a pipe dream but hope springs eternal) I don't like to spend more then 40 dollars on them and there are a few out there with much higher price tags. Surprisingly, all 5 of mine are graded and not by me. I think a lot of these got graded when Howard really blew up his MVP year and this card was quite pricey at one point. Thankfully for Phillies collectors like me the price didn't remain outlandish. 

This is numbered 10 out of 100 on the side. Kind of hard to read on my scan. I've watched and bet on quite a few of the playoff games so far. It's been fairly entertaining. No real big surprises. I didn't think the Cubs were all the great and I'm not shocked Atlanta vs the Dodgers seems inevitable. I have no real affinity to either team so just hoping for some good games to watch. 

Thanks for reading!

2020 Finest Flashbacks Team Set!

I didn't get the opportunity to buy any of these boxes. I wish I did, apparently MSRP was only 50 dollars which in this market is an insane bargain. I believe secondary market immediately jumped to 300 or so per box. With a quick check online seems that the market is settling around 450-500 per box if you want one. The initial rush to sell is over so it doesn't seem worth it. You would have to hit a monster card to get your money back. 

I did get the Phillies team set for pretty cheap. 

 Realmuto gets the all star and base card treatment. Speaking of Realmuto, if the Phillies don't sign him, what a disaster. They traded Sixto Sanchez and Jorge Alfaro from him. Alfaro was a throw-in but Sixto looks like a legit pitcher. He's throwing triple digits with control. If they don't sign Realmuto who I really think is a great catcher why trade for him?! Klentak stepped down as GM yesterday but he's still in the organization (probably cause he has 2 years on his contract). Hope the new GM prioritizes Realmuto. Arrieta is coming off the books so they should have plenty of space under the luxury tax.

Thanks for reading!

A small silver set! 2020 Topps Archives

I didn't open a lot this year but I was able to pick up some nice singles to make my collection even nicer! I probably paid market rate which thankfully isn't too crazy. I really liked the looks of the silver borders with the on-card autos. The Phillies only had 2 cards on the checklist so it made collecting the team set very easy. I'm only counting the regular sized cards for this case. There is a Rhys Hoskins boxloader that I have yet to acquire. I opened a lot of archives in 2012. I have the base set and most of the insert sets complete. I should probably complete it since I'm pretty close to having a master set. Missing some SPs, some reprints and some of the retail insert sets. I like the idea of the set even though it is a bit of a re-hash of heritage. The on-card autos of subjects that tend to not get a million autos is appealing. 

This was my first Charlie Manuel auto. Will always be the one who managed the team to the World Series in 2008. Really wish they would've beat the Yankees the next year in 2009. They were really great again in 2010 but the season ended on Ryan Howard's achilles in the playoffs and it's been mostly downhill from there. 

These are sharp looking cards. Definitely recommend grabbing for your favorite team. 

Thanks for reading!

 

Couple of Trades with Oren

Over the last month or 2 I completed a couple trades with Oren. I sent him a few of the cards off my trade bait page. Despite me being lazy and not adding much to it even though I do have a bunch of other cards, I did an ok job of keeping track of what was added. I am not 100% that I have it all but it's pretty close. So far I've been able to find everything he has wanted. 

He sent me all Philly sports!

A nice subsection of of the 4 sports. My Eagles/Flyers/Sixers collection is not very big but I have some cool things. Phillies obviously trumps them all by a good margin. 

Thanks for the trades and thanks for reading!

An Atomic Hoskins!

Glancing at my post history, I have already surpassed the number of posts I did all of last year this year. Three months ahead of schedule! I still plan on posting throughout the end of the year and beyond. I should probably write posts in advance but I rarely do that. 

This card I had been after for a while. I lost out on several auctions and that's ok, I had a price limit I wasn't willing to exceed. Finally, caught an auction ending at an odd time so I got lucky and no one sniped at the end. 

This is a very pretty card in person. I remember when I first saw the atomic technology in 2011 Topps Chrome, back then the base were numbered out of 225. Then in 2012 they made them super rare and numbered them out of 10 (I have the Cliff Lee and Ryan Howard from that year) 

This one is numbered out of 100 but the shininess is all the same! 

I don't care that its graded but I do like the protection the case provides. I now have the atomic and the blue from 2018 Bowman Chrome. I don't think I've ever actually opened a box of Bowman Chrome so it's nice to have 2 semi rare cards from it. 

I traded for the blue above a year or so ago. My scanner was dirty at that time as well. 

Phillies bullpen still stinks. I hope they make the playoffs. Even if they lose to a better team at least get in when 8 teams get in. It would be sad if they don't. 

Thanks for reading!

A Red Masterpiece!

Thanks for all the views and support on the Koufax craziness. We are moving back to more regularly scheduled Phillies types cards that I typically collect. I was able to grab this card on ebay from an offer from the seller that I thought was fair. I like when you put an item on the watch list it gives the seller an option to offer a percentage off of the buy it now. I now add anything even if I feel its overpriced cause you never know if the deal will come to a more palatable level. 

This card really pops in person. The red works. 

That line is something from the scanner, the card doesn't have that. This card is from 2007 Upper Deck Masterpieces. I wouldn't mind if Topps developed a similar set. These cards look really nice in hand with the matte finish and the nice borders. Something not shiny and that may not cost a fortune? Who am I kidding it would have 2 guaranteed autos a box and cost 300 to open cause that's what 2020 is. There is actually 6 base ones of ones. If I see another one I'll grab it but I won't go crazy searching. 

Thanks for reading!

The Koufax Gallery!

   Now that I posted each one, here they are all together! 

 

Thanks for reading!

A Bonus Koufax!

I know all of you really wanted to see another Koufax card. I am proud to be a card carrying member of the Koufax basic print run club. It was fun to chase the cards down and besides the rookie weren't outrageously expensive. Any suggestions on another player of his ilk to do that which won't cost a minor fortune? I had considered Mays, but his 51 Bowman and 52 Topps are a bit out of reach at the moment. Would love to get them but don't have it in the budget. Unless I sell my wife's car..

Here is the bonus card.

Pretty cool card from 1964. I need to find a good way to display it since it s a bit giant. Bad pun intended.

Thanks for reading!