Topps Redemptions Received!

I recently re-signed up for the Topps redemption site. I know of all the horror stories with redemption's and the potential long waits, but I wanted the cards in hand. My Harper rookie auto took about 2 years. These took about 2 weeks! Crazy fast turn around and the card are nice.

 

Red Ink auto of Manny Machado. These are usually numbered out of 67 but this year they got numbered out of 25! One of my better hits of the year easily.

 

A blue ink Goldy auto. Always a fan of his and this is my first auto. He's such a solid player and doesn't get the recognition he deserves being in Arizona and not very boisterous. I watched probably 80 Diamondback games last year (I like fantasy baseball) and he was a beast all year. 

Thanks for reading!

Cards from Bo!

I recently completed a trade with Bo.. check out his Blog, Baseball Cards come to Life! He is a regular poster and a good read. It was more of a blind trade. He said he had some Phillies cards set aside for a trade that did not happen. I was happy to send a bunch of cards over to him and he returned in kind. It was a massive stack of Phillies cards and he hit up a bunch of my set want lists. It's been a long time since I was able to knock off 2002 Upper Deck Vintage off the list. One day I will complete that set.

 

This is an oversized card from 1984. Back when Pete Rose didn't gamble on baseball and people liked him.

 

I really like the 1993 Topps Gold Morandini. It's a nice action shot and the 1993 Phillies were a great team. 

 

Some more nice Phillies cards. I just picked out 18 that I thought were scan worthy. Now I have to figure out my organization for all the cards I have. I have a few 800 count and 2500 count boxes full of mostly unsorted Phillies cards. There's a lot out there. One day I will organize it all. I'm mostly organized through the 70s (still working on those sets) but the 80s are tough and the 90s are crazy with all the releases. 

As always thanks for the trade and thanks for reading!

Cards from Scott!

I can finally post these. They have been in my scan folder way way way too long (song reference). Scott is one of my dozens of readers and he always keeps an eye out for Frank Thomas cards. Always much appreciated when he reaches out with some new ones. I finally (my bad) hit him back with a decent package of cards so I'm going to post The Big Hurt's that he has sent over semi recently.

Really like the Leaf Limited cards. I remember as a kid in the 90s thinking those were way out of my price range.

A nice mix of base and inserts. Always up for receiving parallels, even though some aren't 'worth' as much they are still hard to find. I am now up to 821 unique Frank Thomas cards. That's larger then my Ryan Howard PC. Although I have way more autographs and relics of Howard (mainly due to prices)

Thanks for the cards Scott and hope you liked the return cards!

Some stuff

Just popping on the blog to say hello. 'Hello!' Watched the Eagles get a really good win on the road against the Rams. Unfortunately it's sounding like Wentz is done until next year. Eagles obviously still make the playoffs (clinched the division) but who knows after that. Foles has played in the playoffs  before so hes not completely unfamiliar but the offense has to change without Wentz. Like Cubs fans used to say, there is always next year...

These are all of my 1993 Finest Refractors. ***Not all originals, clearly** Although, I am glad I snagged the Howard out of 25 at some point. They seem to be tough parallels to come by. I'm still trying to complete the Phillies team set of the originals. Still need the Kruk and Schilling. I'm not willing to overpay so I'll be on the lookout for a decent deal. Just to give you guys and girls an idea for the other 4 Phillies, none were more then 15 dollars. Saw an unopened box of 1993 Finest at the show a couple weekends ago. The guy wanted 650.00! Can't open the box at that price since there are so few cards that you'd make your money back. Heck, I'd be beyond thrilled if I hit the Frank Thomas refractor out of a pack, and I don't think its worth 650. (I paid significantly less for the one pictured above). Whoever thought shiny=good in baseball cards is a genius though. Still holds true today.

Thanks for reading!

Philly Show Recap (some cool stuff!)

Yesterday my wife and I went to the Philly Show in King of Prussia. The big draws on Saturday for signers were Mike Schmidt and Rhys Hoskins. We decided not to get any do to the price point though. Schmidt was 150 for normal signed stuff and Hoskins was 85. We arrived around 11 AM and the parking lot was packed. Literally had to park at the very back of the lot. The show itself was very busy. It was nice to see young and old people throughout the show and it seemed like most people were buying and browsing. We tend to talk to dealers and most of them seemed to be doing well or at least faked having a good time.

This show we had a good list to work off of. It was almost all vintage though. Working real hard on completing some Phillies team sets and knocking off some random PC cards that I've wanted.

In no particular order..

 

This is 1965 Topps Embossed. It's a fun little set. Lots of big names. There are only 4 Phillies though, just need one more to complete this endeavor. 

 

This was one of the big rookie HOF cards I've wanted. Already have the Ryan so putting this next to it looks real nice. The card itself is in good shape, no creases or bad corners, its just diamond cut so I didn't pay a premium for it. 

 

A big push was focusing on the Phillies multi team cards in the 60s. I had picked up some by happenstance and finally made a list of what I needed. Some real good players on these cards. 

 

This card has some wear to it (one of the corners is real bad) so it was real cheap. Happy to grab the Fisk for cheap though. 

 

A few more Phillies from 1972. A couple of high numbers. The 1963 Rookie stars card was new too. When I was putting the cards in binders I realized I had duped this card. Not the end of the world and then I realized I mistakenly bought the other variation. (one says 1962 on the top). No idea which one is rarer but glad I have both!

 

A pretty sweet Miggy Rookie Card. I figure he counts for the Hall of Fame Rookie Card PC. I'm pretty confident he'll make it first ballot after he retires. He's most like Albert Pujols and Frank Robinson through his Age 34 season according to baseball reference. Solid.

 

This is my Wife's PC addition. She's always on the lookout for fun cards and squirrel cards. If you have any squirrels let me know, will trade or buy!

 

This polished off the 1967 team set. That short print on the left was tough to find. It's a sharp card. Also, can't go wrong with a card featuring Clemente and Aaron.

This finished off the 1969 team set as well. The rookie stars didn't quite pan out but I've heard of those Home Run leaders. 

All in all the show was a good time. Looking forward to the next one. Saw a few 52 Mantles but not that many. A PSA 2.5 could be yours for the low price of 17,000 (although the dealer said he would work with us on the price a bit). (no I cannot afford that). 

Thanks for reading and Happy vintage hunting!

A 'new' Rookie

I recently received this Ryan Howard card. It was hard to find and I had to beat out some other people on bidding. Believe it or not (believe it cause it's true) I do not have all the 2003 Elite Ryan Howard variations. I quite like the look of them. Would love to open a case of this stuff if I could ever find it, seems like fun. This is back when Elite had logos and was actively not paying MLB for the privilege.

Hard to see the numbering but its on the left hand side. 29 out of 43. Hard card to track down these days. Even the auto that used to go for big bucks is numbered out of 100 (I have 2 of those now). Would love to find and be able to afford the other parallels for this card.

Also, Ryan Howard was at the Eagles game this past Sunday. I like to see when local other teams support a team that's doing well. He isn't a Cowboys fan. Eagles mania is strong on sports talk radio in this town. It's a fun ride I hope it keeps going!

Thanks for reading!

Back Again (also Bowman Platinum break!)

I was actually out of town for most of the month and didn't have the time pre-trip to write up a bunch of posts. My wife and I took a nice trip overseas and visited London and the Netherlands. We had a great time and saw lots of sites and ate lots of food. Onto more important things when it comes to baseball card blogging.. showing newer-ish baseball cards. Back when Bowman Platinum came out I was able to get my hands on 2 of the Collectors boxes and decided to open them both. Forty packs total and I enjoyed the break. It was entertaining and I think I did well.

Check out the wares.

 

Let's get straight to the meat and potatoes. The Amed Rosario is numbered out of 75, he got some time up with the Mets this year and is a highly ranked prospect. The Dalbec is numbered out of 25, I don't know a ton about him but the Red Sox are always popular. Torres is the Yankees number 1 prospect and he pulls a Judge this card will pay for my retirement. The Mejia is a solid hit as well. Pretty happy with the 4 autos. Wish they were on-card but I do like the design. 

 

The Torres at the top is actually the rarest hit of the break. The insert out of 25 was 1 in 1,000 something packs. 

Did manage to pull the Judge base (no Bellinger but I purchased it separately later). The Moniak is the rookie Image Variation. Pretty cool to hit a semi rare PC card. I hope he plays well for the Phillies in the future.

Thanks for reading! Next Philly show is December 1st-3rd. Seems like a lot of good signers including Rhys Hoskins!