Merry Christmas.....

 

Hoping all are safe and well throught this Holiday season.  May your 2021 be brighter!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year !

Thanks for reading.

Keep On Collecting !!

Jeff

Oddball sets..

 Thanks to Dan's (It's like having my own card shop) blog about his oddball 1992 Confex Baseball Enquirer cards,  there's another set I might have to look at getting.  I will have to at least get the  Royals.

So I thought I would show a couple of my oddball sets..... 

1985 Baseball Greats Caricatures..

I do not remember where I got these.

The other set is...

1989 Franklin Caramel Series 1 and 2 (Unlicensed)

I picked these up, in 1992, on a fall trip to the White Mountains in NH.  There was a card shop, in one off the small towns, that I stopped into and purchased these when I saw them.

Thanks for reading.

Keep On Collecting !!

Jeff

Topps 2020 All-Star Rookie Cup Team

 Here is the list for the 2020 Topps All-Star Rookie Cup Team...

RC - 01   Alec Bohm        Philles          3B

RC - 02  Sean Murphy     A's                C

RC - 03  Luis Robert       White Sox     OF

RC - 04  Jarod Walsh       Angels           1B

RC - 05  Ryan Mountcastle   Orioles     1B

RC - 06  Kwang-Hyun Kim  Cardinals  P

RC - 07  Devin Williams    Brewers       P

RC - 08  Willi Castro      Tigers              SS

RC - 09  Kyle Lewis      Mariners         OF 

RC - 10  Tony Gonsolin   Dodgers        P

Topps announced this list by issuing a Topps Now card of each player,  2 per day, starting on Monday 16 Nov 20 through 20 Nov 20.  They said its a 10 card set and if you by all ten, through the Topps web site, there will be a bonus card.  Wonder who or what that card will be!  ( I purchased all my cup cards from ebay seller   mel030783 , so I will not get the bonus card from Topps.)

Topps did not follow protocol this year.  They failed to have a 2B and missed one OF.  They did have two 1B, which I suppose, one of them could be listed as OF.  Wonder if the bonus card will be a 2B, and also harder to get????  ****see Update Below****

The corresponding number RC - ## is the card number.  

Topps usually will place the cup on the players card the following year, so their 2021 cards should have the cup on them.

-- UPDATE--

Guess the actual list was posted Nov 19, 2020, and I failed to see it :0( .  Here it is..

  2020 Topps Rookie All-Star Team:

C – Sean Murphy

1B – Jared Walsh

2B – Jake Cronenworth

3B – Alec Bohm

SS – Willi Castro

OF – Luis Robert

OF – Kyle Lewis

OF – Ryan Mountcastle

RHP – Tony Gonsolin

LHP – Kwang Hyun Kim

RELIEVER – Devin Williams

So Topps is placing Mountcastle in OF, but on the Topps Now card he is shown as 1B.

And I'm going to guess, since Topps posted the Now cards as a set of 10, that the bonus card will be 2B Cronenworth.  He will be hard to find/get???

Thanks for looking,

Keep On Collecting !!

Jeff

Oct 3 Card Show Pick Ups....

Went to my local card show today, and here is what I got....

For my Topps 1975 and 1976 set..

 '75 Rod Carew and '76 Mike Schmidt ---- both together came in under $5 !!!

For my Royals Collection ....

2018 Topps - MLB Independence Day U.S. Flag Manufactured Patch Relics

Salvador Perez coming in at $3...

And for the fun of it, I pulled this out of the $3 box as well...

2018 Topps Now Spring Training Shohei Ohtani print run 6842.  The dealer had a $60 sticker on it.

I also broke down and bought 6 packs of Topps 2020 series 2 at $4 each.....I haven't been able to find any at the stores, soooooo.

I did get the sought after card of .....

Luis Robert RC ...  maybe I can recoup some of my money from the packs?????

Not to bad of a card show day!!!

Have to give a shout out to Jon at A Penny Sleeve for your Thoughts for his Friday giveway a few weeks ago.  I was able to get in right away, and walked away with this beauty for my Packers collection...

 1954 Bowman Bill Howton !!!  Thanks again Jon!!

Also, if you haven't seen cynicalbuddhas Collector's Crack 10th annual Almost easiest World Series contest , go check it out before time expires.  

Thanks for Reading !

Keep On Collecting !!

Jeff

Baseball Card Room Update...

 Quick update on the new digs (aka The Baseball Card Room).  Construction is complete! Yeah!!

Now comes the hard part.  What to put out for display??  I will most likely end up rotating items around.

I realized I had a lot of items stored and unseen for almost 20 years.  Lots of unopened pack boxes dating back to 1987.  More on those in future writings.

Here is a small sample of what is put up....

 

Once I get it complete, I'm going to try and make a quick video to post here and on youtube.

Also, going to reorganize and prioritize the collection.  Things will have to move out, to bring other things in.  Will be trying to put more content on my blog when all that happens.  (looking into starting a youtube channel!?!?)

Thanks for reading.

Keep On Collecting !!

Jeff

Completed - 1994 SP Holoview Blue

I took advantage of a $10 ebay coupon and got my final card for this set...

card # 16  Michael Jordan

I love the holographic images!

These cards were issued with stated odds of 1 card for every 5 1994 Upper Decks SP foil packs.

Total cards in set :  38

 click here     1994 SP Holoview Blue      to see checklist.

Thanks for reading

Keep On Collecting !!

Jeff

Recalled......

Well, my LOA from my real job is coming to an end sooner than I expected.  I was planning on being out until Aug1, but business is picking up and I now have to report Jul1.  Mixed emotions.  I liked being retired (knowing it was not going to last) but looking forward to going back.  Need to make some money for all the purchases I made while out.

This was my latest project 2020 purchase.  Why ---  notice the trophy cup!  Ichiro rookie cup was actually on his 2002 card...

Now that makes 2 project 2020 cards with the cup, which was not on the original card.

The first was this McGwire card

Actual McGwire was his 1988 card

Keeps me on my toes on watching these cards (pieces of art) come out.

With the market down on these cards, for now, really keeping my eyes open for some deals.

The Baseball Card Room will become slower in completion, due to me going back to work.

It is getting closer.  Should still have it done by the end of July (fingers crosssed).

Thanks for reading.

Keep On Collecting !!

Jeff

Mail from COMC....

I made my first purchase from COMC back on May23,2020.  They est delivery by Jun19,2020.  Package arrived today 8Jun,2020.   I will definitely use COMC again.

Here is what I got....

From the 2013 Topps Archives 1972 Basketball Design insert set.

Johnny Bench / Joe Morgan / Ozzie Smith / Reggie Jackson

I started putting this set together sometime in 2014, when I got my first card from a pack.

Prince Fielder was that card.  Since than, I would pick them up when I saw them at card shows.  I finally dwindled it down to my final 5 cards.  Since there hasn't been any shows lately, I looked through eBay, Sportlots, and COMC and found these 4 at the right price.

I only need 1 more to complete the set.

Waiting for the next card show!

Thanks for reading.

Keep On Collecting !!

Jeff

Topps Project 2020 part 2

I just bought card #103 Roberto Clemente

WOW!!  I really like this card.  It jumped right out at me.

Just like the Ted Willliams #90, they give me that old baseball card feeling.  Might be due to the players that are being used, but that is what I'm looking for in these cards.  Not all artist have done all cards yet, so I'll be watching.

The past cards that I wish I would have gotten, and will try to get are ...

     

And that would be based on the secondary market pricing.

Don't get me wrong, as I really started looking at this collection, they are all very cool.

Even my wife thinks there are cool.  She looked at the Baller Trout card (pix above) and wondered why he had wings.  I didn't notice it before, but advised her he plays for the Angels.

My sites are on what the future Brett cards will look like, and any others that catch my eye.

Thanks for reading.

Keep On Collecting !!

Jeff

Topps Project 2020 and My project 2020

Hey everyone, hope all are doing well.

I can't believe its been over 60 days since I started my LOA from work!  As of right now, I have 60 more to go.  Time is really flying by for me.

My Project 2020 ---

Since being on LOA, my honey do list is larger than normal, so I keep pretty busy.

Nice weather days, of course I spend doing outdoor projects.  The main one, besides cut the grass,

was to rebuild a 24 foot long 2 foot high retaining garden wall.  FUN !

The main project is the Baseball Card Room.

This is what it looked like when I started ....

Here is as of today......

to the left is my new stereo stand I rebuilt from a larger entertainment center

which is waiting to get refinished.   

Almost ready for some paint!  Than carpet.  Than decor!!!

Here is where the bulk of the items are stored .....

Yes that is a 13 inch color tube style TV from my college days in the early 80's. (still works great) !!

.... in the family room.  My GEM Mint wife is baring with me on this for now.  After that all gets moved back, than that room gets a makeover.  

Will post pics of the new Baseball Card Room when done.

And as always, try to get in some card time !!!!  

Now to Topps Project 2020......

     ( Chris over at CRT Sports Cards has great up to date article on Topps Project 2020 )

When this started, I thought it was an interesting concept, but was not going to get all excited about it.  That was mostly because of the $20 price tag from Topps or around $18 on pre-sales on eBay.

The secondary market was on fire from May 20 until about the 26th.  During that time, one of the Trout cards was selling for more than his PSA 10 rookie card.  Crazy!! 😕 I think I would have bought the PSA card.  As a collector or investor, you do you.  The market has calmed down a little, but those first print cards are still getting big money.

I knew they were doing the 1975 George Brett card, so I was watching closely on what was being done with his card.  The first one to catch my eye was ...   

Card #75 by Artist Grotesk

So I picked up my first Project 2020 card.

Brett's previous cards were..

    

and his newest came out today (6/4/2020)

15 more to go from the other artist.  Can't wait to see what they do with the card, and if I will get any.  After seeing what some of the other artists have done, I might be getting a few more Brett's.

I have also picked up a few others that I liked .....

Ted Williams #90 by Artist Oldamanallan

Mark McGwire #97 by Artist  Thiele (because it has the rookie trophy cup on it)

Mike Trout #100 by Artist Jamieson

There were a few other previous cards I wish I would have gotten, but it didn't start really growing on me until I got that Brett card.  I won't pay those after market prices, but if prices come down I might try to snatch a few, or maybe trades.  I only collect what I like, and at the price I'm willing to pay.

Thanks for reading

Keep On Collecting !!

Jeff

 

George Brett on MLB Tonight 15May2020...

As a huge Royals and Brett fan,  I found this interview, which also happened to be Brett's birthday, to be fun to watch.  The story of him trading for one of his original game used bats was great.

A must watch for all Brett and Royal fans !!!

       Watch here -  George Brett on MLB Tonight

Keep On Collecting !!

Jeff

Dollar Store Cards ......

When I need to shop for greeting cards, the dollar stores are where I like to start.  I usually don't like to pay 3 to 7 bucks on greeting cards.  (Baseball Cards are a different story!)  A few weeks ago I needed to get a few greeting cards for those special events that came up and still coming up.  During this time of confinement, I try not to leave the house/yard, unless walking with my wife and the dog.  I was successful at finding some great greeting cards (not always), and also found these..

$1 packs of 2020 Donruss (5 cards per pack)

I like the Panini products, but I hate the generic uniform look.  Miss the team logos and names.

I will pick up a few items through out the year.  So for now, mainly a Topps guy.

Got a couple of Diamond Kings.  A yellow Lucas Giolito and regular Pete Alonso!

Always liked collecting the Diamond King Cards back in day.

3 Rated Rookies

Patrick Sandoval / AJ Puk / Matt Thaiss

4 86' Retros

Man Of Steel Rickey Henderson nickname

Paul Molitor / Travis Demeritte RC / Domingo Leyba RC

5 yellow parallel 

Clayton Kershaw / Paul Goldschmidt / Tommy Edman

2 86' retro

Jim Rice / Yonathan Daza RC

and the rest including

Aaron Judge base and variant cards

Gerrit Cole NY / Kris Bryant 

Over all, not to bad!!  It gave me a few packs to open during this time.  

I've been on leave from work now for 30 days and the time is flying by for me.  Kept pretty busy!

Doing a lot of outdoor things since its been pretty nice outside.  But the biggest project is The Baseball Card Room.  For the past 20 years, this is what the room looked like..

You get the idea!!!!

The closet I had done earlier, since that's where most things are stored.  But the rest of the room was left unfinished.  Well that has all changed thanks to CoronaVirus.  I have cleared everything out, while still keeping some since of order to the cards, so I can find things for trades or sales.  There is now sheet rock up and ready to be taped.  Than paint, floor covering and decorating (display my collections).  I should have enough time to finally complete this project.  I am not due to return to work until Aug 1, unless things pick up.  I am really enjoying retirement,  but my wife says no, not yet.  She has another 90 days with me!!  

Pixs of the New Baseball Card Room will be posted when done.

Also been reorganizing the collection, since most of its pulled out.  Trying to get things load on to Trading Card Data Base.

Thanks for reading,

Keep On Collecting !!

Jeff