From box to binder

 There have been plenty of black and gold additions in recent weeks.  In fact too many, as the piles on my desk are starting to build to monstrous proportions again.  But there are just too many fun cards in my collection that don't fall into the black and gold category.

Like this Tom Glavine card.  I had no idea Glavine was also drafted in hockey (well, I probably did at some point - I imagine it was the blurb on the back of '94 Topps or something).  This card is a pretty cool rendering.  I'd imagine a hockey/baseball two sport star would be a little tougher to pull off than the football/baseball combo.

Say what you will about the early 90's.  It's not my favorite period in card collecting either.  But in the days before exclusive licenses and multi-billion dollar revenues, the main concern of sports leagues seemed to be getting their name/logo/players out there.  Licenses were handed out like candy, with unique mainstream manufacturers and fun oddballs like this.  Now that Topps pretty much controls everything and anything printed on paper that has an MLB logo (cards, minor league cards, stickers, in stadium advertisements and promos), I doubt we'd ever see anything like this again.

 Speaking of things we don't see anymore, where have all the multiple exposure cards gone?  I'm no photo expert, but I'd imagine with all the advances in digital photography card photos should be getting more interesting, not less.  One of my friends is the team photographer for the Diamondbacks, so I'll have to do a little q&a if there's time.

 And while we're at it...what the hell happened to sample cards?  Oh, that's right.  The internet.  Sample cards are one of those fun collecting quirks that I love to add.  Sometimes they're incredibly bland: samples of base cards.  But there are some really nice onces, including samples of insert sets or this Pinnacle Certified sample.  The scanner kind of killed the refractor finish, but the card looks awesome in person.  And Bagwell was one of my favorite 90's players to boot.

 This card had actually been well on its way to my "someday I'll set up at a show and sell this stuff" box.  But I had second thoughts, and I'm glad I did.  Donruss Estrellas was a poorly executed attempt at a retail only Spanish language set.  I must say with the popularity of baseball in Latin America and Mexico, it is surprising that fewer companies have tried to tap into the Latino market.  Early Pacific cards in the mid 90's and Estrellas.  That's about it.  But then again...when you have a monopoly...

 This Morneau is a another card that was slated for the "sell me" box.  But his midseason trade to the Bucs has upgraded him straight from the move pile to binder status.  And my Twins pages are sadly under represented, so it's a nice addition.  Die cuts are all the rage with Topps right now, but this die cut in 2010 UD was the first I remembered seeing in a long time.  Granted it's not the most mind blowing design.  But hey...it's not Topps.

 I have nothing to say, except:

The Crime Dog was one cool cat.  Trucker hat baseball caps were not.

 The pinstriped Bulls jerseys were a thing of beauty.  I was a huge Bulls fan, but never a big Jordan collector.  I can't explain it.  But I do have a sweet Steve Kerr collection!

 I've never been a big fan of Barry Bonds.  Or overzealous expressions of patriotism for financial gain.  Or those little American flags.  But 2002 Studio was a gorgeous set, and this is a pretty great card.  Even if the flag does look comically tiny in Bonds roided up arms.

And for a reminder of what Giants baseball should look like...Barry's godfather winning the MVP, in a much smaller size.  I liked the Baseball Heroes releases Upper Deck did, and I think it helped add a more historical element to a company that was really just getting its feet off the ground.  It's a shame they didn't continue with them, but obviously the company has much bigger issues these days.

A Man of Many Hats

As I wrote a few weeks back, I'm combining my writing here and at Returned to Sender to one blog.  What does that mean?  Practically nothing, aside from a few more non-Pirate posts per week.  I wrote 37 posts at RTS, and there are some I'm pretty fond of.  I'm reposting a few of them here.  Most of you won't know the difference, but for the two followers RTS had, sorry for the deja vu.

 Some players just get around.

There are the guys who are perhaps as noteworthy for their mobility as for their production on the field - Matt Stairs and Octavio Dotel have suited up for quite a few teams, particularly during their latter career.

But some guys just kind of fly under the radar.  Or all over the radar, depending on how you look at it.

Jose Hernandez certainly found quite a few different cities to strike out in, including some time with the Pirates.  I already had a few of his Pirate autos in my collection, so when I noticed he had started signing TTM as a minor league coach, I decided to see what else I could get signed.

Apparently Jose wore many a hat during his Topps photoshoots over the years.  And there are still a couple teams unrepresented, so I may have to track down some more cards to finish off the "set."



He sent back this beautiful stack of autographs in under two weeks.  I knew about his time with the Bucs and Brewers, and knew of his time with the Dodgers because he was a favorite with then-Pirates manager Jim Tracy, who had brought him over after being fired by the Dodgers.  But the Rockies?  Not a clue.  Indians?  Like any good Pittsburgher, I make it a point to ignore most things going on in Cleveland.  Though from what I've been told most Clevelanders follow a pretty similar rule.  It looks like I have the Rangers and Cubs left (he ended his career with the Phillies after a midseason release from the Pirates in 06, but I doubt he was set-worthy at that point). 

Going Green: Shine Bright...Like a Diamond?

I've discussed it at length over at Battlin' Bucs, but I love 2000 Topps.

It's the set that got me back into collecting, and it has some really fun quirks to it.

A few years back I picked up a few boxes of 2000 Chrome.  The product was super high end to me at the time.  I think my mom bought me a few packs once, but it was strictly base Topps for me back then for the most part.

The break was great.  And while I probably didn't even recoup my $20 a box value wise, it was a great break.

But I did come away with some awesome cards (not to mention an unreasonably large stack of doubles).

I somehow managed to avoid the curse of the scrub refractors.  In my two boxes, I hit quite a bit of star (and future star) power.

But not just regular base stardom.  2000 Topps had some cool subsets within the base release.  The first cards in each series were the special achievement cards like the Ripken, each having 4 or 5 different versions that were identical except for the accomplishment listed on the front.  The 82 ROY is definitely a cool for Ripken.

And the 20th Century's Best cards look amaaaaazing.  In the base set they're a foil card.  But in Chrome?  Mmm mmm good.  And considering other players in the subset include Lance Johnson and John Franco, I think I did pretty well.

Maybe Beltran wasn't the biggest hit in 2000.  And even after a stint in NY he doesn't get the hobby love his skills deserve.  But anything with the Topps Rookie Cup is a winner in my book.

But the biggest hit of the bunch isn't even a refractor.

In 2000, there was still nothing hotter than Mark McGwire.

A chrome reprint of the red hot McGwire USA rookie?  It was every kid's dream.  Despite ripping a ton of base Topps (or what was a ton in the relative world of a 12 year old, which probably equated to about a box and a half's worth).   Obviously a lot has changed since 2000.  McGwire doesn't carry the star power he once did.  Refractors seem to come two per pack rather than two per box.  And boxes of 2000 Chrome cost you what a couple of packs used to. 

But you can't have much more fun with a break than I did with this one.

The New Centerpiece to My Pens Collection

Hockey isn't my number one collecting priority.  Heck, it's not number two or three either.  But I've  m

ade an effort over the past year or two to try to watch some more hockey, and my Penguins collection has slowly chugged along from a couple dozen cards to about 300 now.  It still lags behind my Pirates and Steelers collection by thousands of cards.

So centerpiece is a word I use loosely, considering there aren't many cards in the running.  I think it's supplanted a Johan Hedberg as my favorite Pens card.  And the Moose wasn't exactly stiff competition.

But this card?  It's a beauty.

Anybody who was collecting in the 90's knows the mystique of Fleer's Metal releases, and specifically the Precious Metal Gems.

Actual Precious Metals have been well out of my price range when they do come up.  But Upper Deck was kind enough to revitalize some of the 90's designs with their Fleer Retro product last year.  And with it came some precious cards.  Pun intended.

I had been on the prowl for either of the Pitt Panthers in the football release - Dan Marino and Tony Dorsett.  But both had been a little higher than I wanted to go.  I figured the hockey side was simply out of the question, with Crosby, Malkin, and Lemieux being among the most collectible players there are.

But it never hurts to look.  Much to my surprise, I came across this Precious Metal without any bids a day or two before the auction was set to end.

When it was all said and done this beauty arrived at my doorstep for a little under $10.  It's more than I would have ever expected to spend on a hockey card, but I'm glad I did.  The card looks amazing in person, and I think the scan does it justice.  Now if only the Pens looked a little better on a red backdrop.

Going Green: Signed, Sealed, Delivered

As I wrote a few weeks back, I'm combining my writing here and at Returned to Sender to one blog.  What does that mean?  Practically nothing, aside from a few more non-Pirate posts per week.  I wrote 37 posts at RTS, and there are some I'm pretty fond of.  I'm reposting a few of them here.  Most of you won't know the difference, but for the two followers RTS had, sorry for the deja vu.

Since moving, my ttm sending has come to a halting stop.  There's just too much going on right now to have the time and space to send out a batch of letters.

But there's always time for more direct routes.  I found a few minor league autos of ex-Bucs I was interested in, and while checking out the seller's other items found some nice non-Pirate autographs.

I got outbid on an auto of prolific journeyman catcher Dusty Brown, yet I managed to score this sweet Josh Johnson rookie auto for just $.99 with free shipping.  Sure, his stock has dropped quite a bit after a terrible season north of the border, but I can't pass up a chance to add an All-Star autograph for less than the price of a cheeseburger.

A Picture's Worth However Many Words I Just Typed

There isn't much down time nowadays with the wedding two weeks away (eek!), but I've been slowly working on getting some more Pirate team sets into binder pages.  It's fun to see to see an entire team set come together on a page (you know, when a large part of the team was actually represented in a set, unlike today's star only 100 card base sets).

And the photography?  Topps has stepped its game up in the last few years, but only because photo quality crashed and burned during the 2000's.

This 1998 Stadium Club set is just...wow.

The photo variety alone makes the set (well, partial set - there's another binder page still missing a couple cards).  Different angles, eye levels, and a variety of poses.  Even an awesome Jason Kendall play at the plate shot.  And the Tony Womack photo next to it is an excellent action shot.

Simple design, great photos, and even some high value cards from the Co-Signers inserts.

As the binders slowly take shape, I may scan some more full pages.  I love inserts, and parallels, and all that good stuff.  But great photos?  You can't beat that.

Breaking Hearts and Taking Names

I came across these auctions this morning.  It makes for a good laugh and a better start to the morning.  And heck, $32 seems like a pretty solid deal if you're in the market for a 1984 Fleer Carl Yastrzemski.

But it also brings back a familiar narrative for most serious collectors.  There are thousands and thousands of people who did not get the memo that their 1988 Score cards are not a valid retirement plan.

Anyone who has ever been to a large card show or spent any time in a card shop has seen the story play out.  Person approaches with literal shoebox full of cards, asking if you want to buy some great vintage star cards.  The box is opened, revealing all the Bo Jackson's and Lee Smith cards the heart could possibly yearn for.  When said person is informed their cards are quite literally worthless (unless they're interested in a new heating source this winter), they become belligerent, accusing anyone and everyone around them of trying to cheat them out of their fortune of cards.

But the laughable situation does bring up some interesting points about the finer intricacies of our hobby.  The 80's/90's overproduction boom was driven by a speculative market and a sudden spike in the collectibles market in general.  Baby boomers suddenly wanted to get their hands on those cards mom supposedly threw out.  But as they started trying to track the cards down they discovered apparently everybody else's mom did the damn dastardly deed.

Supply, meet demand. 

The story is simple enough, and gets simpler.  Driven by speculation and renewed collector interest, the presses went into high gear in the 80's.  Hobby innovations and developments kept most of those collectors there for the better part of a decade.

And then poof.  Gone.

So my question becomes what do we make of the current lull in the market, and what can we expect from the next boom (which, unless you subscribe to the sky is falling view of collecting, will undoubtedly come at some point).  You see, the supply is once again limited.  And I'm not just talking about the ones with a number stamped on them.  Odds put the total number of 2013 Bowman Chrome cases at about 6,500 cases.  And that's one of the more popular product.  How many cases of 2003 Fleer Box Score or 2007 Topps 52 do you think hit the streets?

Of course the hobby landscape has changed.  People don't chase base cards the way they once did (well, except in blog-land, where we still love the simple stuff).  So maybe the drastically reduced production will have no real impact, since people will only want the glitzy stuff.

But we can't avoid the elephant in the room.  The cut in production also coincides with what is now called the steroid era.  While baby boomers can fondly go back and revisit their childhood idols of Mantle, Aaron, and Mays - undoubtedly men far from sainthood - their trials and tribulations didn't reach the public spectacle that today's environment created.  After all the insults, jokes, special sessions of Congress, and trials...how many adults will decide to scratch their midlife crisis itch with a collection of Barry Bonds cards, or tracking down those those beloved Rafael Palmeiro base cards.  More bluntly - how many kids collecting during that period even have fond memories of cards at all, let alone of those players.

I don't have any real answers, or even suspicions.  I enjoy the hobby for what it is, what is has been to me, and hopefully what it can continue to be.  It's not about the dollar signs, though I am curious to see where hobby trends go in the coming years.  With a little luck, maybe one of these days I can sell that 2002 Topps Total Greg Maddux for $32. 

On second thought, maybe not.