The Once A Year Quarterback

There are more than this in existence, but these are everything I have in hand.  Caution: image heavy post.

Happy Holidays to you and yours!

Night Owl Sends Classics, Favorites, Icons, and Sensations

Got some return fire from the Night Owl camp today.

 

Started small with a '23 insert and a 2008 Baseball Icon from Allen & Ginter sets.

Then the penultimate 2004 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites Mattingly.  I'm down to just the Yastrzemski for the set now.

Always overjoyed to knock out another 2005 UD All-Star Classics insert.  These are elusive.  And there are a lot of them on my want list.

Greg sent the Dodger portion of the last few 2023 Stadium Club I'm still lacking.  Between this one and four more that I have coming in TCDB trades, I'm back down to the one I thought was last before I went back and checked and found the rest of them still missing.  (It's Alvarez from the Mets.)

One more chip off the SP list for the latest Heritage.  These haven't been nearly as hard to get as older years short prints.  Hope it lasts until I'm done.

And finishing out the batch, a second copy of the Palmer Sensations from the same Heritage.  Did this design actually show up in '75 somewhere?  I was just happy there was another group of retired players besides the box toppers.

Thanks to Greg for the list hits and the blog post material.

Carrying The Flag For My '65 Set Build

Got a shipment today from my man Marv in Michigan.  It was another round of fantastic 1965 Topps baseball stars.  I started this set with a bulk lot purchase at Chantilly back in October.  Since then, Marv has supplied the nicest specimens of the HOF'ers, and a lot of them.  I just was able to put names on every card in my want list.  I'm down to 70 out of 598!

Here's the latest batch that came today:

The '65 design is one of the quintessential Topps creations.  Solid colors and a simple pennant theme that doesn't need anything else.  And the color combos are spot on.  I'll give you a closer look at some of the more famous cards.

 

If you're into rookies, here's one of the more popular in the set, and his Detroit counterpart. 

Marv said this one was "Way off center".  It is, compared to most of what he finds for me.  But I'll take it - there's plenty of border all the way around.

This has got to be Casey's best card ever.  You can just see the personality from the photo.  

I kept seeing this card in dealer boxes, but never found one that was nice enough to take home.  Marv came through for me. 

You might recognize this guy if you follow vintage NBA.

On top of all those, there was another addition to the latest '65 lot:

Forgive the bad desk lighting.  This one is as sharp and bright as you hope it is.  (I'm paying for this one in later installments.)

The previous batch from November-ish starts with a Yankee as well.  Ford will be leaving this plastic prison at some point I believe.

Another great looking pink & yellow combo.  Ya gotta love those vest uniforms too.

Yaz seems to have lost one in the lights.  Oh wait, they probably didn't do that yet....

Another beautiful card from Eddie Mathews.  Does he have any cards that aren't textbook classic? 

Phil Niekro shows up on a two-headed RC for the second year in a row. 

And we'll end it on another HOF pitcher.  Again, the epitome of a vintage baseball card.

As a bonus for perusing this far, I present the penultimate card from my '62 set build that Marv practically did for me, and he lapped my '57 build in the process.  I'm down to one card to finish the original woodgrain set - Mantle/Mays #18.

This one was graded "Authentic".  It's been shaved a bit, but not enough to make it appear altered.  I'll take the discount!

I'll save the groveling about not posting in 3+ weeks for a future post.....maybe.

2024 A&G Box 3 of 3 - Measure Twice, Cut Once

Now for the third and final installment of my A&G breaks.  Hoping for at least a hit of someone I actually really like...

Box topper is an N43 this time.  I generally like these, but they're hard to complete - or at least expensive - so I've only done it once, in 2009.  Finally, an older player!

Feels like these are a slightly different size this time, but maybe it's me.  I put a regular silver card behind it for comparison.

First hit (about halfway through like the others) is Acuña.  (ñ = ALT-164).  Haven't pulled a bat relic in a while.  Nice that it says "game-used".  Again, I like this relic style better than the other full-size one.

Mini inserts include a World's Tallest Mountain.  It was the only one I got, so I assumed they were scarce, though mountains isn't a subject you would think would be so chase-able.  Not likely doing those either.

Some decent names in the player minis.  Is Skenes the guy I should put on top?  Had to check to see if the shiny Pereira was the same Yankee as the jersey I got in Box #1, but that was Peraza.  There's a repeated name here that I'll come back to as well.

Second hit is an auto from a player who appears in a different team than I expected.  (Are you getting annoyed with how clueless I am about current players yet?)  I would say this is the best hit of the break as far as regular hits go.  The third one may make you think differently, though.

I'd say a Bloodhound would more fittingly be named Trombone  than Trumpet, but OK.  X-Ray'd's are still really fascinating.  Top right is not an insect, it's an Armadillo.  Feels like one more box, and I'd have had all the regular inserts.  A&G collation (and my dealer's box selection) is always excellent.

What can beat a shiny Mickey Mantle?  (Well, a refractor, I guess, but I'm not complaining.  Not that I'll probably keep it for long.)  Might have to flip a coin to see if Night Owl or Fuji gets the Filigree Yamamoto...

Final hit ~ not a Double Rip Card, but I got double Rips in the break!  

And remember the same name minis?  Call it a Slade Cecconi hot box!  Or even a Diamondback hot box.  Wouldn't be my first choice.  (No offense, D-Back fans).

Before I reveal the contents, I'm happy to say I got at least one Jayden Daniels.  He's not a short print in the set, but only getting one makes it feel like he's one of those Scarce Pulls but not SP's - like Jeter used to be.  This base card is about the only one beside the Trick-Or-Treat Score that's not $5-$100 right now.  I'm not going to have an easy time collecting this guy.  I didn't actually get a Palmer base card at all, which was also surprising.

But anyway, back to the Rip card.  I cut this one correctly this time.  You can see here the relative depth of the chamber and the pull tab on the back.  What was in here?

Extended number Ohtani!

Woo Hoo!  Paid for the boxes, right?  Not quite.  EBay auctions are around $20-30.  Which is still nice.  Will definitely trade for an upper level mini or something of my player collections.  Daniels, Palmer, Bo Jackson, etc.

I have since received all but the Palmer (x2) and a second Daniels for the base set, the remaining SPs and full size inserts except for three X-Ray'd's (15, 17 & 19).  I also want three of the Cycle Successions (are these retail inserts?) Torre, Fisk, and Keith Hernandez, as well as the Uniform Countdown of Dusty Baker.  I hope to finish the Got the Itch minis before they're all sold out too, but will probably have to count on trades.  Hope they're not too scarce.

Still have a lot of my player minis to trade, except the A&G backs.  And all the mojo hits are available as well.  Got a few insert dupes, and about 40 base extras and most of the Chromes.  Let me know what you need!

2024 A&G Box 2 of 3 - Welcome Back, Carter

So on to Box 2 of my 2024 Ginter break.  Now I'll at least get a start on the regular base set.

Box Topper is Vlad Jr.  I tend to pull something of his out of every few boxes of new stuff I open - which means Ginter at this point.  As well as Blue Jays.  My toppers are spoken for already, though.

First pack and there's that Carter guy again, as well as the #1 drafted quarterback last year.  I'm looking for the guy that was called next.  Shiny Adley is cool - I got a couple different ones of his in this break.  I'm tempted to go for the rainbow.  Has his superstardom hype settled down yet?  I tend to pull the big names just after they are hot sellers, as you'll see in a bit.

First hit was former National (and relevant star?) Anthony Rendon.  This one is very flowery.  I don't dislike it, but the other relic style looks cooler this year.  Sample is pending....

Player/people minis....got both the regular and A&G back of the top guys in the middle.  Also take note of the second dude named Carter in the blacks.  Shiny Austin Riley might be what I mentioned earlier - was he a hot commodity last year?  I don't pay attention any more....

Here's why I brought up Evan Carter.  Nice looking mini auto, but I don't know him from Gary, Joe, Jimmy the former president, or Sergeant Carter on Gomer Pyle.  

Mini inserts include another sniffy one - this time it's peppermint!  I think they made up the Swamp Creatures lineup - never heard of this bird, but he's more likely to live in a swamp than the previously pulled one - a shark?  Anyone else who doesn't live near there default to the quote from Hunt For Red October when Sam Neill gets shot and says "I would have liked to have seen Montana..."?  Couldn't find the clip online.

More X-Ray'd's.  A couple new ones and a couple dupes.

Dogs and bees and sister cities.  Gotta love the service dog inclusion.

Last hit.  Like I said, I think these look the best, though they appear to be player portraits against a cork board, while the whole thing sits on a pile of unwound cassette tape (or poodle clippings for those of you too young for cassettes).  Sorry if I've now made you unable to unsee those things.

And finally, the shiny.  Carroll refractor would have been good last year, right?  

Glad to get regular base cards this time.  I have found another lot of the silver hot box ones, so I'll probably go ahead and try to make that set.  I'll have to be quick though, I'm sure they will fade from existence by the end of the year or so.  Don't have a lot of trade bait from these at this point.  Two people are sending me the remainder of my base, SP, and full size insert needs already.  One of them wants my minis.  Doubling up wasn't my plan, but it's what's happening.

Stay tuned for the third rip.  That's a hint....