1975 Topps Gary Carter RC #620

I want to be greedy in adding traditional rookie cards of legends / icons from old school/vintage years when possible - there maybe tiers as far as rookie card wants go; a rule of thumb is cards have to be at least be 20 years old to make the list.

As a last minute purchase for 2017, I had to get this rookie card of a Hall of Fame catcher since it cost as much as a discounted blaster - I don’t think it’s too weird anymore but it maybe a little peculiar to commit to buy a baseball card, when I’m out in BFE somewhere in a daze, tagging along with my parents on a casino trip late at night.

Multiplayer rookie cards are ugly, especially if it becomes the RC of a Hall of Fame legend who has to share it with one or more marginal players - but it’s part of the quirkiness of old-school/vintage cards to squeeze multiple unproven players on a card.

Carter was a prime time star with the Montreal Expos from the mid 1970s through the early 1980s - however, I was only aware of Carter's playing days through the junk wax era cards he showed up on during the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Favorite card of 2017 - Mega Box Ohtani

This is in response to Tom's contest over at Waiting 'til Next Year.

I'll throw this up as my favorite card of the year because I actually pulled one [#BCP31] after not even sure if I was going to bust any of the 2017 Bowman Mega Boxes - as a baseball fan, I was excited to see which MLB team Ohtani sign with this off-season, whether it was the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, Seattle Mariners or San Diego Padres.

It's only much sweeter when the 23-year old wunderkind signed with the Angels as opposed to other teams in pursuit of the pitcher / slugger - I figure this will probably be my best Ohtani card and I'm hoping he lives up to the hype and this card stills holds some relative value at the end of next year, even after the market is flooded with his MLB cards.

1991 Fleer Alex Cole #365

As something to do, I'm trying to go through loose cards in my collection and pull the ones that might not be relevant - but can be listed and put away in some sort of mini-collection.

The junk wax Cole was probably a repack pull, so it was in limbo, not yet squirreled away in my main A-Z archives of commons - I thought it may have been a reach to add this as an 'awesome action' card, but I've always liked the image of speedster Cole take a lead off first base, with his eyes on the pitcher.

With its garish yellow borders, 1991 Fleer was the poster child of the junk wax era - there just isn't a whole lot of lingering nostalgia for a set that didn't take much imagination to design.

I dug up a big book of baseball cards from 1991, which profiled players with snapshots of their mainstream cards and considered their profit potential - back in the day, the book was a guide to learn about players and helped figure out which was the card to get, maybe the best looking and/or potentially valuable [lol].

In addition to the Fleer, which was chosen as the best out of his five cards, I like Cole's 1991 Upper Deck [#654] issue - where Cole shoos his bat away after collecting a walk.

1978 Topps Eddie Murray RC #36

I want to build up a traditional rookie card collection [consisting of cards at least 20 years old, cards that aren't serial numbered, autographed or glow in the dark] - but on a relative budget however, it’s hard to be picky as far as finding notable RCs with decent eye appeal; many of the mid level options I've seen listed on eBay just look a bit too rough for my taste.

I probably sent out an APB for a copy of this card after seeing it ranked No. 7 among the greatest cards of the 1970s on the Night Owl Cards blog - I did trade for another copy of the card years ago, but it probably compares best to 'well loved' ones on eBay I'd disregard otherwise.

This card is a little off-center, which I'm sort of a stickler on - but seems pretty clean otherwise.

While the Hall of Famer's prime years was with the Baltimore Orioles in the 1980s - I remember him playing past the junk wax era and through the mid 1990s as a player gunning for both 3,000 hits and 500 home runs.

Featured autograph - Zack Cozart

Even though he is sliding over to third base, Cozart's acquisition gives the Angels a good defender and a guy who can transition over to second base if Ian Kinsler doesn't stick around past the 2018 season - while Cozart has really been up and down with the bat as a big leaguer, hopefully he can build upon the past two years [.346 on-base/.484 slugging, 40 home runs 52 doubles, 9 triples 40 home runs in 902 at-bats].

I don't remember the particulars, except I got this card signed at the Arizona Fall League back in 2009 - I knew I had gotten Cozart's autograph at some point, so I had to look for it in an old archive of signed cards.

2017 Bowman Draft Jo Adell #95

The plan was to get one of Adell's 2017 Bowman Draft Chrome autographs and/or a corresponding parallel - I was willing to spend as much as $75 for at least one or two copies, figuring while he was a first round pick, he probably wasn't the clear cut guy to get.

As is, Adell's Bowman Draft Chrome autograph were rumored to be short printed and thus is currently commanding at least $250-$300 on eBay - I realize die-hard prospectors are going to prospect, but there is just no reasonable buy in at this point.

Adell was the top prospect in the Angels system about a week or so ago - I can't imagine how much the new Angels' top prospect [Shohei Ohtani of course] MLB rookie-card autographs are going to command once released.

The best case scenario the SP issue is kind of bogus and more first-year Bowman Chrome autographs will come out - if not, all those speculators better hope Adell is the next coming of Willie Mays.

Featured autograph - Ian Kinsler

It's hard for a big league team to carry a veteran player past their prime because sometimes it's just the end - I do like the Angels' trade for the 35-year old second baseman, because he seems like a player you can plug and play for next year.

Presumably he can still hit for some power, defend, run a little bit and all things considered, otherwise be Dustin Pedroia lite - if Kinsler stinks it up, there is no team commitment past 2018.

2017 Topps on-demand mini pack break

I looked this up on Topps.com and I ordered a pack [there was free shipping promo] since for just about a price of a blaster box - I get an 'on-demand' product that is not available at a big box store.

I do see where Topps makes these 'variation' products off their flagship card set alone and by the end of the year - all these releases are just kind of redundant.

Shipped in a bubble mailer, a black box contained a foil wrapper placed inside a 150-count two-piece box.

#351 German Marquez #87-136 Chipper Jones - 1987 All-Star serial #’d 03/25 #56 Danny Salazar - serial #’d 1/5 #249 New York Yankees team card - serial #’d 05/25; just had to picture Starlin Castro among other random Yankees [Headley, Teixeira and maybe Gardner]. #US260 Carlos Correa - serial #’d 05/25 #656 Todd Frazier - serial #’d 01/10 #494 Tom Murphy #422 Andrew Miller #US213 Yovani Gallardo #486 Aroldis Chapman #4 Mark Reynolds #US110 Corey Seager #48 Brian McCann #US173 Chris Coghlan #636 Allegheny Armada - feat. Jaso / McCutchen #36 B’More Boppers - feat. Trumbo, Machado, Davis and Jones. #599 Cincinnati Reds team card #175 Houston Astros team card #246 Hunter Strickland #613 Jonathan Broxton #US66 Jose Osuna #440 Eduardo Rodriguez #US93 Jesse Chavez #526 Jake Marisnick #95 Chris Davis #US241 Ryon Healy #75 Carlos Correa #356 Brad Miller #492 Avisail Garcia #US269 Craig Kimbrel #369 Mark Canha #47 Gregor Blanco #341 Alex Bregman #US159 J.T. Riddle #270 Jake Arrieta

When borderline HOF guys get their call

It's refreshing to see Jack Morris and Alan Trammell, a pair of longtime teammates whose accomplishments seem more recent and tangible [they starred in the 1980s and played through the mid 1990s, not the 1880s] - get elected the Hall of Fame through 10-name Modern Baseball Era ballot.

I didn't think either Morris or Trammell were getting into the Hall of Fame any time soon but their candidacy was given second life after falling off the ballot - in particular, I guess something had to give in Morris' case.

While Morris' numbers was scrutinized by the sabermetric movement as inferior to retired star pitchers who aren't getting any serious consideration - there was enough push back [particularly among the people that put him in now] that Morris eventually was able to sneak into the HOF.

Trammell was destined to become the next Bert Blyleven or Tim Raines among sabermetric inclined baseball experts - Trammell was a guy who was part of a shortstop evolution, putting up strong offensive numbers that combined with everything else, were too hard to dismiss.

1991 Upper Deck Charlie Hough #792

I listed this card as an awesome action 'want' because it brings to mind the image of a crafty [knuckleball] pitcher working on his game during a spring training situation perhaps - even going as far throwing batting practice to teammates.

I don’t know if it puts things in any sort of perspective but for a professional baseball player, Hough has always looked like a grandfather - he’s only 43 on this card, but probably looks like he's 20 years older and it’s just hard for me to imagine looking as old as Hough does in five years.

Featured autograph - Billy Eppler

I was able to get the Angels general manager's autograph in spring training this past year on a blank card - there is a bit of schadenfreude, when Eppler may have closed the deal to snatch Shohei Ohtani away from the hands of other prospective suitors, particularly the Seattle Mariners.

I don't know if the narrative of Ohtani's motivations to join the Halos have been exactly spelled out - but reading the screenshot above, there is a little 'what if' for disappointed Mariners fans, when considering the screenshot from 2015.

Andruw Jones - a borderline HOFer?

I have this 1995 Bowman rookie card [#23] in a miscellaneous binder and I recoil whenever I see it - I remember buying it for something like $30 at the 2000 National Sports Collectors Convention and thought it was going to be a 'money card' of a superstar for years to come.

Maybe card values of any number of random cards probably declined over the past 20 years as players come in and out of collectors' consciousness - but Jones accelerated the dip in values by how his playing career fell apart after leaving the Atlanta Braves.

He got fat when he joined the Los Angeles Dodgers for the 2008 season and then bounced around for years - even playing in Japan for two seasons before wrapping up his playing career.

After the fact, the most interesting thing is that Jones was probably the best center fielder of his generation and may actually have an argument that he's one of the best to play his primary position of all time - this Sports Illustrated story spells out the idea that he's unlikely to get to the Hall of Fame, but pores over his numerous achievements as well as his decline.

Kevin Maitan - all things considered

As an Angels fan, the addition of Maitan is a nice pickup since he's only 17 and was the most intriguing prospect heading into this past year - the Angels' farm system has been depressed for a while and hopefully Maitan starts building on his promise, giving the Angels a nice little core of position player prospects [along with Jo Adell, Jahmai Jones, Brandon Marsh] to build upon the next few seasons.