COMC order #5 - Ichiro

I passively end up making keepers out base cards / inserts and parallels of prominent players to reflect the fabric of a decade / era - this may not mean I actively collect everyone as if they were all my personal favorites, where being obligated to mindlessly hoard 'numbers' seems overwhelming.

On the other hand, besides my regional favorites, I've settled on a short list of 5-10 guys from a decade / era I've chosen to really focus on - from the 2000s through 2010s, Ichiro was an all-around national star to gravitate to, where there is lingering sentiment to this day.

Admittedly, Ichiro had gluts of MLB cards issued where I am content to leave most alone unless they fall into my lap - however, it becomes a mission to look for cards that end up a little different, notably his 1990s pre-MLB issues from Japan.

In my COMC order, I tried to build up a micro-mini run of random ones that caught my eye a couple of years ago - maybe there was a little bit of FOMO, where the cards would have been listed at higher prices once he got elected to the Hall of Fame and any one card would be harder to consider as impulse pick ups.

I tried to pick out some unique ones, even if they more basic cards - where it wasn't the just the usual hitting, fielding or standing around during a baseball game images.

COMC order #3 - Michael Jordan

1992-93 Topps Archives Michael Jordan #52 - I picked a copy of this card up after regretting skipping past one during a card show rummage three years ago.

While the card sat in COMC account - I got another copy from a card show rummage, which was added to my first all-time Top 100 keepers collection.

Maybe it would have been nicer if Topps had tried to mimic an original back for the Topps Archives cards - where the front matches the back as far as mimicking the 1984 Topps [baseball] set design.

1994 Classic Minor League All Star Edition - Michael Jordan #1 - I have had at least three or four Jordan baseball cards in my collections, but may have seen this posted on another card blog [Dime Boxes?] one time, so I was inspired to hunt for a copy to make a keeper.

Jordan's dalliance in pro baseball in 1994 was peculiar where he hit .202, which was right at the Mendoza line. - but it's kind of an impressive feat to have the season he did, for a guy who never played baseball past high school and had to learn some basic things about being a pro ball player.

Some old-school Garret Anderson finds

At a card show in the middle of this past year, I saw a mid 1990s 'GA' insert - I didn’t pick the card up because it might have had a ding, but it was a card I’d never seen before.

All I was sure of was the card was likely from a mid 1990s Pinnacle brand - thinking about that insert [after the fact, maybe a 1996 Score Diamond Aces #27], it surprises me between all this time, I'm just not familiar with many of the UV coated, shiny, Dufexed, foil stamped inserts or parallels that were found in a flood of late 1990s baseball products.

'GA' probably wasn't a fan favorite compared to his peers like Tim Salmon, Jim Edmonds or Darin Erstad - expectations were sky high after his hot rookie season, but GA seemed content doing his own quiet thing for a bit.

Maybe he was still a bit too 'sleepy' for Angels fans or made too many outs because he didn't walk a lot - but GA figured out some 'launch angle' skills with his naturally sweet swing and had a solid 4-5 year run in the early 2000s.

I liked GA as a player but probably doesn’t get as much love in my regional collection - why not pick up some nice, forgotten cards of an Angels Hall of Famer who has long since settled into anonymity.

1995 Select Certified Edition Garret Anderson Potential Unlimited #9

1995 Select Can’t Miss Garret Anderson #CM9

1995 Score Rookie Dream Team Garret Anderson #RDT8

2019 Topps Archives Topps Magazine inserts

As far as I know 2019 Topps Archives might as well not exist, but these inserts were too sweet not to pick up, especially being familiar with Topps Magazines of my youth - with loud and bright colors, the design of these cards are throwbacks to the early 1990s.

I almost wish there was such a Topps branded trading card magazine today - though maybe the magazine was printed when baseball cards still had mainstream appeal among youth vs. devolving into a niche hobby over the past 30 years.

The 30-Day Baseball Card Challenge - Day 27

"A favorite oddball card from the 1990 or later."

1996 Denny's Holograms Cal Ripken Jr. #2 - I don't remember if the verbiage was actually used in promotional materials, but I remember something about these cards having '3.5 seconds of game action.'

What I liked about these cards was the fact you can shine them up to a light source and sort of see the player featured doing something - I think most of the previous hologram cards featuring actual players only showed a static image, where you had a 3D effect going, but you couldn't play around with the card like you could with these cards.

I was aware of the Sportflics 3D cards from the 1980s and also when Pinnacle Brands revived the technology for some products in the mid 1990s - these cards are sort of similar to those, but more of a variation of the Sportflics cards 'on steroids.'