Blog bat around - junk wax favorites

1990 Upper Deck - I don't know if I thought Upper Deck was anymore special than the other sets of the day, but it had nicer production quality than Topps, Donruss or Fleer.

I think I wandered into a video store selling cards and picked up a copy of the Ryan for $0.50 - when I was just starting to collect as an adolescent.

1987 Topps - I felt like the commons from this set was perpetual repack fodder, where I have no lingering nostaglia for it as a whole.

For at least for a small period of time in the early 1990s however, the McGwire, Will Clark and Jose Canseco were still worth $2-$4 - as the most accessible early MLB cards for those junk wax era stars.

Maybe at a random stop mall show one time as a kid - I may have bought a few packs of the O-Pee-Chee version and ended up pulling a Barry Bonds rookie.

1990 Leaf - I remember a childhood friend coming over and showing me his trade box, where I was triggered by this card, a Ron Gant and Kevin Mitchell.

Admittedly, this was a set I did not get a chance to heavily collect - where the Frank Thomas and David Justice rookies ended up being out of sight, out of mind, I remember coveting a Carlos Baerga rookie since it was a $10 card of rising star second baseman.

1992 Fleer Ultra - I felt like after a boring and drab inaugural Fleer Ultra release the previous year, Fleer came correct with a jazzy, UV coated, foil stamped masterpiece.

Maybe I could not get enough thumbing through the stars that were teased in the base set as well as various insert sets - where I thought cards from this set would somehow be valuable for a long time.

1991 Fleer Ultra Update - it was not until this late season boxed set was released did I warm up to 1991 Fleer Ultra, with key rookies of the day like Jeff Bagwell, Mike Mussina and Ivan Rodriguez.

1990 Fleer - this was a basic set I had access to and there was a certain quaintness that appealed to me; maybe it was the effect where the image is coming through the card.

1991 Upper Deck - I remember blowing gift money to buy a box for $36 from a Thrifty's Drug Store, where the trading cards were locked up in a display case by one of the cashier counters.

Maybe this had some crossover appeal where there was a Michael Jordan baseball card inserted in packs - while the High Number version featured a Jeff Bagwell rookie.

1991 Bowman - I probably didn't care for the junk wax era Bowman sets, but I guess the 1991 set had rookie cards of Chipper Jones, Ivan Rodriguez, Jim Thome, Kenny Lofton, etc.

I end up giving the set credit for allowing me to discover my first card of an Angels prospect named Tim Salmon - when thumbing through the bulk cards a friend had a accumulated in a row within 3,200 count monster box at his house.

1990 Score - this was the first complete set I bought, probably from a Target and I used to thumb through the cards once in a while.

1992 Upper Deck - I kind of feel like this was the first Upper Deck set from the early 1990s that was everywhere regular packs, boxes, jumbo packs, team set blisters probably put together and sold by a third party distributor, etc.

At some point, I may have gotten tired of seeing the Ken Griffey Jr. multiple exposure card - where it was forever going to be a card worth $0.50.

I've come to appreciate the Bloodlines subset, featuring some of the more prominent Big League families of the day - I don't know if I'm misremembering things, but a neighborhood kid I used to play with used to pronounce 'bloodlines' as 'blood-lee-ness' and I used to get a chuckle out of that.

The Blogger National 2024

To give a reason to post something for the first time since late May - I jumped in on this blog bat-around from Cards Over Coffee where I have a round up of things that have animated me.

K-Rod certified autograph - for how tough he eventually became to get an autograph of, maybe there are now opportunities to pick up a pack pulled autograph for relatively cheap.

This one probably ends up squirreled away in my all-time autograph collection - where I can put it away and forget about it.

Fished out a small pile of 1951 Bowman reprints in a bulk box at a card show - sent this one with $5 to get inked up by the all-time signing great.

Oddball Dodgers stadium giveaway - at the start of the year, I picked this up off the 'swap meet' table at a card shop and I'm wondering if I should leave as is.

Presumably a partial mix of cards towards the entire master set - I wonder how many different subjects are contained within this 'pack' of player card sheets.

Top 100 fuel for a probable set featuring only Angels cards - not sure where I might have another copy of this uncorrected error card somewhere, so it was easier to buy a copy online.

Top 100 card featuring the GOAT hitter pitching - I bought another copy back in April, but it bugged me where a corner was dog eared.

I am kind of a stickler on condition at first glance, where I might spot an obvious blemish on a card I picked up outright, regardless of value - for some peace of mind, I pulled the trigger on picking up another copy and thankfully it seems a cleaner.

Top 100 fuel - a priority is squirreling away cards that might be cult favorites [even if only in my mind] as highlights of all-time Top 100 cheap-azz keepers collections.

Bat Blog Around - My All Autograph Team

I've leaned towards being more of an in-person / through the mail autograph collector than strictly collecting cards, so this newest Bat Blog Around was something I wanted to take part in - I may or may not have better autographs for each position, but I basically went through older blog post posts to see if I can build up a lineup.

1B Rod Carew

2B Ryne Sandberg - I always thought he was the best second baseman of all time, though he starred when I first started getting into collecting and I was oblivious about other greats like Joe Morgan or Rogers Hornsby.

3B Albert Pujols - had to squeeze the guy featured on the Blog Bat Around header somewhere.

SS Maury Wills - I went with a player who made an impact when he first burst into the scene, a vintage player with a unique looking, embossed retro card from the 1990s.

OF Albert Belle - he was a fun player to watch because he was simply nuts and despite his issues, I have to give him his due.

OF Mike Trout - as is, I ride or die with this guy, regardless of how big the spotlight is on him these days.

OF Bryce Harper - he's the most intimidating batter in all of MLB.

With brutish strength to hit the ball 500 feet - he always looks like someone ran over his dog or something.

C Buster Posey

SP Justin Verlander

DH/PH Shohei Ohtani - the expectations are so big for him, but he's 23 and he'll have his share of growing pains.

CL Mariano Rivera

RP Sparky Lyle - I didn't know much about Lyle, except I needed him for my award winners collection, but he was a do it all reliever who collected 238 saves in his playing career.

RP Goose Gossage - I can just imagine Gossage and Rivera co-existing in the same bullpen, with Gossage mostly talking Rivera's head off about how he was the more valuable late inning reliever.

Third blog bat around - thinking about 2009

I'm a middle of the road type of collector, so I grab stuff that catches my eye - not because I'm going to 'rip and flip,' but because I'm a baseball card junkie who strives to keep up his one last link to his adolescence.

Topps and Upper Deck need to put out more product that isn't going to insult the collector - it seemed like I didn't bother with most of Upper Deck's products because there was no greater appeal with brands like Spectrum, SPX, X, Heroes for example.

I busted some 2008 Upper Deck Timeline packs and like the product - but quality control problems hindered the appeal.

With Topps, they always put on a show with their sell sheets for their products [an average collector has access to these online] - but actual, nice pulls seem far and few in-between in their products.

For 2009, here is what I'd like to see Topps, Upper Deck and other companies - possibly producing baseball cards.

1.) Have more cards per pack like 2008 Upper Deck with 18 cards - it seemed like the collector got a little more cards to flip through for a $3 pack.

2.) While mediocre 'hits' are par for the course, tighten up the insert checklist - what happened to the superstar certified autograph or super patch card? Collectors don't like pulling plain swatch material cards of middling players and certified autograph cards of middle relievers and utility guys because collectors can sniff out when companies are trying to be cheap.

It is nicer to try and complete a set of inserts - knowing it has some value and knowing there are marquee players to chase.

3.) No 'weird' autographs - leave the 1980s hair bands or the D-list 'celebrities' alone Upper Deck. No one needs autographs of subjects whose notoriety rests on the fact he or she is going to be in rehab and it is going to be filmed for a reality show. A Donruss Fans of the Game type of insert would be nice, where you have celebrity baseball fans featured on cards.

4.) Don't manipulate a type of insert set to produce a cheaper type of card that people typically associate with a big hit - certain card types should retain a certain appeal and to find the quad autograph card or quad material card worth little, because there are a billion of them takes the fun out of busting packs like 2008 Upper Deck Ballpark.

5.) Quality control - opening a pack of cards and seeing roller marks, nicks and dings is something to shy away from.

6.) Have some fun thinking up a retro themed set - and find a way to incorporate a 'vintage' design for one product and make it a stand alone set [at least 200 cards] with a comprehensive player checklist. There are a lot Upper Deck and Topps can do in-between.

While Topps Heritage and Topps Allen and Ginter are set builders' staples - a quirky product like 2008 Upper Deck Timeline was more fun to bust because it had a little bit of something for everyone.

7.) Have minimal subsets - one subset per base set is fine, but having all sorts of manager, team, leaders, checklist cards dilute from the base set.

8.) Include a checklist sheet/card per box - it may not be a new concept for a set builder, but I'd like to figure out what I've pulled, what I have and what I still need.

9.) For non-memorabilia, non-autograph cards - create better parallels and not cheap inserts to include as hits.

10.) Old faces, new places - planning for product takes some time, so Topps and Upper Deck need to figure out how to print old players' cards with their new teams i.e. get all the off-season trades, signings and other transactions.


A second look -

2008 Topps Stadium Club - it is kind confusing how the product is put together with the hobby and retail variations in the base set. Hobby was priced as 'high-end' even with midlevel specifications. I think retail was an appropriate way to get these cards if you kind of wanted to see what this was all about. The product was nice even though every other collector was looking for different things, when the news Topps was bringing back SC first came out.

2008 Tristar Projections - a two-series set of 400 minor league player cards [including New York Yankees' failed prospect Billy Crystal, who had one spring training at-bat and was let go] was hard to ignore for an in-person or through the mail autograph collector who needed the cards signed. Many of the players are obscure [isn't that the point with a minor league product] and the better names already have cards produced by Donruss, Topps or Upper Deck. On the other hand, you do get eight hits per box, including four autographs and numbered cards.

2008 Prime Cuts IV - maybe prices for individual cards have leveled off in general and the inclusion of first-year and rookie type players is unecessary filler, but based on sell sheets alone, Prime Cuts IV takes the prize as the best high-end product of 2008. The kicker is it isn't even a licensed MLB/MLBPA product.

2008 Topps Sterling - maybe the worst high-end product, just because you are locked into a player once you open your box and if you don't a really big name, then you are likely to pull a less than stellar card.

2008 Razor - was supposed to be a radical product that leveled the prospecting playing field. People are sitting on this product now because singles have not exploded in value and people don't want to sell their average hits for $2-$4each.