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.

Featured autograph - Gary Carter

I don't have recollections of Gary Carter as an active player except from highlights of the 1986 World Series replayed from time to time and maybe through random baseball cards I've had through the last 20 years - I was fortunate to get his autograph in-person several times through golf tournaments, when he managed an independent league team in his hometown of Fullerton, California and the last time at the 2010 All-Star Fan Fest.

Pictured is an 8x10 sheet of paper with the 2010 All-Star Game logo - he wouldn't sign anything else at the 2010 All-Star Fan Fest and this was sore topic for one obnoxious dude with a video camera and a YouTube account.

However to Carter's credit, he also signed a tract card with his personal testimony as well as taking a picture with me - after his signing session ended, he held an impromptu signing session for those willing to pay him $25 'under the table.'

A story I'll probably always remember is trying to get autographs at a particular golf tournament down in Rancho Santa Fe California one year - it was raining and wasn't ideal weather for scoring autographs.

However, since my friend was driving and we were not local to the area, we kind of hung out for a while - we were barely able to stop Carter and his driver in a golf cart; he signed a baseball for me, but smirked and tossed the ball nonchalantly up in the air.

I had to grab the ball real fast and do a little balancing act with my feet - so the ball wouldn't fall into the wet ground.

R.I.P. Mr. Carter 1954-2012

Diamond Giveaway trade - 1968 Topps Matty Alou #270

I thought the 1980 Topps Gary Carter I ended up trading for this 1968 Topps card of Matty Alou was a keeper - but I think I may have been compelled to trade after seeing 10-15 trade requests seemingly every time I log in.

Most on the Diamond Giveaway site want my Vladimir Guerrero and Jered Weaver Diamond Die-cut cards from my portfolio - though it seems like it is the only cards offered are from the junk wax era, so I try not to pay attention to it.

I also got two throw in cards of little consequence - a 1980 Topps Joe Wallis #562 and a 1985 Topps Danny Ozark [manager] #365.

Topps Diamond Giveaway thoughts and trades

The 2011 Topps Diamond Giveaway is the 21st century way of collecting trading cards - the cards in your portfolio are mostly the same from the 00s, 90s, 80s, 70s and before, but you don't really have the cards in hand. If you want them delivered, you need a credit card to ship your cards to you for S/H.

I find myself logging in each day to see which cards I maybe able to trade for - even though I only have a lousy 11 cards.

I made a couple of more trades that seemed to make sense - I traded my 1979 Topps Dennis Martinez for a 1978 Topps Darrell Porter and my 1978 Topps Rollie Fingers for a 1980 Topps Gary Carter.

I got exposed to a lot of Martinez cards through the 1986-1992 junk wax era - so it was a breath of fresh air to trade for something just a little bit different.

I think I was ecstatic being able to trade my 1978 Topps Rollie Fingers for a 1980 Topps Gary Carter - I've stashed away a 'tools of ignorance' collection picturing catchers or non-catchers with catching equipment.

Most of my cards are from the last 20 years - so it is nice that I can pick up a card featuring a nice action shot of the Hall of Fame catcher showing he tagged out an incoming runner trying to score.

2010 Topps Million Card Giveaway Results - 1986 Topps Gary Carter and 2002 Topps Rico Brogna

I pulled two Million Card Giveaway code cards from my last Topps blaster box break from the previous post and was going to hold off since the cards are fun to redeem if you are looking for a couple of minutes of boredom to kill - I did get the itch to put the codes into the system sooner than I thought, even though it looks like it was spitting out crap cards [well at least crap cards from the last 20-25 years instead of cards from the last 35 years or so].

My first card was a 1986 Topps Gary Carter - he is the only Hall of Famer I have in my collection at Million Card Web site, though the card is still an 1986 Topps card and I picked up a few 1986 Topps star cards [Ryne Sandberg, George Brett, Mike Schmidt] a show for a dime each several months ago.

My second card was a 2002 Topps Rico Brogna - I thought I was actually looking for a Brogna card, though it is a 2001 Fleer Tradition card that may not actually exist, so scratch that notion.