Some mini-collection odds and ends

Maybe I was feeling idle, so I wanted to see if I can knock out some scratch the itch cards - nothing high brow, but maybe a mix of cards that hit some of my mini-collection needs.

Trying to go through my memory banks, a flagged cards folder on my phone, my eBay watchlist, my blog Top 10 and saved TTM fuel images to round up random cards to hunt for - having my possible wants material in scattered formats ends up leaving me feeling a little messy.

I found a seller online I was willing to buy around 20 cards from, but then past $1.99, shipping was going to be around $7 - maybe there was no budget option despite saying so otherwise on the seller's postage chart, so after spending about an hour crafting up a probable 'buy list,' I ended up throwing my hands up in the air.

I ended up cutting the number to the bare minimum that would ship for $1.99 - where I wanted the following cards in-hand and committed to picking them up for a little over $0.50 each.

1988 Colorado Springs Sky Sox CMC Jeff Kaiser #4 - Awesome action; Oddities - I love how a pitcher is all dressed up in catchers' gear, mugging it up for the photographer.

2007 Upper Deck Gary Matthews Jr. #225 - Awesome outfield action - I've wanted this card because it captures his greatest play in his pro baseball career and probably helped put him on a lot of people's minds, where he had kind of just moved from team-to-team.

1994 Fleer Update Rico Brogna #U156 - Broken bat shots - I found this while trying to scan through someone selling cards on Twitter; at times, I find mini-collection cards by just digging through card images others have posted.

1993 Milk-Bone Super Stars Dog Food Issue Will Clark #7 - Facial hair - I fall under being a 'junk wax guy,' but for all the Clark cards I've seen, there might only be a couple that features a stache on The Thrill.

1991 Topps Woolworth Baseball Highlights Bert Blyleven #7 - Inking it up - I had to have this card featuring a player in the twilight of his big league career, taking the time to sign autographs; the copy I received looks like it might hava burn mark, so it might be a filler copy for now.

1990 ProCards A and AA Darrin Chapin #19 - Pitchers hitting - I guess he's not actually hitting, as much as he's posing with a bat in his hand, but it's kind of an odd image I end up counting.

Featured autograph - Gary Matthews Jr.

When the Angels signed him for 5 years and $50 million back in the winter of 2006 - I must have choked on something because he was the epitome of a journeyman outfielder who capitalized on the big year with the Texas Rangers but was going to be paid like a star in Anaheim.

With the Angels, I thought Matthews Jr. played decently in very small spurts, but was stretched out as an every day player - he wasn't a player to get excited about and I probably bemoaned his existence during his time as a Halo.

While I still have at least 5-10 of his cards, I ran into him a couple of weeks ago and got him to sign a blank filler card that comes out of packs - I wasn't going to get him but I needed him for my Angels autograph collection and if nothing else, I can actually say I got his autograph in-person when I thought he wasn't particularly accommodating when he was a player.