My 'under the radar' blog featuring my baseball card collecting endeavors and hopefully some of my autographs collected in-person / through-the-mail.
Tuesday, February 25, 2025
A couple of random pick ups
Saturday, December 16, 2023
More small things at the card show
Maybe my favorite card is the 1986 Donruss Rookies Jose Canseco #22 - it was a card I remember a childhood friend possessing and seeing regularly [along with an autographed 1989 Upper Deck Dante Bichette rookie] whenever I would visit his house.
I really wanted to take a better picture of this 2000 Topps Finest Moments 3000 Hits Tony Gwynn #FM3, where it's hard to see on the first image - but it's usually hard to take photo ops of shinier, chromium cards, so what you see is what you get.Tuesday, October 24, 2023
Some better than a blaster keepers?
I ended up at a seller's table with a three row, 3000 count box - but only a couple of partially filled rows of $10 cards / three for $25 or $5 cards / five for $20.
I started to rummage through the one lousy box, while the Big Boss Man at the table [and a worker] looked like they were doing some bigger wheeling and dealing with other collectors trying to buy or flip some cards - his value boxes were the least of his concern, where here I am trying to rummage and see what I can stack for $25 or less.
I ended up finding a 1967 Topps checklist #361 and made it a keeper because it's kind of a Roberto Clemente card as well - I do not really think this card is like having an actual one of the player, but I'll make an exception where I'll treat it more as a unique oddball that has the player's image. To the naked eye, the card looks fairly clean with relatively bold, vintage colors - I realize some are harder to find [maybe not this one] because they might be marked or not cared for as much.I grabbed a 1962 Topps Eddie Mathews #30 because it was a relatively clean card of a Hall of Fame slugger who blasted 512 home runs - I think my friend is still wondering where the baseball he sent Eddie Mathews went back when Mathews was still alive and signed TTM for a fee, 25 years ago.
Maybe it was a bigger deal to chase LaMelo's cards a few years ago where even his low end stuff was worth a little something - while he and his brother Lonzo has lived up to the scrutiny they had as part of the Ball brothers trio from high school to the pros, LaMelo only played 36 games last year.
Lonzo hasn't even gotten on the court the past couple of years - where his pro basketball career has been in limbo, despite being only 25.
Thursday, August 10, 2023
Looking for some PWE cheap thrills
The cards I picked up [for $3 shipped] might just be the least important out of things I've bought lately - but gives me seemingly an easy task to talk about or to show off as proof of life goes.
I thought this was a real 2001 Bowman Heritage Miguel Cabrera peeking out from a seller's sale picture - I figured it wasn't a rookie card, but maybe early career prospect cards of eventual big league greats have some novelty where it's a cool find.Go figure, the seller asked me if I was still OK claiming the card since it was actually a reprint - it might have been $0.50 or a dollar, so I just went with it since I didn't want to seem like I just had no idea what I was looking at. A shiny foil card of Shohei Ohtani is never a bad thing to make a keeper out of - the Panini issue from a couple of years ago might be unlicensed by MLB, but he might be changing teams in the off-season, where that 'Los Angeles' on the card could mean the Angels or the Dodgers. I like Vladimir Guerrero [Sr.] as much as the other guy and he actually played for my home team, so it's more natural for me to gravitate towards any of his cards with lingering nostalgia - this shiny card is from his Montreal Expos days is a loud one and and before he played for the Angels, I used to follow him a little bit because he was a fun player to watch.I'm not sure I like how Fleer / Skybox mirrored Guerrero's image on the front with a reversed image on the back of the card - but maybe that just adds some fun to a card that is nearly 25 years old.Wednesday, May 10, 2023
Card show pickups - miscellaneous finds
I found a 2001 Leaf Rookies & Stars Dress For Success Darin Erstad bat / jersey #DFS-23 to hang onto - so maybe it was on as far as finding other odds and ends to build on.
The Vlad is a numbered Angels card, so while $2 might have been too much - it was another no-brainer keeper for me as well.
I could have been content to pick out three others cards and spend $10 where the quality wasn't particularly unique, but I relented to splurge - trying to make a game out of scrutinizing my probable keepers and cards I can put back.
Some 'junk autos' I flagged for fun and games - a rookie year Adam Eaton pack pulled auto doesn't mean much in 2023, but I guess he was a solid MLB player.Even though it's an Arizona Diamondbacks card, it gives me an autograph to add to my Angels all-time autograph collection - without have to try and dig up cards I might have gotten signed in-person.
Jose DeLeon and Christian Arroyo might have been promising prospects at some point - but I never got an opportunity for either player to sign for me when they were coming up the minor leagues.
DeLeon came up with the Los Angeles Dodgers, but maybe injuries derailed his big league career - where he has bounced around the pro ranks as a journeyman pitcher.
Arroyo might have been a future star for the San Francisco Giants, until he wasn't in their long-term plans - he bounced around for a little bit, but has stuck in the major leagues as a rank-and-file utility guy of sorts.
I thought Richie Shaffer would be a player who would reasonably have a longer MLB career, but he lasted for only parts of two big league seasons - I picked up his card, because it's after hitting his first MLB home run, where he is playfully ignored by his teammates.
This last quartet ends up giving my stack some breadth as far as legendary players go - the Tom Seaver game card was 'scratched' but I like the fold out inserts and adds some vintage kitch to my pile.I thought I found a nice Clemente insert from 15-20 years ago, that might be harder to find - but it's from a more recent Topps Pristine release.
I grabbed a parallel #'d to 99 of Roger Clemens and a #'d insert of Mark McGwire from the late 1990s - despite their sketchy PED histories, there is still is some lingering sentiment over their playing careers as a whole.
Sunday, August 14, 2022
Card show pickups - Vladimir Guerrero
Thursday, July 07, 2022
Featured autograph - Rhys Hoskins
Thursday, January 13, 2022
COMC mail #2 - Angels material
I usually do not worry about their packaging regardless of service - they do a pretty good job packing things up.
Go figure, Mike Trout, Tim Salmon, Vladimir Guerrero and Shohei Ohtani are on my Mt. Rushmore of Angels players I collect - I'm not really into odd sized cards like the ones modeled after tobacco cards, but I grabbed the itty-bitty Trout just to have something different in-hand.The 1993 Donruss Dominators Salmon has been a curiosity though I must have been aware of the card only through the past 5-10 years, not when it was first issued - searching for different, random things down the COMC maze, I looked up the Salmon and figured I'd finally grab it for $5 and change.
Maybe odd sized non-card items are even less of a thing for me, but I found a seller with an oddball Vladimir Guerrero coin / medallion - it gimmicky, but the shine was undeniable where this item [picturing the elder Guerrero as an Angel] should be a no brainer pick up at less than a dollar.
With the Shohei Ohtani's, I tried to pick up some decent looking inserts / parallels regardless of value - where it's strictly $1 or $2 'fun and games' material rather than something higher brow other collectors are chasing after.
I believe in Jo Adell can still be a star for the franchise - it's a matter of when his prospect pedigree and natural talent translate into a breakout season he can build upon.The 2020 Bowman's Best Franchise 2020 Die-Cuts Adell is too shiny, too funky to ignore - I'll take it all day for about a dollar.
I may have grabbed the 2021 Topps Stadium Club Adell RC because it is an 'awesome outfield' card - but it never hurts when it also pictures a young player for my 'home team' with star potential.
The Andres Galarraga is an on card autograph though it identifies him as a Colorado [Rockies] player - I had a few opportunities to get his autograph during his last years as a player but this packed pulled autograph gives me something I can file away in my Angels all-time autograph collection outright.
Finally I grabbed a photo variation of Anthony Rendon - besides the guys that have that modern day pro athlete personality, I can appreciate the low-key, metronomic types like Rendon, who I hope bounces back from an injury shortened 2021 season.
Sunday, June 14, 2020
1998 Topps Focal Point Vladimir Guerrero #FP14
I realize this isn't any sort of rare late 1990s insert, but I’m focused more about the aesthetics - compared to simply being a UV coated glossy card, the surface might have a matte, textured finish that I anticipate being able to feel in time, hopefully sooner than never.
Maybe the cards don’t have that late 1990s insert ‘pop’ to them but to Topps' credit, they look pretty classy - while the typical Topps insert tended to be a little more juvenile, like they were designed to grab the attention of younger collectors [go figure], these cards look a little more understated.
Sunday, December 01, 2019
Catching up with Topps image variations
Besides what I might pull, I don't think I've actively collected the various Topps image variations released over the years - I can't keep up with the flood of gimmicky cards that might be harder to find [not always the case] and may cost a premium [not always the case].
As it goes, unless super short printed and/or featuring hot players like Mike Trout or Ronald Acuña Jr. - the cards have gotten fairly common, so there might be an opportunity to grab a run of the unique image cards featuring Hall of Famers or retired stars to add to my own mini-collection subsets or my decade stars binders.
2019 Topps SP Greats variation Will Clark #428 - maybe this was peak 1980s Clark, getting fired up after recording an out with the base runner [Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith] out of luck.2019 Topps SSP Greats variation Vladimir Guerrero #675 - this feels like such a pure image of presumably an early-career Guerrero inking it up.
Tuesday, April 30, 2019
2019 Topps Now Vladimir Guerrero Jr. #137
Compared to the Vladimir Guerrero [Sr.] universally noted in professional baseball as a guy who can hit them wherever it was literally pitched - the already jumbo sized Vlad Jr. is supposed to be a better slugging talent at the same stage of their MLB careers, so the hype has been through the roof.
Admittedly, I hesitated on pulling the trigger to get my one lousy copy when eBay sellers had them up for pre-sale [usually for around $5, though in mass quantities, they may get them for roughly a couple of bucks each] - I waited until the next day's set of Topps Now cards came out until browsing around to see if the listed prices had spiked just a bit and whether I can order one.
The print run for the Vlad Jr. cards was 19,396 [which is the most for any Topps Now card] and the game dated, on-demand cards just doesn’t have the same appeal as pack pulled cards - maybe as an extension of the love for Vlad Sr. however, I'll see about trying to collect his son in here and there, even if prices for his key cards are just not within my budget.
Tuesday, August 21, 2018
Featured autograph - Vladimir Guerrero
I had to put an order for a copy of this card, because it was still available and it pictured a universally loved [if not universally collected] player - who was the centerpiece player for the Angels for much of the 2000s.
The card arrived in about three weeks, inside a BCW magnetic with Topps seal - I’ll probably leave the card in the holder as is, as opposed to breaking the seal and trying to move the card into a newer magnetic.
I want to say I was worried about the autograph quality but the autograph looks fairly clean on the card - up close, there maybe points where the stroke was light, but that is how it is with the Lumocolor pens I assume Topps used.
Tuesday, January 23, 2018
Comments about a fictional HOF ballot
Likely going in
Chipper Jones - judging from of his tweets, this guy is literally a no-brainer as far as a guy going into the Hall of Fame, but he was the golden boy prospect who became a good ol' boy for the Atlanta Braves for years.
Besides being a franchise legend, there is also a little 'fame' involved when he embraced the idea of playing in New York and being jeered by opposing teammates in the biggest city - there was a sense that he played for the moment, besides just being some bumpkin.
Jim Thome - I wouldn't give him credit for a 'clean' slugger who played in the steroid era, but the fact is that he has no such PED taint and he gets credit for a guy who wouldn't look out of place as an old-timey slugger from the 1950s-1960s.Vladimir Guerrero - I loved him for years as an Angel with his ability to see ball, crush ball wherever it was pitched, he is 'my guy' as far as the guys who will probably be inducted.
Trevor Hoffman - because of the debate about the merits of a closer for the Hall of Fame, there is some doubt for every guy looking to get in Cooperstown as a short reliever.
Hoffman has been a guy who has snuck up as far as guy going in, but I could see where he just did his job for years where it's just enough - though he wasn't simply a one franchise guy, he probably gets credit for being with the San Diego Padres all of the years he was with the team.
Six others I'm dwelling on - all have some sort of PED taint and while I don't like the idea of the Steroid Era as an unsavory time for players doing all sorts of things to get over, all I can do is suspect whether a player did something, as opposed to penalize any number of them outright.
Barry Bonds - I loved the show he put on late in his career and obviously a no doubter if he wasn't the face of the PED taint; he was a perpetual a-hole, but at least it wasn't like he was trying to put on a public face; he had a certain arrogance, a certain confidence that made him more of a fascinating figure.
Roger Clemens - he was as much of an a-hole as Bonds was and maybe it's partly due to the rage but he was a little more accommodating to the media, so I still don't think he was as villified; the only thing odd is his late career surges in his late 30s through early 40s should be more suspect as a 'gotcha' if the everyone and their mother was doing it with Bonds' late career power surges.
Manny Ramirez - he's the guy who failed multiple tests and the writers didn't like the 'Manny being Manny' antics in the first place, but he was a great hitter that I'd probably pick him over Larry Walker though the experts would say Walker had the ability to be a 5-tool player [could hit for average, hit for power, field run, throw] while Ramirez was just kind of self-centered tool. Gary Sheffield - he probably doesn't get the support because he wasn't afraid to speak his mind, but I'd probably pick him over Edgar Martinez; last I checked Sheffield has more than 200 home runs on 'Gar' and while the experts would probably throw the 'bad fielder' juju on Sheffield, at least he took the field over a guy who collected the bulk of his numbers as a DH.Sammy Sosa - no pity parties for Sosa here, but after Bonds and Clemens are inducted, maybe there is some consideration for Sosa; from raw athlete to city icon to pariah, Sosa has come full circle but there doesn't seem to be any let up, any thaw for a guy who slugged 609 home runs and was once the toast of baseball.
My notable omissions would be Edgar Martinez, Larry Walker, Curt Schilling, Mike Mussina and maybe Billy Wagner - at some point, Schilling is going into the HOF on his on field accomplishments, but bless his heart, I have no problem making him wait for as long as he will have to.
Saturday, September 05, 2015
2004 Sports Illustrated for Kids Vladimir Guerrero #408
It may have been an overpay but I thought I was glad to win the auction - an alternative may have been looking for the back issue where this card [as part of a nine-card sheet] was inserted.
However, I finally got the card in-hand and all I can say was that it's barely a card - I'm not unfamiliar with the SI for Kids magazine inserts from the last 20-25 years, but it's a long time since I've had one in-hand and I didn't realize how thin the cardstock was.
All my Angels frankenset cards are stored in a penny sleeve and then boxed up - I inserted a dummy filler card with the Guerrero card, so it doesn't feel so flimsy all by itself.
Thursday, September 03, 2015
Switching cards around in my frankenset
The card that the Street replaced was a 2005 Donruss Studio Stars Vladimir Guerrero insert [card #S-4] - while the clear cut Guerrero card is unique, it is otherwise bumped back down into the random collection of Angels inserts I'm trying to put together.
Another 2015 Topps Stadium Club I had to get into my frankenset was C.J. Wilson's [card #163] - the picture used is a candid image of Wilson going around Angel Stadium celebrating with fans after the Angels won the American League West in 2014. The card that the Wilson replaced was a 2011 Topps Lineage Jered Weaver Diamond Anniversary parallel [card #163] - the Weaver is shinier but the picture is pretty boring, so it shares the same fate as the Guerrero card.
Wednesday, September 04, 2013
Farewell Vladdy Daddy - a tribute to a great, imperfect ballplayer
He put up fantastic numbers that makes him a legitimate Hall of Fame candidate - his accomplishments speak for themselves and I want to describe Guerrero as 100 percent ballplayer, zero percent BS like Bill James once noted about Don Mattingly.
Still there maybe there were issues left to be desired even with a great ballplayer like Guerrero - the Vlad for public consumption as a Major Leaguer seemed a little self-absorbed in his own world, where perhaps he was more laid back and loose when he came back home to the Dominican Republic.
Guerrero supposedly didn't want to speak English and the language barrier prevented Vlad from being a guy that can step in front of the camera and say some things without an interpreter - as an autograph collector, I found him cold and oblivious when approached unless he was at some paid public appearance.
He wouldn't normally sign autographs unless you were a two-bit autograph dealer paying off his driver at the ballpark - whether or not he signed autographs shouldn't matter, but if a guy isn't approachable under normal circumstances, it's kind of weird cheering him on or collecting his cards.
Did I mention he was a bit older than originally listed, has fathered at least 8 kids and played in the Steroid Era - who knows what he could have been taking, but to his credit, at no period of time has his numbers ever been scrutinized to be suspect.
Monday, March 04, 2013
Fairfield blister recap from Target
I was bored and thought what I needed was another shot of 100 assorted cards to flip through for $3.99 - even though I've opened enough of these big box store repacks to realize most of the cards will probably be redundant junk wax garbage and maybe a waste of time.
Blister window #1
2005 Donruss Studio Stars Vladimir Guerrero #S-4
1987 Fleer Update Jim Sundberg #U-114
1990 Fleer Ken Hill #251
Blister window #2
1990 Leaf Edgar Martinez #299
1992 Bowman Greg Vaughn #496
1987 Topps Terry Forster #652