What I've tried to in 2016 - loose card projects

In addition to what I've started in previous years, I've tried to tend to the loose card projects that have sprouted up in 2016 - maybe these were the fun little, card related projects I could work on without having to worry about any apparent value.

However, that lack of a value component may have made me feel like something wasn't quite there - as far as chasing any number of miscellaneous cards down.

Collecting topics / mini-collections - I wanted to make this my centerpiece card project in 2016, but when it's all about having to scrutinize all sorts of cards, it kind of just mushroomed into busy work for me as opposed to being able taking the time to enjoy the actual cards under whatever mini-collection I listed them.

I'd like to put away any cards I have into their permanent storage boxes as opposed to letting cards sit in what has become semi-permanent storage spots - I'm probably looking for that one or two mini-collection to store in a binder, so I can go through the cards.

Award winners - I'm not worried about this project at all, though it would be nice to have this finished up through the current year.

Angels frankenset - I started this in 2015, but seemed to put the project on hold in 2016, so I'm still looking to finish my first run [1-500] of cards.

Angels Opening Day set - I started this in 2016 and looking to fill holes to complete more years.

Hall of Famers - I impulsively started this project in 2016, though I may quietly put on hold or on hiatus, until I get a chance to add to the collection randomly.

Milestone numbers [500 home runs/3000 hits/300 wins] - I'm going to see what I can add, but it really is just base cards and/or a basic insert.

1978-present Topps run - this may have been the project where I said, 'this really isn't going anywhere.'

I want to pick things up 'organically' as opposed to having a checklist and seeking out cards I want for this project - this project is kind of out of sight, out of mind, though I'll probably come back to it at some undetermined point.

Angels frankenset - random adds

I haven't forgotten about the frankenset I started last year, though I've been content to let it sit otherwise - I wanted to pick up cards for the project, so I went rummaging around to conjure up this assortment of cards.

1971 Topps Steve Kealey #43 - I actually had this card listed as #443, so I made a mistake in thinking I needed this card to fill that number.
1986 Leaf Don Sutton #236

1971 Topps Clyde Wright #240
1990 Bowman Mark Langston #284
1985 Fleer Gary Pettis #308
1993 Topps Stadium Club Chuck Crim #327
1995 Leaf Lee Smith #346

1992 Topps Bert Blyleven #375 - Gold parallel
1994 Pinnacle Jim Edmonds #394 - Museum Collection parallel
2001 Topps Archives Bill Buckner #398
1994 Bowman Jim Edmonds #423
1992 Bowman Lee Stevens #427
1994 Pinnacle Chili Davis #458

1972 Topps Rickey Clark #462

1988 Fleer Glossy Gary Lucas #495 - I didn't need to showcase a junk wax common from all the way back in 1988, but it's the glossy version.

Featured autograph - Jim Abbott

Picking up this certified autograph card for about $13 gave me a reason to ‘buy into’ a 2015 Topps Archives Signature Series without paying at least $45-$55 for a pack - I needed a 1992 Topps All-Star subset #406 card of Abbott for my Angels frankenset and while Abbott has probably has made his share of appearances, I haven’t made it to any of them.

Because it is for a project, I've broken the Topps Archives Signature seal and free the card from the one-touch holder - besides being autographed, certified and stamped as a card from a 2015 product, the other wrinkle is the buyback card used is the Gold Winners parallel.

1992 Score Kirk McCaskill #79

For whatever reason, I picked up a 1992 Score complete set for $6 and found this card to add to my frankenset - ideally, for the particular card number, the card I planned to pick up was a 1987 Fleer Chuck Finley rookie, though I figured to make use of the card (s) I end up with rather than being too picky.

The Angels, In Order mail call

I want to say thank you to Tom at The Angels, In Order blog for a 16-card 'boost' to my frankenset - maybe the project has actually slowed down as I figure out where I'm at, so it's nice to knock out some of the miscellaneous cards I didn't want try too hard to seek out at the moment.

196 1972 Topps Mel Queen

238 2003 Topps Heritage Orlando Palmeiro

304 1985 Fleer Tommy John
316 1985 Fleer Mike Witt
376 1970 Topps Lefty Phillips

378 2009 Upper Deck O-Pee-Chee Brian Fuentes

399 1993 Leaf Luis Polonia 
419 1972 Topps Jim Spencer 
424 1979 Topps Angels team card 
449 1974 Topps Tommy McCraw
459 1976 Topps Jim Brewer 
461 2009 Topps Mike Scioscia
465 1985 Topps Bobby Grich 

466 1982 Fleer Jesse Jefferson 

494 2009 Topps Gary Matthews 
500 1988 Fleer Donnie Moore 

Two other cards were not actually frankenset needs - I'll find a spot for them though.

1995 Score Chili Davis #14
1976 Topps Ed Figueroa #27 - I had a 1976 Topps Figueroa card marked as a 'need,' but looking through my wantlist, the card I needed was a 1975 Topps.

Miscellaneous Angels frankenset finds

223 1995 Donruss Jim Edmonds - Press Proof parallel; not individually numbered but apparently among the '1st 2000 Printed.'

#244 2005 Donruss Zenith Rod Carew - Museum Collection parallel; even though it's not a refractor, I liked how this card shimmered, so I figured why not pick it up for a dollar and change.

310 1995 Score Platinum Team Set Garret Anderson - I grabbed the Anderson because I hadn't really seen the card before and I like how it pops.

347 2005 Donruss Champions Darin Erstad - Red Impressions parallel serial #'d to 250

386 2001 Topps Chrome Troy Percival - Retrofractor parallel; the front of the card has a refractor finish while the back of the card has a grayback finish.

433 2015 Topps Heritage Jered Weaver - short print

450 1992 Leaf Chuck Finley - Black Gold parallel; I've had my share of Finley cards from the junk wax era though I went ahead and grabbed this parallel.

460 2010 Topps Bobby Abreu - short print

2001 Donruss Elite Bengie Molina #119

I was looking up cards for my frankenset and this die-cut Aspirations parallel caught my eye - Molina wasn't quite a franchise star, but he was a homegrown catcher who established himself as an every day player and was part of the Angels 2002 World Series champion team.

1990 Leaf Mark Eichhorn #472

It's all ancient history but 1990 Leaf was a high end set and while early 1990's collectors / speculators who opened a lot of this product at some point may not have cared - just getting my hands on a random common or two probably would have been a big deal when I only came across the usual Topps, Donruss, Fleer, Score and Upper Deck.

I remember Eichhorn as mainly a 'junk wax guy' who had a sidearm delivery, but I wasn't aware of his great rookie season until I read this Baseball Think Factory thread - Eichhorn is mentioned in posts #57-#59 as part of a discussion whether or not a reliever can do enough to merit serious consideration for the MVP.

Pitching for the Toronto Blue Jays, Eichhorn outpaced other rookies with a 7.0 WAR - he finished third in the 1986 American League Rookie of the Year race behind Jose Canseco and Wally Joyner.

2015 Topps Archives Kole Calhoun #158

In addition to a 2012 Topps Update Gold parallel [#US157] I already had, this was the second card of Calhoun I was able to add to my frankenset - he's not quite a star, but as an overachieving ginger, Calhoun is a fan favorite among the non-Mike Trout category of current Angels players.

Though Calhoun plays in a different era and for a different organization - he's kind of like Rusty Greer lite.

2004 Sports Illustrated for Kids Vladimir Guerrero #408

Several weeks into my Angels frankenset project I didn't know if I was going to find this oddball card - but a listing showed up online, I placed a bid and waited it out.

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.

Switching cards around in my frankenset

If I already had a card for a particular number in my Angels frankenset, I wasn't going to seek out a new card that I'd have to pick up, but there are random exceptions - I added a 2015 Topps Stadium Club Huston Street [card #4] for my project since the image used of the Angels closer coming into the dugout getting a fist bump from manager Mike Scioscia wasn't typical for a baseball card.

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.

A trio of Albert Pujols cards

I picked up a 2015 Topps Stadium Club [card #170] and a 2014 Donruss Diamond Kings subset [card #205] for my Angels frankenset - the 2014 Panini Donruss The Elite Series insert was a random pick up.

Pujols had his season resurgence in June, hit 26 home runs by the All-Star break and starred in the Home Run Derby - as September comes however, it looks like he and the Angels are gassed.

The Angels have faded out of playoff contention and any last month resurgence from Pujols - may merely bump up his final numbers a little bit.

Despite having an opportunity to hit nearly 40 home runs [not sure if he is going to get there at this point] - it looks like Pujols about to set a career low in batting average, on-base percentage and his ability to hit doubles has been sapped.

Teammate Mike Trout has struggled in the month of August, but there is more confidence in the 24-year old bouncing back - with six years left on Pujols' contract after this season, I'm afraid what you see is what you are going to get from the aged slugger.

1967 Topps Minnie Rojas #104

I picked this card up to add a vintage element to my Angels frankenset - Rojas pitched for the Angels for three seasons before arm problems cut short his career.

Rojas was apparently part Angels lore as he was paralyzed in a car accident, which killed his two daughters - however, it wasn't until he already left the team did the accident happen and at least his part in the long time franchise curse may have been debunked.

Rojas died in 2002 at the age of 63.

2008 Upper Deck Timeline Nick Adenhart #321

I busted a couple of 2008 Upper Deck Timeline some time ago and it didn't look like I had the Adenhart among the partial set of cards I'd put together - so for my Angels frankenset, I picked up this card picturing the one-time Angel who was among three people killed by a drunk driver in 2009.

I like how the card design mimics the 1993 Upper Deck SP Premier Prospects subset - I was looking at images of the Adenhart online and thought the card scanned too dark until I realized the card was designed to highlight the player's image with a muted background.

It's a shiny card which is appealing - though it's not exactly refractor shiny where the image pops off the card like a firecracker.

2009 Topps Updates and Highlights Nolan Ryan #UH232

I picked up this nearly seven-year old base card variation for $3 and change - the image of the Hall of Famer looks like it might have been originally black and white, then colorized on Photoshop to make it stand out on a trading card.

J.T. Snow finds for the frankenset

1995 Pinnacle Museum Collection #215 - like the Eduardo Perez card from this post, the image caught my eye and I had to add this particular card.

Regardless of what the Rawlings Gold Glove meant 20 years ago and what it means now [with regards to advanced metrics] - Snow was a six-time winner of the award and had a great reputation as a defender at first base.

1996 Topps Finest Refractor #B144 - the card is a shiny add.

Fritsch One Year Winners Angels

Card #143 in the 1979 One Year Winners set, Botz appeared in 35 games for the 1962 Angels and pitched 63 innings as a reliever.

I was vaguely aware of these cards [apparently consisting of three series released in 1977, 1979 and 1983] featuring players who seemed to have the most obscure MLB careers - the players might have appeared in one MLB game or only had a brief run as major leaguers before circumstances otherwise cut their careers short.

Sets are not hard to find though there might be a little premium placed on singles - I jumped on the Angels ones I can find to add a little oddball flair to my Angels frankenset.

Card #34 in the 1979 One Year Winners set - Rubio played in parts of two seasons [1966-67] with the Angels, appearing in 10 games.

Card #39 in the 1979 One Year Winners set - Hibbs played in only three MLB games and had three at-bats, striking out in two of them.

Card #72 in the 1983 One Year Winners set - Stubing appeared in only 5 MLB games and struck out in 4 of his 5 at-bats.

For what it's worth Stubing is the only guy among the five whose autograph I actually have - he shows up in the 1989 Topps set because of his 1988 managerial cameo with the Angels which went 0-8.

Card #109 in the 1983 One Year Winners set - Sprout appeared in only one MLB game back in 1961, Sprout pitched 4 innings, allowing 2 earned runs.

2013 Topps Albert Pujols #350 variation

This Out of Bounds Pujols card was in a random bubble mailer after I picked it up several years ago - a card like the Pujols can be added as a showcase piece in my Angels frankenset, since unlike other team collectors, I really have no set collection of Angels cards I'm chasing down.

1974 Topps Nolan Ryan #20

This card represents my first 'big purchase' as far as my Angels frankenset goes - besides hunting down loose cards already in my collection, the fun part of building up a collection is getting picky and trying to find particular cards that seem interesting or relevant.

A caveat is admittedly not being an expert on the nuances of old school / vintage cards - it's one thing to find off-condition, well worn cards as 'cardboard relics,' but there are cards tampered with [trimmed, re-colored, et al] that I may end up picking up along the way.

1994 UD Collector's Choice Gold Signature Eduardo Perez #228

I picked up this parallel for my Angels frankenset because of the nice action shot of the one-time Halo snatching what looks to be a hard hit line drive - despite eventually playing in parts of 13 seasons in the big leagues, Eduardo [the son of Hall of Famer Tony Perez] never did develop into an every day player with the Angels back in the mid 1990's before moving on.