Mike Trout All-Star Topps Now

Mike Trout is the brightest superstar in Major League Baseball, so most of his premium cards are in high demand - so I don't feel completely out of the loop as far as collecting the guy [on the team I collect], I'm looking out for any 'oddball type' cards like this one I picked up for $5 from the Topps booth at MLB All-Star Fan Fest.

A card like this one may not be autographed or serial #'d to a particular number - but Trout is the biggest baseball star in the planet and everyone wants a little piece of him, so when I can, I want to grab cards like these.

2015 Topps Throwback Kris Bryant #616

With big power numbers, Bryant has established himself as a national star and I wanted to see if I could find a 'low end' Bryant rookie card - when I saw this, I grabbed it even though I didn't know what the card was and despite the MLB RC logo, it's not a true rookie card either.

Apparently this card is a retail exclusive parallel available in 2015 Topps Update - maybe it’s a little peculiar [though nothing new] how Topps makes up these parallels in their update series that include selected cards from Series I and Series II as opposed to strictly update series cards.

I do think this card uses a better image with some throwback flair compared to Bryant's actual 2015 Topps rookie card - so it's a nice 'under the radar' add to my collection.

Featured autograph - Anthony Sullivan

I was in San Diego last Sunday to see if I could go to the Futures Game for some autographs - not much luck getting autographs of Major League Baseball's top prospects, though outside the ballpark, I was able to get Sullivan, a TV pitchman.

Newest Rookie of the Year additions

1993 Ted Williams Sam Jethroe #137 - 1950 National League Rookie of the Year

2001 Fleer Red Sox 100th Walt Dropo #31 - 1950 American League Rookie of the Year

1992 Action Packed All-Star Gallery Wally Moon #22 - 1954 National League Rookie of the Year

1994 Topps Archives 1954 Bob Grim #252 - 1954 American League Rookie of the Year

1972 Topps Earl Williams #380 - 1971 National League Rookie of the Year

2001 Upper Deck Decade 1970s Jon Matlack #96 - 1972 National League Rookie of the Year

2001 Upper Deck Decade 1970s Mike Hargrove #155 - 1974 American League Rookie of the Year

2012-13 Panini Threads Tim Duncan

As the most casual fan of professional basketball, I've gravitated towards the flashier, electric players in the NBA - I do have to give the retiring Tim Duncan his due praise because at times, I admire the pros that have gone about their business in a metronomically, consistent way while being the face of their franchise for nearly 20 seasons.

1986 Topps Kurt Sohn #100

I must have seen this card somewhere online and I wanted a copy of the card because it shows this NFL player, football in-hand glaring with his game face on - maybe Sohn was stuck on the bench, but the eye black makes it like he's ready to get involved in the action at any given moment.

Sohn played in parts of 7 NFL seasons back in the 1980s and was a wide receiver / punt and kick returner - his best year was in 1985 when he caught 39 balls for 534 yards.

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.

2016 Topps Stadium Club finds

I picked up 39 cards out of a 'small brick' of loose 2016 Topps Stadium Club at a card shop - I’m not trying to complete the set but I wanted to see if I could score a handful of the stand out base cards before touching any unopened packs or blasters.

2016 Topps Stadium Club Stephen Vogt #8
2016 Topps Stadium Club Addison Russell #9
2016 Topps Stadium Club Jose Altuve #10

2016 Topps Stadium Club Willie McCovey #18

2016 Topps Stadium Club Chris Archer #25
2016 Topps Stadium Club Dee Gordon #28
2016 Topps Stadium Club Jose Bautista #30

2016 Topps Stadium Club Whitey Ford #50
2016 Topps Stadium Club Yangervis Solarte #52
2016 Topps Stadium Club Maikel Franco #74
2016 Topps Stadium Club Tyson Ross #76
2016 Topps Stadium Club Adam Eaton #96
2016 Topps Stadium Club Eric Hosmer #97
2016 Topps Stadium Club Ichiro #102

2016 Topps Stadium Club Jake Arrieta #107
2016 Topps Stadium Club Salvador Perez #110
2016 Topps Stadium Club Matt Carpenter #111
2016 Topps Stadium Club Brian Dozier #118

2016 Topps Stadium Club Mark Teixeira #119

2016 Topps Stadium Club Mike Moustakas #120
2016 Topps Stadium Club Adam Jones #129
2016 Topps Stadium Club Gary Carter #158
2016 Topps Stadium Club Alex Rodriguez #161

2016 Topps Stadium Club Byron Buxton #184
2016 Topps Stadium Club Delino DeShields #192
2016 Topps Stadium Club Alex Gordon #203
2016 Topps Stadium Club Andre Ethier #204
2016 Topps Stadium Club Josh Hamilton #206

2016 Topps Stadium Club Jimmy Paredes #215
2016 Topps Stadium Club Nomar Garciaparra #223

2016 Topps Stadium Club Robinson Cano #233

2016 Topps Stadium Club Josh Donaldson #246
2016 Topps Stadium Club Paul Molitor #253

2016 Topps Stadium Club Joey Votto #262
2016 Topps Stadium Club John Smoltz #267
2016 Topps Stadium Club Prince Fielder #270

2016 Topps Stadium Club Martin Prado #271
2016 Topps Stadium Club Blake Snell #287

2016 Topps Stadium Club Cal Ripken Jr. #293

2016 Topps Series II four count blister

I was shopping at Target and picked up a $8 Topps blister [with four 12-cards packs and a Changing of the Guard bonus card] since Angels superstar Mike Trout was featured on top - the Trout may not be quite a big hit, but it's kind of an oddball to put away.

It might have been cool to keep the packs and the Trout 'as is,' but packaging seemed a little beat up - so I ended up tearing through the blister, busting the packs and putting the Trout in a penny sleeve / toploader.

Pack one
#625 Wil Myers
#652 Collin McHugh
#479 Marcus Stroman
#445 Robbie Ray
#451 Jose Reyes
#418 Yu Darvish
#607 Brandon Drury
#498 Steve Cishek
#550 Dallas Keuchel
#WRIG-30 Mark Prior - 100 Years at Wrigley Field insert
The Show info / code card
#534 Eduardo Nunez
#624 Tommy Milone

Pack two
#555 Franklin Gutierrez
#433 Trevor Brown
#615 Miguel Castro
#381 Bartolo Colon
#639 Rubby De La Rosa
#667 James McCann
#414 Wily Peralta
#BB2-2013 Yasiel Puig - Berger’s Best insert
Bunt info / code card
#606 Miguel Almonte
#399 Kansas City Royals team card
#536 Alex Wood
#671 Tony Cingrani

Pack three
#522 Alex Avila
#653 Chris Iannetta
#364 Keon Broxton
#636 Arodys Vizcaino
#384 Michael Morse
#528 Byron Buxton
#533 Jonathan Villar
#486 Chris Rusin - Gold parallel serial #’d 0030/2016
#BB2-1960 Carl Yastrzemski - Berger’s Best insert
#671 Tony Cingrani
#696 Lorenzo Cain
#428 Gregory Polanco

Pack four
#555 Franklin Gutierrez
#433 Trevor Brown
#600 Madison Bumgarner
#615 Miguel Castro
#381 Bartolo Colon
#639 Rubby De La Rosa
#416 Johnny Cueto
#414 Wily Peralta
#FP-4 Billy Joe Armstrong - First Pitch insert
Info / $0.50 off card
#606 Miguel Almonte
#399 Kansas City Royals team card
#536 Alex Wood

2016 Panini Diamond Kings hobby recap

I picked up a box on eBay for $65 and while I bought a few more things so I could use a $15 off $75 eBay promo code - I chose to make believe I applied the discount to this box purchase and just added on the other purchases.

I wanted to see if I could pull a vintage relic card and while it was more likely than finding something featuring Babe Ruth or Lou Gehrig - I wasn't looking forward to the reality my actual hits [two per box] being a combination of Brian Johnson, Robert Refsnyder or Richie Shaffer.

Once I got the box in-hand, I busted through the packs in about 10 minutes and spent another few hours formally listing things out - after my anticipation of busting a full hobby box, I wanted to puke.

My first hit was a dual relic of Dalton Pompey [dud] and my second hit was a Miguel Sano dual relic auto - Sano’s certified autographs are a dime a dozen at this point and I'd picked up at least a couple of random ones last year when he was having a big rookie season.

A sneaky good pull may have partially saved this break came in the form of Kirby Puckett Originals Sapphire parallel serial #’d 18/25 - looks like the past four sales of the card on eBay have been $39.99 [May 5], $39.99 [May 14], $7.00 [May 17] and $28.95 [May 24].

Pack one
#81 Jose Abreu
#105 Yoenis Cespedes
#101 Troy Tulowitzki
#37 Harry Breechen
#30 Gabby Hartnett
#MF8 Roger Maris - Memorable Feats insert
#149 Raul Mondesi
#144 Michael Conforto

Pack two
#74 George Springer
#68 Eric Hosmer
#128 Cal Ripken Jr.
#22 Tony Lazzeri
#50 Lefty O’Doul - mini
#A12 Gerrit Cole - Aficionado insert
#184 Trayce Thompson
#180 Alex Dickerson

Pack three
#63 Dallas Keuchel
#59 Bryce Harper
#124 A.J. Pollock
#120 Matt Carpenter
#13 Lou Gehrig - image variation, though not SP’d.
Dummy card
#HC8 Will Clark - Heritage Collection insert
#177 Luke Jackson
#172 Miguel Almonte

Pack four
#34 Bob Turley
#116 Prince Fielder
#112 Jorge Soler
#13 Lou Gehrig
#3 Billy Martin
#DKM-DY Dalton Pompey - DK Materials Silver Set dual relic blue serial #’d 18/25
#168 Carl Edwards Jr.
#164 Jose Peraza

Pack five
#26 Earl Averill
#17 Roberto Clemente
#108 David Price
#93 Nelson Cruz
#38 Heinie Groh - Red Framed parallel, not serial #’d?
#E11 David Ortiz - Expressionists insert
#160 Peter O’Brien
#156 Collin Rea

Pack six
#7 Honus Wagner
#97 Sonny Gray
#104 Yadier Molina
#140 Carlos Rodon
#84 Josh Donaldson
Dummy card
#DK04 Clayton Kershaw - Originals insert
#152 Richie Shaffer
#148 Ketel Marte

Pack seven
#137 James McCann
#135 Bob Gibson
#54 Adrian Gonzalez
#51 Adam Jones
#DK016 Kirby Puckett - Originals insert Sapphire parallel serial #’d 18/25
#MF10 Ted Williams - Memorable Feats insert
#143 Miguel Sano
#183 Kelby Tomlinson

Pack eight
#88 Max Scherzer
#80 Jonathan Lucroy
#47 Jim Gilliam
#42 Johnny Sain
#137 James McCann - mini
#A14 Felix Hernandez - Aficionado insert
#179 Pedro Severino
#174 Jorge Lopez

Pack nine
#73 Garrett Richards
#67 Edwin Encarnacion
#131 Mariano Rivera
#36 Dom DiMaggio
#21 Ted Williams - image variation, though not SP’d.
Dummy card
#HC10 Greg Maddux - Heritage Collection insert
#171 Gary Sanchez
#167 Max Kepler

Pack 10
#62 Clayton Kershaw
#127 George Brett
#123 Vladimir Guerrero
#29 Frankie Frisch
#21 Ted Williams
#RS-MS Miguel Sano - Rookies Signatures Silver Set serial #’d 239/299
#163 Luis Severino
#159 Robert Refsnyder

Pack 11
#40 Jim Bottomley
#33 Bob Meusel
#12 Leo Durocher
#2 Bill Dickey
#82 Jose Altuve - Blue Framed parallel serial #’d 67/99
#E13 Ozzie Smith - Expressionists insert
#155 Travis Jankowski
#151 Greg Bird

Pack 12
#25 Don Hoak
#16 Pee Wee Reese
#119 Corey Kluber
#115 Noah Syndergaard
#92 Mookie Betts
Dummy card
#DK06 Giancarlo Stanton - Originals insert
#147 Aaron Nola
#142 Corey Seager

2002 Topps Tribute Paul Waner #71

I looked for one more card to add to my stash before checking out my cards and found this shiny base card from a 15-year old high-end Topps set - Waner was the 1927 National League MVP with the Pittsburgh Pirates, becoming the first player in the team's history to be honored with the MVP award.

Assorted Angels prospects pick ups

The Major League team is mostly down with the exception of Mike Trout and the farm system is barren - perhaps there aren't a handful of 'future Angels' to latch onto before they reach the Major Leagues.

After the Angels drafted Matt Thaiss 16th overall in this year's amateur draft, I searched for some early cards of him and it looked like he had some USA baseball cards - I picked up what I assumed to be a patch card sight unseen and while I didn't know what I was getting, in-hand, this card looks pretty sweet with the noticeable patch piece and also the camo jersey material.

Jahmai Jones is an 18-year old outfielder who was the Angels' second round pick in 2015 - he was drafted out of high school, so while an 'athlete' perhaps, it may take him time to gradually climb through the minors as opposed to a guy who ends up on the fast track.

Featured autograph - Fred McGriff

I probably didn't need another certified autograph card of the longtime MLB slugger [I picked one up several years ago] - but the autograph is bold and clean on the baseball material used, so I picked it up for ownage sake.

Hopefully the baseball material for these 2015 Panini National Treasures inserts will be durable so the autograph will not fade over the time - the most infamous examples of these types of 'sweet spot' cards going bad come from 2007 Upper Deck Sweet Spot products [kind of like this example or this one], where cheap baseball material [not leather] was used.

Featured autograph - Albert Belle

I like these certified autograph cards where presumably a baseball is ripped up and the sweet spot [the area between the seams, the preferred spot for single signed baseballs] - is put together to mimic a signed baseball on a trading card.

Pacific Trading Cards may have been the first card company to incorporate a swatch of a baseball into a card - but Upper Deck was the first company to popularize this type of autograph with their Sweet Spot product in 2001.

I picked this 2001 Upper Deck Sweet Spot Signatures card of one the most fearsome big league hitters to play in 1990s - when looking at completed auctions on eBay, maybe it's a little weird to see that Belle's autographs don't really go for much.

Maybe it's hard to call Belle a typical baseball 'fan favorite' when he seemed like a mean, angry SOB as a player - but he put up numbers, hit home runs a long way and didn't take any nonsense from anyone who dared challenge him.

Belle was robbed of the 1995 American League MVP because he didn't want to deal with the media at the time - though a hip injury cut his career short in his 30s, he might have garnered stronger Hall of Fame support if he had been a little friendlier to the press.

Featured autograph - Chris Coghlan

I picked up a junk auto of the current Chicago Cubs outfielder to add to my award winners collection - the autograph is fairly clean and I like the cutesy design of these framed tobacco sized cards.

Coghlan was the 2009 National League Rookie of the Year and while his numbers have generally been an up-and-down - he has played parts of 8 MLB seasons and seems relatively viable as a semi-regular type for a contender.

2016 Topps Series II hanger box

#620 Daniel Hudson
#610 Adam Morgan
#446 Tom Murphy

#514 Michael Taylor
#638 Michael Pineda
#519 Kyle Barraclough
#676 Jarred Cosart
#525 Jurickson Profar
#432 Cameron Rupp
#411 Brian Matusz
#574 Ryan Dull
#452 Gerrit Cole
#565 Matt Den Dekker
#454 Greg Holland
#378 Jeff Mathis
#459 James Loney
#467 Giovanny Urshela

#360 Eduardo Escobar
#615 Miguel Castro
#690 Jimmy Nelson
#556 Abraham Almonte
#388 Evan Longoria
#666 J.T. Realmuto
#635 A.J. Pierzynski - Gold parallel serial #’d 1140/2016
#KID-17 Ken Griffey Jr. - A Tribute to the Kid insert
#3000-19 Ichiro - Chasing 3K insert
#BB-2-1955 Roberto Clemente - Berger’s Best insert
#HH-13 Robin Yount - Hallowed Highlights insert
#FP-13 Edward Burns - First Pitch insert
#CTG-6 Kyle Schwarber - Changing of the Guard insert
#MLBD2-12 Bill Mazeroski - MLB Debut insert
#376 Brandon Barnes
#462 Jumbo Diaz
#499 Carlos Perez

#489 Adeiny Hechavarria
#643 Elite Meet & Greet - feat. Cespedes and Wright

#657 Johnny Giavotella
#471 Kolten Wong
#681 Joe Smith
#679 Nate Jones
#362 Cory Spangenberg
#488 Colton Murray
#408 Jason Castro
#497 Devin Mesoraco
#601 Leonys Martin
#575 Ryan Strausborger
#480 Mike Foltnewicz
#521 Chris Archer
#559 Cliff Pennington
#381 Bartolo Colon
#639 Rubby De La Rosa
#416 Johnny Cueto
#364 Keon Broxton
#636 Arodys Vizcaino
#384 Michael Morse
#396 Matt Reynolds
#515 Ryan Flaherty
#430 Ariel Pena
#662 Masahiro Tanaka
#544 Jeremy Jeffress

#619 Dustin Ackley
#509 Mark Canha
#543 Carlos Rodon
Info card / 50 cents off 

#527 Jordy Mercer

#438 Paulo Orlando
#602 Keith Hessler

#398 Cleveland Indians team card
#377 Scott Kazmir
#594 Lonnie Chisenhall

#590 Anthony Gose
#545 Hector Santiago

#492 Many Healthy Returns - feat. Molina and Grichuk