2023 Topps Series 1 hit - James Outman auto

Go figure, I finally get lured by a mass email to finally buy something through Larry Fritsch Cards, which was a hobby box of 2023 Topps - maybe I was worried about not getting their print catalogs again, but I know I'm still on their mailing list and browsing through the actual catalog goes over my head real fast.

While flagship Topps is pretty basic, there is a curiosity to see what the new cards are about for the current year - maybe blasters are $25 now, so to change things up, a lone hobby box [rather 3-4 blasters for the year perhaps] might have been a viable purchase for now.

Admittedly, there is no tradition where I bust a personal box of anything each year, though there might be a curiosity to be able to do so - especially a hobby version of flagship Topps, where I'm hoping on that slim chance to pull something nicer, something unexpected.

Bracing myself for some one color relic action of a minor star or rank and file guy, I was glad my hit was an autograph - Outman is unfamiliar to me, but coming up through the rich Los Angeles Dodgers farm system, he has put up numbers and might be a serviceable big leaguer for the next 5-10 years.

My card was apparently the black parallel of the 1988 Topps Baseball autographs inserts - my copy was serial #'d 099/199.

Featured autograph - Matt Moore

I picked this up because he was just signed by the Angels and figure a cheap certified autograph would be an easy add to my all-time autograph collection - I don’t remember whether I got him in-person during his young hotshot years as a starting pitcher Tampa Bay Rays.

Maybe it's better to have a random certified autograph to file away than to dig for an autograph I might not have at all - I looked up my memory banks and in 2012, it looks like I was able to get him in-person on an 8x10 print after being denied the previous day because he was tagging along with Evan Longoria.

TTM autographs received: Todd Zeile

I got a response from a request I sent to the former big at the end of October 2022 - I wasn't sure if he really signed TTM [maybe he was locked up with an autograph middleman or promoter], but took a chance of sending since he had a 1990 Leaf I wanted inked up.

Zeile was a hot prospect for a moment in the middle of the junk wax era, but never really ascended to that perennial all-star performer level - he ended up a being a perfectly competent player who bounced around different teams in the middle of his career, where you can plug and play him on a short term basis.

TTM autographs received: Ross Baumgarten

The former big league lefty signed my cards in about three weeks - for most part, it doesn't matter as long as I get a card inked up, but it is noticeable in-hand where sometimes an autograph signed on a card [1981 Donruss] ends up kind of bleeding into the darker or more cluttered image used.

Maybe the card was signed as it was, where there were no obvious blemishes or smears - but it just doesn't stand out.

Panini redemption mail result from 2014

I had a bubble mailer dropped off in front of the door and since I haven't bought anything lately, I figured it had to be a redemption - why was the package dropped off where it was, instead of inside the mail box?

Inside was an 2021 Panini Prizm Rookie Autograph Silver Prizm Isaac Paredes Auto No.RA.AP - there was a preprinted note saying the card was a replacement for a redemption that could not be fulfilled.

My first guess was this was for a Garrett Crochet auto redemption from last year, which I didn't see listed under open/closed ticket status, when I reset my password to log into Panini’s Web site - I couldn't see whether it was for that redemption, though the Paredes was from a different Panini brand.

I wondered if it was for a 2013 Donruss Elite Extra Edition Brian Navarreto auto redemption from this blaster break - I scanned through some e-mails and last year, there was something from Panini that said any lower end redemptions still open entered through 2017 would basically be closed and there would be something of equal value sent out.

On the bubble mailer, there was a sticker label actually covering the ticket number and go figure, I was able to match it with my Navarreto redemption listed in my account on the Panini Web site - it only took 10 years to finally get something back, but I don't have to wonder whatever happened to the $2 autograph card I was promised.

The April 2022 trade that sent Paredes from the Detroit [Tigers] to the Tampa Bay [Rays] for Austin Meadows was panned, but Meadows just had a lost season with various ailments - Paredes only hit .205 last year, but his ability to walk and hit for pop made him a useful player with a 114 OPS +.

TTM autographs received: Paul Wilson

The former pitcher signed my cards in about three weeks, including a 2004 Upper Deck Team USA 25th Anniversary - I've made it a micro-mini mission to get scattered cards from the set signed for the past 20 years.

Wilson was once a top pitching prospect for the New York Mets in the mid 1990s [Generation K, along with Bill Pulsipher and Jason Isringhausen] - I'm not sure if I remember having any of Wilson's cards and/or really being aware of the hype as part of the next big thing in Major League Baseball, but I know he was pictured in at least a couple baseball boxes [1996 Bowman and 1996 Fleer Update].

TTM autograph received: Ted Bowsfield

I found this vintage Topps card off a card show rummage and checked if the one-time expansion Los Angeles Angel was still able to sign TTM - I sent it off and got a response in a couple of weeks.

TTM autographs received: Bobby Richardson

The former New York Yankees second baseman signed my cards in 10 days - I found a 1961 Nu-Card Scoops card off a card show rummage and thought it might great to send out, though I assume it's a reprint.

I found some other cards and sent it off, though I kept thinking I had a card I was sitting on at first - maybe it was a card of Tony Kubek instead, but after I'd mailed off my request, found that one other Richardson card- which I didn't realize was a 1993 Upper Deck B.A.T. Triple-Folders, folded so it could fit a penny sleeve.

Latest The Angels, In Order goodies

I got a PWE in the mail from The Angels, In Order's latest trade giveaway post - after claiming free cards from the last two occasions, I need to dig around to send something back for Tom.

I collect primarily baseball, but just to be on these no-context side missions, I might free myself to pick up odder non-sport cards that end up falling into my lap - while this card didn't catch my eye immediately, it is a topical card every January when Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday comes around.

This card was unfamiliar enough to put a claim on despite the subject pictured - Vizquel was probably headed to Cooperstown as an already polarizing candidate, whose reputation as a fan favorite and defensive whiz at shortstop far exceeded any objective fielding or hitting numbers.

However, Vizquel's personal problems and other mishaps of his own doing - have likely torpedoed any serious opportunities to sneak into the Hall of Fame.

Like the King claim, this kind of represents a card that is something a little different besides the pictures of ballplayers I collect - Bieber is millenial pop star from the past 15 years that ends up being an unwilling paparazzi magnet.

An odd-size [mini], I claimed this to remind myself how much Torii Hunter was a personal fan favorite as an Angel - I don't think he gets any sort of serious Hall of Fame consideration, but maybe I can see where I end up favoring his career over Andruw Jones [who might not end up a Hall of Famer in reality, but has gotten support for the way he played center field in his prime].

I may have been scrolling from the last sheet on the bottom to the top and might have not claimed this Reggie card - if I hadn't punted on a couple of other cards I'd picked out at first.

I claimed this card thinking it was another broken bat shot I can add to my mini-collections - however it turns out I have the card, so it could be a centerpiece card to a random Murray page if I get enough other cards together.

Unfortunately, this rookie year card of Mike Mussina didn't make it through transit for some reason - the same could be said for the cards below, but while the two others [Fred McGriff and Tom Seaver] end up 'bent,' the Mussina got bent and got creased.

For now, I've placed the McGriff and the Seaver in a semi-rigid plastic holder - to see if I straighten the cards out [or not].

This Seaver is a little odd where it looks like he is trying to hit some fungos - it's close enough where I'll add it to my pitchers hitting mini-collection.

TTM autographs received: Joe Redfield

I was able to round up some cards and get the one-time big leaguer to sign in about a couple of months - maybe I saw a success posted with Redfield on an autograph forum and by chance, looked him up.

I saw he had made his big league debut with the 1988 California Angels - that spanned all of two hitless at-bats and 1 game.

Maybe as a pro baseball player, he was strictly a 4A guy - but put up some decent numbers in the minors and as a reward, got a cup of coffee for two big league teams.

Making myself at home at the card show

I was digging through a sellers discount box trying to figure out how many cards I'm going to stack in my keeper pile and maybe the seller's grandson was annoyed - "are you going to buy any of those cards?"

While it's kind of a do-or-die decision for me to come up with the cards I'm picking up - maybe I've been a little idle at the seller's table and I'm probably going to seem a little off, standing directly infront of a bored teenager [behind the table] for about 30-40 minutes.

It probably didn't help the teen didn't know any better and his grandfather was telling him about random people who might show interest in certain cards and kick the tires for a little bit - only to disappear for good.

In the end, I found my 'sweet spot' of finds - that end up not being worth more than what I paid in most cases, but fun to go through after the fact.

The shiny cards from the UV era of the mid 1990s onward tend to be nice to look at in-hand - but a chore to get a good picture of.

A hard to photograph, but shinyManny Ramirez insert - Manny ends up being an 'iffy' guy for me, where do I wonder about continuing to pick up his stray cards?

I think Manny was a force despite all his misgivings as a big league superstar and if a card is remotely interesting and/or 'pops' in a certain way - I may just have to make them keepers.

The rest of the best including some old-school rookies [Darryl Strawberry, Johnny Damon and Kerry Wood], a Team USA and a relic bat card of Nomar Garciaparra - along with a 1993 Topps Finest Tim Salmon, which isn't really a rookie or a rookie year card, but was in a first-year product during Salmon's rookie year.

TTM autographs received: Kevin McReynolds

This is my first success of 2023, though the request was mailed out in last month - I realized McReynolds had both a 1984 Donruss and a 1990 Leaf, but sat on sending out a request for the longest time because I had to go out and grab those two set cards first.

I tried picking up a 1990 Leaf McReynolds several years ago, but I ended up being shipped a miscut copy, so that was a waste of time - I had found an early 1980s minor league team issue in a card show dollar boxes of doom, but wasn't going to send the card out [McReynolds charges a $5 fee to sign] without the two priorities.

At the end of 2022, I just made it a mission where I picked up the two set cards I needed, put a request together with the cool minor league card and finally sent off a request - even though I might have other loose McReynolds cards [from the junk wax era], I figure I have the cards I really want signed out of the way.

TTM autographs received: Al Oliver

This return is probably my success of 2022 just because I wasn't sure if it would make it back to me - after sending out a request last August, I kept waiting and wondering what had happened to my cards and the $20 I sent.

Because Oliver was a fee guy, I thought I would get a quicker response - but it wasn't until the end of December until I finally got my cards inked up.

Maybe it was kind of ironic that this was part of the mail held at the post office while I was out of the country - but it wasn't bundled with the other pieces of mail I got, but a straggler that might have been found a day or so later.

Dime Boxes 11th anniversary giveaway results

Through the end of December, I was on a posting hiatus due to traveling outside the country through Christmas - I'm acutely aware there may not be anyone hanging on when there is a new post here and honestly, I might be having some self-existential doubts about card blogging going forward.

If nothing else however, I look to end 2022 with a post featuring what I claimed from the Dime Boxes blog - where I want to go through some cards one-by-one as a way of appreciating what I received.

This Sparky Anderson Detroit Tigers oddball is a larger than a regular sized card, but was too fun to ignore - where the Hall of Fame manager is chatting up a young fan.

I was going to mention how I didn't really like odd-sized cards that are either too big or too small - but go figure I claimed one card that is a little larger and one card that is a little smaller than a regular sized card.

I'm not sure what drew me into this card, except it's vintage and it's fun to see where the batter is not wearing batting gloves - while imagining him ready to take a big whack at the ball during some early 1970s game action.

I claimed this retro card because it looks like a fun looking insert inspired by a vintage oddball issue - sometimes I want cards that are just a little different.

I couldn't imagine claiming every single card I saw, but this shiny Mike Trout was certainly a keeper - this card ends up really popping in-hand.

For all the cards posted, this oddball was kind of a no brainer as well - I don't know how many Mark McGwire cards show him trying to barrel his way past a catcher in some play at the plate collision action.

I get my Matt Duffy Angels card for my Angels all-time team register collection - this Vintage Stock parallel ends up being a little more fancy than a regular base card.

I really liked this boxed set oddball card of a Hall of Famer who'd spend the twilight of his big league career with the Angels - it's the most random, irrelevant card, but just something a little different than the usual Topps, Donruss, Fleer or Score flagship issues from the junk wax era.

Like the Anderson at the top of the post, this oddball was too fun to ignore where the vintage slugger appears with a child - this could be a centerpiece page card, where Killebrew appears on a card for a cause, rather than the countless issues where it's basically the typical baseball card.

I ended up claiming a Hunter Greene rookie parallel card for fun, just because despite an up-and-down season for the first year big leaguer - he really showed promise, striking out 164 batters in just 125 2/3 innings pitched.

I claimed this card to add some old-school flavor to my stack - maybe I like the 'lil color match action going on with the red borders and the red showing from Simmons' uniform to his cap.

I guess like this card for a number of reasons, where there is some dirt fetish going on as Rickey looks to have a moment to gather himself - it's also a hats-off card and really looking closely, Rickey has a chain of some sort hanging from his neck.

Besides the cards I claimed, there was also a small stack of Angels added - maybe featuring a couple of guys I'd rather forget [Josh Hamilton and Zack Cozart], a couple guys I haven't thought in about 10 years [Torii Hunter and Jered Weaver] and a young guy like like Reid Detmers who still looks to get better with more big league experience.

These three were added as well, which ends up a little 'no context' in my book - but there is always room to add cards of legends in my collection.

A little change of pace at the card show

I stumbled upon a little different table where it was a woman selling ephemera rather than cards - set up next to the seller I'd just bought some cards from, it looks like they were friends and/or good acquaintances.

I was looking through the cheaper dollar baseball themed postcards, team issued photo cards, et al - even at the lowest end, maybe I wasn't finding much, where I don’t collect any of this I’m looking through, but I’ll humor myself with this cutesy stuff.

Maybe some of this stuff is old-school or vintage - but still feel like they are mass produced and already used where it's not worth much.

I'm not sure if it's how postcard sellers do things, but seeing prices marked in pencil on the back are kind of peculiar - it would not prevent me from picking something up I liked, but kind of a turn off.

I was going through another misc baseball themed box - there were scattered First Day Covers, but they are literally envelopes and I'm not familiar with them as perhaps a dated sports collectible.

I didn't want anything newer skewing towards the 1990s onwared, but than found a Reggie Jackson FDC from 1984 for $4 - I don't think I was looking for this, but it wasn't unreasonable to consider.

While I wonder about dealing with odd-sized baseball card items, I found some loose I found some old MSA oddball discs - featuring Thurman Munson, Johnny Bench, Tom Seaver and a Willie Stargell for $2 each.

The seller was showing me a full box panel where the cards came from - though it seemed the cards on the box seemed smaller than the ones I was considering as keepers.

I ended up spending $12 for what I picked out - after the fact two of the discs were marked lightly on the back, but they were still OK purchases, even if they don't end up unlocking something that takes me to a different place with the odds and ends I find.

More, The Angels, In Order goodies

I really didn't pay attention but wanted this 1990s UV-era insert - at first glance, I thought this Jose Canseco was an Ivan Rodriguez card.

This was a card from the same insert set as the Canseco - in my book, Belle and Canseco fall into the 'iffy' guys pile, but they were 'fun' players I was aware of and squirrel their loose cards like I would prominent stars from the eras they played in.

Maybe Randle was strictly rank-and-file as a big leaguer, but was considered a personality - who marched to the beat of his own drummer.

Ramirez was a superstar big league talent - who like Randle, marched to the beat of his own drummer.

This Fred McGriff insert card came from when Upper Deck was high brow and modern - after 30 years later, maybe inserts like this still feel kind of classy.

I like the dirt showing on this common parallel of a player who I thought was going to be a star for years - but through the 1990s, never really ended up being more than a rank-and-file guy.

This maybe my favorite out of the cards I received just because it's not something I'm looking for, but had to make a keeper - where it's a broken bat shot of a longtime star, who might originally known for as a Seattle Mariner or in his slugging prime, a New York Yankee.

I don't want to say I want to collect Angels card-per-card, but it's kind of a reward to find them out in the wild - especially if look odder than your normal base cards.

I like the dirt showing on this common from a set I never, ever had exposure to in the first place - for the decades I've collected, I don't think I've ever busted a single pack of Topps Finest.

Knoblauch had won a World Series ring a couple of years before this card was printed and starred for the Minnesota Twins through the mid 1990s - maybe he would have been a one-team legend if he'd stayed with the Twins, but chose to move on to the New York Yankees and was never quite the same player.