Collecting outlook through 2025

Collecting baseball cards occupies a weird headspace where it ends up being a ride-or-die hobby - on the other hand I feel like cards I've taken in end up literally sitting around, piling up where I get self-conscious, yet don't do much about it most times.

I continue to think about cards, claim cards through online sales, rummage for cards in-person when I make card show trips - but any sort of pulse of the hobby has passed me by, where I might as well be on my own little island somewhere.

I've kind of wished that there was a part of the collecting scene that revolved around what I did - but that never was the case at all and I'm just plodding along, peeking on everyone else doing their thing online.

I’m too far deep into it through at least parts of the past four decades to pull out or pull back just a little for a reset - I feel like all my interests have been spelled out to an extent somewhere, where it shouldn't be the case where I feel down and out, but I really need those occasional reminders why certain things animate me.

It's not really all doom and gloom here and maybe it shouldn't be - there are at least a few things I would to be doing or thinking about going forward, where a part of me is emotionally invested.

1.) Making home brewed sets - from my all-time Top 100s to my so-called curated sets teasing various themes [mini-collections, stadium cards, uniform cards, Angels, etc], there is something about turning random bulk cards into something that I can sort of personalize.

I'm planning to make it where being pickier [all-time Top 100s] and doing more of roundups of themed bulk cards [curated sets] - end up being what I try to work on, in order to keep me sane.

2.) Mini-collections purge - maybe this ends up being a big deal for me, where I've been content to build up my various themed collections as part of a monolithic archive.

The inability to gather up what I've hoarded over the past three years to list and put away has left me in this perpetual bind - it might not be a solution at all, but the plan is to refer to my mini-collection cards as more of a feeder collection towards my home brewed sets.

This ultimately means seeing where I can break down a substantial number of undocumented bulk cards, to turn into Top 100 fuel for my all-time sets or using them to make themed curated sets - maybe it has never made sense to seek out all these bulk themed cards, without really looking to make them part of my own set to display and/or talk about.

One of my goals is to be able to list such cards out again in a spreadsheet - where I have a list to look at and occasionally check in case I might be picking up dupes.

3.) Decade / binder stars material - this is my catch-all collection and I have a tally of the subjects I have most cards of separated mostly by decade debuts.

I can't stop picking up odds and ends for one or more players as binder material - at some point I might need to get the actual cards in pages to update my player binders.

An idea in mind was to list out all the cards I had for 10-15 subjects - where it might be a thing to have something like 500 cards in-hand for any one particular subject.

4.) Regional collections - I'm not a team collector where I'm scoping out all the cards for one team, but having one team I do collect in general just makes sense.

I don't know if I have ever bothered to rein in my Angels collections - but for 2025, it might mean making a curated set out of random team cards, trying to keep up with my regional binder stars and updating loose card projects [Opening Day starters, all-time autograph collection, all-time register and frankenset].

5.) Loose card projects - maybe much of what I'm doing is considered 'loose card projects,' but I think I need to keep up with or revive ones that end up being neglected.

Maybe I need to keep tabs on my Hall of Fame collections, milestone numbers collections and award winners collections - where I can tally up new additions and see where updated numbers.

6.) A-Z singles - it's been a long time since I thought about maintaining this collection where maybe the idea was have a temporary collection of cards that might be keepers, but not at the same level as my personal collection cards.

As is, what I may end up doing is turning my A-Z singles collections into sort of my loose card PCs - where I am able to round up a number of miscellaneous cards that might be misfits at the moment.

7.) Personal collection cards - I don't know if I've maintained an update in recent years, but may end up doing so, just so PC cards do not get lost in the shuffle.

Teasing some low end finds from a show

At the recent card show date I was at, I stumbled upon a seller who had quarter bins set out from a bigger card show I went to over the summer - I had to stop digging around then, since I didn’t have loose dollar bills in-hand to pay for smaller, rinky-dink purchases.

I remembering leaving a copy of a 1991 Topps Archives The Ultimate 1953 Set Eleanor Engle #332 - a card I could have instantly made a keeper for curiosity sake, where it pictured a woman who once signed a pro contract in baseball.

Go figure I did find a copy of the Engle card somewhere, so I wasn't about to look for now - though the seller had some newer, current year material this time around, thumbing through the junk wax era material time forgot ends up being an exercise in futility.

As is, finding a 1992 Allan Kaye's Sports Cards News Magazine Multi-Sport Jim Abbott #23 oddball was an excuse - to see if I could find enough cards to make at least a $5.00 purchase.

Maybe it's about trying to fill idle time while at a card show, but despite the relative quality of any particular box or price point - I'll be digging and digging, where after finding that one card, it's like a challenge to put together a 'lil keeper stack.

1990 Eclipse Stars of the Negro Leagues Oliver Marcelle #17 - it may not be a comprehensive thing that really gets off the ground, but I might be looking to build a loose card project dedicated to Negro League players.

1990 Eclipse Stars of the Negro Leagues Sammy Hughes #35 - I'll pat myself on the back for making a couple of oddball box set cards dedicated to the Negro Leagues keepers.

1995-96 Skybox Premium Dell Curry #12 - x2; Michael Jordan (in Background)

I don't know what compelled me to move over to the other sport portion of the quarter boxes put out - but it paid off when I found a copy of this card.

Regardless of value and the idea I could go into eBay or other online source to pick up one lousy copy - this became one of those scratch the itch cards in recent years.

I ended up finding one more copy and made both keepers since I could not believe I found it like I did - it's fun when a card in my memory banks somewhere as a 'want' could be found just sitting in some quarter box at a card show.

1993-94 Topps Stadium Club Frequent Flyers Dan Majerle #353 - Michael Jordan (in Background)

This find wasn't on the same level as finding the Curry - but it was also a card I was aware of where Jordan makes a cameo.

I do not not want the countless basic Michael Jordan cards printed over the decades - I just want the ones where he is making cameos on other players' cards.

1992 Allan Kaye's Sports Cards News Magazine Multi-Sport Fred McGriff #54 - I made this a keeper since this was the other star baseball player card I found from the same oddball set as the Abbott.

1988 Donruss Baseball's Best Jose Canseco #22 - as it was once intended to capitalize on collector's interests, I find myself gravitating towards cards from junk wax era releases that ended up being a little different than your flagship Topps, Donruss, Fleer, Score and eventually Upper Deck products.

1993 Cartwrights Magazine Aces Kirby Puckett #10 - if I can find them in the wild, I maybe more open to making oddballs like this one keepers, to supplant the other cards of players in my decade / binder stars collections.

Some online rummages - the deeper cuts

Maybe I have not dwelled too much on doing a round up for a bigger order of cards that comes from online purchase - but it's kind of a thought exercise and maybe I don't get the same joy if I do not pore over my assorted claims.

2007 Upper Deck 1989 Reprints Roy Campanella #89UD-RC - I'll make keepers of cards I find loose in the wild since there is lingering sentiment over the 1989 Upper Deck set design.

2003 Topps Postseason Highlights Gold Troy Glaus #721 - Serial #’d 1128/2003 - Angels Top 100 fuel; now I might need the regular card to pair this with.

1998 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr's Hot List Roger Clemens #17 - I wanted this card at some point, actually picked up a copy but that might be MIA or counted in my cheat sheet leaderboards for my decade / binder stars collections.

1998 Topps Jeff Montgomery #184 - not as showy as his 1995 Topps Stadium Club card #266, where he is posed in front of a fire truck, the one-time closer from the 1990s is posed with a fire extinguisher.

1998 Topps Jim Edmonds #75 - I have the Minted in Cooperstown version in my Angels all-time Top 100 cheap-azz keepers collection, so I figured I'd pair it with the base card, even though the Minted in Cooperstown is really separate set and not a parallel.

1989 Score Paul Gibson (Hand on Crotch in Background) #595 - x2 - I made claims on a couple of copies posted and I actually got both cards; I found the MIA copy I once lost years ago and put in one of my all-time Top 100 cheap-azz keepers collection, but the copy I got from a last year [from the same seller go figure] might still be bundled with an MIA purchase I have not sorted further.

1998 Fleer Tradition Golden Memories Hideki Irabu #316 - this was a freebie claim, but ends up being subset rather than a real insert; it's hard to think not to dwell on the idea that Irabu was a sore disappointment, but he was a human interest story as well, where he might not have gotten resolution in his life.

2023 Topps Finest Flashbacks Finest Phenoms Masataka Yoshida #55 - I grabbed this rookie year card, where it teases a retro design.

1996 Upper Deck Juan Guzman #474 - I don't know whether I had a copy of this card, but claimed it because it's a big glove card.

1998 Fleer Tradition '63 Vintage '63 Jay Buhner #54 - a game face Buhner with a wad in his cheeks looks a little dejected as he throws his batting gloves to someone; maybe he just ended an inning like he struck out.

1998 Upper Deck Jamey Wright #82 - Pitchers hitting

1998 Upper Deck Armando Reynoso #167 - I'm not sure whether this goes into my men at work collection, where the pitcher working on laying down a bunt or in my pitchers hitting collection; this would not count as a bunt card since it's not a game action card.

2003 Topps Chrome Scott Spiezio #407 - I might be looking to make the random Angels card keepers, where maybe I want to come up with enough cards for certain guys to make a page for or to use as needed for a regional loose card project.

2005 Topps Total Adrian Gonzalez #249 - Stadium card

2023 Choice Portland Sea Dogs Niko Kavadas Card #14 - he made his MLB debut a day after I claimed this minor league team set card.

1998 Upper Deck Todd Worrell #113 - I'm not sure what to do with a card like this where Lee Smith makes a cameo; the two may have been junk wax era contemporaries, they might have been teammates at one point.

Smith is the one eventually inducted in the Hall of Fame so maybe it's a bonus baby card - even if it could be a star-on-star cameo card.

1988 Mother's Cookies Oakland Athletics Stadium Giveaway Matt Young #21 of 28 - he is a lefty, but he is having fun with a righthander's glove, posted in a fielding position.

1996 Fleer Jim Edmonds #46 - the random Angels bulk card for my player collection.

2003 Topps Bazooka Bobby Kielty #137 - Hats-off; National anthem

2003 Upper Deck MVP Mike Lieberthal #304 - Retro uniform

2003 Upper Deck Victory Bobby Abreu #68 - Retro uniform

2012 Topps Adron Chambers RC #90 - this has a cut on the surface

1998 Fleer Tradition Jay Bell #121 - a fun card where it looks like he is pictured with presumably his son.

1998 Fleer Tradition Kevin Brown #27 - the same image was used for his 1998 Fleer Tradition '63 Vintage '63 insert; this looks like the uncropped, horizontal image of Brown sliding headfirst into a base.

1998 Fleer Tradition Jay Buhner #68 - the same image was used for his 1998 Fleer Tradition '63 Vintage '63 insert.

1999 Pacific Crown Collection Orlando Palmeiro #8 - a dependable, fourth outfielder type from the mid 1990s through the early 2000s, I want to be able to add a card of his to an Angels all-time Top 100 cheap-azz keepers collection.

1998 Fleer Tradition Alan Benes #141 - Pitchers hitting

1999 Pacific Crown Collection Norberto Martin #6 - needed a card of Martin for my Angels Opening Day starters collection.

1998 Fleer Tradition '63 Vintage '63 Jason Dickson #1 - Pitchers hitting

1976 SSPC Brian Downing #141 - this is an 'old school '70s cool' card of a player who would eventually be a consistent bat for the Angels through the 1980s.

1981 TCMA The 1960's Billy Martin (Black Back; No MLB logo) #1981-364 - just an old-timey looking card from a retro, tribute set from the early 1980s.

1999 Topps Stadium Club Bruce Smith #89 - this might be UV era bulk fodder from a long time ago, but I grabbed this NFL card because of the great action shot of Smith taking quarterback Steve Young to the ground.

2021 Super Products Pieces of the Past George Washington #3 - I may bite on cards of no-context non-sport subjects on a whim.

Angels Opening Day starters - 2023 edition

I finally put together my cards for the 2023 season, which started three weeks ago - originally I was going to use non-Angels cards of Brandon Drury [first base] and Hunter Renfroe [right field] to fill out the lineup for now.

However, I bought a 2023 Topps Big League Angels team set on eBay for basically another copy of the Logan O'Hoppe Uncommon rookie card - but also with Drury and Renfroe's first Angels [Photoshopped] cards.

The only non-Angel card straggler for now ends up being shortstop Gio Urshela - I'm not going to worry about finding an Angels card for him until I can pull it or find it at some point within the year.

Angels all-time team register collection

Team collecting like I've seen others do it [trying to collect card-by-card, set by set, year by year] is not quite a thing for me where I only care so much to really want to track everything and anything - but that doesn't mean I have local team interests where I'd like to play up cards featuring my home team Angels.

These non-Angel cards do not quite fit within the team related umbrella - but will likely be added into my all-time team register collection as guys who end up having these obscure stints with the team as bit players before moving on.

My team register collection is basically one more way for me to do something with loose cards that come my way and see how many different subjects I can add up - maybe completion isn't a realistic goal, but it might be good enough where I can add assorted cards of different players and see where I have 200-300 different subjects.

Maybe I'm spreading my interests too thin where this overlaps with my Angels all-time autograph collection - but maybe my all-time register is more of a side project.

Matt Duffy [2022] seems to have devolved from upstart big leaguer at the beginning of his career into basically being a replacement player - it probably will be the case where if I end up with an Angels Duffy card [he does have at least one in 2022 Topps Update], the non-Angels card gets bumped off somewhere else.

Austin Romine [2022] has bounced around in the big leagues, but like Duffy, ends up being a veteran who will still have cards made as long as they are in the big leagues and part of the MLBPA - however I don't think his three game stint with the Angels this past year will be immortalized on cardboard.

Elliot Soto [2020] ends up being the most obscure of the three, where he is more of a longtime infielder in the minors - who was basically rewarded with a big league call up during the 2020 pandemic season.

While Soto has some draft pick cards with the Chicago [Cubs] from 2011 - it was like a reward to do a random search off a seller's ebay store and find a team set card of his I made a keeper for a dollar.

The Angels, In Order Jim Abbotts

He shuttered his blog a while ago, but Tom, at The Angels, In Order blog made a couple of recent posts to give away cards - I was able to snag some of the unfamiliar Abbott cards, notably the Classic branded issues including the 1989 rookie year card picturing a heralded, but unproven Abbott wearing No. 60 in spring training.

I like the mid 1990s cards [1996 Circa x2 and 1996 Fleer] - even though that time really symbolized the end of Abbott's run as an viable big league pitcher.

Angels Opening Day starters - better late than never

I put together my cards for the 2022 season, which started three weeks ago - it may not mean much in the grand scheme of things, but a loose card project I can complete for at least the current year gives me something to dwell on for a moment, especially with a home team focus.

I think I was actually missing a Mike Trout [center field] and a Matt Duffy [second base] so I didn't fill out my page until recently - it's not like I'm short on Trout cards, though I might have done a 'sweep' to put some loose ones away and then found one squirreled away randomly from a card show pick up last summer.

Since he already has an Angels card, I was hoping Tyler Wade would have been the Opening Day starter at second base - I had to figure out where my stash of Duffy cards was and found them in a baggie that was for some loose Chicago Cubs cards in 2021.

Due to necessity, there are the 'rare' instances where I've used a non-Angels card to fill out a page for a particular year - in this case, it's dupe of a 2016 Donruss San Francisco [Giants] card of Duffy.

Presumably for the more recent, active players, I'll be able to find an Angels card made at some point - where I'll 'upgrade' with the Angels card.

Something I had a little fun with was setting aside a couple of cards for Shohei Ohtani - where he was the Opening Day starter for the Angels as well as the designated hitter.

COMC mail #2 - Angels material

The 30-35 cards I picked up through 2021 came in one bubble mailer where they were sleeved and packed into a team bag, sandwiched between two cards in top loaders - then packed into a larger, team set bag.

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.

A look back into a 2021 collecting goal

With all my card interests, it can be easy to spend a couple of weeks focused on one thing, then on a whim, just drop what I'm working on - to dwell on something else in the meantime, while the previous thing is put on hold.

Like everyone else it seems, I have a yearly set of collecting goals, but maybe it gets too long winded to fully break down on a blog - I feel like a goof when I don't catch up to any of them and so maybe it is easier to keep them offline.

The least I could really do is fish out one or maybe a couple things to recap from the last calendar year - maybe the more intricate the goals I've set, the harder it is to keep track of and figure out whether it fits into one of the following classifications. 

Passing grade - an achievement. 

I’ll take the results - did not meet a numerical goal, but came close to the spirit of achievement.

No grade - something incomplete, unfinished but not quite a failure.

Work in progress - something to be followed up on but perhaps didn’t quite focus hard enough on. 

Fail  / rejigger / L - a combination of one or all of the three means I missed my mark otherwise and I may have think about what may change as far as a goal. 

A pro tip for myself would really try to keep things simplified - where even if I've listed goals that aren't as ambitious, they are realistic and I'm not wondering why I even put them out.  

As it goes, one of the things that I jot down is to refine my Angels collection - I don't know if I'll ever be a traditional team collector, where I'm dutifully collecting every single card, but if nothing else, I want to build on the idea that there is a focus on a home team as far as what I collect.

There maybe different 'bullet points' as far as my regional focus goes - one of my goals was seeing if I could get the last 20-30 years of Angels Opening Day teams in plastic pages to display in a binder. 

I gave myself a passing grade where I actually I put 40 years [1981-2021] worth of cards in pages where I worked on this regional loose card project for a little bit - while I'm still missing stragglers, I felt like I could go ahead with displaying what I had so far, especially with a lure of seeing what the project looks like when completed.

Through 2022, this specific goal stays intact, where I hunt down cards I may still need for the pages I've made - as well as seeing where I can get a good number of cards to justify making more pages for another run of years [1980 and before]. 

1990 Palm Springs Angels set pick up

I picked up a minor league team set featuring Angels all-time great Tim Salmon - besides any harder to find inserts / parallels from the late 1990s that may command a premium regardless of player type, there are more common 25-30 year old 'scratch the itch' cards of Salmon I want to pick up.

For nostalgia I still cling onto parts of the 1990s and where there might have been uncertainty as far finding some future stars to build on early in the decade - Salmon was that first Angels prospect to break out as a big league star

More contemporary Angels pick-ups

At times there is no rhyme or reason for picking up random Angels cards because frankly the idea of being a team collector seems overwhelming - I'm not ever going to be hyper focused trying to keep track of all the releases [past, present and future] and working around [trades, purchases, etc] to see if I can have ownership of a perpetual number of team sets.

As is, I do consider the Angels my team and one of my ideals is to have that one big league team to focus on - where it's fun to have new team related cards to go through, even if they don't go towards team sets other collectors may boast about completing at some point.

The lone Mike Trout is 2019 Bowman Sterling Continuity insert #BS-20 - I like to imagine the card is a harder to find pull, but it's a $2 card at best.

I mentioned picking up the trio of quarter century old Garret Anderson cards last year - they are probably binder material that helps make collection of 'GA' cards pop.

I picked up a couple of random Topps On-Demand issues featuring pitcher Griffin Canning and infielder David Fletcher - while they might not be outright stars, each gives a couple of current 'second tier' Angels players to collect.

There was some uncertainty about the health of Canning's arm during spring training - but the righty seemed good to go for much of the shortened 2020 season and was awarded a Gold Glove at his position.

Fletcher has established himself as this generation's David Eckstein as a runty looking guy - who can play all over the diamond and can be a spark plug at the plate or on the bases.

I picked up a Shohei Ohtani is a 2019 Donruss Action All-Stars insert / Pink Fireworks parallel No. AA4 because it pops nicely without costing much - though it may get confusing describing what these alternate versions of non-base set cards are supposed to be.

Finally I picked up a 2020 Finest Flashback Anthony Rendon #58 - I might only have 2-3 Angels cards of the third baseman and maybe they mean a bit more at the moment.

While the original 1993 Topps Finest was never a thing in my collecting universe - after the fact, it's nice to travel back in time to see a re-imagined version of the first Topps Finest cards, featuring current players.

Featured autograph - Bo Jackson

This card caught my eye because it actually pictures Jackson as an Angel and I’ve wanted a Jackson autograph for my all-time Angels collection - I got a reluctant Jackson to scribble on a golf tournament program 10 years ago, but the booklet with celebrity participant bios and sponsors was a throw away item for me, meant to be lost somewhere.

I’d probably have to make the autograph a cut, then send it to PSA/DNA to be slabbed - so it would be harder to fit into my collection of all-time Angels autographs outright, with my collection mostly being trading cards.

FWIW, I don’t know if a trading card booklet would fit into my all-time Angels autograph collection either - but it is still otherwise a card I can add to my regional PC as well, even though a Bo Jackson Angels booklet card seems simply odd in general.

I remember 'Bo' being a two-sport superstar, who was probably as popular was Michael Jordan in the short period of time when he was playing for the Kansas City Royals in baseball and the Los Angeles Raiders in football - but of course his professional career as a baseball / football player was derailed by a hip injury suffered during an NFL game.

Jackson was simply a shell of himself by the time he spent one final season in Major League Baseball, playing for the Angels - still, with the help of eBay Bucks that came in handy, the decision was made to splurge on this pick up.

2018 Topps Now Shohei Ohtani Topps MLB Rookie All-Star team #RC-7 and #RC-7J

I went ahead to see if I could pick up the Topps Now Shohei Ohtani cards I'd missed out on [these two cards and his Topps Now Rookie All-Star team card] - between the end of the season up through when he was honored as the American League Rookie of the Year a couple of weeks ago.

I’m still looking to build on my Ohtani Topps Now run through his rookie year but have held off picking up any one particular pack pulled card - the pitcher is out until 2020 and whenever Ohtani comes back in 2019, he'll be literally half a player at DH.

A couple of newish Shohei Ohtani finds

2018 Topps Heritage High Numbers 1969 Collector Cards Shohei Ohtani #69CC-SO [$4.99 BIN plus $1.00 s/h] - I've tried not to worry about the glut of Ohtani rookie year cards because it's just hard to really keep up, but this was a cutesy looking retail exclusive insert.

I've still spent money on random card things, but felt like I’ve bought less retail blasters - it maybe the case where I don’t get a chance to get this card at all unless I get it outright.

I may have paid a premium for this card, but maybe it evens out with how much it costs to have it shipped to me - that sounds stupid when I realize the card will probably be in a PWE, but it is what it is and I don’t mind as long as the card arrives safely.

2018 Topps Now Shohei Ohtani / Juan Soto AL / NL Rookies of the Month #824 [$4.95 BIN] - the final regular season Ohtani card through his rookie year, though there maybe a card for when he wins the American League Rookie of the Year award.

I’ve kept up with just about every Topps Now Ohtani card released through his rookie season - a caveat is that no autographs or parallels perhaps, but those weren't realistic pickups for me.

Maybe the cards will be nice to go back through - especially if Ohtani is still is on that dual pitcher / hitter track.

Because it won’t be his rookie year anymore, I don’t think the plan is to get all the Topps Now Ohtani cards in 2019 - though I’ll keep an eye out for any ‘interesting’ ones.

2018 Topps Now Jose Briceno #780

With another so-so season for the Angels, my emotional investment tends to meander towards apathy, even though I've still kept up for the occasional Shohei Ohtani / Mike Trout highlight - I picked up this card because it features a more rank-and-file rookie, someone who [for now] might not have that many big league cards out.

I liked the picture in particular though Briceno is sort of obscured with a butt shot - there are several random cameos on the card, with the most obvious and notable being Ohtani.

2018 Topps Now Shohei Ohtani 650 & 650J

I saw there was Ohtani Topps Now cards offered for his latest feats, but only after I’d paid for a couple of 15% off promo purchases.

I don’t know how much I’ve really thought about adding any Ohtani’s packed pulled cards - but look to at least complete a rookie season's worth of Topps Now cards.

Ohtani has been a pretty good slugging rookie DH, though it remains to be seen whether he will pitch again this year - despite things ramping up as far getting ready for a comeback on the mound.

The combination of home runs and pitching makes Ohtani the intriguing Rookie of the Year candidate - but Ohtani hasn’t pitched and as a hitter, he’s been a platoon DH with some growing pains against left handers.

Team success matters less perhaps as far as Rookie of the Year consideration, but Miguel Andujar has played every day and piled up the counting numbers as a hitter for a contender - it wouldn't surprise me if Ohtani does win the American League Rookie of the Year, but Andujar maybe my non-homer choice.

I saved a screenshot of my favorite thing someone had to say about Ohtani all the way back in April - no truer words have been typed out.

Featured autographs - a pair of one-time Halos

I haven't done any in-person graphing at a MLB ballpark in years, so I miss out on the miscellaneous rank-and-file guys I'd probably need for my Angels all-time autograph collection - as is, other options to get any number of player autographs are just an eBay search away.

Picking up certified autographs doesn't really give me the same sense of satisfaction as getting my own card(s) inked up in-person - but when IP is simply impractical, at least I have the means to keep up with what I'm trying to do as far as getting as many different players autographs who played on 'my team.'

I bought a couple of Angels certified autograph cards and I can imagine Topps probably contracted these two players to sign a 'bunch' of cards each - no offense to anyone in particular, but as far as players listed on a checklist, these maybe the worst guys to pull off any particular pack or box break from a 2018 Topps product.

2018 Topps Gypsy Queen Parker Bridwell Rookie Black & White auto serial #'d to 50 GQA-PB [$2.10 plus $2.66 s/h] - as first-year MLB pitchers occasionally do, Bridwell had a decent rookie season in 2017, but then he didn't really fit into the Angels' plans entering the 2018 season.

He was sent to AAA to start the year - but arm problems derailed Bridwell's chances of making good on his rookie year.

2018 Topps Allen & Ginter Troy Scribner Framed Mini auto #MA-TS [$0.99 plus $3.50 s/h] - from the bits and pieces I've read, Scribner really fought his way to make it to the majors, so there is a good back story to his professional career.

However, after making his MLB debut with the Angels in 2017, Scribner couldn't stick with the team past spring training - the Arizona Diamondbacks picked him up in April, released and then re-signed him in July.

Featured autograph - Vladimir Guerrero

At the end of July, I wanted to see if there were any Topps Now cards I was interested in and saw that Guerrero had autographs listed on the Topps Web site - not that I’ve been tempted before, but by the time I usually see see anything autographed offered, the listings are marked out of stock or the prices are a bit too extravagant to begin with.

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.

2018 Topps Now Shohei Ohtani/Ian Kinsler #423

When the pitching half of Ohtani was shut down I thought his run of Topps Now cards was done for the year - there might have been closure as far as keeping up with the chase.

However, Ohtani has had some hitting highlights chronicled [1st pinch hit HR and 1st multi-HR game] - as well as this dual card with Ian Kinsler [since traded to the Boston Red Sox].

Ohtani needs to get back on the mound to continue the two-way 'Sho' but being in the Angels lineup on a regular basis has shown the athleticism and elite power that makes for a potential superstar - is there any conceivable way where he gets 500 at-bats in a season to see if he can hit 35-40 home runs?

I haven't gone out and chased many of Ohtani's pack-pulled cards, but I've continued to pick up his Topps Now cards - at least through his rookie year.

Featured autograph - Jo Adell

I picked up this certified first-year autograph of Adell, who is tearing things up with Inland Empire in the California League - he hasn't walked much, but the ball is flying off his bat [through 141 at-bats, he is slugging .638] and he might be the next hyped up super prospect in pro ball.

I was probably only vaguely interested in Mike Trout cards early in his minor league career and when he kind of broke out through the 2010 season - I was thinking I'd get his first-year autographs cards when the hype levels off.

I've been burned by throwing some money into a few prospects in the late 2000s - but it never dawned on me that I needed to jump on Trout's key cards besides some random prospect / insert cards I was probably looking to get signed in-person.

Because of Trout, there is a fear of missing out [FOMO] on certain prospects, even though Trout is a once in a generation talent - I'm going to need a lot of luck hoping a guy like Adell is even half the player Trout is for the Angels.

Adell's best mainstream first-year card is the super short printed 2017 Bowman Draft autograph - this particular card may not be Adell's best auto, even within the 2017 Bowman's Best product, but it is a card I hope to build upon in my regional collection.