Random Cards From My Collection #26

Card #25532
2011 Topps Opening Day #34 Jair Jurrens

Card #8779
2002 Topps Traded #31 Mike Timlin

Mike was part of the trade that brought Scott Rolen from the Phillies to the Cardinals on July 2002. He was 3-3 for the Phillies the reminder of the year.

Card #9691
2000 Upper Deck KG #1

This is an interesting card. It looks like a 2000 Upper Deck Victory card but it's numbered KG1. In 2000 Upper Deck Victory had a large subset dedicated to Griffey, but the cards here horizontal and didn't look like the rest of the cards. Beckett.com does not list this card. I got it in a repack a few years ago. Does anybody have any ideas?

Card #20626
1992 Fleer #540 Terry Mulholland

Card #18887
2007 Topps Turkey Red #100 Gary Sheffield

I think everybody liked Turkey Red.

Card #26882
1996 Topps #262 Tom Glavine

Glavine will be eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2013. With 305 wins and 2 Cy Young awards, he should get in the first year.

Card #29010
2009 Topps Wal Mart Black Border #56 Edwin Encarnacion

Remember the stir these cards caused in 2009?

Card #18490
2010 Topps Allen & Ginter Mini World's Biggest #7

The World's Biggest Castle!

Card #23930
2001 Bowman #82 Moises Alou

He hit .331 for the Astros in 2001.

Card #1628
2001 Topps Fusion #220 Tim Salmon

2001 Topps Fusion. I really liked that set.

2012 Topps Gypsy Queen Hobby Box

OK, this will probably be my last Gypsy Queen post. I got my hobby box a week or so ago. Between the blaster, the rack pack and the hobby box I'm pleased with the overall selection of cards. By the way I count, there are 31 different cards in the set (counting the base, the base parallels, the inserts, the insert parallels, the relic and the auto cards). I've pulled all but 10 of these and the ones I'm missing are the most difficult to get. I've priced some of these on eBay and probably won't be chasing too many of them. I did buy a Gypsy Kings card on eBay which is at the end of the post.

I managed to avoid a large number of duplicate cards. I've got 177 out of 300 base cards. I'm not a set collector so that's plenty. I know full well, if I buy another blaster or two, I'll get mostly duplicates. If I go through with another Summer Clearance trade this year, the Gypsy Queen dups will be available.

I managed to pull a few more of the short print cards, so now I have a few of the short print/regular print pairs. For example, here's the regular print Carlos Gonzalez:

and here's the short print:

I don't know how "short" the short prints are but since there are 50 of them, the odds of getting any one of them is pretty good, I think. I had pulled the Mike Schmidt short print from the blaster and pulled the regular print, and another short print from the hobby box. Here's the regular print:

I managed to pull most, if not all of the Phillies. Oddly enough, I didn't get a single Astro.

I pulled two of the Topps Gypsy Queen Blue Framed Paper parallels. These are numbered to 599. Here's the Babe Ruth card.

I had the green mini parallel and pulled a black mini Tony Gwynn

and a sepia Ryan Braun

These are numbered to 99. Three of the inserts have mini parallels
Topps Gypsy Queen Mini Glove Stories

Topps Gypsy Queen Mini Moonshots

And I couldn't be happier with the Howard Ryan mini. And finally, Topps Gypsy Queen Mini Sliding Stars

I already had the full sized version of Reyes.

The box promised 4 hits (relic, or auto).
Topps Gypsy Queen Relics

I had pulled one of these from the blaster but this is a home jersey and the other was an away.

Topps Gypsy Queen Framed Mini Relics

I kinda wish I gotten a mini auto as these seem to be getting a much higher price on eBay than the mini relics.

Topps Gypsy Queen Autographs

An on-card auto, very nice. For some reason the backs of the autos are much yellower than the base cards.

And finally, Topps Gypsy Queen Autographed Relics

On-card auto, relic, serial numbered to 25. I'll say this is the best hit I pulled.

I never even saw any of the "Gypsy Queen" inserts from last year so I don't know how ridiculous they were. Here's the Gypsy Kings card I bought on eBay. It's plenty ridiculous.

Song of the Week - The Underdog by Spoon

Here's a song I got on a Song of the Day podcast back in 2007. It's a catchy tune with a clever video. Watch out for the horn section. Spoon is a band from Austin Texas according to Wikipedia.



Picture yourself in the living room
your pipe and slippers set out for you
I know you think that it ain't too far

But I hear the call of a lifetime ring
felt the need to get up for it
oh you cut out the middleman
get free from the middleman

You got no time for the messenger,
got no regard for the thing that you don't understand,
you got no fear of the underdog,
that's why you will not survive!

I want to forget how conviction fits
but can I get out from under it?
Can I gut it out of me?
It can't all be wedding cake
It can't all be boiled away
I try but I can't let go of it
Can't let go of it,

Cause you don't talk to the water boy
and there's so much you could learn but you don't want to know,
You will not back up an inch ever,
that's why you will not survive,

The thing that I tell you now
It may not go over well
And it may not be photo-op
in the way that I spell it out

But you won't hear from the messenger,
don't wanna know bout something that you don't understand,
You got no fear of the underdog,
that's why you will not survive!

You doesn't hasta call me Johnson! (Part 2)

Continuing this ridiculous series of players named Johnson. Remember, it's just an excuse to show off my cards.

1992 Stadium Club Dome #92 Howard Johnson

 Johnson played 14 years, 9 of those years with the Mets. He won 2 World Series, with the Tigers in 1984 and the Mets in 1986.

2004 Leaf Press Proofs Blue #6 Jason Johnson

Here's a guy I don't know even though he had an 11-year career. 5 of those years were with the Orioles. The other 6 years were with 7 different teams. He finished with a 56-100 career.

1992 Pinnacle Rookies #10 Joel Johnson

Here's another guy you never heard of. A few months ago I had bragged about completing my 1991 card collection. I'm hard at work on the 1992 cards. I picked this 30-card set, in it's original shrink-wrapped box for $3.99. Most of the players in the set, unfortunately, are about as famous as Joel.

2001 Bowman's Best Exclusive Rookies #194 Jonathan Johnson

Isn't this a nice looking card? Serial numbered, a hot rookie. Hot dog I said in 2001. Oh, well. Jonathan never made it out of the minors.


2003 Bowman Draft Picks Gold #83 Josh Johnson

Here's a Johnson who hasn't been a bust. In 7 years with the Marlins, he's a 2-time All-Star with a 48-23 record and a 2.98 ERA.

2011 Topps Allen & Ginter #129 Kelly Johnson

Second baseman currently with the Blue Jays.

1997 Score Premium Stock #237

14 year career with a .291 career average and 327 stolen bases. Retired in 2000.

1995 Pinnacle #174 Mark L. Johnson

He was the White Sox #1 Draft Pick in 1997 but spent his 8-year career as a back-up catcher.

1997 Bowman Chrome #222 Mark J. Johnson

What are the odds that two guys named Mark Johnson would be #1 Draft Picks in 1997. Mark J. was picked by the Astros, traded to the Marlins with others to get Moises Alou and ended up with a 2-month career with the Tigers.

2004 Diamond Kings #119 Nick Johnson

2003 Fleer Hardball #233 Randy Johnson

We'll finish this chapter with one of the most famous Johnson.

2012 Topps Gypsy Queen - The Inserts

I made out pretty well on inserts from the blaster and rack pack I bought. I haven't received my hobby box yet so I may have more later. There are 5, what I would call, base inserts. These don't have relics, autos, and are not some sort of parallel. I got at least one of each. As I mentioned in a previous post, it looks like a blaster box of this product is a pretty good deal. I think you should expect to get a good selection of base insert cards in a blaster.

2012 Topps Gypsy Queen Future Stars Jeremy Hellickson

Future Stars is the only base insert card to return from last year although it went from a 20 card set to 15 cards.

Two of the inserts last year, Sticky Fingers and Wall Climbers featured fielding. Only one does this year.

2012 Topps Gypsy Queen Glove Stories Trayvon Robinson

Trayvon only made it into 44 games last year but managed this spectacular play. He dove into the stands to snatch a pop foul from a fan.

2012 Topps Gypsy Queen Moonshots Evan Longoria

Last year they had Home Run Heroes, featuring legendary players, this year it's Moonshots featuring current players.  The back of the card celebrates a 447-foot home run that Longoria hit in the 3rd inning of a game in September at Tropicana Field. Is this really a photo of Evan hitting that home run? If so, why does he seem to be wearing an away uniform? If they didn't have a picture of him actually hitting this fantastic home run, couldn't they at least use a photo of him in a home uniform?

And another thing, did you know that there are two major league ball barks named after orange juice brands?

2012 Topps Gypsy Queen Sliding Stars Jose Reyes

 Instead of a second card featuring fielding, we have another aspect of the game, running, or at least sliding. Jose Reyes looks spiffy in his photoshopped Marlins uniform.

2012 Topps Gypsy Queen Hallmark Heroes Joe DiMaggio

This 15-card set replaces last years 30-card set, "The Great Ones".

I like all of these inserts. The player pictures feature the same photo enhancement tricks used on the base cards. The border designs are different but the Gypsy Queen logo ties them all together.