Random Cards from my Collection #52

Card #42868
2013 Topps Chrome #216 Pablo Sandoval

Comments on the card: I literally just scanned this card last night. The usual Chrome goodness in a less curly form this year.
When acquired: October 2013
How acquired: Paid $0.68/card for a rack pack at Target
Player's season: Last year's World Series MVP and a little sub-par year hitting .278 with 14 home runs. No playoffs this year for Kung Fu Panda.

Card #21439
1995 Finest #232 Mike Mimbs

Comments on the card: The 3rd year for Topps Finest and one of my favorite designs from the set. Shown here with it's protective film removed.
When acquired: October 2010
How acquired: Paid $0.70/card for the 10-card Phillies set on eBay
Player's season: The first and best of Mike's 3-year career, he was 9-7 with an ERA of 4.15 ERA. He also had one save.

Card #3717
1980 Topps #380 Garry Maddox

Comments on the card: From the days when real baseball players had hair that made a statement.
When acquired: Don't know
How acquired: Don't know
Player's season: The Secretary of Defense only hit .259 with 11 home runs for the World Series winning Phillies in 1980. But they weren't paying him for his bat.

Card #35798
2012 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions #80 Randy Couture

Comments on the card: I don't care what any says, I like Goodwin Champions and buy some every year.
When acquired: August 2012
How acquired: Paid $0.45/card for a 48-card blaster box
Player's season: All I know about this guy is what his Wikipedia page says. He's a retired mixed martial artist (artist? really?)

Card #7210
2000 Topps Opening Day #105 Mark McGwire

Comments on the card: In the early days of Topps Opening Day they put a big foil shield on the front. I miss that.
When acquired: April 2000
How acquired: Paid $0.15/card for a hobby box
Player's season: McGwire only played 89 games in 2000, but he still managed to hit 32 home runs

Card #23125
2008 Upper Deck First Edition #163 Chase Utley

Comments on the card: Pretty good action shot. The ball is almost in Utley's glove and the runner is barely in the picture.
When acquired: April 2008
How acquired: Paid $0.18/card for a blaster
Player's season: Utley hit 33 home runs for the 2008 World Series winning Phillies

Card #5114
1990 Score #405 Rafael Palmeiro

Comments on the card: 1990 Score was pretty good. Nice photography, bright border colors, large head shot on the back
When acquired: 1990
How acquired: I bought a boxed set when new. Don't remember what I paid for it.
Player's season: Palmeiro lead the American League with 191 hits

Card #41421
2007 Upper Deck First Edition #221 Willy Taveras

Comments on the card: The First Edition version of 2007 Upper Deck was even worse than the regular version. They changed the stupid side borders from gray to brown.
When acquired: Don't know but probably in 2007
How acquired: Don't know
Player's season: Willie only appeared in 98 games for the Rockies but he hit a career high .320. And he went to the World Series

Card #35656
2012 Topps Update #117 Chris Resop

Comments on the card: My liking of the 2012 'surf board' design goes down a little every time I see it.
When acquired: October 2012
How acquired: Paid $0.14/card for a rack-box at Target
Player's season: As a middle reliever, Resop appeared in 61 games, racking up a 1-4 record. He was traded to the A's after the season for a minor league player.

Card #39155
2009 Topps Allen & Ginter #113 Rafael Furcal

Comments on the card: For 2009, Topps added borders to Allen & Ginter. They kinda went berserk with the color wash but I still liked the set.
When acquired: August 2009
How acquired: Paid $0.42/card for a hobby box on eBay
Player's season: Furcal struggled in the first year of his new 3-year contract, hitting only .269 for the Dodgers in 2009.

Relics, Relics, Relics - Part 2

Here's the rest of the $2-$3 relic cards I got last weekend.

2009 Topps Career Best Relics

I remembered having a jersey version of this card. If the set has both jersey and bat cards, I like to get one of each.

2009 Upper Deck Icons Letterman

Just look at this ridiculous thing! It's so thick that the patch is out of focus from the scan. And the best thing? On the back it says "Collect all Movie Icons Letterman Cards to spell VINCE LOMBARDI". Why Vince Lombardi? Well, why not Vince Lombardi?

2011 Bowman Platinum Relic Autograph Refractors

"witnessed by a Topps representative to guarantee authenticity". Imagine, someone had to stand over this guy while he signed his name 1,166 times.

2011 Bowman Sterling Dual Relics

Bowman Sterling never shows up at the local Target. Consequently, I have no Bowman Sterling cards in my collection except for the few I chased down on eBay. I have none at all from the 2011 set.

2012 Topps Allen & Ginter Framed Relics

I already had 3 cards from this set but all were of baseball players. In my opinion, you can't go wrong with Allen & Ginter mini relics.

Relics, Relics, Relics - Part 1

There is a small (10-12 dealers) in my area every quarter. I was there last weekend. Right inside the door was a guy selling relic cards from 2-5 dollars. I generally a sucker for these cards. I'm trying to collect as many different kinds of cards as possible and relic cards are a challenge since you don't usually see them in blaster boxes or packs from the big box stores (my only reliable source for cards).  I almost shot my entire budget for the show at this guy's table. I got 11 cards. Here's the first 6, I'll post the other 5 tomorrow.

2001 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres Heroes of Baseball Game Jersey Trios

I don't keep a readily transportable list of all the cards I own, but I have a pretty good memory. It failed me in this case since I already had one of these. But a triple-relic card for 3 bucks...

2002 Upper Deck People's Choice Game Jersey

I used to have the Andy Pettitte card from this set but traded it for something. Of course, bits of cloth with a stripe on them are more interesting than plain white ones. As I looked at this I was wondering which part of Martinez' Cardinals uniform was white with a black stripe. The answer was on the back, it was from a Yankees uni. I guess the card companies have a problem with uniforms they've collected when a player changes teams. I don't really like this solution. Also note this is from his pants. Upper Deck wants to "keep you as close as you can get!" Not sure I want to be that close to a guy's pants.

2003 Fleer Showcase Thunder Sticks Game Bat

I already had the non-relic version of this set (featuring Jim Thome). I always like to get both versions. I don't have any idea what the "TF0130" on the card is supposed to me. The same thing is on the Thome card.

2003 Playoff Piece of the Game Autographs

Another memory failure but it was only $2. And the one I have is a bat relic, so not exactly the same. I don't much care for sticker autos but I like the idea that the back of the card features a photo of the item where they got the piece.

2003 SPx Winning Materials 50

This is a complicated card and it was a little hard to place. In 2003, SPx had 4 versions of this card with a different number. In addition to this one they had SPx Winning Materials 175, 250 and 375. I would have thought that the cards would be serial numbered to the number in the name, but not so. There are two versions of each player card for each number. One card has the team logo, like this one, the other has the player number. The team logo is a little rubber piece glued to the card. Using the 175 as an example, the logo version is numbered to 155 while the number card is numbered to 20. The sharp eyed among you will note that the count of the two versions adds up to 175. Who thinks up this kind of stuff? Anyway, I'm not actually sure what I've got since my card is numbered to 50 and, according to Beckett.com, none of the cards are numbered to 50.

2005 Topps Pristine Personal Pieces Common Relics

Another card with a stripe! And another complicated set. In addition to the Common, they had Uncommon, Uncommon Un-circulated and Scarce. Each numbered to a different count. The other versions at least have different background colors.

2013 Panini Golden Age - First Peak

I bought one pack of this product at a card show last Sunday, not having any idea what it was. It's Panini's attempt to cash in on the popularity of Topps Allen and Ginter and Upper Deck's Goodwin Champions. My opinion - I love these cards! Enough that I bought a box on eBay. So this is just a first peek, a more detailed post to follow when I get my box.

I also bought a box of 2013 Goodwin Champions, so I'm kind of ODing on vintage style cards. I hope you like these as much as I do.

It didn't hurt my enjoyment of this set by having this being the first card I saw.

You can reel me in with a Richie Ashburn card every time.  Of the 4 base cards in the pack, 3 were baseball players and one was an actor in his role as a baseball player.

No logos of course. At least they give the city so with a player like Fisk you can tell what team he's depicted with. Although I guess with Fisk it wouldn't have been that difficult to figure out.

Freehan was a big time player from 1961 to 1975. Somehow this is the first card of his I've ever gotten.

OK, it's a Little League player but his character played baseball.

Of course, there is a selection of mini parallel cards. I got one, the Carolina Brights Green Back version.

And there was one other insert, Panini Golden Age Playing Cards.  There are 53 of these (one joker).