Responding to Comments: 5-Card Packs

I just saw this comment on an post that I wrote earlier this year regarding the 5-card packs that I bought at the Dollar Tree. The thing is that the person who left the comment did so anonymously. So instead of leaving a response on the post, I'm going to respond here so that it can be seen by whoever sent the question.

Anonymous writes:

"Do the 5-card 2014 Topps Update packs contain insert cards, or just base cards? I just bought a 60-pack gravity feed box on eBay for $39.99. I thought it was for the regular 10-card packs, but noticed later they were 5-card packs. Just wondering if I got ripped off. Thanks."

The quick answer is no, the 5-card packs you bought will not have insert cards in them. They will be all base. However, you may get some of the short-printed cards (or even a super short-printed card) in your packs.

The short prints come in three categories (in order of rarity):

• Photo variations
• Sabermetric Stats
• Sparkle variations

Keep an eye out for them.

2014 Topps Update Series #US-245B Andrew Heaney SP

While the card is in a box somewhere near me (can't find it for some reason), I know that I pulled this one from one of the three packs I bought at the Dollar Tree last year.

Regarding as to whether or not you were ripped off? I couldn't tell you for sure. If the description on the auction didn't specify what packs were in the gravity feed, or the pictures didn't show you what kind of packs you were getting, then it's hard to say. If it was described as 10-card packs in the gravity box, the picture showed 10-card packs, and you got 5-card packs? Then yes, you were ripped off.
 
So go ahead and open them. You never know what you'll find. Or give them out as favors. Whatever you decide, good luck.

I hope this answers your question. If you have any more, please feel free to contact me here on this humble, little blog, or send me an email (bdj610@hotmail.com).


Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Moustakas and Martinez win the Final Man Vote!!!

Missouri's presence at this year's All-Star Game has increased by 2.

An incredible 111.8 million votes were tallied after the Final Man candidates were announced on Monday. Alliances were made, one guy was even taken off the balloting when he was added to the team. When all was said and done, it was the #VoteMo pairing of Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas and starting pitcher Carlos Martinez of the Cardinals that won the Final Man Voting and have been added to their respective All-Star Teams.

Mike Moustakas, who was leading in the All-Star voting until the very last week, led the balloting from the very beginning, received 19.3 million votes, earning more votes than second baseman Brian Dozier of the Twins, outfielder Yoenis Cespedes of the Tigers, and shortstop Xander Bogaerts of the Red Sox.

Meanwhile, Carlos Martinez had a tougher ballot to overcome. But in the end, the Tsunami won the five-day poll with 14.1 million votes, beating out a former Cy Young winner/MVP (Clayton Kershaw), a hometown hero (Johnny Cueto), Mets closer Jeurys Familia, and Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki.

Moustakas, a first-time All-Star, is the seventh Royal player to be named to the All-Star Team and the first to win the Final Man Ballot. He joins a strong contingent of KC players, including Lorenzo Cain, Wade Davis, Alcides Escobar, Alex Gordon, Kelvin Herrera, and Salvador Perez.

Martinez, also a first-time All-Star, is the second Cardinals player to win the Final Man Ballot (David Freese-2012), and now the sixth Cardinal to be named onto the NL All-Star Team, joining Matt Holliday, Yadier Molina, Jhonny Peralta, Trevor Rosenthal, and Michael Wacha as the St. Louis reps in the Queen City.

Both Missouri teams have the best records in their respective leagues. The state has become the hotbed of baseball in 2015 and will be proudly represented as the game's best meet this coming Tuesday.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Gardner Replaces Gordon on AL ASG Roster

Last night, Alex Gordon of the Kansas City Royals was carted off the field at Kauffman Stadium after trying to make a play in the outfield. He was placed on the 15-Day DL after an MRI found he suffered "Grade 2-plus strain of his left groin." He may be out for up to 8 weeks. This is the second year in a row that Gordon was selected to the AL Team but became unable to participate (last year he sprained his wrist, and while he was not placed on the DL, as a precaution, he did not play).

Because he was voted to start the game next Tuesday, Adam Jones of the Baltimore Orioles will now take his place in the starting lineup. But who takes Gordon's spot on the roster?

It was announced today that Brett Gardner of the New York Yankees, a Final-Man candidate, will now take Alex Gordon's spot on the AL All-Star Team. Coming into today's action, Gardner was hitting .298 (team leader) with 9 home runs, driving in 39 rbi's, stole 15 bases (also a team best), and has an OPS of .856. This will be Gardner's first time as an All-Star and will join fellow Yankees Dellin Betances and Mark Teixeira in the Queen City

So take Gardner's card out of the Final Man Section of your All-Star Binder and move him to the main team (his card numbers are #21 or NYY-3 on the retail set).

Stay tuned for more All-Star team roster updates as they happen.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

The 2015 All-Star Rosters Have Been Announced...What Do You Think???

On Sunday, we learned who the fans voted onto the respective NL and AL All-Star Teams. For the most part, it looks like the fans picked the right players.

On Monday, the reserves, pitchers, and final man candidates were announced. Both teams were extremely well balanced, there are even more set up men going to this game than ever before, showing how important these guys are becoming in today's game. We even learned who was going to replace injured starters Giancarlo Stanton and Miguel Cabrera.

So without further ado, here are the 2015 MLB All-Star Game rosters as announced on Monday night (with 2015 Topps Card # and retail team set # if applicable, for those of you playing along and putting them into your All-Star Binders):

American League Starters

1B-Miguel Cabrera, Tigersº (#200, DT-1)
2B-Jose Altuve, Astros(#620, HA-1)
3B-Josh Donaldson, Blue Jays (#5 with the Athletics, TBJ-12)
SS-Alcides Escobar, Royals (#137, KCR-4)
OF-Mike Trout, Angels (#300, A-1)
OF-Lorenzo Cain, Royals (#516, KCR-12)
OF-Alex Gordon, Royals (#456, KCR-11)
C-Salvador Perez, Royals (#39, KCR-5)
DH-Nelson Cruz, Mariners (#411, SM-17)

American League Pitchers

P-Chris Archer, Rays (#324, TBR-7)
P-Sonny Gray, Athletics (#305, OA-1)
P-Dallas Keuchel, Astros (#477, HA-16)
P-David Price, Tigers (#550, DT-16)
P-Chris Sale, White Sox (#376, CWS-10)
RP-Dellin Betances, Yankees (#532, NYY-4)
RP-Wade Davis, Royals (#454, KCR-16)
RP-Glen Perkins, Twins (#197, MT-8)
P-Felix Hernandez, Mariners (#325, SM-3, selected by MGR)
RP-Brad Boxberger, Rays (#538, selected by MGR)
RP-Zach Britton, Orioles (#190, BO-5, selected by MGR)
RP-Kelvin Herrera, Royals (selected by MGR)
RP-Darren O'Day, Orioles (#670, BO-6, selected by MGR)

American League Reserves

1B-Albert Pujols, Angels (#600, A-10, will start for Cabrera)
2B-Jason Kipnis, Indians (#221, CI-8)
3B-Manny Machado, Orioles (#136, BO-7)
SS-Jose Iglesias, Tigers (#239, DT-7)
UT-Brock Holt, Red Sox (selected by MGR)
1B-Mark Teixeira, Yankeesª (#307, NYY-11, replaces Cabrera)
OF-Jose Bautista, Blue Jays (#25, TBJ-1)
OF-Adam Jones, Orioles (#169, BO-1)
OF-J. D. Martinez, Tigers (#148, DT-5)
DH-Prince Fielder, Rangers (#422, TR-6)
C-Stephen Vogt, Athletics (#652, OA-9)
C-Russell Martin, Blue Jays (#436, TBJ-4, selected by MGR)

American League Final Man Candidates

SS-Xander Bogaerts, Red Sox (#327, BRS-6)
OF-Yoenis Cespedes, Tigers (#120 with the Red Sox, #DT-8)
2B-Brian Dozier, Twins (#259, MT-2)
OF-Brett Gardner, Yankees (#21, NYY-3)
3B-Mike Moustakas, Royals (#461, KCR-10)

National League Starters

1B-Paul Goldschmidt, Diamondbacks (#203, AD-1)
2B-Dee Gordon, Marlins (#559, MM-14)
3B-Todd Frazier, Reds (#42, CR-5)
SS-Jhonny Peralta, Cardinals (#311, SLC-5)
OF-Bryce Harper, Nationals (#207, WN-1)
OF-Giancarlo Stanton, Marlinsº (#150, MM-1)
OF-Matt Holliday, Cardinals (#361, SLC-10)
C-Buster Posey, Giants (#275, SGF-12)

National League Pitchers

P-Gerrit Cole, Pirates (#671, PIP-15)
P-Jacob deGrom, Mets (#129, NYM-17)
P-Zack Greinke, Dodgers (#267, LAD-5)
P-Shelby Miller, Braves (#220 with the Cardinals, AB-2)
P-Max Scherzer, Nationals (#586, WN-14)
RP-Aroldis Chapman, Reds (#268, CR-9)
RP-Mark Melancon, Pirates (#124, PIP-6)
RP-Trevor Rosenthal, Cardinals (#286, SLC-6)
P-Madison Bumgarner, Giants (#20, SFG-1, selected by MGR)
P-A.J. Burnett, Pirates (#466, #PIP-2, selected by MGR)
P-Michael Wacha, Cardinals (#60, SLC-7, selected by MGR)
RP-Jonathan Papelbon, Phillies (#143, PHP-8, selected by MGR)
RP-Francisco Rodriguez, Brewers (selected by MGR)

National League Reserves

1B-Anthony Rizzo, Cubs (#47, CHC-1)
2B-DJ LeMahieu, Rockies (#438, COR-10)
3B-Nolan Arenado, Rockies (#62, COR-8)
SS-Brandon Crawford, Giants (#159, SFG-7)
1B-Adrian Gonzalez, Dodgers (#328, LAD-4, selected by MGR)
2B-Joe Panik, Giants (#503, SFG-8, selected by MGR)
3B-Kris Bryant, Cubsª (#616, replaces Stanton)
OF-Andrew McCutchen, Pirates (#400, PIP-1, will start for Stanton)
OF-Joc Pederson, Dodgers (#192, LAD-9)
OF-A. J. Pollock, Diamondbacks (#572, AD-11)
OF-Justin Upton, Padres (#69 with the Braves, #SDP-6, selected by MGR)
C-Yadier Molina, Cardinals (#647, SLC-11)
C-Yasmani Grandal, Dodgers (#338 with the Padres, LAD-12, selected by MGR)

National League Final Man Candidates

SP-Johnny Cueto, Reds (#375, CR-13)
RP-Jeurys Familia, Mets (#402)
SP-Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers (#100, LAD-1)
SP-Carlos Martinez, Cardinals (#527, SLC-9)
SS-Troy Tulowitzki, Rockies (#125, COR-1)

º Injured, will not participate
ª Named as replacement

The rosters once again will consist of 34 active players. Each team is already at 34 players and we haven't even gotten the final man voting in yet. Why is that?

Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates will start in place of Stanton on the NL team, and Cubs wunderkind Kris Bryant will take Stanton's spot on the roster (and possibly the Home Run Derby...we'll see).

On the American League side, Albert Pujols of the Angels will start at 1st in place of Cabrera, and Mark Teixeira of the Yankees takes Cabrera's spot on the roster.

Including the players on the Final Man balloting, only three players do not have cards in the eponymous Topps set or any of the retail sets. Those players include Kelvin Herrera and Brock Holt on the AL side, and Francisco Rodriguez on the NL. Each should have cards in the expanded Update series. In the meantime, every other player has a card that at least features them on their current team as long as you count the retail sets.

As it seems to be the case these past few years, there is a lot of youth on both rosters, as well as a ton of first-time All-Stars to boot (about 26 at last count). If you look at the Final Man Nominees, all five AL candidates are hitters, (compared to five starting pitchers the year before and five relievers the year prior to that). The NL includes 4 pitchers and Tulo. How deep is the NL starting staff? I know he's having a down year, but when Clayton Kershaw is relegated to Final Man balloting, you know that if the starters on the NL roster were all on the same team, they'd be nothing short of dominant.

Chicago is well represented this year with three players between both teams (Rizzo, Bryant, Sale). Thanks to the early Royals voting surge, KC brings six players to Cincinnati, and Moustakas could be number 7 as he's on the final man ballot. The Cardinals, who have the best record in baseball, send 5 players, and a sixth, Martinez, is also on the final man ballot.

Now I didn't get a chance to hear which of the starting pitchers are scheduled to pitch for their respective teams this Sunday. The rule is in effect that if any of them are in line to pitch that day, they will have to be replaced. This is just the beginning. If history is an indicator, expect both active rosters to dramatically change by the time July 14 comes. As always, I'll make sure to help you add cards to your All-Star binders by providing card numbers for the players added onto the All-Star teams.

Let's hear the answers to these questions:

Who do you think should have been chosen that wasn't (not even for the Final Man ballot)?

Of the players selected, who shouldn't be going to the game?

Were the guys you wanted from your team chosen?

If not, then who should have represented your team?

Let the debates begin.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

The 2015 All-Star Starters Have Been Announced...What Do You Think???

It's that time of the year again here at this humble, little blog. It's probably my favorite time of the year.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it's MLB All-Star season!!! And this year, MLB decided to make things interesting.

As you probably all know, there were no paper ballots being distributed at the stadiums. Every ballot cast (over 620 million) were done electronically. Which made for very interesting ballot updates.

To wit, for the first few weeks, the AL All-Star Team starters, if there were only two weeks of balloting, would have consisted of Mike Trout...and 8 Kansas City Royals. It seems that on the heels of their unbelievable run to the AL title last year, KC fans (and fans who thought it would be a good idea to really mess things up), voted en masse (you were allowed 35 votes per LEGITIMATE email address) for their Royals heroes. Even Norichika Aoki, a former Royal who is now with the team that BEAT them in the World Series (that would be the Giants) finished fourth in the NL balloting.

Not since 1957, when Reds fans (coincidentally, this game is being played in Cincinnati) successfully voted 7 of their players onto the starting lineup. It was only because the commissioner intervened that prevented this from happening. This also ended fan voting for a long period of time.

But finally reality kicked in, and it looks like deserving players pulled through.

Back to my point.

Every year, I keep tabs on every All-Star Roster move from the time the rosters are announced until game day. I do this not only because I really REALLY love the All-Star Game, but because I also take the cards of the All-Stars from the eponymous set and put them in a special All-Star binder. This binder is not permanent (no, I do not have a separate collection of All-Star cards), and once the game is over, I put everybody back in their respective pockets within the main set. I use the cards of the players so I can keep track of who's in the game, who has already made an appearance, and who is still waiting to get in the game. In past years, managers try to get everybody in the game. But since that debacle in 2002, the games now "count," with the winning league winning home field advantage for the World Series. So now the game is played for keeps, and if a player doesn't get in because it's a close game, then, "oh well."

Now in recent years, full rosters, (starters, pitchers, reserves, and final man candidates) were announced ten days before the game. This year, the results of the voting were announced on Sunday, and the rest of the players will be announced on Monday.

So who were the big winners in the All-Star voting? Let's find out:

American League Leading Vote-Getter: Josh Donaldson of the Blue Jays

American League Starters (with 2015 Topps Card # and retail team set if applicable):

• 1B-Miguel Cabrera, Tigers (#200, DT-1)
• 2B-Jose Altuve, Astros(#620, HA-1)
• 3B-Josh Donaldson, Blue Jays (#5, Athletics, TBJ-12)
• SS-Alcides Escobar, Royals (#137, KCR-4)
• OF-Mike Trout, Angels (#300, A-1)
• OF-Lorenzo Cain, Royals (#516, KCR-12)
• OF-Alex Gordon, Royals (#456, KCR-11)
• C-Salvador Perez, Royals (#39, KCR-5)
• DH-Nelson Cruz, Mariners (#411, SM-17)

National League Leading Vote-Getter: Bryce Harper of the Nationals

National League Starters:

• 1B-Paul Goldschmidt, Diamondbacks (#203, AD-1)
• 2B-Dee Gordon, Marlins (#559, MM-14)
• 3B-Todd Frazier, Reds (#42, CR-5)
• SS-Jhonny Peralta, Cardinals (#311, SLC-5)
• OF-Bryce Harper, Nationals (#207, WN-1)
• OF-Giancarlo Stanton, Marlins (#150, MM-1)
• OF-Matt Holliday, Cardinals (#361, SLC-10)
• C-Buster Posey, Giants (#275, SGF-12)

Now the votes may be in, but we have a few situations. Miguel Cabrera, Giancarlo Stanton, and Matt Holliday are all currently on the DL, with Holliday scheduled to return some time this week. So for the moment, there will be injury replacements for at least two players. Who will they be?

We'll have to watch tomorrow night to find out. In the mean time, I'm going to go ahead and add these cards to my All-Star binder. Who's with me.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Cleaning Up the Sports Card Blogroll on the Fourth of July

Its the Fourth of July!

Happy Birthday America!!!



While many of you are out celebrating our nation's birthday, my wife and daughter are at a dance competition. It's the big one, the "Nationals" where kids from all over the country get to compete after surviving a tough regional season (my daughter's was in February). So this is the culmination of hard work, practice, sacrifice, etc. Good luck sweetheart. We're rooting for you.

Anyway, what better day to celebrate for my son and me by just staying home and relaxing. Something that I haven't gotten to do in a while.

But before enjoying the rest of my afternoon, I thought that this would be about as good a time as any to clean up the Sports Card Blogroll. I can't believe that it's been seven years since I created it. So many blogs have been graced it. Maybe it's time for a makeover. We'll see what happens.

Now I know I've been really bad lately and have seemed to neglect this important duty. But something inspired me lately and I promise to be a bit more vigilant when it comes to the upkeep of my big blogroll. A few weeks a go, the Topps Company tweeted:

@toppscards: Do you read sports card blogs? If so, which ones?

Now, many twitter followers mentioned a lot of the usual suspects. Some tried for self promotion (ahem).

@bdj610: @toppscards Too many to list. Most can be found on the Sports Card Blogroll (bdj610scblogroll.blogspot.com). @nightowlcards has some that I don't

To which Topps responded:

@toppscards: @bdj610 Yep, we check that out. It's a great resource. Thanks for putting it together.

Oh wow. Topps actually has seen my blogroll? Topps actually checks it out?

No, I'm not that skinny. But you get the idea.

That's exciting news for me anyway. I thought, "if they like it that much, maybe I should clean it up more often."

So here I am.

Get ready. After the purge, I'll be adding four new blogs (I haven't forgotten you guys and gals). Let's go.

At the beginning of the clean up, the SCBR contained 321 blogs about the Hobby. Here are the ones that are being removed because they've been inactive for more than six months:

• The Sandlot
• 30-Year Old Cardboard (more on this later)
• A Rookie (baseball) Card Collector
• A Swing and A Hit
• The Wax Fantastic
• 25 Years of Baseball
• From An Unlikely Source!
• The Mojo Beard
• Contrary Guy
• Playing With My Cards
• JonWayne's Autographs
• Kevin's Cool Collection
• The Pack Gambler
• State of the Hobby...I'm Your Average Card Collector
• The Card Raven
• customcardsets
• Sports Cards and Memories
• The Trading Card Manifesto
• 1967 Football Cards
• 1986 Topps Blog
• My 2008 Topps Set Blog
• 1967 Topps Baseball
• 1968 Topps Baseball
• 1970 Topps Baseball
• 1969 Topps Baseball
• 1966 Topps Baseball
• 1972 Football Cards
• 1963 Topps Baseball
• '59 topps: one f/g card at a time
• 1971 Football Cards
• 1974 Topps - Pennant Fever
• Home of the Toddfather
• Retro Jays Cards
• Eutaw Street Cardboard
• Dallas Cowboys football cards
• Once a Cub
• Chipp 'n' Dale
• Goldschmidt Happens
• According To Dr. Price
• Dean's Baseball Card Blog
• Playing with digital baseball trading cards

That's 41 blogs being removed from the SCBR. Well almost.

Brian Applebaum was the writer of 30-Year Old Cardboard. The blog made it's debut on August, 2008 and Brian made it his mission to post about the Hobby he loved and share it with the Hobby Blogging Community. It was a labor of love for sure as he did his best to keep his readers entertained with well written posts and pictures of the cards he received from trades or what was already in his collection.

In one of his final posts, he wrote:

For more than six years, this blog has been a big part of my life. And in that time, I have interacted with hundreds of great people who share common interests with me and dozens of people interested in taking their love for the hobby and the sport of baseball to the blogging world.

One of the most common questions I get asked is, ‘How do you do so much’? My answer is always the same – ‘This is my passion. This is my hobby. For me, baseball card collecting and blogging are linked. And the moment that blogging about my hobby feels like a chore and less like a hobby is when I will stop’.

Well, that time has come. As my personal life has gotten more and more busy with two kids in elementary school while also being very active in sports, my available time has been diminished. The task of logging in a huge stack of cards, then scanning them all, and then creating drafts for all of them, is something I used to tackle with energy and vigor. Lately, that same task has become one that I no longer have time to attack with the same energy.

Two posts later, he bid adieu. He wrote an amazing 12,268 posts on his blog. And now he is enjoying life with his two sons and thanks to an incredible diet/workout regimen, has lost a lot of weight and will now focus his energies on running (a 5K was something he mentioned in his last post).

So with that, 30 Year Old Cardboard will not be removed for good, but will be added to the Sports Card Blogroll Hall of Fame. Congratulations Brian. Good luck with everything. Sorry I missed out on saying good bye and good luck to you on your blog. I hope this makes up for it.

With 41 blogs off the active books, the SCBR now stands at 280. I am going to add four more blogs to the big blogroll shortly and then start looking for more.

As always, if you or someone you know has a blog about the Hobby of Sports Card Collecting that is not listed here, please send me an email at bdj610@hotmail.com or contact me via twitter @bdj610. If you haven't written in a while and feel that you are ready to dive back into the blogging pool, please let me know. I'll be more than happy to add your site back to the active roster.

Although I do understand that as social media evolves, blogs may become less relevant. But they're still there. There are many writers out there still passionate about the Hobby and want to share with the world their collections, their opinions, and their voices. Yours one of them?

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

They Did a Blog Bat-Around...Without Me??! My Biggest Regrets

I don't trade a lot. I keep telling myself I should. I have a lot to offer and am willing to go above and beyond to ensure that I fill out someone's wantlist to the best of my abilities. Even if it's for one measly card, if someone has a huge wantlist and I have 100 or so cards on his or her list, I'll be more than happy to send all of what I have for that one card.

But it's been a while since I traded cards online, and I really should get back into it (didn't I say that in the first paragraph??!).

Anyway, I'm bringing this up because someone has brought back the Blog Bat-Around and it's a topic that I probably can contribute to. If you (whatever readers I have left) don't know what a blog bat-around is, you can look it up on the tags for previous posts. Basically, SCU's Gellman started this idea where someone would bring up a topic to write about and the Hobby Blogging Community would go to town writing an article about said topic, and then send the link to the host so that the articles can all be gathered and shared in one easy-to-find place. I haven't participated in a while, and I can only assume that there have been more done since my last.

This one was brought up by the gentleman over at garveyceyrusselllopes and it's a good one. It's about the cards we owned but no longer possess in our ever growing collections. Whether it was sold, traded, damaged, or just lost in the bowels of time, what card or cards do you regret no longer holding in your collection.

There are a couple that come to mind. One example is of a card I never really owned, but apparently gave away (with a huge package...explanations forthcoming) in a trade.

There was a blog from a guy named John Arnold who ran a blog called THE PURSUIT OF 80's(ness). He's from England, and a devoted Red Sox fan. Now, in 2008, my first year in the blogging pool, I had mentioned that I was a Cubs fan. So bloggers like him asked me if I was interested in a package of Cubs cards. I said sure (even though I'm not much of a team collector). I promised I'd send him something in return.

After his package of Cubs cards arrived, I sent him back a care package. One that included nine unopened packs, three each from 2008 Series 1, Series 2, and the Update and Highlights. I made sure to throw in as many Red Sox cards that I could find as well so there was something to go with the unopened packs.

After opening the three Series 1 packs, he found two Boston Red Sox cards. One was of Jason Varitek. This was the other:



That's right. Had I thought for a second to rip those packs open, I would have been the proud owner of the 2008 Topps Red Sox SP Red card with Rudy Giuliani in the middle. I was in tears, let me tell you.

I rarely have luck with getting SP's and cards like this when I buy loose packs. This would have been a great card to own (or sell...then I'd regret it later). But at least it went to a Red Sox collector, and the card is no longer in the US so that's one less card you'll find at your next card show.

What other cards. How about this one:

In 1991, Upper Deck, one of four "that other companies" that produced cards made a baseball card one of their spokespeople, Michael Jordan. It was the perfect storm of a card.

• I actually liked the 1991 design and had bought a factory set AND the Final Edition set (what was I thinking??!)
• Jordan and the Bulls had just won their first NBA championship
• The White Sox' new stadium Comiskey Park was going to be opened soon
• I'm from Chicago...AND IT'S MICHAEL JORDAN!!!

I thought I'd never get one of these in a pack, so I actually bought one at a card store for a steal ($20.00 saved for this). It's Upper Deck, I know. But I was also in to Score, so what does that tell you.

So I had the above card in my possession. And as a 15-year old kid, I was thrilled.

Then disaster struck. And it was my fault.

You see, somehow, I found a box of laminating sheets in the basement. The box said "protect your important documents and other important items from wear and tear." So I thought, what better way to protect this card than to put this card under two laminating sheets (you didn't need the machine for these adhesive sheets, just peel, trim, and you're done).

Can you see where I'm going with this??!

So I took my $20.00 Jordan card, and placed it between two layers of laminating sheets. It made the card thicker, which was fine. The only problem was that there was an air bubble on the front that was clearly visible. No amount of pressing would "pop" it. But I was happy it was now protected.

Then I read in some book (I know I have it somewhere can't remember the name of it though) did mention that altering the condition of the card (including laminating it) was a big no-no and that the card's value would decrease to nothing.

And my heart sank.

In my mind, I just threw away $20.00. I was mad at myself more than anything. I put away the laminating kit and never saw it again.

I also regret giving away that 100-card UD Final Edition set. Never did get around to buying another set.

Another card I regret...because I had a chance to get this card for a heck of a price but wasn't sure (will explain shortly).

I look around on the Bay from time to time to find cards that I need for my collection. One guy with a fairly low feedback and a very iffy picture put up for a $99.00 BIN a 2012 Topps Bryce Harper #661 (the extremely SSP card found in packs). This was long after the mini cards came out, and based on the picture, it was hard to tell if it was the real one or not. The pictures themselves were blurry, and you couldn't even read the code on the bottom to distinguish.

Now, this card must have been listed more than 15-20 times at least. Each time, the price changed. It was at $99.00 one time, to $109.00 the next, back down to $99.00 OBO. But it never sold. Then one day, somebody apparently took a shot at it, bought the suspicious card...and left positive feedback because it turns out that it was the real thing!!!

There was also the matter of 2003 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites Doug DeCinces autograph card.

As many readers of this humble, little blog also know (I still have readers, right??!) I don't really collect autographed cards. Never really took an interest to it.

Until 2003 Topps ATFF came along. It was a set of 150 cards of players, most who are never going to touch the Hall of Fame (although there were a number of them in the set) with unique pictures never used before but utilizing the designs during their playing career. Some made sense, others not so much...but that ship sailed (or did it...stay tuned to a later blog post).

Now 21 players were not included in the base set, but somehow managed to have autographed cards included. Brief bit of trivium: in the original checklist, there was supposed to be 200 players on the autograph checklist, which included almost all of the subjects in the base set plus about 50 or so extras. By the time the product came out, that number was whittled down to about 165 or so.

Well one of the 21 players who didn't have a card in the base set was the Doug DeCinces of the Baltimore Orioles. Now I had heard of the name, and when I bought my box of 2003 Topps ATFF (back when I could afford boxes), I pulled this card as one of my two autographs. The owner of the Friendly Card Finds (the baseball card shop I frequently visited before its closing in 2005...best regards to Brian Proulx) was an O's fan, and I thought what better way to thank him than to give him this card as a thank you for helping a fellow collector out (he spoiled me, you know, by giving me sell sheets and promo cards).

Later on, when I decided to go after the 21 "extra" autograph cards, I realized that one was of DeCinces. The card I gave away. Now I wasn't about to ask for the card back...that would be wrong. So I regretfully spent some money on a card that I had in my possession. But hey, another collector has it (possibly) and he was happy with it. Isn't that the point of this Hobby?

I could go on and on.

But regretfully, I have to get going (see what I did there). I look forward to reading all of the other posts from this bat-around. Thanks GCRL for starting it up again.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama