have you seen these before?

I hadn't until about a week ago. check them out:

Names we all know very well. Not even due to Topps shoving them at us really hard for the past few years but all three are first class Hall of Famers. You know, the legendary first class of 1936. The other two members of said class were Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb. All five are arguably the best players ever to take the field of their respective positions. Yes, I know there are two pitchers there making that last statement void. Regardless they were great players. Anyway, this set was made in 1961 by Golden Press. Upon further research, I found that all 33 cards came in a book and were perforated for removal. See the sides of the cards and you'll see what I mean. All 33 cards were all the current members of the Hall of Fame up to that point. I really like the pictures on these. They are all done in this format, there are no photos. Although I know I've seen that Johnson picture before... The backs have career stats and a small bio. I haven't decided if I want to go for just those first five Hofers or the whole 33 card set. I may do the set if I can find the rest for a good price like these were. A nice oddball set here.

2011 topps series 2- the crinkly take

First off, I still need a couple more emails from two more participants in the break.

-Greg
-Wicked (who is holding his own break not unlike mine, so go check him out if you missed out on mine, or just want to get in on more great pickin' action)

Remember in these emails, I just need your address and your favorite team. Title the email 'break address', just for my sanity's sake.

Now, onto business. Topps series 2 was released a few weeks ago but it is still fresh on the table. It also doesn't hurt that a few upcoming sets have been pushed back. Ginter was pushed about two weeks, Bowman Platinum a whole month. Anyway. Series 2 is the obvious continuation where series 1 left off. Honestly, this series was a big improvement over the last series. I'll explain on the way.

Base cards:

Yup, we all know these. 330 more cards here. Shane over at Off the Wall mentioned about the colors being a bit lighter than series 1 and I can see it. The colors don't seem as bold as in series 1 but it's not too much of a difference to make it terrible. Some of us have way too much of these base cards (like myself) but don't mind it. I know I don't but if there is anyone who needs any from series 1 or 2, let me know and I'm sure I have a bunch available.

The inserts:

Kimball Champions:

These are by far, my favorite insert set of this year, which I am collecting. Fifty more cards here and all are retired veterans and Hall of Famers. No current players in this mix which is fine by me, seeing as how series 1 was pretty much all current guys. It has been mentioned that they are a bit flimsy and I kind of agree, they could have been a bit thicker but then again they would have had to do this in series 1. Still a cool insert though.

60 Years of Topps:

Continuing their love of reprinting their own cards, this marks the fifth time in two years that they reprint one card of each year. See last year it didn't make much sense but this year, fitting in with the 60th anniversary theme does work. Fifty-nine more reprints to add to your ever growing Topps reprint collection are added here. Eventually Topps will run out of good cards to reprint and be forced to reprint meaningless commons. Goody, anyone for a 1976 Skip Jutze? If you'll notice, Topps still can't get their fonts right on their reprints, which still puzzles me.

Before there was Topps:

Never a company to toot their own horn too much, this is a small seven card set that focuses on the meager amount of cards that were released before Topps came into the game. Apparently there were only seven sets that were significant before 1952. Before series 2 was released they said this set would be 10 cards but it is in fact, only seven cards. At least they are informative though, which is a plus for me.

Diamond Duos:

At 30 cards big, this set is still kind of boring. Hey, at least they are numbered this time around instead of letter-numbered like in series 1. NOTHING should be letter-numbered unless it is a relic or auto. Well, thats what I think anyway.

Diamond Stars:

Here we go. Now this is an insert set. Arguably the best insert set to come out of 2011 so far (next to the Kimballs), I am definitely collecting these and at 25 cards it shouldn't be too difficult. Inserts should be fun and catchy and interesting, making you want to collect them. These cards just pop with the great diamond parallel tech they used on said Diamond parallels.

Topps 60:

50 more stat related cards here. Not much to say about them really except that this is what the relics and autos look like, just like Peak Performance did last year.

Topps Town:

This, believe it or not, is probably the best improvement over series 1 and only because these are now seeded 1 in 6 packs. Thats the best news short of making these disappear all together. Oh, and they are flat as opposed to kinda curvy like series 1 (anyone else notice that?)

Legends Variations:

25 more legends join up with the 24 from series 1. I am definitely seeking these out and will trade big for any of them. Currently I am up to 11 of the 25 (and finished off series 1), with 2 more on the way from eBay. Still no word on what the odds are on these but I have pulled about 5 of them myself.

Legends Variation Diamond Parallels:

Also new to this series is the inclusion of all 49 legends done up in diamond form. I am casually collecting these and if I finish, I finish. I'll still trade for them though because they do look cool.

Twink gimmicks:

These return and 60 more of 'em too. I've pulled two so far, Howard above and Tim Lincecum. I am indifferent towards these but remember to check your codes!

So series 2. How 'bout that? Improvements in small but needed areas (Diamond Duo numbering, Topps Town insertion ratios) and more of the same (Topps 60, 60 Years of Topps) with a little new (Diamond Stars, Before there was Topps), making this a solid release. Topps' flagship set usually is thankfully, otherwise what good are they? Again though, really, if anyone needs base cards, let me know. Or let me know if you have legends variations for trade too. I want 'em.

ding! fries are done!

Well the break is anyway, I'm not sure about the fries. I'd like to thank everyone for joining up and partaking in the fun! What I need from each of you now, is an email. Please entitle the email 'Break address' for my convenience. All I need in said email is your address and your favorite team. I want to include some extra cards in everyone's package of their favorite team. If you have a blog or wantlist, send that along with it and maybe I can hit some of that too. If I can't I'll just do some favorite team cards. Even if I know your team or address, I would still like an email, it is just going to make getting these 13 packages out that much easier. I thank you in advance for it. Regular posts will resume now that this is all finished. To everyone that watched along with us participating, maybe I'll do something like this again when my relic stash gets overwhelming again. Or maybe something else entirely. Who knows. So send those emails when you guys can and I'll get the cards out soon.

round eight

The final round is here. It's been a ton of fun and I hope you feel the same. I had a few posts that I wanted to do but didn't want to interrupt the flow of the break. Now I kinda forgot what I was going to post. Guess I should have used the draft feature on here huh? Oh well, I'm sure I'll think of it. Anyway, a couple of things about this round.

1- The silk cards count as one pick. Three silk cards for one pick made sense to me seeing as how they aren't really relics or autos or even all that special but they aren't the easiest things to get, being numbered to fifty. Plus they aren't the most recognized players out there. So one participant will get all three (just say 'silks').
2- The octo-relic is shown in the second picture on the bottom. The back with the other four players is below that picture. So remember, thats EIGHT players with EIGHT swatches on ONE card. I know, friggin' crazy. It even comes with a separate card for it's certificate of authenticity. Normally relics have it on the backs but this card can't even fit it!
3- The Bill Hall and Chad Billingsley are both autographed but are a little faded. This is due to the materials that Upper Deck used and I do hear they will replace them.
4- Being the final round, I will do one post concerning the break after all these have been claimed. On with the picks!



1. ryan- strawberry
2. ba benny- tejada plate
3. thingsarefunnerhere- octo
4. wickedortega- cabrera
5. hiflew- kinsler
6. potch- castlellanos
7. greg- stamps
8. axemanohio- silks
9. nathan- wang
10. brooklynmet- billingsley
11. chris- overbay
12. commishbob- hall
13. kevin- pena

round seven

Here is the special vintage round. We needed to have an even number of rounds for fairness to all participants. The cards in this round are as follows (if you don't know them): 1954 in the top scan. Bottom scan has 1952, 1953, a lone 1955 and three from 1956. Check 'em out:


1 kevin- woodling
2 commishbob- goodman
3 chris- bruton
4 brooklynmet- morgan
5 nathan- mcghee
6 axemanohio- hegan
7 greg- landrith
8 potch- minarcin
9 hiflew- wright
10 wickedortega- young
11 thingsarefunnerhere- terwilliger
12 ba benny- dorish
13 ryan- narelski

almost there

Ok, we're down to the nitty gritty here. The consensus definitely favored picking for the final round and understandably so. Once you see what I have in there, you'll be glad you picked the ability to pick. There was a catch though. While you favored a pick for the seventh round, you also wanted another, to be fair to those that did get to pick last in that seventh round. The one catch on my end though; I have been practically run dry of relics and autos. The three randomized relics and two autos aren't anything to really gush over to make for another round of picks. I had an idea though. How about vintage? Would you guys like a round of vintage picks for the next round, round seven? Then the final round being the bigger cards? In terms of vintage I was thinking 13 cards from the early Topps era, the bigger cards, ranging from 1952 to 1956. Let me know what you think as soon as you can, so I can pull the cards, scan 'em and let you guys have at them.

ALSO- I apologize if I have been slow to respond or just plain forgot about trades, comments and other dealings with some of you. I certainly don't mean it but I'm trying to make this group break go as smoothly as possible. I haven't forgotten about you guys and I do have emails and correspondence in my 'deals' folder' in my email account, I've just been pre-occupied with this break. I will, however, be sending out everything probably at the same time. That means break packages and trades, same day.

round six (final?)

Here we are. The home stretch. Maybe. I am going to take a consensus about another possible round. Remember I was going to pick a random card to add to each lot that dealt with auto/relics, that octo relic, the silk, etc. Instead of it being random, would you guys like to pick it? It seems like the picking is going really well and you all seem to enjoy what's going on here. Let me know in your comment after you pick your card from this round. Just say either 'random' or 'pick' and since there are 13 of you there will definitely not be a tie. Oh and for this round just keep it simple. Say you want the triple Brewer relic, just say 'Brewer triple', no need to spell out all the names on the card. On with the picks:


1 potch- yount
2 hiflew- beltre
3 commishbob- ballpark quad
4 thingsarefunnerhere- halladay/burnett
5 kevin- oswalt
6 greg- opc triple
7 axemanohio- brewers triple (winning trios)
8 ryan- nettles/ramirez
9 babenny- i rodriguez
10 brooklynmet- glavine/billingsley
11 chris- clark/morneau
12 nathan- loney
13 wickedortega- angels dual

round five (and a 'huh?')

Round five. One round remaining after this one. Here we have the numbered relics:


Remember, if you guys make some deals amongst yourselves, let me know so I can swap the cards to your names on previous posts (and so I can keep track).

1 wickedortega- braun
2 nathan- sutter
3 chris- ramirez (trade to benny for hernandez rd4)
4 brooklynmet- rasmus
5 ba benny- vlad
6 ryan- mccann
7 axemanohio- sizemore
8 greg- hardy
9 kevin- mauer
10 thingsarefunnerhere- jones
11 commishbob- uggla
12 potch- willingham
13 hiflew- kazmir

Here is the 'huh?' portion.

I'm not sure if anyone noticed this but while sorting out series 2 by teams I came across this:


For some reason he has two cards in series 2. The backs are identical, with the exception of the card number and picture. Weird. How does this happen? This is totally another spot that a different Rockie pitcher could have taken. The only other time I've noticed this before was in 2007, when Topps issued two identical (completely identical) cards for Bengie Molina, one in each series (cards 4 and 342). At least Hammel has a different picture on each card.

round four

Yes, yes, the last round was a little....uneventful. Autos, unfortunately, were never my great pulls and usually I end up with a scrub when I do pull them. This lot is much better, back to more relics. This round marks the final regular relic round. Lets see what we have to choose from this time:



1. kevin- robinson
2. ryan- lincecum
3. ba benny- hernandez (to chris for ramirez rd5)
4. potch- mccann
5. hiflew- tulowitzki
6. commishbob- holliday
7. Nathan- butler
8. wickedortega- santana
9. brooklynmet- uggla
10. chris- myers
11. axemanohio- dye
12. thingsarefunnerhere- colvin
13. greg- glaus

round three

I've decided to mix it up a bit and instead of doing the third regular relic, I'm doing the on-card auto. The BrooklynMet informed me that he and Axemanohio had conducted a trade. Thats great! If you guys want to trade thats fine by me of course, just let me know when you do and I'll update the pick posts to keep track. Now, on to round three:


Here is the list for this round:

1. Greg- Matusz
2. Thingsarefunnerhere- Rizzotti
3. Axemanohio- Concepcion (to potch in outside trade)
4. Chris- Texeria
5. BrooklynMet- Francis
6. wickedortega- Pagan
7. Nathan- Willingham
8. Commishbob- Sammons
9. hiflew- Cate
10. Potch- Manzella
11. BABenny- Stewart
12. Ryan- Durango
13. Kevin- Thompson

Again, I'll update as soon as I get the comments.

round two (update)

Only four picks left!! This round went by really quick, let's keep it going!

10 commishbob- Gonzalez
11 kevin- Fukudome
12 hiflew- Lo Duca
13 thingsarefunner- Blalock

The next bunch of picks I am going to use the random.org again and get a list from that. For round four (there are six) I'll flip it, and the same will go for rounds five and six as well.



Time for round two! You guys know how it works, leave your pick in a comment below. Like I said, if you think you may not be able to make a choice due to, you know, real life, don't sweat it! Pick a top X number of cards (how ever many people you have ahead of you) and which ever is highest on your list that is available, I'll put your name on it. Some good picks this time around, so choices may be tough. Also like I mentioned, the list will be reversed. Check out round twos picks:


1 nathan- Ott
2 ba benny- Cano
3 wickedortega- Pujols
4 ryan- Verlander
5 greg- Beltran
6 brooklynmet- Mauer (trade w/axe for piazza rnd1)
7 potch- Berkman
8 axemanohio- Castillo
9 chris- Howard
10 commishbob- Gonzalez
11 kevin- Fukudome
12 hiflew- Lo Duca
13 thingsarefunner- Blalock


As with the previous round, I'll update as soon as I get the comments.

round one (update)

Only three cards left! The final three picks of round one are as follows:

wickedortega- Maybin
BA Benny- Zambrano
Nathan- Jones

Pick your card below and once all the cards are claimed, I'll start round two. For round two I plan on reversing the list, so those who picked last will pick first and those who picked first will pick last. Keep checking! Oh and if you do a list of your say top 6 picks and you are picking sixth and just tell me to claim you the highest ranked card, that works great. A couple of you have done that already and I think it worked well. It allowed me to move the picks faster because I know its not a race and we all have lives outside of blogland so we may not be able to check as frequently as we like. See the rest of the post right under this for the remaining cards and who claimed what.


Round one, featuring regular relics:


Here was the order random.org spit out:

1. thingsarefunner- Oswalt
2. hiflew- Holliday
3. kevin- Smoltz
4. commishbob- Hammels
5. chris- Fielder
6. axemanohio- Piazza (trade w/brookmet for mauer rnd2)
7. potch- Hoffman
8. brooklynmet- Kinsler
9. greg- Zimmerman
10. ryan- Phillips
11. wickedortega- Maybin
12. babenny- Zambrano
13. nathan- Jones

To pick your card, see the above two pictures (you can click on them for a bigger view), choose which card you like and leave a comment stating the card. Also, check the comments above you to see what has been picked so far, so we don't get people picking the same card. There are 13 cards so one for everyone. Start your pickin'!

I know its late but...

The slots are filled and I will post the first batch of cards to be chosen tomorrow morning. I should have them up around 11 am eastern time, sorry its early for you west-coasters.

I did manage to fill each available slot and I know I've beat this to death but here is the breakdown:

13 cards:

2 autos (I choose at random)
1 on-card auto (you choose)
6 relics (you choose 3, I random 3)
1 numbered relic (you choose)
1 multi-relic (you choose)
1 a manu-relic (UD Icons letters namely, random)
1 secret surprise card that could be anything from a silk card to printer's plate to octo relic to an auto'd relic. Good stuff assured. These you also don't get to see and will be randomized at the end right before I ship the cards out.

Again, I'll put up the cards to choose from along with the randomized list of the 13 of you. You choose in order of how the list comes out in the form of a comment until all 13 of you have picked your card. Once they are done, I'll do it again.

I plan on doing the picks in this order:

regular relic
regular relic
regular relic
on-card auto
numbered relic
multi-relic

Essentially getting better as we go along. Overall it'll be a lot of fun and it should go quite smoothly. Until tomorrow (today really)!

1-Kevin (money in mail)
2-Axemanohio (Tim, paid)
3-BrooklynMet (Jason, paid)
4-Potch (Darren, paid)
5-Anonymous Ryan (paid)
6-Nathan (paid)
7-Chris (paid)
8-Greg (GCA, paid)
9-Commishbob (Robert, paid)
10-BABenny (Mike, paid)
11-Thingsarefunnerhere (Julie, paid)
12-hiflew (Johnny, paid)
13-wickedortega (paid)

starting....

Now! I am going ahead and starting this break. Sign ups begin as of this post and will conclude once all spots are filled or by the end of Sunday night. The quicker we fill 'em, the quicker I can start.

Here is what I need from you, the participant:

Send the $25 via Paypal (use the 'gift' option, and in US dollars) to my email address (krustytheclown138ATyahooDOTcom and leave a comment on here saying that you are signed up and ready to go. I can fill up to 12 slots and have some great bonuses if I hit all 12. I will update the slots as you guys claim them. If you need any details, please don't hesitate to email me, or check my past two posts about this whole shebang.

Here is another quick breakdown of what we will do:

$25 gets you:

11 cards; 3 autos and 8 relics.

Out of the three autos one will be on-card, and chosen by you (more on that in a second). The other two will be chosen randomly by me.

Out of those 8 relics, you will choose 5. Those include 3 of the regular relics, 1 numbered relic and 1 multi-relic. The other 3 will be chosen randomly by me.

*********UPDATE**********
This statement below is null now as all slots have been filled (with an extra now), so there will definitely be the two bonus cards added in!
vvvvvvvvvvvvvDONE!vvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
If all 12 slots are filled, I will add an additional 2 cards. One will be one of those Upper Deck Icons manu-letters and the other will be something awesome. When I say awesome, I mean a printers plate, an octo-relic, a couple auto/relics and other goodies along those lines.

How it will work:

Once I have a final number of participants, I will post up a selection of cards and you will choose them in the order you were picked. To pick the names, I will use that fancy random.org to randomize all the names and get a picking order from that. You will need to check the blog here fairly often to keep up with what is going on. It'll all work better once I start, I have a tough time explaining things here.

So sign up now and let me know so I can add you to the list below here.

1-Kevin (money in mail)
2-Axemanohio (Tim, paid)
3-BrooklynMet (Jason, paid)
4-Potch (Darren, paid)
5-Anonymous Ryan (paid)
6-Nathan (paid)
7-Chris (paid)
8-Greg (GCA, paid)
9-Commishbob (Robert, paid)
10-BABenny (Mike, paid)
11-Thingsarefunnerhere (Julie, paid)
12-hiflew (Johnny, in-transit)
13-(held for wickedortega)

I have torn through my relics, or what little is left of them and have added a 13th and final slot. I simply do not have the cards to add any more after this but it's good to get as many as possible going here. Once Wicked joins the fray, I'll post up the first batch of cards and we can get choosing!!!

i've got it (group break update!)

The idea for what I want to do with the group break. For anyone interested in participating in what I went over yesterday, I figured out the best (I think) way to go about it. Let me go over the details again quick:

$25 for one slot. Each slot contains 11 (yes, I upped it one more) cards. You may purchase more than one slot, up to two (down from three).

Here is the breakdown of cards:

3 autos, with at least one being on-card.

8 relics, one will be serial numbered and one will be a multi relic (anywhere from two to four pieces).

Ok, that is what I went over yesterday, essentially. Now the new idea. What I will do is post up a scan of X amount of cards (X being the number of slots sold). Those who are in will choose a card from those cards and it will pass to the next person. So an example being if I fill 7 slots, I'll post a scan of seven cards, randomize the list of the 7 participants and have you each pick one in that random order until the cards are gone. I'll randomize a list of the participants for each round so its fair to everyone.

There will be six rounds, here is what you will choose:

The on-card auto
The numbered relic
The multi-relic
Three regular relics

The rest will be random. I figure there is a good amount of surprise still plus it would eliminate any need for trading, unless you do decide to trade amongst yourselves, but let me know of any changes. I suppose this way is kind of draft-y but I feel it works. Let me know what you think and if you are interested and I'll take it from there.

group break of sorts?

Ok, I have never hosted a group break but I have participated in a few. I had an idea and I would like to see how many of you would be on board. I was thinking about it all day at work, with what I can do, how I can do it, etc. Let me lay it out for you. Now, I'm not sure if this has been done yet but maybe it has. Normally a group break consists of boxes being opened up, cards being sorted out by team and such. I was thinking of something along the lines of this:

A $25 per slot, 10 card lot.

Each lot would contain three autos and seven relics randomly chosen.
I would break it down like this:

3 autos: at least one on-card auto, the other two stickers (or a combo thereof)
7 relics: at least one numbered relic and one relic that is two or more pieces. The other 5 relics would be basic relics or maybe even more numbered ones but I can at least guarantee one per slot.

Ten cards for $25, breaking it down to $2.50 per card, cheaper than at most shows. I was thinking ten slots, with multiples available if you'd like (I think up to three slots for one person if they wanted). If I were to fill all ten, I would add an additional card but not just anything, something awesome like auto/relics or that octo-relic (its crazy, both sides have 4 pieces each!) I have. Either way, I would definitely make it worth the $25. I have many great cards to contribute to this idea and I think I would start with a minimum of four people. If I get more, great and better for you guys. Let me know what you think and if it takes off with enough people I'll post up details and everything. Let me know!

**Update: here are some of the cards that will be included:

the missing, the list and the free

Well now, here is a story about the mail. USPS mail to be exact. I'll start when it all began; in mid April. I posted up a recent box bust of 2009 Upper Deck Icons, a set that I have grabbed a few boxes of and had some good luck with. In this particular box, I happened upon two Dodger autos, one of Don Newcombe and one of Matt Kemp. The Kemp actually turned out to be a double so it was up for grabs (I still have the other and it too, may be up for grabs if someone wants it), and being the big Dodger fan that he is, Greg from Plaschke, thy sweater is argyle contacted me about a potential trade. We went back and forth for a few days then he hit me with this:

He asked if I was interested and of course, I was. So off our cards went, on their adventure across the country to their new homes. Well fast forward about a week and he has his card but I haven't gotten mine. I figured maybe he got busy and wasn't able to send right away and I just waited a little more. Fast forward a few more weeks and now we're in late May. Certainly the card should have arrived by now and in fact, Greg had even asked if I had gotten it. But I hadn't. He checked the tracking number and it said it was delivered on a Monday. A Monday in which I had gotten no mail, which is unusual, as we get plenty of junk mail. I did have to go to the post office on that Saturday and I inquired about where this package could be. I had the tracking number and they looked it up and said it had been delivered. I replied that I didn't get ANY mail that day, never mind a package. They had a phone number I could call blah blah blah, whatever. Apparently my mail carrier has Mondays and Thursdays off. Fair enough but the carrier on those days "doesn't deliver packages", and leaves them for the regular. WTF? I thought as a mail carrier you deliver everything not just what you want. Well anyway, I got a package in the mail yesterday and Ricky was inside. Postmarked April 26th, arriving June 7th. Thats some snail mail! It took a while but thanks for the trade Greg, and I'm sure next trade will go smoother.

The list, the list. I have finished compiling the list of legend short print variations on baseballcardpedia. All 25 have been found on eBay and I posted them up on here. Here is the list though, so I can discuss further:

355 Bob Feller
375 Andre Dawson
393 Jim Palmer
405 Ryne Sandberg
410 Reggie Jackson
425 Johnny Mize
435 Pee Wee Reese
450 Mickey Mantle
460 Robin Roberts
480 Roberto Alomar
490 Duke Snider
505 Greg Maddux
510 Hank Aaron
516 Tom Seaver
530 Sandy Koufax
570 Bert Blyleven
590 Juan Marichal
600 John Smoltz
626 Nolan Ryan
630 Joe Morgan
640 Eddie Mathews
645 Bob Gibson
650 Frank Robinson
651 Eddie Murray
660 Brooks Robinson

Lots of Orioles and Braves this time around. New additions are Maddux, Smoltz, Alomar (as a Jay!), Blyleven and Feller. I was right about the Alomar, Snider and Sandberg. Some good names on that list and teams too. Reggie is an A, Ryan is an Angel and Dawson is an Expo. Good to see. Again, if anyone pulls these I will trade well for them, just let me know and I'll offer up something good in return.

Now, the free stuff. I have some smaller sets and unopened packs for a reader who wants them. The sets are 1987-1989 Fleer Traded, 1992 Topps Traded and a 1993 Upper Deck All Star Fan Fest set. The packs are 1990 Upper Deck and rack packs of 1986 Topps and 1990 Donruss (one of each). One reader takes all, first to comment gets it.

no idea what took so long

...to get in on these sets. The Conlon Collection is a massive showcase of early 1900's baseball. Seriously, what took me so long to pick these sets up? It has everything I look for in a set that focuses on older players. Excellent black and white photography by Charles Conlon and TONS of information on the card backs. When I say massive, I mean massive. They issued five sets annually from 1991 to 1995. The 91-94 sets each had 330 cards and they straight numbered them to 1320 (bigger than Upper Deck!) and the 1995 set had the endcap 110 cards, bringing the total set up to 1430. Thats a lot of baseball history there. As of now I have 1-990, 1991-93. I picked them up new and cheap on eBay and when I opened up the 1992 set, this card was on the outside:

Pretty cool, gold cards eh? What is this at the bottom:

Autos too? Cool. So check out what was hidden behind two of the gold cards:

A Johnny Mize auto. Yep, I just pulled a Hall of Fame auto from a 19 year old factory sealed set. Pretty friggin' sweet if you ask me. Weird marker they used for the auto though, reminds me of crayon, even though it is not.

I may try to get the 1994 and 1995 sets but they tend to carry a premium online due to their scarcity. I remember having some of these when I was younger but probably dismissed them because they were "a bunch of old guys", and I wanted anything Topps Gold (seriously, I was a fiend for 1992 Topps Gold). Besides, where else can I get a card of Rabbit Maranville?

Tomorrow I will tell the tale of a card that went on a journey that I thought he may never reach home. Plus I'll give something away. Stay tuned.

aww geez...

I.

Am.

A.

Dummy.

Seriously. I posted a little while back a post containing nothing but three numbers. 6, 5, and 11. Well, some of you correctly guessed it meant a date. It totally did. It came yesterday and I totally forgot to post ANYTHING. Something would have been good. Yesterday marks the one year anniversary of this blog being first published. My first foray into this collecting community. One year....


...and I totally botched it. Well, that doesn't mean that I can't still celebrate! Over the course of this week, I plan on giving some stuff away, to you, the loyal readers. You know how much I like giving stuff away. Plus it cleans out some of my collection. I haven't decided what will go first but stay tuned for more on the giveaway at some point probably tomorrow.

In other news, my quest for the 2009-2011 Topps legend variations is coming along quite well. I believe I have more than half of 2010, and I'm only missing three from 2011 (with two on the way). I totally got a bunch of them in the mailbox today from you guys and my collection and I thank you greatly. Along those lines, the series 2 legends have been popping up on eBay since yesterday. I've been keeping up with them and adding them to baseballcardpedia when I notice new ones. The sparkle variations are back too so check your base cards! Here is the list of legends so far:

405 Ryne Sandberg

410 Reggie Jackson (A's)

435 Pee Wee Reese

450 Mickey Mantle

510 Hank Aaron

516 Tom Seaver

530 Sandy Koufax

Looks like I was right on a few (Mantle, Sandberg, Koufax and Reese). I wasn't sure if Hank would be in series 2 or Update but I didn't mention him because he was right on the sell sheets. He, along with Koufax, are two of the best additions so far. Mantle is a big 'duh' for Topps and obviously, we're not surprised he is included. Its not enough to give him a base card in every set released (I'm surprised they didn't find a minor league picture of him and put him in Pro Debut) but he needs a short print too. Of course. Anyway, there are 18 more to find, so keep an eye on baseballcardpedia if you care to keep tabs on who's in and who's not.

well...who was it?

Yep, not eight minutes after my post went up yesterday, was the signature guessed. Wickedortega guessed quick and correct (the man knows his stuff), and has won an yet-to-be-determined prize. It'll be cool though. I am holding in the picture above a bat signed by Willie himself. Personally, I feel the two best living players to sign a bat would be Hank Aaron and Willie Mays. I'm counting it strictly on home runs though. No, Barry does not (and will not ever) count in my book. Hank is the true Home Run King. Then the Babe, then Willie. Griffey would be a fantastic bat to have signed too. Hmm... So yeah, a new piece of memorabilia for the very small collection. Nothing else but those signed baseballs and that Vernon Wells mini helmet. It's a start though.

Also on my mind as I write this, is that the 2011 Topps Update sell sheets are live (see bdj610's Topps Baseball Card Blog for more details) and I am kinda excited for it. Yes, more of the same but the new parallels look cool, although I won't be chasing them, they would be nice to get. The best part? The Hank Aaron veteran short print that was shown! Finally Hank joins the fray. I know they do it based on who they have the license for but its about time. Who else can we hope for in series two and Update?

Lets run down the list:

Hopefuls:

Roberto Clemente
Mark Fidrych
Duke Snider
Cal Ripken Jr.
Ryne Sandberg
Gary Carter
Al Kaline
Don Mattingly
Barry Larkin
Roberto Alomar (now that he's in the HoF, and an SP as a Jay would rule!)
Mike Piazza (hey, they had Frank Thomas in series 1)


Probables:

Sandy Koufax
Pee Wee Reese
Robin Roberts
Mickey Mantle (they did it with series 2 in 2010...)

Well, we'll just have to wait a week for series 2 and until October for Update to see who they add in there. I know the series 2 sell sheet showed Nolan Ryan (awesome) and another Babe Ruth (huh?). Personally, I'd love to see all these guys in there but Topps may think otherwise. I am going based on who had autos in series 1 (well, not all these guys had autos), and those who I'd really like to see.

OH...and the best part. If you noticed on the Update sell sheet about the two new parallels (the hope diamond and cognac) they speak of the rest of the 709 cards in series 1 and 2 will be available in those colors too. 709 total minus the 660 regular cards equals 49. These 49 are for the short print legend variations from series 1 and 2. Meaning I finally got my answer, that there are only 24 short prints in series 1 and the 25 will be series 2. Weird way to get my answer but there it is.