Building From Scratch - Player Pick-Ups

I bet know I have several of the cards I've picked up this month for my new player collections. Other than really-low numbered inserts, memorabilias, and autograph cards, I have nearly every Nolan Ryan and Tony Gwynn card issued through about 2003. I have several of the other cards, too. But dangit, all those cards are in storage on the other side of the country. I need to remedy that situation. But I digress. And yes, I realize I start too many of my sentences with "but" and "and."

All these cards are fabulous cheap grabs from the Serramonte show this weekend. Most of them were picked up for a quarter or less!

 The sole Tony Gwynn I found this weekend is this nice insert from 2000 Pacific Vanguard. I picked it up first in hopes that it would fit in the Cardboard Zoo (I think I'm a little too proud of that name, but heck, I finally named that monster, so I'm going to use it), but since I already have a sample there, I knew it would be a pleasant addition to the Gwynn player collection. I may put this insert set together someday. I like the field dimensions.

 The Big Hurt, back when he made others feel the pain. The Leaf card is a 5th Anniversary reprint. Way to play the heritage card on your fifth set.

 I should have scanned that Upper Deck Pujols separately. The '07 UD set wasn't as good as the years around it (worst of the decade, really), but that is an awesome photo. Big Gay Al (couldn't help myself) with a look of cautious anticipation of a homerun, as the umpire and catcher watch a mammoth shot head for right center field. (What looks like) Verlander appears to have just opened his only Christmas present to find a bunny costume.  Beautiful. I want that in poster form on my wall. I owned an extra of the 2011 Topps card but I traded it to a set builder before I started this collection, but for a quarter I was glad to bring another copy home.

 There weren't many Griffey cards in the quarter boxes. I found a few of these shiny Bowman's Best from 2007, and grabbed a Griffey for his collection.

 I saw plenty of those 1990 Topps cards #2-5, one for every team, but no #1. I also saw plenty of ugly Donruss, Fleer, and Score. I saw several cards from the 1991(ish) Pacific Nolan Ryan set that ended up around 300 cards. This 1994 card was the only one I was inspired to buy.

 Ichiro runs! Ichiro hits! Hey, that's a Rookie Cup card, and a shiny card! It's easy to find cards like this of Ichiro. Inserts, on the other hand, are few and far between.

 This isn't the only hit I bought this weekend, but it's the only one you'll see on this blog this week from the weekend. The others go to the Zoo, and will show up eventually. Mr. 40-40, at his finest, and with the Rays. The A's card is from Mother's Cookies, and while it isn't easy to tell, Mothers Cookies cards in the 1980s and early '90s had rounded corners and all looked about the same. Without looking at the back, there's no way to really know what set this card is from. It's the Jose Canseco set. Yep, four cards, all devoted to half of the Bash Brothers.

 Speaking of the A's, 1980's style Rickey Henderson wasn't too hard to find. There weren't any rookies in the quarter box. Oh well.

 Some call him overrated, and I kind of agree in some respects. He put out decent numbers, but if he wasn't so stubborn and took a day off every once in a while he wouldn't have been such a legend. It's not like he was...

 Christy Mathewson put up amazing numbers. He holds 4th place in career wins, 3rd place in career shutouts, 8th place in career ERA, tied for 7th in shutouts in a season, and threw two no-hitters. He has the second-most wins in a season among pitchers after 1900. Yes, that was back in the dead-ball era, when pitchers were in 40 or more games per year. His 37-win season saw him appear in 56 games.

 Speaking of the good-old days, here's a couple HOFers from the start of professional baseball. Chadwick was the "father of baseball" and is pictured on some 1980s overproduced oddball card. Johnson was the founder and first president of the American League. He's pictured on an original, vintage 1961 Fleer card.

 You're not seeing double. Here's a couple more Mothers Cookies cards, this time of Tony La Russa for a couple of his Manager of the Year awards.

The Gloves have come off! Gold Gloves, that is. All four of these guys won Gold Gloves and these cards will commemorate that in my collection. The Millan and Pinson are both vintage grabs, which I'm very happy for! For many of the players left in the awards/leaders collection, vintage may be the only way to go.

Last, in honor of the 1964 World Series, this vintage 1965 Topps card entitled "The Cards Celebrate." Maybe the Cards will win the World Series in a couple years and the card can be reproduced as is, just with modern Cardinals. Has that happened since the Heritage brand started?

The end.