Seven Bucks Goes a Long Way - Pack Five

 I should have saved this entire post series for Christmas. While I know there are no pay-off-my-mortgage types of cards here, it definitely would have been a fun 12 Packs of Christmas series. Since this is the fifth pack, should I expect five golden rings? I'm sure at least five of the players in this stack of 33 cards have at least one World Series ring. I ain't doin' no research to find out, but you're welcome to figure it out if you wish.

This is the first post in this series I'm writing at least a day ahead of time, so I can't tell you how my day went. But my plans included going to McDonald's for lunch. Thanks to bad weather, the pandemic, and I believe some labor issues, fried potatoes have been in short supply here. For more than a month, only small-size French fries have been available at McDonald's, even for the value meals (or sets, as they call them). Japan has potatoes; Hokkaido is known for its spuds. But McDonald's uses Idaho potatoes here, so they've been stuck without starches to peel. Other restaurants have had no such problems, because they use local taters, and some restaurants have even offered double-size fries for the price of regular fries. 

Well, all that ended on Monday, as McDonald's has said they've fixed their supply chain issues. So I'm planning to get my favorite meal - a double cheeseburger set with fries and a Coke. It's the small things in life I look forward to, huh? (Edit before the post goes live - got my meal and a spicy chicken sandwich, too. Those things have a really good spicy sauce. The fries were delicious and fresh from the fryer! It was definitely worth the short walk.)

Speaking of small things, let's look at some 2.5" x 3.5" pieces of cardboard.

Adrian Beltre was so much fun to watch on the field. As for the EX card, I have mixed feelings. They definitely are interesting - one year, the card image was die cut and put on top of a clear plastic card, which made it difficult to sort, but they looked great. In this 2000 card, the same premise is there, but the card doesn't have the die-cut top layer and the plastic is opaque. The blue background looks almost holographic. The back has the same photo of Hernandez, but using a reverse negative, which is a neat touch. I don't need the Beltre, but I might hold on to the Hernandez just as a reminder about the set, until I can check out some other card backs to see what the reverse negative images look like.

Ryan Braun may end up with an asterisk next to his name, but he is one of the best Brewers players of all time. Jason Heyward was supposed to be a superstar with Atlanta, and is pretty good with a glove, but his .259 career batting average says otherwise. I don't need either of these cards.

Not much to say about Bowman. The Ordonez is gold, but I don't need these cards either.

Again, not much to say. Josh Hader got a couple awards and participated in a no-hitter in 2021; his card is headed to my no-hit collection - the first card in this pack that I need.

While Inception is basically a throwaway product in my mind (it has no substance, just serving to deliver autograph and relic cards), Stadium Club's resurgence is a welcome occurrence. I love quality photography. One of my biggest gripes about flagship Topps is the usually-stale photography. The most interesting photos end up as SPs, or SSPs, or SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSPs. It's irritating. I don't need these cards, though. Moving on.

I get that, with Heritage at least, Topps is trying to replicate the original set as much as possible - poses, variations, etc. But I wish Archives would use interesting action photography instead of leftover photos from the Heritage shoots. I need the Nido, at least.

Wouldn't it be cool to spot some giant gas guzzling 1970s Oldsmobile or Chevy parked behind some of the players in Heritage's cards? These cards are discards.

Ah! My cards are on Fire! I don't need the Zimmerman. Did you know there was a second Jordan Zimmerman to play in the MLB, only in 1999? I do need this Jack Flaherty card, though.

I don't need either of these cards right now. But David Ortiz has been elected to the Hall of Fame (congratulations to him!), so I'll save this card for when I update the 2022 awards lists. Hopefully there will be 2022 awards lists... I guess there will at least be a Hall of Fame list.

Speaking of Hall of Fame, hello Johnny Bench. I don't need either of these cards.

Each pack in this lot has been a great mix of different sets, but there is a lot of overlap between packs. There are 2018 Topps Chrome cards in basically every pack, and they have yet to entertain me as a set. But Trey Mancini won the Comeback Player of the Year award, so he's a keeper. Yoenis Cespedes did not win any awards this year, so he goes in the discard pile.

A very studious Adrian Beltre card, but not something I need. I do collect Beltre, and I think I'll keep this card for his little collection. Travis Shaw is a definite keeper for my archives collection.

Well, I don't need either of these guys. Moving on.

I don't need these cards, either. I like the background on the Murphy card. This type of shot isn't too original, but there's a great view of some of the retired numbers in Milwaukee. For now, Murphy survives. For now.

Another Taillon card. You'd think he was a superstar. I don't need either of these cards.

I don't need these cards, either. Berrios is another running-with-the-stadium-behind-him shot. This one is at his home stadium, but there are no distinguishing characteristics of the stadium in this photo, making it much less appealing than the Murphy above.

But there's one more good photo. Taylor Davis's card features a play at the plate against the Mets. Did you know that Taylor Davis batted .400 in 2021? Yep, he went 2 for 5 with the Pirates last year. As for the photo on the card, it comes from the September 14, 2017 game against the Mets. Jose Reyes is attempting to score in the top of the second inning from first on a double by Brandon Nimmo, but the throw beats Reyes by several steps. The ball, however, bounces off of Davis's glove and Reyes scores. The Mets would score six runs total in this game, but still lost to the Cubs, who plated 14.  I need this card for the archives, and it's a pretty good keeper.

Well, this particular pack didn't do so well for me. I had two cards for the awards and only four for the archives. I put aside four more that could be useful in the future, but in the end, only six of the cards here were needed.

Oh well. I'm off to bed to dream of French fries. Until next time...

Seven Bucks Goes a Long Way - The Fourth Part

 What a beautiful day we had today. It was literally freezing - it never got above 0 degrees - and I basically stayed in all day. A quick vacuum, a bit of straightening up, and a couple loads of laundry were about it for me. I even slept in, getting an extra hour and a half of shut-eye. I did go out for a short walk in the evening, strolling over to the strip mall area to get a drink and then back the other way to the small park a couple blocks behind my apartment. 

It's nice to just relax and have a do-nothing day, especially since doing almost anything here requires a good bit of walking in very cold weather. And so it was that I watched an entire season of South Park. But now, it's card time. What is in this, the fourth of twelve random packs of cards? Let's have a look-see, shall we?

Two Topps Archives cards. Hays and Mahle both debuted in 2017, and both are needed in my collection! A great start! Are these rejected photos from Heritage?

Two nice Gallery cards, but unfortunately I need neither.

Trea Turner has become a pretty good player - he was named to the second All-MLB team in 2021, and hit for the cycle last year as well. Brent Honeywell got his MLB debut in '21, so if he's the next Scherzer or Kershaw I might be rich. I doubt it... but both cards are needed!

What are your thoughts on Fire? Sisco is almost invisible with his firey background. But I need both of these cards!

I enjoy Tek. It's a really unique set - different card stock, and variations based on design instead of color or photos.But I don't need either card. These Bowman Tek cards feature prospects; Long had his debut but I already have a card for him, and Faedo has not set foot on the mound in a Major League game.

Brock Holt. What a name. I need his card for my collection, though. On the other hand, Jim Edmonds is not needed in my collection, so he goes in the reject pile, unfortunately.

A couple red-shirted batters. Calhoun is needed. I need a lot of players who made their debut in the past dozen years or so. Eric Davis, on the other hand, is retro, and I already have all the cards I need of him.

I don't know why, but I like Kluber. Perhaps I'll look for something nice of his. I don't need this card, but AJ Pollock heads to my collection. It's one of those foil hot box parallels, not that it made a difference to me... other than it's nice.

Both of these cards are needed!

Really, nothing special to say about Gypsy Queen right now. I need the DeJong, but not the Goodrum. I could use some good rum, though. Or perhaps just a bottle of Bailey's or plum liquor.

I don't need Taillon, but I need Richards.

Vertical scan! Bring on the RCs. These two 2016 RCs are needed. 

Two more rookies, two more needed cards.

And another two needed rookies!

And two more two-for-two! The Jungmann is an Opening Day card, so whatever.

And one more RC; I need that Tommy Joseph card. Kluber, in this pack for the second time, is not needed, for the second time.

Let's change years, but stick with rookies. Because there are a lot of rookies in these packs. And I need both of these cards.

I need the Solis, but I have a Carasiti card already. 

And two more 2017s. Jorge Soler was the 2021 World Series MVP! I'll be keeping this card. Senzatela is still a starter for the Rockies, but I don't need his card.

The highlight of this pack is this Topps Rookie History card of Jeff Bagwell. It comes from 2018 Topps Archives, and this copy is numbered 004/150. Ooh! The serial number is the same as the card number! eBay 1/1! Being numbered out of 150, this is the purple parallel. The purple foil is barely purple, but it is purple. And I need it - the first type collection card from this box of cards.

We finished on a high note this time, and did really well overall in this pack! Only 12 cards didn't make the cut, with one card for the type collection, one for the awards, and a whopping 24 cards headed to my archives collection.

Until next time...

Seven Bucks Goes a Long Way Part Three

It's the weekend! These days, that just means I'll be chilling out in the neighborhood. Hopefully I can crank out a bunch of posts at once instead of trying to write these as I fall asleep. I kid you not. After uploading all the pictures below, I closed my eyes for a second, and woke up when a reminder alarm went off on my phone.

So let's have a look at today's bag, shall we? If you want to see the rest, just have a look at my post history for this month.

We'll kick off with two Topps Gallery rookies. I do love me some Gallery! I guess I should look into getting the 2021 set. Tyler Wade is a keeper for the Archives.

Castro and LeBlanc have been around for quite a while. I remember when Castro was doing pretty well in Chicago, though neither have really become stars. Unfortunately, I don't need either of these cards.

More Chrome. I've always felt that Chrome base cards just don't look good. The scanner doesn't do a good job of picking up the backgrounds, but the extremely blurry backgrounds don't really show up in person, either. A sharper background in the Chrome cards might make these more attractive. Villar is a need in my Archives collection.

Continuing my rant, Chrome cards look much nicer in refractor form, but with a sharper background may be even better. It's the vibrant backgrounds in Finest that I really enjoy as refractors. Davies was a part of the no-hitter shenanigans this year, so he's off to my Awards collection.

Two horizontal cards. Hunter Pence has been seen before, but not Wheeler. This is my first card of his other than complete sets, so he's off to the Archives!

Okay, let's go Gypsy Queen again. The backgrounds on GQ are much easier to see - the ads on the wall behind Keller, the dugout, players and fans behind Abreu. They aren't in focus, but there is contrast and definition.  And both of these cards are off to the Archives.

Sean Manaea? Do you remember him? I don't, even being a (detached) A's fan, and he having thrown a no-hitter in 2018. He is still playing for Oakland, too. Inciarte I've heard of, and I need that card. Here's an interesting note. The back of Inciarte's card has a small cartoon which states, "Barry Bonds HR'd on April 13 in five straight years." While that is an interesting bit of trivia, what really piqued my interest is that my mother's birthday is April 13th. 

Did you know Charlie Morton is the second Charlie Morton to play in the Major Leagues? Charlie Morton played 88 games over four seasons from 1882-1885 and also managed for two of those years; he was involved in a decent bit of early baseball history. This Charlie Morton, though, is a needed card for the Archives. Urena is not.

Another Wade LeBlanc? Do you remember Bowman Chunks cards? These are relic card-thickness parallels used to trick pack searchers. Nowadays, companies just stick blank cards in there. Those blank cards are pretty neat, though. Chien Ming Wang had a long career, and now coaches in the CPBL. 

Both of these guys made their debut in 2018 (hence the RC logo on these 2019 Bowmans). Arcia is a needed card.

Fisher debuted in 2017, and this is his 2014 Bowman Draft card, so if for some reason he makes it huge, I got it! Checking out Boyer's stats on this 2015 Topps card, he had a good rookie season, with a 3.11 ERA. And then, the next year, managed a 40.50 ERA. He came back in 07 with 3.38 and then a 5.88 ERA in 2008, but then again registered a 40.60 ERA in 09 before getting sent to St. Louis and then Arizona. It seems like every couple of years or so he just completely loses it - in 2011 he had a 10.80 ERA and didn't see MLB action again until 2014 - where he had a 3.57 ERA. I actually saw him pitch four times in 2008. Both of these cards are headed to the Archives.

Zack Wheeler and Hunter Pence again. I didn't intentionally scan these two cards together. Pence wasn't needed before, and isn't needed here, either. But Wheeler was named to the second All-MLB Team in 2021, so I need this card for that award.

I love seeing those RC logos. Why? Because it means I am more likely to need that card. I didn't need the Tyler White, but I do need the Purke.

I forgot to rotate this scan. Oops! Here are two pitchers, from the same set, both on horizontal cards in the same basic pose. Both with two first names. Remember Reid Ryan? The spelling is different, but let's not be picky.  I don't need Pat Dean, but Cody Reed is a keeper.

Another Reed! And another Dean! This time, Dean is the actual first name. I didn't scan these two together on purpose. I need both of these cards for the Archives, though.

Goeddel's photo is great. I just wish he wasn't playing in the middle of a fog bank. That card is off to the Archives. Hazelbaker, also playing in the fog (as all players in this set seem to be), isn't needed. Almost done..,

You're not seeing double. You're seeing doubles. This is the first (and hopefully only) case of getting a duplicate in the same pack, especially when I don't need either copy of the card. I do need the Bogaerts card because he won a Silver Slugger award last year.

As much as I like the Trumbo card, it feels almost cliche at this point. It is a great shot of the stadium, though I would think looking out down the right field line might be more iconic. I don't need either of these cards, but I'm going to hold on to Trumbo anyway to see if I can find it a home.

Finally, the best card of this pack, a Greg Maddux insert from Topps Gallery. Unfortunately, I don't need it. But it could end up in my Maddux player collection at some point. For now, it's off to the extras bin.

And that brings us to the end of the pack. Three of the cards are heading to my awards collections, and a very respectable 15 go to the archives, meaning this pack gave me 18 cards I needed. Plus that Trumbo. A good evening of card filing!

Until next time...