Seven Bucks Goes a Long Way Part Eight (Holiday Edition)

 Saturday, February 12 is Lincoln's birthday, and if you live in Connecticut, Illinois, Missouri, or New York, Friday the 11th is a state holiday observing his birthday. But that's not the holiday I'm talking about.

Sunday the 13th will be the Super Bowl. I doubt I'll be watching - I'm not sure how to even watch it here in Japan, and I've never really cared much for football. 

Of course, Monday is Valentine's Day. But that's not really a holiday. I might get some chocolate from my female students over the next week or two, but again, not a holiday.

Nope, February 11 is National Foundation Day here in Japan. (I'm sure you saw that coming.) Usually, that holiday ends up moved to the nearest Monday to make a three-day weekend for some folks, but I am already off on Mondays so I don't get the day off. But this year, it's on Friday.

The holiday commemorates the accession date of the first Emperor of Japan, way back in 660 BC. It became a national holiday in the Meiji period to boost loyalty to the national government over any regional loyalties. And you can read the rest if you'd like.

So, February 11 is a holiday, and I get the day off! I have no plans, but I might get out and do some exploring. We had our first really big snow of the year on Thursday. The snow is more than ankle-deep, up to 20 centimeters. The roads are pretty clear, so going out tomorrow sounds like a possibility. But I would like to go somewhere.

Here are the cards from the eighth pack. Fewer cards here, but they're all Chrome cards. Thicker cards means fewer cards can fit inside the pack, naturally.

There are 28 cards in this pack, and 22 of them are 2019 Topps Chrome. Looks like we'll start off with just a need it, got it routine.

Got it. Got it.

Got it. Need it.

Got it. Got it.

Got it. Need it.

Got it. Got it.

Need it. Got it.

Got it. Got it.

Got it. Got it.

Need it. Got it.

Got it. Need it.

Got it. Got it.

Duplicates. And I need neither. 

Ah, finally, some interesting cards!  I don't need these, but it's nice to see some color behind the players. 

And two more. Neither card here is needed either. But look how the background pops on the Schwarber since it's a Refractor. In fact, it scans better than it looks in person!

Well, of the 28 cards here, I only needed five. Two went to the archives, with the other three heading to the awards collection. I'm not too surprised, honestly, but it has been a depressing couple of packs.

Until next time...

The Seventh Part of Seven Bucks which Went a Long Way

 I made gyoza (Japanese version of dumplings) Monday night, for the first time. They turned out pretty good despite not having any sauce to put on them. Usually, gyoza in Japan are dipped in a mixture of soy sauce, vinegar, and chili oil. And usually, people eat gyoza as a side dish to a bowl of ramen. But I just had the gyoza and some crackers and wasabi cheese dip. Good times.

So let's go on to the next pack of cards.

Lots of horizontal cards here. I can group them together better! I think there's a shirtless guy standing above Maile in the stands. 

Of the above seven cards, I only need the two Brandons. Not the best start.

And for the four preceding cards, only Paulo Orlando heads to my collection.

I don't need either of these cards, but I always enjoy throwback uniforms.

Gomez is a keeper. There really isn't much to say about 2017 Topps. 

Two more from '17. And one last card for my collection: the Ohlman.

Now with the 2016s. Duda is a keeper, so a good start here.

Two Tigers, with reversed card designs, side by side. This scan worked out well. And by a stroke of luck, I need both cards.

These two O's: I don't need them.

These two 2015 Topps cards: I don't need them. But hey, there's another Tiger.

Mike Piazza and Brooks Robinson in Topps Fire. The Robinson card doesn't have a copyright date. I don't need these, but I'll hold on to them just in case.

Let's go horizontal one more time. The Ryan Zimmerman card is a great shot. Unfortunately, the trend in this pack is cards I don't need.

I do need the Lyle Overbay, but Javier Medina hasn't made it to the Majors.

I always look forward to Allen & Ginter for the mix of non-baseball subjects, including the topical inserts. While I don't collect every insert set, I still enjoy finding good cards for my type collection. I already have a Revolutionary Battles card, but it's fun seeing other cards from the set.  Luckily, I do need the Bauers card.

A couple regular A&Gs. I've already seen Gordon and Trumbo, and I need neither for my collection.

We'll finish this lackluster pack off with some Topps Bunt. I really dislike Topps using the name of their online card platform in a regular set. It made for a good bit of confusion and looking for the cards on eBay was challenging. I enjoyed the inserts and the low cost (it's nice to have more than one budget option, especially when that option is just a cheaper version of flagship); I just hated the name. I guess Bunt became Big League, which was a pretty nice set as well. Anyways, I need the Matz but not the Severino. 

If I had scanned these two in opposite order, I think it would have looked like they were standing on a pedestal. Side by side, though, these two cards look decent. I like the photo of Dee Gordon, even though I don't need his card. I don't need the Addison Russell, either.

Well, that wraps up another pack. This one was really lackluster in my opinion. I managed to save 10 archives cards and one awards card, plus two keep-for-now retired players. Overall, though, there was nothing really exciting in this pack. Sure, there were a couple inserts, and I don't expect much out of these cards to begin with, but there just wasn't anything really standing out to me. Let's see what happens tomorrow.

Seven Bucks Goes a Long Way for the Sixth Time

With twelve "packs" of 35-or-so cards each, I ended up spending about fifty cents per pack, or just over a penny a card. Not every card is a winner, as we saw yesterday. I'm assuming you have been reading, or at least skimming, every post. Or perhaps not. Well, go have a look, then. Just look at this month's posts for the other five packs I've posted so far. I'll wait.

So, here is the sixth pack of cards.

Eloy Jimenez"s Certified card comes from Panini Chronicles, a release I really enjoy from Panini, thanks to all the variety. I don't actually need this card, but it's nice to have anyway. Kyle Tucker's Bowman Platinum is needed though. Did you know that he was on the 2021 All MLB Second Team? (Is that how you say that?) I guess that makes him second-best at his position last year.

These two are from 2017 Topps and are promos for the Rediscover Topps buyback program. And flagship Topps. And Topps Bunt. And Topps Now. I don't need any Jackie or Hank cards these days, and these two particular cards aren't really valuable. But I doubt I'll ever own the actual cards these are reprints of, and I'm sure I can use them somewhere in the future. They'll go into the keep-for-now stack.

I wish Topps would put a little Topps Archives logo on the front of these cards. Just tiny "archives" print as part of the topps logo in the corner, there. At least the copyright line for Oh's card mentions Topps Archives. I need the Oh card, anyway. I don't need Rosario.

I already put aside the much more vibrant Topps Fire card I got of Ortiz, so this Bowman blahness will be added to the reject pile. Jamie Moyer is one of those Rediscover Topps buyback cards, as you can tell from the stamp along the side. By the time this card was printed, Jamie Moyer was already playing his sixth professional season. He wouldn't retire until the year 2042, as an 80 year old. I don't need Moyer either, but I might put together a small collection to commemorate his longevity, so this will go into the keep-for-now pile.

When I Googled Tim Flannery's name, I didn't get the baseball player. Instead, the top search results are all for an Australian scientist. I need Flannery's card, despite him being identified as an analyst here. As for Beltran, I've ended up with so many of his cards over the years that I am nearly sick of him. Sorry, Carlos. 

2007 Finest was probably one of the best set designs for colored refractors. Lots of white to be colorized. Sadly, neither of these cards will stay in my collection.

This Sandy Koufax comes from Archives. The Giancarlo Stanton card is an insert from Opening Day. While the Opening Day logo on the front says 2016, the card has a 2015 copyright. I don't recall Opening Day coming out in December. Baseballcardpedia says it came out in March. Why the early copyright date? I don't need either card, but I'll keep Koufax just in case.

Rafael Devers is in the "Prospects" subset of 2015 Elite Extra Edition. Orlando Hernandez is from 2000 Fleer Showcase. Both cards are foil cards, but Hernandez really scans brightly. I don't need the glowy Hernandez, but Devers is a keeper for being on that All-MLB team with Tucker.

Chipper Jones is one of the players I collect, but I don't need this card. I don't need Dee, either.

A couple recent Bowman cards for you. Edmundo Sosa, on the left, looks like a little leaguer here. If this picture was taken in 2014 (it's a 2015 card), he would have been 18 at the time. Sosa made his debut in 2018, and I need his card. Dominic Smith hit the majors in 2017, and this is a lovely pre-rookie mega box parallel from early 2017 Bowman Chrome, which I need for my type collection!

This vertical stack of horizontal cards feature at least two great players. Combo cards don't have much of a place in my collection, though, and I still have plenty of David Ortiz cards. 600 doubles is a lot.

Gregorius didn't have such a good year last year. Neither did Zimmermann. It appears that Zimmermann has hung up his cleats for good. I need the Didi but not the Jordan.

Why are the designs different on these two 2019 Bowman Topps Holiday cards? The numbering on the back is identical (TH-XX). The only thing I can figure is that Hampson is a major leaguer while Gorman isn't. I need Hampson, but not Gorman, at least until he makes his MLB debut.

Colin Moran is a needed card, but we've seen Tommy Pham before, and he isn't needed.

Both Christin Stewart and Willy Adames made their debut in 2018, but Adames got his RC logo in 2018, and Stewart didn't. But, thankfully, both of these cards have a home in my collection.

Two more Chrome cards. Gurriel Jr. was another 2018 rookie, and I need his card. Alcantara wasn't, and on an unrelated note, I don't need his card. 

Which brings us to the final two cards. Miguel Sano's Bowman's Best card is a refractor, but I don't need it for the type collection. The Roger Clemens insert from 2016 Bowman Draft is another card I already have represented in the type collection. Two decent cards here, but neither needed. So we end on a sad note this time.

Overall, I needed 11 cards - nine for my archives and two for awards. I also put aside four more cards. Eighteen cards definitely have no place in my collection now, but even with just 11 cards, I feel like this was a worthwhile pack.

Until next time!