100 Pounds - 100 Cards - Card #24

Yesterday I showed a famous number 23, so today I’ll show a famous number 24. I’m out and about, so I have to rely on a picture of the card from my blog. It’s an old picture. In fact this card is no longer in it’s Beckett graded case. I paid $150 for this card back in 1998 or 1999 and then spent another $10-$15 to get it graded. I thought it was prefect, but it came back an 8.5. I broke it free years ago. I think I have at least 3 copies, maybe 4, of this card now.

100 Pounds - 100 Cards - Card #23

For card #23, I picked a famous number 23. This card was HUGE back in 1991. My Dad would occasionally by a box of cards and then as I would help him check things off his to do list, I would get a card per item. I got this card out of one of those packs. And then it got stolen. I think I know the kid who took it, but he denied it. It wasn’t until years later that I got another copy. I now have several. This particular one I picked up at a card show this past summer. I think it was a dollar, or like 12/$10 or something like that. I love that it’s in the hard plastic screw-down case, because that is so 90’s.

100 Pounds - 100 Cards - Card #22

Barely getting a post in today, but It still counts. This is a recent addition via a Facebook group. It came in a small lot of 4 cards, but this was the reason I bought the lot. I’ve been wanting an autographed card of Randy Johnson for a long time. It had to feature him as a Diamondback and I wanted it to be on card. This meets both criteria, but it’s not my favorite card design or photo. It will do for now though.

100 Pounds - 100 Cards - Card #21

I’m still going strong posting a card a day in my effort to showcase 100 of my favorite cards in celebration of me losing 100 pounds this year.

Card #21 arrived via eBay just recently. It’s a 1998 Flair Showcase Showpiece card of Travis Lee. It’s serial numbered on the back 073/100. I think I paid less than $5 shipped for it. I can’t imagine what this would have fetched back in 1998, especially in my neck of the woods. Travis Lee was huge here in Arizona. He was signed a year or so before the D-Backs started in 1998 and so the hype just kept building. He had a great rookie year, but never turned into the star that everyone thought he would be before getting traded.

I enjoy picking up rare cards of his from his time as a Diamondback at great prices. I did a video because the design shows better that way verses just a photo.

100 Pounds - 100 Cards - Card #20

This is a recent addition to my collection, but easily makes the top 100 cards in my collection. It’s a Sweet Spot Classics, Classic Signatures card of Don Mattingly.

My first Little League team was the Yankees and so they became my focus and nobody was bigger at the time than Don Mattingly. Ever since then I’ve been been a Mattingly fan. I got the chance to meet Mattingly and get him to sign a ball for me when he was managing in the Arizona Fall League.

When I saw this card was available as part of a small lot of Yankee autographs in a Facebook group, I jumped at it.

100 Pounds - 100 Cards - Card #19

Glad to see that posting from my phone didn’t impact the post. Might even make it a little faster to post. Card #19 in my quest to share 100 of my favorite card in honor of me losing 100 pounds this year is a 1962 Topps rookie card of Ken Hubbs. This seemed fitting following yesterdays 1961 Topps Roger Maris card.

You may or may not recognize Ken Hubbs. He won the 1962 National League Rookie of the Year Award playing second base for the Chicago Cubs, but died in a plane crash prior to the 1964 season. He was also the first rookie to win a Gold Glove Award.

100 Pounds - 100 Cards - Card #18

Hope everyone has had a great Christmas! I wish I had planned better and had a Christmas related card to post today, but I don’t.

Card #18 is a 1961 Topps Roger Maris. I love this card for several reasons. I bought this card as a teenager. I believe I got it at an auction at a card shop, but I’m not certain. This card would have been the card that every kid would have wanted as Maris and Mantle took on the Babe’s single season home run record during the summer of 1961. This card isn’t in great shape, but it’s not in horrible condition either. Someday I need to add the Mantle to my collection.

I’m posting this from my phone, so I’m not sure how it’s going to turn out.

100 Pounds - 100 Cards - Card #17

This card is on my list of 100 favorite cards because I love the way it captures the emotion of Luis Gonzalez as he celebrates his series winning hit in the 2001 World Series.

100 Pounds - 100 Cards - Card #16

I'm showing off 100 of my favorite cards in honor of me loosing 100 pounds recently.

Card #15 is a 2017 National League Wild Card game used base card autographed by Paul Goldschmidt. I took my two oldest boys to this game and it was probably the best game I've ever been to in person.

100 Pounds - 100 Cards - Card #14

I'm only at #14. Wow. This is going to take a while. I should have stopped loosing weight at 13 pounds. Card #14 is a base card from 2013 Five Star. It's numbered out of 75 though and is much rarer than the autographed version from this set.

100 Pounds - 100 Cards - Card #14

I recently lost 100 pounds and so in honor of that accomplishment, I'm sharing 100 of my favorite cards on my blog.

Card #14 is a 1969 Topps rookie card of Rollie Fingers. Not only is this a rookie card of a Hall of Famer, but I love that the young Rollie is without facial hair. Rollie is well known for his well manicured mustache.

In 2011 I went to the All-Star Fan Fest and met Rollie and had him sign a photo for me. The photo was of a young Rollie Fingers without a mustache. I asked him if he would draw a mustache in addition to signing the card. I don't think I was the first person to ask him that because he emphatically declined.

100 Pounds - 100 Cards - Card #13

It's late, but I still haven't missed a post. Card #13 is one of the few graded cards I have in my collection. I specifically bought this card graded because it has been faked and I wanted to make sure that I bought a legitimate copy. This 1992 Bowman Mariano Rivera card skyrocketed in popularity and price last year in anticipation of his Hall of Fame announcement. He was a great pitcher, but I still don't understand how he got 100% of the votes when Ken Griffey Jr. feel just short of perfection.

100 Pounds - 100 Cards - Card #12

In honor of me loosing 100 pounds, I'm posting 100 of my favorite cards in my collection. Today is Card #12 which is an Upper Deck A Piece of History 3000 Hit Club bat card.

Several years ago I decided to collect a bat card of every player in the 500 Home Run Club. When I finished that I set my sights on a bat card of every player in the 3000 Hit Club. I have a couple of these from the actual Upper Deck A Piece of History Set. I remember when they first produced these. They were super pricey. The Ruth and some of the other older players in the 500 Home Run and 3000 Hit Club sets are still fairly costly, but some of the newer guys are affordable and I actually pulled one myself from a box. Not this one, but you will see that card later in my countdown.

100 Pounds - 100 Cards - Card #11

I've made it through 10 days of posting, and I'm actually a bit surprised that I've made it a 10th of the way without missing a day. Let's see how far I can make it.

Card #11 is my well loved, 1969 Topps Reggie Jackson rookie card. I picked this up for the cost of a blaster box off. I'd love to know the story behind the writing on the card, but I suppose it will forever be a mystery.

This copy will do until I can add a better looking copy to my collection.

100 Pounds - 100 Cards - Card #10

I lost 100 pounds and so I'm in the process of sharing 100 of my favorite cards on my blog.

Yesterday was a 2011 Topps Update Mike Trout rookie card. Here's a card of one of Trout's teammates, Shohei Ohtani. Card #10 is a 2018 National Treasures card of Shohei Ohtani featuring a nice chunk of Ohtani's cleats.

I mentioned before that I don't care for non licensed products typically, and while the lack of logos on this cards is noticeable, it's not terrible.

100 Pounds - 100 Cards - Card #9

Yesterday I featured a Paul Goldschmidt card as part of my 100 favorite cards. Goldschmidt's rookie card is from the 2011 Topps Update set. Card #9 comes from that same set.

It's card #US175 and is a Mike Trout rookie card. I got this card this summer. It was part of a collection that I bought. I bought the collection because there was a bunch of 1986-87 Fleer Basketball cards (no Jordan), so this card was a complete surprise. In fact, this card was loose in a shoebox. Looks like the guy whose collection it was had bought maybe two packs of 2011 Update. The guy got lucky, and so did I. It in really good shape, like I said, considering that is was floating around a random shoebox full of other cards.

100 Pounds - 100 Cards - Card #8

You are going to see several Paul Goldschmidt cards among my 100 favorite cards in my collection because he has been the focus of my collecting for the past several years, but I'm going to try to spread them out and give you about once a week.

Here is a Topps Own the Name 1/1 of Goldschmidt featuring the letter D. I've got a few these Own the Name cards of Goldschmidt from various Topps products and years. Someday I'd like to put together his entire name. G O L D S C H M I D T. Kinda wish his name wasn't so long, but the challenge just makes it that much more fun!

100 Pounds - 100 Cards - Card #7

I've posted several vintage cards recently and you'll continue to see a lot more vintage cards on my list of my 100 favorite cards, but today is a combination of vintage and modern.

Card #7 is a 2017 Diamond Icons cut signature of Don Drysdale. It's numbered 4/4. I got this card on eBay a couple of years ago. As a kid I read a biography about Drysdale decided that someday I'd own his rookie card. You'll see that card later. Remember that this list isn't really in any particular order.

100 Pounds - 100 Cards - Card #6

I lost 100 pounds in 5 months and so now I'm showing off a favorite card every day for 100 days.

Yesterday was the various 1968 Topps Johnny Bench rookie cards I own or have owned and today Card #6 is another 1968 Topps card. This time it's a Nolan Ryan rookie card.

Just like the Hank Aaron rookie card I showcased as Card #1, I've dreamed about this card ever since seeing it in just about every Beckett magazine when I was a kid. I bought this card this past summer at a card show and love it. It's in rough shape, but I love it! Look at how young, Nolan Ryan looks. As a kid I was used to seeing a 40+ year old Nolan Ryan on tv and on cardboard in the early 1990's.

100 Pounds - 100 Cards - Card #5

Today will be card #5 out of 100 in honor of me losing 100 pounds over the last 5 months.

There have been a ton of great players to wear #5 over the years, but Johnny Bench is a Hall of Famer and often regarded as the greatest catcher of all-time, so I figure his 1968 Topps Rookie card is a good choice for #5.

I picked this one up at a card shop. I think I paid $60 for it. They had two at the time and the other was $90, but I actually thought this one was in better condition than the other one. After I bought it I asked the owner why the other one was priced higher. He looked at them side by side and couldn't come up with a reason.

I picked this one up in a Facebook group. This is the one I gave away as part of my contest this summer.

I got this one just recently off the app Offer Up. I paid $20 for a 4 card lot, with this being the main card. The others were in better condition, but this was the star. With that said, if I break it down by card, I'd say I paid $10 for this. I asked the guy about the X and he said he asked his dad about it and his dad said he just didn't like Ron Tompkins.Even with the X, I'm happy to have paid $10 for it.

100 Pounds - 100 Cards - Card #4

I lost 100 pounds, so I'm sharing 100 cards from my collection.

Up next is Card #4.

Yogi Berra was not only a great player, but he was one of the greatest characters that the game has ever seen. He also looks fantastic on cardboard. I've got a couple vintage cards of Berra that are in my top 100, so you'll see a few more. Some are in better shape than others, but all are pretty rough. I got this card 1951 Bowman and a 1952 Bowman at a card shop on the same day. Just like Yogi, this card has a lot of character from Berra's smile, to the classic NY on his hat and pinstripes, to the Grandstand sign in the background. 

100 Pounds - 100 Cards - Card #3

I lost 100 pounds over the past 5 months and so I'm sharing 100 of my favorite cards from my collection over the next 100 days.

They aren't in any particular order, sort of. Card #1 was my all-time favorite card and Card #2 happened to be a card numbered to 2. So I figured I could tie Card #3 to the number 3 pretty easily.

Here is a 2001 Upper Deck Hall of Famers bat card of the most famous #3 in all of baseball; Babe Ruth.

This was one of the last cards I needed for my 500 Home Run Club Bat Card Collection and one of the most expensive. I like the simple design of the card.

100 Pounds - 100 Cards - Card #2

In recognition of me losing 100 pounds over the previous 5 months, I'm going to share 100 of my favorite cards over a 100 day period.

In no particular order, here is Card #2.

I'm not a fan of unlicensed products because usually the lack of logos impacts has a negative impact on the card, but I love this National Treasures card featuring former Diamondback first baseman, Paul Goldschmidt. Panini's picture choice is perfect because the lack of logos has no impact on the card. The fact that the card features a jersey button and is numbered 2/2 is just icing on the cake!

If my memory is correct, I got this card for free. Let me explain. A few years ago I got an email from eBay with a promotion. If I sold a certain number of items I would get a $50 credit. I think it was 4 items to get $50, so I sold 4 cards and got the $50 credit. Then I made an offer on this card for $50 and it was accepted. 

100 Pounds - 100 Cards - Card #1

On July 8th I started a program called Naturally Slim and as of yesterday, December 7th, I've lost exactly 100 pounds.

In honor of loosing 100 pounds, I wanted to show off 100 of my favorite cards.

Every so often I get asked what my favorite card is in my collection. While it's hard picking a favorite child or card, we all know it can be done. So here is my favorite.

It's off centered, creased, and the corners are rounded, but I love it! The first "vintage" cards I every purchased as a kid were Hank Aaron's last cards as a player. It was a 1976 Topps Record Breaker card and his regular card from that set. So that made owning his rookie card even better!

The plan is to post a card a day and showcase 100 of my favorite cards. I'm not organized enough to do any type of countdown, but hopefully I'll be able to post a card each day.

Testing Out My New Laptop

My computer has been on the fritz for a while now and it's not the only reason that I haven't been blogging as much this year, but it doesn't help it either. On Black Friday I purchased a laptop and it arrived yesterday. You can probably guess which website I ordered it from based on how quickly it arrived.

This is my first post from my new laptop. Other than for work, I've never owned a laptop before, but I'm looking forward to it. Hopefully, in addition to being a lot faster, it will make blogging more convenient.

Alright, this wouldn't be a proper post without some cards.

How about this Allen & Ginter Double Rip card. I picked this up at my LCS a few months back for about $8, I think It was ripped, but included all three cards. I don't have the cards in front of me at the moment, so I can't remember what the first two are numbered out of, but the Adam Wainwright, mini mini card is numbered out of 2.

The Wainwright card is tiny. Not much bigger than a postage stamp. I imagine whoever pulled this card was ultimately disappointed with the end results. They probably had visions of more than $8 when it was first pulled from its pack. I don't collect any of the players featured, so the only reason I bought it was for the novelty of it being a Double Rip card.

Anyone out there pulled anything noteworthy from a Double Rip card?

Baseball, Hockey, and Basketball out of Football Packs!

I got an unexpected PWE in the mail from Zippy Zappy of the blog Torren 'Up Cards. In typical Zippy Zappy fashion, the return address was the L. Torrens Fan Club. The PWE contained two pack of 1990 Pro Set Football, but inside the packs, there were no football cards to be found, instead I pulled out a bunch of Jorge Posada cards and a few hockey and basketball cards.

I'm a Jorge Posada fan. I just really respect the guy as a player. In my opinion, catcher is the toughest position to play and this guy played 17 seasons at a high level. Not only was he good behind the plate, but he was pretty good at the plate as well.

Let's take a look at some of the Posada cards. First up is this 2009 Topps card featuring Posada putting on his shin guards. Not many cards out there that this type of "action" shot. I think it's cool!

One of the reasons I enjoy collecting Posada is that to me, he has an old-school feel. Check out this Topps 206 mini card. I could easily see this being Yogi Berra or Thurman Munson..

Topps did a good job capturing Posada in full catcher's gear on these 2008, 2007, 1999, and 2003 cards.

This 2002 Upper Deck Vintage card is stunning.

As if the card above wasn't enough, Upper Deck Vintage produced another gem of Posada that same year highlighting his solo shot in Game 3 of the ALDS which beat the A's. The picture though, does not have anything to do with his home run. We get a rare look at Posada's part in "The Flip". Jeter gets all the credit for the famed play, but if you watch it, Posada had to be in position and make a good tag all the while holding onto the ball in order to complete the play. I love this card!

I mentioned that Posada was a decent hitter. The 5 time all-star hit .273 lifetime and had 275 homers. Not too shabby career numbers.

These two cards (Bowman and Gypsy Queen), both from 2011, likely feature shots of Posada from the same at-bat against the Twins.

Zippy Zappy also included a few hockey and basketball cards. My oldest brother used to live in Vegas and became a huge Golden Knights fan. The moved recently, but but I enjoy being able to talk sports with my brother.

This cards is fantastic because of the Popeye cartoon in the background.

There was also a card of my hometown Coyotes. We actually went to a Coyotes game last week. They won 3-0 over the Kings. We got the tickets through my kids school and ended up only paying $5 per ticket. Each ticket had an $88 face value. 

It was my youngest's first hockey game and it was really cool to see how excited he was at the game!

The Coyotes are off to a good start and so were the Suns. In fact, the Suns started off red hot before losing 3 in a row. They are just above .500 right now, but that is a huge improvement over the last several years. Not only are they winning, but even when they lose, it's been fun to watch because they are competitive.

Cameron Johnson is off to a decent start, averaging about 9 points and 3 rebounds per game in limited minutes.

The hot start for the Suns was emphasized due to their starting center, and last year's number 1 overall draft pick, Deandre Ayton, being suspended for 25 games for using a masking agent after the first game of the season. New head coach Monty Williams has the rest of the team playing unbelievably in the big mans absence. We'll see how he fits in when he returns to the team in mid December.

Thanks for the cards Kenny!

Face Off

First and foremost, thank you to all who have served and who serve currently in the Armed Forces. I hope everyone enjoys this Veteran's Day!

This post was inspired by Section 36's comment on my last post.

In my post yesterday I featured these two cards with Juan Gone facing away from each other, but Section 36 commented that they always wanted both cards so they could face each other in a binder. I agree that they look much better facing each other.

If you collect sets, and store them in binders, what do you do with error and corrected cards? Two binder spots? Put them both in the same spot? The rarer version goes in it's own separate case? Separate binder for error cards? How do you store them?

Reverse. Reverse.

Here are a couple of cards that came out of a collection I bought within the last few months.

I had several copies of the one on the right previously, but I never had the one on the left before. It's the reverse negative version. I know it's not super rare or anything like that, but it was fun to add it to my collection.

Anyone think this was done on purpose considering the hobby love shown to the 1989 Upper Deck Dale Murphy reverse negative card?

Mattingly and 1993

It's been a while since my last post. It's been nearly two months. In the last 3 months, I've only posted three times. That will change.

Things have been busy, but things are always busy. No more excuses.

Over the past several months I've bought multiple collections off of Facebook Marketplace and Offer Up. Some have been big and some have been small. I pick out what I want to keep from each collection and then flip the rest. I guess I should say, I'm trying to flip the rest. I've had some success, but it's tough. It's fun though.

I've been lucky to get some really nice stuff in these collections, but I also really enjoy finding junk wax cards that I haven't had in my collection before.

These are some of the most iconic cards from the 1980's. I've seen these cards over and over again at cards shops, shows and on ebay but I've never pulled the trigger, so it was cool to find them and add them to my collection.

These 1984 Donruss cards have eluded me for the past 30 or so years. My first Little League team was the Yankees and so I became a Yankees fan and at the time, Don Mattingly was the biggest Yankee out there. Don Mattingly became my first favorite player. In fact, the first poster I ever had up in my room as a kid, was of Don Mattingly. It wasn't a typical poster. It was framed and about half the size of a typical poster.

A quick search on ebay and I found it. I'm tempted to buy it, but the $51.29 that they want for shipping kills the deal for me.

When I was a kid Mattingly rookies were somewhat pricey which was amplified by the fact that I was only 7, so it was a long time before I owned a Mattingly rookie card and then it was the Topps version. My favorite player changed to Ken Griffey Jr. in 1990, so I ended up selling the Topps Mattingly on ebay back in the late 1990's. Over the past few years I've been picking up various Topps sets from my birth year (1981) on and so I have the Mattingly Topps rookie as a part of the 1984 set.

This is my first Donruss Mattingly rookie card. It's way off-centered and not in the greatest shape, but I love it! Now I need to get the Fleer version.

Here's another card I added to my collection from one of the collections that I purchased. It's from 1993 Finest. Back in 1993 my card budget was meager and it was split between baseball and basketball. 1993 Finest was way out of my price range.

There were about a dozen or so 1993 Finest cards in the collection that this came from. I pulled this one and sold the rest. I can't keep everything, even if I wanted to because of space. This card makes me happy.

Another set that eluded me back in 1993 because of the cost was SP. When I was leafing through the collection prior to buying it and came across a bunch of 1993 SP cards in fancy holders, I got excited. No Jeter, but these cards look great and so I kept them. They aren't rookie cards, but I the design is cool and both Manny and Chipper look young in these early career cards.

How about you? What cards eluded you in the past that you enjoy picking up now? Have you bought any collections on Facebook Marketplace or Offer Up?