Junk Wax 2.0 or the greatest thing ever!

I did something recently that I hadn't done in 30 years! I bought cards at Costco. As a kid, I remember going with my parents to the big warehouse stores like Price Club and PACE, which were I think bought out by Costco and Sam's Club, and buying boxes of cards. It's been a long time though. We have a Sam's Club membership, but when I found out Costco was selling baseball cards I had to get myself a membership.

Check out the video and make sure you are subscribed to my YouTube channel. I'm going to be doing a BIG contest on YouTube that you will want to be part of. I'm going to offer up some BIG cards as prizes. I've given away a 1955 Topps Hank Aaron and a 1968 Topps Johnny Bench rookie card on the blog before and these prizes might exceed those, so you definitely want to be subscribed.

World Series Cards from a Live Auction

I added a more cards to the prize for my contest, so be sure to click here and get leave a comment (one per day) to enter to win some a Sparky Lyle rookie card and some other great cards as well. I will continue to add prizes throughout the contest. Here is what I added today.

Alright, let's get to today's post. 

This past Saturday I went to my favorite LCS; The Batter's Box, for their weekly Saturday live auction. I only ended up winning one item. I ended up getting it for $6.50, but I used 3 Comp Cards so I only paid $0.50. 

Pretty sure I've explained the Comp Card before, but it's been a while, so let me explain.

Here is The Batter's Box business card. They talk about their auctions and they even mention the Comp Card and how you can earn store credit.

So when you go into the store they give you a business card and that is your Comp Card. On the back they write your name and auction bidder number and then you The Batter's Box stamps on the back. Once you get 10 stamps, the card is full and it is worth store credit. $1 off anything in the store or $2 off anything in the auction.

You get a stamp for coming in; regardless of whether or not you buy anything. Actually right now they are doing 3 stamps for coming in. 1 extra because it is their 40th anniversary and another extra because gas prices are so high. You also get a stamp for every 5 write in bids you place on the auction. They have boards up in the shop for each of the auctions and you can write in bids throughout the week and then the live auction will start at whatever the highest write in bid is. (I should take a picture the next time I'm there.) You also get a stamp for every 10 dollars spent. So it's pretty easy to accumulate stamps. I tend to use my Comp Cards on the auction. 

Anyways, back to the item I won. This sheet has 8 cards. The sticker says World Series cards, and while 6 of the 8 are World Series cards, there are two that are playoff cards (1970 Topps and 1974 Topps).

I started a binder a while back with the World Series cards that Topps has put out over the years. I love the history of the game and the World Series is a big part of that, so it's fun to look back at these cards and relive the history of the World Series. This really started with the 1970 World Series cards. Years ago, probably over 20 years ago, I picked up a 1969 Mets World Series program. That is the year the Amazin' Mets beat the Baltimore Orioles and I think the program is really cool. It's up on a shelf right now and I don't have easy access to it, so I won't show it, but I wanted the 1970 Topps World Series card subset that feature that 1969 World Series, so I tracked them all down several years ago. I have a couple other complete subsets (1964 and 1973) but most of the other years I might have one or two or none at all, so I was happy to grab this page mostly for the 1960 Topps card featured in the upper left corner. I did need one of the 1972 cards and I needed both of the 1974 cards and the 1975 World Series card. So I ended up needing 5 out of the 6 World Series cards on the page.

The dups will probably end up as part of the prize package for my ongoing contest, so be on the lookout for those. Do you collect the World Series subset cards or another subset that Topps has put out over the years?

The Sandlot

A week or so ago I read Fuji's post about the 25th Anniversary edition of the movie The Sandlot and I quickly found a copy on Amazon and made the purchase. A couple days later I had my copy in hand. 

Fuji showed off the cards already, but they are too cool not to show off again.

I love everything about the set, but I do have some questions. Why a 10 card set? 9 cards fits perfectly on one page. 10 cards, ugh. I'd rather them have done an 18 card set. 

So how about the extra 8 cards?  Well, I don't think there would have been any complaints if the other 8 cards all featured Wendy Peffercorn. But let's say that she only gets one. You could also have a card featuring Mr. Mertle, Mom, Bill, the Babe Ruth autographed baseball, Babe Ruth (from Benny's dream), the Police Chief, and the movie cover. Done.

I'm also curious as to how they came up with the order for the set. I would have probably done it alphabetically. They sort of went by position. First base, second base, third base, shortstop, left field, center field, and then catcher, pitcher, mascot, right field.

I already own the movie so did anyone else pick up the 25th anniversary copy just for the cards?

Hank Aaron

I picked up two Hank Aaron cards last weekend. The 1974 Topps New All-Time Home Run King card set me back $2 and I picked up the 1958 Braves' Fence Busters card for $14 and change. It was originally $18, but was 20% off. The condition is a little rough, but I don't mind.

By my count Hank Aaron has 68 different base cards in Topps sets during his playing career. I;m happy to knock another two off the list.

Paul Goldschmidt All-Star Stitches

I picked up the 2014 Topps Update All-Star Stitches card of Paul Goldschmidt in my most recent comc order to go with the 2013, 2015, and 2016 that I already had. Hopefully there are many more that I can add to this page over the coming years!

January 31st was Backward Day

Originally I was looking for a card with a player wearing his hat backward, and I had several to choose from, but I found an even better card. It came in my most recent comc order.

This 1994 Stadium Club card of Mike Ignasiak is perfect for Backward Day. I've never seen a player wearing his jersey backward before. What about you? Have you ever seen another card with a player wearing his jersey backward?

Topps #7 and my missing Mantles!

My comc order came in earlier than expected. I got it Saturday the 18th. The estimated delivery date was almost a week later. Friday, the 24th.

I was really excited about this package because I thought I was finishing off a bunch of projects. I was wrong.

In 1996 Topps immortalized the late great Mickey Mantle with card #7 in it's set. A tribute to his uniform number.

From 1997 - 2005 Topps didn't produce a card #7 as a tribute to The Mick. Then, starting in 2006 Topps issued card #7 with Mickey Mantle on it up until 2012. Starting again in 2013 and continuing through 2016, again there was no Topps #7 card. Earlier this month 2017 Topps was released and the collecting world was treated to card #7 again, but this time it was not of Mantle, but it was a card featuring another Yankee superstar in the making, Gary Sanchez.

The paragraph above is probably not new to most of you reading this. It wasn't new to me either. I had set aside the various 2006 - 2012 Topps card #7 that I came across but I was missing 2 cards; 2009 and 2011. I actually had the Topps Opening Day version of the 2011 card, but when I placed my most recent comc order I decided to "complete" the mini set and I ordered the 2009 and 2011 cards.

So here they are in chronological order; 2006 - 2012.

Which one is your favorite? For me, it's between the 2007 and 2009 cards.

I wanted to show the cards backs because again, they're all card #7. Aren't they great? And they completed a small little project; right?

Wrong.

I was doing a little research and I learned that in 2006 when Topps issued it's first card #7 since 1996 they produced a 10 card insert set called the Mickey Mantle Collection that featured a Mantle card in each Topps design 1996 - 2005.

Now I've got to get my hands on those 10 cards. I realized that I actually already have one of them (MM1997), so I guess I only need 9, but it's frustrating to think I was adding 2 cards and finishing off a project to learning that I need 9 additional cards to complete the project.

If you have any of the 2006 Topps Mickey Mantle Collection cards I need please let me know. Thanks!

MM1996 Mickey Mantle

MM1998 Mickey Mantle

MM1999 Mickey Mantle

MM2000 Mickey Mantle

MM2001 Mickey Mantle

MM2002 Mickey Mantle

MM2003 Mickey Mantle

MM2004 Mickey Mantle

MM2005 Mickey Mantle

A Dime Box Surprise

Dime Boxes are full of great cards at great prices, but every once in a while I'll find a surprise when I look at the cards a little closer.

This happened recently with this 1994 Topps card of Juan Gonzalez.

I picked this card up because I liked the photo on the front; including the doughnut.

I didn't realize until I went to scan the card that this is actually a Pre-Production Sample card.

Notice the statement "Design and photo selection subject to change." Here is the actual 1994 Topps card.

At first glance I thought they used the photo on the back of the Pre-Production Sample for the front of the actual card, but I upon further inspection, it's slightly different.

Which one do you like better? The Pre-Production Sample or the actual base version? 

Anyone collect Pre-Preoduction Samples? I have a few and think I might start a little mini collection.

I can't believe what Topps did!!!

A few months back I bought a hobby box of 2009 Topps Updates & Highlights. While opening the packs I noticed that 1 pack only had 7 cards and another only had 8 cards instead of the promised 10 cards. I finally got around to calling the customer service number on the back of the packs last week. I told the guy on the phone about the 2 packs of 2009 Topps Updates & Highlights and how many cards they were missing. He asked for my address and said he would send me a pack. I thanked him and hung up. Today in the mail I got a package in the mail from Topps. I opened it up and was immediatly surprized to find not one but 2 packs. But then to my horror I discovered that they were Club Penguin Topps cards. Why the heck would Topps send me these packs as a replacement for 2009 Topps Baseball Updates & Highlights cards? Come on Topps! That is rediculous! Why would they think that someone who buys baseball cards would be interested in Club Peguin cards? I tried calling the 800 number, but they were already closed for the day. Anybody else ever had something like this happen?

The same fans on two different cards from two different years

Earlier this week I did a post on how Topps removes umpires and blurs fans faces on their cards while Upper Deck does not. The Topps card that I scanned for the post was a 2004 Topps card of Baltimore Oriole Larry Bigbie #453. I was going through some other cards and I came accross another Topps card that not only had the umpire removed but the catcher was also removed. This card is a 2005 Topps card of Baltimore Oriole Jay Gibbons #103.



Something that I found even more interesting than no umpire and no catcher is the fact that the same fan is featured on both cards. But wait, if Topps blurs out the faces of fans then how do I know its the same fan? Well the fan is wearing the exact same clothes on both cards.

When you look at the cards, the fan is to the right of the batter wearing a white t-shirt and shorts. He has a hat on and is drinking a beer. Seated to his right is a boy wearing a bright orange t-shirt. So how can this be explained? Topps must have used a photo taken in 2004 for both the 2004 and 2005 cards. Maybe? But if you look at the rest of the fans on both cards, they are all different. So the photos must be from two different games right? Well what are the odds of these two fans wearing the exact same clothes to two different games? I really don't know how to explain this. I did find it really interesting though. I would love to hear any other theories about how these two fans wearing the same clothes ended up on Topps cards from 2004 and 2005 on photos taken during what appears to be two different games.

Umpires and Fans on Baseball Cards

Looking through some cards lately, I've noticed that Topps removes umpires and blurs the faces of fans on their baseball cards, while Upper Deck does not. Anyone know why?

Here is a 2004 Topps Larry Bigbie card #453

Umpire is nowhere to be found and fans faces are blurred out

Here is a 2008 Upper Deck Garrett Atkins card #484

Umpire is featured and fans faces are not altered

Doger Blue for Diamondback... Pink? Trade with Night Owl

I recently sent some Dodgers cards to Greg of Night Owl Cards and he returned the favor by sending me some Diamondbacks cards. As I was going through the cards to see which cards I would scan and post, I noticed a theme among several of the cards.

All of these cards feature players wearing pink to support the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation, in its efforts to find a cure for breast cancer. For the past several seasons, on Mother's Day, Major League Baseball players have used pink bats and worn pink wristbands and the symbolic pink ribbon to support breast cancer awareness. I found it interesting that 5 of the Diamondback cards that Night Owl sent featured players wearing pink. Thanks Night Owl!

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Another card that Night Owl sent got me thinking about Upper Deck and how it will respond to Topps having exclusive rights to team logos and trademarks starting next year. Take a look at the card below. It is a 2009 Bowman Justin Upton card. I think Upper Deck could produce a card similar to this next year and be in compliance. Is it the greatest photo ever? No. Would I want a whole set of cards featuring players backs? No. But I think that Upper Deck can get creative and produce decent cards in 2010. I just don't want a bunch of cards that have obviously been photo shopped. Good luck Upper Deck!