flawed or flawless?

count me among those who wish panini were licensed to show team logos.  they do high end product very well (aside from the occasional sticker auto), even if their retail flagship donruss release has become too messy for my taste.

back to the high end, i've picked up cards from their various releases each year - mostly steve garvey cards as he seems to be an exclusive panini player these days - but sometimes other cards that fit my collection in some way.

late last year, thanks to my saved "garvey" search, i was made aware of an ebay listing for a three-card dodger lot from 2019 panini flawless featuring the nl iron man.  i quickly paid the "buy it now" price, which was less than earlier sold auction values for a similar garvey card to the one included in the lot.  one reason the price was low, based on the description, was that one of the cards was damaged.  it was this card:

so that's a walker buehler flawless autographs sapphire parallel. it's an on-card auto in blue that looks fantastic.  the seller indicated that there was damage to one of the corners.  i am happy to report that i don't see it. my standards must be lower than those of the seller, but truthfully, the card looks great!

the card that was the centerpiece of the lot for me was this one:

that's a flawless signatures sapphire parallel card of steve garvey. also on-card and awesome. i appreciate panini leaving the red on garvey's sweatband and not changing it to blue like they do with the front numbers on dodger jerseys.

the seller must have had the dodgers in a box break or something, because this was the third card in the lot:

a rookie patch autograph card of dennis santana, who was the dodger rookie du jour for both panini and topps companies last year.  santana is only 24, and he pitched really well in spring training this year. i have hopes that he will help the dodger bullpen very soon.

as for the cards, i am really happy that the seller was disenfranchised with the buehler card enough to package it with these other two and offer them for less than what the garvey alone would have netted.  in fact, i would have been happy even if there had been a dinged corner!

carlton fisk is in my hall of famer collection

carlton fisk is in my hall of famer collection with this card:

that is a 1999 upper deck century legends epic signatures card. here's the back:

i appreciate the fact that upper deck added the exclamation mark when noting that the card came directly from fisk himself.  his cards in this set were also availble via exchange, as he didn't sign all of the cards in time for full pack insertion. there is no way of knowing whether or not this card was pack pulled or received via redemption, not that it matters.

i first knew fisk as a member of the red sox, and held him in high regard thanks to the all-star shield that was on his 1978 topps card. i later learned about his 1976 world series home run and still don't get tired of seeing the footage of him waving the ball fair.

i never saw fisk play in person, but he has always been a part of my collecting hobby, beyond that fantastic 1978 topps card. the 1981 topps traded set was a huge collecting milestone in my early collecting days. i received the set as a christmas present, and fisk's card, showing him as a member of the white sox, was mind blowing. and, as i continued to discover his cards, i was rarely disappointed. his 1977 topps card, 1979 and 1981 topps cards (with the all-star designations), 1982 topps in action horizontal (!) card, 1982 fleer "steve and carlton" card, 1991 upper deck (with robin ventura) card, and of course, his 1991 topps card (one of my favorite cards ever) - all fantastic. still waiting on a 1994 final tribute, though.

here's my hall of famer collection as its been documented so far:

babe ruth - 2003 topps tribute world series edition world series tribute relic 351/425

honus wagner - 2001 topps tribute relic

tris speaker - 2011 topps tribute dual relic green parallel 53/75

george sisler - 2004 topps tribute hall of fame tribute relic

dizzy dean - 2001 topps tribute relic

bob feller - 2001 topps archives certified autograph

jackie robinson - 2004 topps clubhouse collection clubhouse relic

ted williams - 1992 upper deck baseball heroes autograph 1067/2000

yogi berra - 1998 donruss signatures significant signatures 1640/2000

roberto clemente - 2005 donruss greats hall of fame souvenirs relic

warren spahn - 1999 upper deck century legends epic signatures

mickey mantle - 2000 upper deck legends legendary game jerseys relic

willie mays - 1997 topps willie mays reprints certified autograph

al kaline - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

duke snider - 2003 upper deck sp authentic chirography hall of famers 144/250

bob gibson - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

hank aaron - 2004 topps originals 1979 topps all-time record holders rbi 03/32

frank robinson - 1995 upper deck autograph

harmon killebrew - 2000 upper deck legends legendary signatures

pee wee reese - 2001 topps tribute relic

jim hunter - 1998 donruss signature series significant signatures 0736/2000

willie stargell - 2000 upper deck legends legendary signatures 

gaylord perry - 2003 topps finest finest moments autograph

rollie fingers - 2018 topps archives signature series 1978 topps buyback 1/3

reggie jackson - 2018 topps tier one tier one talent autograph 19/60

steve carlton - 2018 topps five star career year autograph 43/45

mike schmidt - 2002 topps archives autoproof 1980 topps buyback 048/147

phil niekro - 2017 panini donruss recollection collection 1983 donruss buyback autograph 13/33

don sutton - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

carlton fisk - 1999 upper deck century legends epic signatures

tony perez - 2004 fleer national pastime 2002 fleer greats authentic autograph buyback 30/59

dave winfield - 2003 upper deck sp authentic chirography hall of famers 121/350

ozzie smith - 2019 topps finest finest origins autograph

gary carter - 1999 fleer sports illustrated greats of the game autograph collection

dennis eckersley - 2017 topps archives signature series 1984 topps buyback 47/99

paul molitor - 2016 topps museum collection archival autographs 021/125

bruce sutter - 2003 topps all-time fan favorites certified autograph

jim rice - 2005 upper deck past time pennants past time signatures

andre dawson - 2000 fleer greats of the game autograph

bert blyleven - 2004 upper deck legends timeless teams autograph

pedro martinez - 2018 topps high tek portraitek autograph 09/60

tim raines - 2018 topps tribute tribute autograph green parallel 26/95

alan trammell - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

roy halladay - 2017 topps archives signature series 2004 topps buyback 15/23

pete rose* - 2018 panini flawless legendary signatures 15/25

barry bonds* - 2001 bowman heritage autographs

you can find the full list of hall of famers (and some not - yet) that i aim to include in this collection at my want list site.

*not currently a member of the hall of fame