i need 0 of 525 of 456 2002 206 cards

the title of this post is a very roundabout way of saying i completed the 2002 topps 206 set! i finished it off - all 456 cards plus the 69 variations - in early 2021 with a couple of online purchases to get the final few cards i needed. like this joey votto card:

a votto card in 2002! actually, the votto is not from 2002, as the third series of this set was issued in 2003.

i took a liking to this set when it was first issued (the first series, anyway) back in 2002. part of my interest in it stemmed from the fact that i was unlucky with my pursuit of the first topps heritage set in 2001. i had preordered a box of 2001 topps heritage when it was first announced - before we knew of short prints and what not - but my seller passed away and i was pretty much last in line to be accommodated and never did get that box or my money back. by that time, boxes were way more expensive and here i am twenty years later with my set still incomplete.

anyway, when this set came out, i decided to pursue it the way i had originally intended to pursue heritage. i thought is was great to have cards with this design in the modern size. i was still all in when topps issued the second series, although that release included a bunch of variations, and then the aforementioned third series came along, and it had more variations plus short prints.

here are a few more of the first year players who, like votto, were in series three and were among the last cards that i obtained. the first year player cards were slightly short printed in series one and two, but i don't think that was the case in series three. however, some came with variations.

james loney first year player with sky variation

curtis granderson first year player

bj upton first year player with people variation

mark prior red background short print

larry broadway first year player

sergio santos first year player gold

wes bankston first year player blue and with sky variation

khalil greene first year player red variation and green

there were some stars from earlier series that i was missing, like this albert pujols card from series 1

but the majority of what i needed came from series 3.  such as, barry bonds without elbow pad variation short print

sammy sosa blue jersey short print

jason giambi batting short print

nomar garciaparra one bat short print

ichiro blue jacket short print

derek jeter blue short print

chipper jones short print

alfonso soriano without wristband short print

gary carter retired short print

fergie jenkins retired short print

harmon killebrew retired short print

roberto clemente retired short print

and robin roberts retired short print

the roberts card sticks out like a sore thumb due to its photographic quality. it's sort of like the cards topps included in the 1953 archives set from the 1990s for players like duke snider that weren't in the original set except that this is more puzzling.

the reason that most of my final needs were from series 3 is that i slowly chipped away at this set and went from low number needs to high when filling out sportlots orders. every once in a while i found a card that i needed at a show or on comc or even in a trade, but most of the cards i acquired in the last few years came from sportlots.

i don't think i would build this set if it were issued today - i recognize the variations and the short prints for the nonsense that they are now, and there has certainly been t206 overload in the last decade - but 19 years ago i was sold on it.  feels good to have it complete!

a day for cards from canada

it's canada day, eh? grab a molson (or labbatt's) and take a look at some cards that i ordered from baseballcardstore.ca.  like most others, i found the site to be a little clunky to navigate, having been spoiled by comc, beckett marketplace, and sportlots. still, i was able to hone in on 100 cards that i unfortunately split over two orders. i was quick to close out my first order lest some cards become unavailable, and shortly after doing so i remembered that i had wanted to search for some other cards, too. in all i wound up spending $19.98 (just about half of that in shipping), but i think i got my money's worth. i was happy to see that they have since instituted a "wait to ship" option, and i already have another 100 or so cards on "layaway".

the cards that i've received included a few cards for my collection, a few to send to trading partners, and yes, a few to flip. in fact, i've made most of my money back after selling just a few cards over the last couple of weeks.

as for the keepers, i'll start with a former nefarious 9 want, a 2000 topps gallery adrian beltre card

in addition to coming off of my most wanted list, that card completes a team set, for me, so good times. 

this next card also completed a team set, in that it was one of i think two cards in the insert set featuring dodgers

finding a 2013 topps chrome connections die-cut card of adrian gonzalez for a dime was nice. i saw in a recent post that dimebox nick picked up the other dodger card from this insert set (matt kemp) from the site. everybody wins.

the most recent release i found was from 2020 panini donruss, and i picked up a tony gonsolin card

as a result. of course, i have since received three more copies of this card thanks to a couple of trade packages, but one of the dupes will make a fine addition to my dodger stadium mini collection. it's also nice to see a card with the players' weekend uniforms that isn't a short print.

speaking of my mini collections, i wasn't able to search for them as well as hoped due to the lack of photos, but outside of targeting specific cards that i needed to complete team sets or were part of my most wanted list, i found it easy to search by set or parallels.  as a result, i found a few more dodger needs like these silver signature parallels from 1996 upper deck collector's choice

and these black gold cards from 1992 leaf

and a couple of gold/gold rush parallels of professional pinch-hitter dave hansen

one of the sets i searched for was 2002 topps 206 which i am still trying to complete. i did find one card that i needed

jason pridie was drafted out of high school in 2002, but received a card (and variation) in this set. he didn't hit the majors until 2008 with the twins.

another easy way to search the site was by player name, and one name i searched was mike piazza. i have mentioned a few times here and in comments on other blogs lately that i am continually amazed at the number of piazza dodger cards that i don't have.  i found two cards of his to add to my collection

so that's a start. these are from the 1994 baseball aces playing card set by bicycle. brett butler and tom candiotti also have cards in this set, but they weren't available on the site.

another player i searched for (along with a "dodgers" filter) was milton bradley. not sure why his name came to me, but i came away with a couple new cards of him 

yes, that prosigs card on the left is a dodger card even if bradley is still wearing a cleveland uniform.

one of the searches that prompted my second order on the site was vladimir guerrero. i was perplexed by the 2018 topps update walmart exclusive hall of famer highlights insert set and was looking to add some non-parallels from that set. i was able to find one, which was nice.

after searching for a large number of sets, parallels, and players, i gave some thought to what else might be out there. and then i remembered, you can't go wrong with pacific. i found a few cards to add, including some crown royale cards that hit a few different collections for me:

in hindsight, i should have cleaned out their stock.

the tall and the short of it

1989 was probably the year that i purchased the fewest number of cards in my almost 39 years of collecting.  i am pretty sure that i bought a single box of topps cards, and that was it. no fleer, no donruss, no score, no upper deck, and certainly no oddball issues like baseball talk.  that's why i was recently pleased to receive this kirk gibson card from night owl.

it was actually a couple more years after that before i was buying more than a box or two of topps flagship, but i quickly made up for lost time.  my box and pack busting peaked somewhere in the 2002-2005 range, i think, before i started to focus more on purchasing singles.  one of the releases that i bought a box of was 2002 topps 206 (part of which was released in 2003 if i recall correctly), and i am still trying to finish that set.  greg sent me an adrian beltre mini, which actually goes in the dodger binder

i'm not concerned about the minis as part of the set i am compiling, although i do have several.

these days, i'm good for buying a blaster or two of a few different products, and targeting singles through ebay, comc, sportlots, and trades.  this trade netted me a black parallel 2012 topps allen & ginter mini of clayton kershaw

which is very nice.

i'm not sure what 2017 holds in store as far as card purchases.  i've already bought 7 cards this calendar year, but no packs.  maybe i'll track spending like fuji and nick have discussed, just to see.

i do know that i will continue to refine my want lists in 2017 (coming soon 2004-2013 dodger wants), and i will remain open for trading!

truth delivered

jon from 'a penny sleeve for your thoughts' and i have completed a couple of trades in the past year, and we are currently working on another.  most recently (meaning a couple of months ago), he sent 35 different dodger cards my way, all in penny sleeves. that's enough for 35 of my thoughts!  jon wasn't kidding when he offered penny sleeves for thoughts, although it's the cards that generate the most thinking.

2014 panini prizm would have us know that clayton kershaw is such an outstanding pitcher, that he won an award!

of course, he won two awards in 2014 - his second straight cy young award, and the national league mvp.

the inserts in 2000 pacific invincible were what made me buy a box of the stuff even before it was released, and the aces of the diamond cards didn't disappoint.  this is the first numbered parallel i've seen, however

and it's a welcome addition to my dodger collection that includes quite a few surly characters like kevin brown.

here's a 2002 topps 206 team 206 insert of kazuhisa ishii

i'm still working on this set, and i'm currently on pace to finish it sometime around 2035.

last card i'll show from the trade with jon is a 2013 panini prizm andre ethier blue parallel

it looks great, but there's another blue chrome team set i'm working on first.  just one card to go, as you might have seen last night.

thanks for the cards (and penny sleeves) jon!