the shipping hit the fan

last november, i placed an order at comc. i hadn't done so for a while, and when i decided to request shipment, i dutifully wore my store credit balance down to $5.99 by adding some random cards to my purchases. the joke was on me, however, as i was not aware that they had changed the pricing of their shipping.

i had more than 50 cards in "my possession", so i was lumped into bulk shipping. not much to do but upload some more cash and get the cards. i was a bit bitter about it as i know many of you have been. not sure how i missed this change, but it is a flaw in comc's system that you can't check shipping costs without advancing to the request shipment page. sure, you don't have to follow through at that point, but i guess i am used to sportlots or ebay where the shipping is more transparent.

once i requested shipment, the original estimated ship date was december 10, but it was later moved to late january. the cards arrived sooner than that - in late december - so i can't complain too much about that.

much of what i ordered was intended for specific posts, or has now been set aside for specific posts, but there were still quite a few cards that were "add ons" or one offs and so i'll post them here.

some of the cards that will be shown in the future revolve around targeting specific parallel sets (to completion!) but these 2013 topps update target red parallels of clayton kershaw

ronald belisario

and skip schumaker

bring me only slightly closer to finishing that particular dodger team set. maybe someday.

this 1992 panini french sticker of mike scioscia

is the penultimate sticker i need for the team set (now just need the sparkly dodger logo sticker) and this 2016 topps gypsy queen duke snider short print

was also the second-to-last card i needed for the team set. i have since acquired the last card, but i still need that last panini sticker.

this 2022 topps holiday walker buehler card

was a throw in to wear down my credit balance. i am not focused on this team set and still need five other cards to complete it.

i did, however, buy the last five cards i needed to complete the 2002 upper deck 40 man dodger team set. those cards featured brian jordan

mark grudzielanek, paul quantrill, dave hansen, and victor alvarez

not the most obscure bunch of dodgers from that set.

i also targeted examples of cards, as i know i will never complete team sets of such things as 2021 topps uk edition union jack parallels

or 2024 topps heritage high number blue borders

i did complete the dodger team set of 2024 topps heritage high number combo cards with this one (and only) dodger card

and am left needing only shohei ohtani's card to complete my 2025 topps all-star game dodger insert set of all-star game greats after adding this mike piazza card

to my collection.

these two jackie robinson cards - 2025 topps finest finest timelines insert

and 2025 topps series 1 1990 35th anniversary insert

were the last cards i needed for those two team sets. i still have some of the 1990 needs from series 2, though.

my order also paid attention to a couple of my post-dodger player collections, with these 1985 topps tiffany

1988 score glossy

and 1996 fleer ultra gold medallion edition

cards joining my don sutton and fernando valenzuela collections, respectively.

while building my order, i searched for some autographed cards of certain players, including milton bradley who was, for one season, my favorite active dodger. i pulled the trigger on his 2005 topps auto card

for a pretty low price.

the card that started this order was one i saw somewhere. it's a 2024 topps transcendent collection clayton kershaw transcendent icons chrome photo variation

it caught my eye because of the unique angle of the photo and the dodger stadium background. it's not one that is frequently seen on cardboard. i liked it so much, i bought two of them. one goes in the dodger collection, and the other in the dodger stadium collection. 

is this the last of comc for me? maybe. never say never, especially when i come across some harder to find cards that would fit nicely into my collection. still, the shipping will make future purchases slightly less likely. stay tuned i guess.

still treinen to collect dodgers

at some point being a team collector becomes difficult. there are so many releases and parallels and inserts and cards. it's tough to keep track of, and even if you do, the time to check a have/want is not always available when digging through boxes or just browsing online. that's why i am thankful for fellow bloggers who look at want lists and send me cards that i know i most likely "need". one of the latest cases in point are these cards i received from night owl.

starting off with a 2020 topps stickers blake treinen item

this is the back of the sticker - the front is a cub if i recall correctly. there aren't a lot of treinen items out there and i certainly am not actively looking for those that are given how bad he had been in 2025. we will always have 2024, however, so i still have room for him in my collection.

i can probably count on one hand the number of trade packages that have included cards from 2002 upper deck 40 man, and greg sent me two cards i needed

alex cora and hiram bocachica. i remember bocachica fondly because he hit a home run late in the shawn green 4 homer game that helped advance the lineup so that green would later get a shot at homer number 4.

eric karros, seen here on his 1995 fleer flair, 2002 playoff absolute memorabilia, and 1996 score cards,

also played in the shawn green 4 homer game. he was eventually replaced by dave hansen who hit a home run right after green left the yard for the fourth time. i didn't even notice because my friend and i were still freaking out over green's blast. that score card is a dugout collection parallel, by the way.

here's a 2014 bowman chrome dual-ing die-cut card featuring 2012 first round picks corey seager and eddie butler

seager was taken 18th overall - he was the fourth shortstop taken in the draft after carlos correa (#1 overall), addison russell (#11), and gavin cecchini (#12). butler was taken with the 46th overall pick.

this 2024 topps mookie betts insert

is quite often listed as "fan favorites". i know because i have a saved search for dodger fan favorites on ebay, as i look for refractors and autographs. the card is actually "fantasy favorites", but the design hides a lot of the text behind the photo. not just for betts, either.

we've now reached the colored parallel portion of the post, with a 2024 topps yellow bordered jd martinez card

a 2018 topps gypsy queen green parallel clayton kershaw card

and a purple hot box chrome refractor of freddie freeman from 2024 topps heritage

it's always fun to get a 1975 design card from night owl!

last but not least is this 2018 panini donruss optic shock prizm clayton kershaw card

like i said up top, there are too many parallels these days (so many, in fact, i have pretty much stopped adding full panini checklists to my want lists), so i am glad that some others are looking out for me and my collection. thanks greg!