nefarious needs, some dirt cheap

after noting that the longtime most wanted card from my "nefarious nine" list was off the board (not because i had acquired it, but rather because i doubt its existence), i figured i should post some of the most recent acquisitions i have made based on cards that have been on that list at one time or another.

i'll show two "nefarious nine" worth's of dodger cards in roughly the order that i added them. unfortunately, i no longer have a record of where they sat on the list at the time of their entry into my collection. i don't have pricing handy either, although there were only a few that would have been more than a couple of bucks.

1. 1984 renata galasso baseball collector series sandy koufax

this is a pretty nondescript oddball, but i added it to the list after picking up the jackie robinson card from the same set and decided that i should go ahead and complete the two card dodger team set.

2. 2011 topps gypsy queen jon garland sp

garland seems like an odd choice for topps to short print, but they did with this gq card that completed my team set. garland rejoined the dodgers for the 2011 season (double dipper post here) but topps apparently chose to photoshop an image of garland pitching for the padres (note the lack of a red jersey number) rather than use a photo of him from 2009 in dodger duds.

3. 1998 topps chrome adrian beltre

not beltre's most sought after chrome rookie card, but this one helped me complete my dodger team set of '98 chrome. i had added this shortly after i picked up his 1997 bowman chrome rookie, which is the one most collectors covet.

4. 2003 topps heritage duke snider/alex rodriguez then and now

for a long time i resisted putting inserts on the most wanted list, but i have a thing for heritage then and now cards, and this one was the only one i was missing that featured a dodger in the "then" spot. i'm hopeful that we start to see some dodgers from the team of my youth in the "then" spot in the next couple of years, meaning i hope topps uses hits and stolen bases as statistical categories for these cards.

5. 2004 topps retired signature duke snider

another team set completer after i mistakenly ignored it thinking that duke was featured as a met as he had been in the 2003 set.

6. 2015 topps opening day yasiel puig opening day stars

this one eluded me for some reason. it's not as tough to find as these cards from 2014 opening day, but puig was pretty hot back then so maybe that's why.

7. 2014 topps update zack greinke red hot foil

i wanted to complete the 2014 red hot foil dodger parallel team set, and greinke was the last one i needed to do so. i see he is throwing in arizona, and i hope he signs with someone to get to 3,000 strikeouts sometime this year.

8. 1994 panini album stickers mike piazza

needed to complete the team set

9. 1998 topps tek gary sheffield

i just wanted one of sheffield's card to complete the team set. i have one of each of the four dodgers - i don't care about the background design - and i consider the team set complete.

10. 2005 upper deck flyball giovanni carrara

i thought this one would be on the list for a long time, but it really wasn't. it completed the team set, and someone actually listed it on ebay for a buck or so. i figured it would wind up being a comc find but that's part of the fun of collecting - you don't know where the card you are looking for will pop up.

11. 2010 topps 206 matt kemp sp

this is the kemp card that has a different photo and different back

than his base card, but is not considered a variation because there is no card number. it completed the team set.

12. 2017 topps chrome joc pederson green refractor

i went for a refractor rainbow of joc's 2017 topps chrome card, and this is the last card i picked up to that end.

13. 2001 upper deck decade 1970s manny mota game used bat

i had finally completed the dodger team set as far as bat cards from the 2001 upper deck vintage set was concerned, so figured i would do the same for this set. with the manny, i now only need maury wills' card to finish the four card dodger set (steve garvey and bill russell are the others included).

14. 1990 baseball wit manny mota

i already had a mota card from this set, but i needed the one that was numbered on the back

to complete the team set in that regard. to this day, the first mota i owned is the only dodger card i have that is the unnumbered version.

15. 2010 upper deck manny ramirez pure heat

it's been long enough that i miss upper deck baseball products. this was from their final release, and their lack of care regarding logos (even though it's barely visible) means it outshines panini product with ease.

16. 2023 topps mookie betts stars of mlb chrome

i needed mookie to complete the dodger team set of chrome parallels of the overproduced insert

17. 1989 pacific baseball legends joe black

another card for team set completion.

18. 1994 topps gold roger mcdowell

this card completed my dodger team set of the 1994 gold parallels, and is the most recent card to be struck from the nefarious nine.

and now, just like the list itself, here are some bonus non-dodger cards. these all fit into a mini-collection or player collection, just like the nine bonus non-dodger cards that currently sit on the list.

1. 1998 upper deck fernando valenzuela national pride

i actually owned this card at one time but sold or traded it before i decided to collect fernando's post-dodger cards as part of a pc.

2. 1993 pinnacle delino deshields/carlos baerga team pinnacle 

deshields is on the front of the card, but it's the baerga side that i wanted for the double play collection. bonus glimpse of gene autry's retired number on the outfield wall at the big a!

3. 2020 topps allen & ginter 9 ways to first fielder's choice

another dp turn, assumedly unsuccessful as the point of the card is that the batter reached first base on the play.

4. 2016 topps (and topps chrome) byron buxton perspectives

and 

5. 2016 topps andrew mccutchen perspectives

technically, i only had the flagship cards of buck and cutch on the list, but picked up the chrome buxton at the same time. these are for my name/number on the back mini collection.

6. 2001 fleer platinum travis lee

it may be blurry, but that's dodger stadium's outfield wall behind lee, so this was wanted for that mini-collection.

7. 2004 donruss alex rodriguez

same for this arod card. don newcombe's mural is on the wall behind rodriguez, who may well be turning two here.

8. 2004 fleer ultra preston wilson

mookie's kid is also in dodger stadium, with steve garvey's mural in the background! this is one of two cards that will forever be on the most wanted list - the other is kent bottenfield's 2001 fleer triple crown card - because of garvey's appearance in the background. i've considered doing the same with thurman munson's 2023 topps stadium club card, but haven't pulled the trigger on that yet.

i currently have 10 bottenfields and the same number of wilsons, but only scanned five, along with one of the gold medallion parallels

i would love to add more!

9. 1980 topps football dan dierdorf

this card was wanted because of the black armband dierdorf is sporting. the st. louis football cardinals added the memorial for teammate j.v. cain who passed away during training camp prior to the 1979 season. it's only the second football card i have in my memorial collection, with the other being a card showing the patch the cowboys wore for tom landry.

lastly, i will show this 1993 pinnacle mike piazza home run club

card for some reason. this card came from a box set and is the lone dodger, so my team set is complete! i am not sure why it is here because it was never on the most wanted list, but yet i scanned it and added it to an early draft of this post. perhaps it was a card that was destined to join the list but was acquired before that could happen.

at any rate, there are nine dodger cards on the list today, along with nine non-dodger cards, so please take a look at my "nefarious nine" and see if you can help a blogger out. you will be rewarded!

42 for everyone

jackie robinson day is this weekend, and it will be great to see every team celebrating his legacy by wearing number 42. i've been busy the last year adding more cards to my 42 collection and my jackie robinson collection in general. let's have a look!

i will start with this 2008 topps stadium club ceremonial cuts photographer's proof gold parallel

it doesn't feature a jersey or anything like that, but rather some bunting from yankee stadium. it's a nice card design for what it is, i think. this, of course, goes in the dodger collection and not the 42 collection.

same goes for this 2019 topps gypsy queen clayton kershaw jackie robinson day variation

with the patches that are worn on the hat and sleeve now, i've seen more cards in base releases that would qualify for this collection except for the fact that the jersey number isn't visible. as a result, i don't put those cards in the collection.  as a reminder, the 42 collection is comprised of cards featuring players wearing jackie's number from 1997 on, but only those who didn't normally wear 42 like mo vaughn or mariano rivera. thanks to nick at dime boxes for sharing a list of 42 cards that included some i was not aware of.

1998 metallic impressions ken griffey jr 5 card set #5

and 1998 upper deck collector's choice ken griffey jr checklist

griffey is the person who started the wearing of 42 on april 15 to honor jackie. i wasn't aware of the metallic impressions card until about a year ago, but i knew about the upper deck card in 1998. it was great of upper deck to capture the moment on a collector's choice card in real time, and that card is a cornerstone of the collection. so, i decided to pick up the checklist that shows that card for the collection, too.

then i had to get another copy of the checklist because it's also a dodger card

2010 topps mariners franchise history - ken griffey jr and ichiro

not quite as obvious, but griffey donned 42 with his mariner teammates, including ichiro, during his second stint in seattle

2010 topps chrome bryan anderson

rookie card 42!

2011 topps attax yadier molina

looks like the photographers were out in force at busch for jackie robinson day!

2011 topps factory set limited edition albert pujols

see what i mean?

2015 topps matt carpenter first home run insert

seriously!

however, one team may give the cards a run for their money when it comes to 42 cards...

2008 upper deck rich harden

2008 upper deck first edition rich harden

2008 upper deck documentary rich harden

2009 upper deck icons matt holliday icons insert, red parallel

2009 upper deck x matt holliday - base and die cut parallel

2009 upper deck signature stars brett anderson

2009 upper deck ultimate collection brett anderson

2010 upper deck brett anderson

2009 upper deck sp authentic jack cust gold parallel

2010 upper deck jack cust portraits

2012 topps yoenis cespedes photo variation

that's a lot of athletics! i have the base version of the sp authentic cust card on my most wanted list because i need more a's cards showing 42 apparently.

now let's take a look at some non-cardinals, non-a's cards

2009 topps update & highlights cesar izturis base and gold parallel

that may be josh hamilton sliding in. whomever it is, i'm thankful for them because they are the only reason this is a 42 card

2010 topps update ike davis

with topps doing the rookie debut cards to double the number of rookie cards, it's a nice thing when that debut happens on april 15.

2010 topps update jeff keppinger

2010 upper deck ian kinsler biography insert

even though it was an insert set, biography was a better executed version of 2008's documentary disaster, although it didn't cover every game the way documentary did. as a result, we got a card featuring a game on jackie robinson day that shows adam jones wearing 42 even though the card is about ian kinsler. it's a great quirky card for sure.

2016 panini diamond kings andy pettitte expressionists insert

2016 topps update alejandro de aza

2018 panini donruss nolan arenado variation

i don't think this is a jackie robinson day variation in the same way that gypsy queen does it, but just a coincidental photo variation

2020 topps now eric sogard

it's nice to see topps now worthy highlights happening on jackie robinson day

because then we get cards with potentially lots of 42s on them, like this eric sogard card from 2020.

2021 panini prizm kyle cody - base, purple prizm, green wave prizm

and teal wave

this was one that i stumbled on when i, for some reason, bought a big lot of panini cards. i wound up adding a couple of the parallels seen above to what was included in that haul.

2022 topps now jackie robinson day

for the record, the players shown on this cards are andrew mccutchen, omar narvaez, mookie betts, and anthony rizzo. i kind of like the anonymity factor applied to the card - i think that's a big part of the point of jackie robinson day. i also like how catchers like narvaez get the number shown even though they are wearing equipment. 

2022 topps now turn back the clock

not a photo from the 4/15/97 game but close. that's butch huskey at the plate for the mets. huskey wore 42 all the time, and tom prince is behind the plate for the dodgers wearing his regular number 15. the universal wearing of 42 didn't start until 2009, although some players chose to wear the number in 2007 and 2008.

the latest addition to the 42 collection is yasmani grandal's 2023 topps card. i showed his base card in an earlier post, but here's a gold parallel

that i picked up at the february card show.

i am looking forward to seeing all of the 42s on saturday and maybe some on cardboard as well!