collecting by numbers

most of the cards missing from my steve garvey collection are serial numbered items - low numbered parallels or similarly scarce auto and/or relic cards.  this was especially true prior to the last couple of years when garvey was absent from almost all new topps releases. still, even now, most of his cards are numbered. as a result, it's not every day that cards get added to my collection. but it does happen!

i've been dumping new garvey gets in to this draft post for more than a couple of years, so there are going to be quite a few cards shown. one of the most recent of these numbered garvey cards to enter my collection is this 2021 topps archives signature series 1983 topps buyback auto

it is randomly numbered to 52. the buyback itself is not in very good shape at all. hey topps - let me know if you need some cards in better shape to buy back for future releases. i can definitely help!

the next card is actually unnumbered. not just not serial numbered, it has no number whatsoever.

that is the unnumbered version of the 1990 baseball wit

release. i mentioned these cards in a post earlier this year, but i've had the garvey for a couple years now.

in recent years, most of the garvey cards have come from panini. i try not to purchase panini product off the shelf since they seem intent on screwing me out of my one redemption request that's in limbo, but i have picked up many, many garvey cards on the secondary market.

from 2019 panini immaculate collection, i have a garvey auto numbered to 49

and the gold parallel numbered to 25

those two cards are about as well as panini can do without a license, in my opinion. yes, there is no logo on the helmet, but it is not as obvious as on these next cards, also from 2019 panini immaculate collection

those are the dual material autograph cards, and again, i have the "base" numbered to 49 and the gold parallel numbered to 25.

i added a third bronze parallel from 2004 upper deck legends to my garvey collection

these are numbered to 50 as you can see. i only need the 1977 subset bronze card to complete the garvey bronze collection from this set, and that one is the one i wish i had the most as it is a "memorable moments" card which looks great in bronze (and gold). hopefully someday.

here's a 2008 donruss threads garvey parallel

it's the "century proof gold" version, numbered to 50

it's amusing to me how different companies, and sometimes the same companies, change up numbering for gold (and other precious metals) cards from one release to another.

at least serial numbers like 99, 50, and 25 are fairly universal. in 2005, donruss went crazy with their studio portraits release. i think there are 56 different steve garvey cards in that set, all serially numbered with some, like this one

which is a studio blue card numbered to 45

this set includes cards numbered in increments of 5 from 5 to 60.

here's another gold card - a 2021 panini national treasures retro materials holo gold

card numbered to 25

here are more cards numbered 25 - the first two from 2005. one from donruss classics

and one from donruss leather & lumber

2012 panini signature series provided me an opportunity to add this diamond cuts auto

and this signature stamps card

both of  which are numbered to 25. here's the back of the stamp card

the diamond cuts auto is neat because it features a photo from garvey's introductory press conference back in december of 1982. i think the first card to feature such a photo that i was aware of was wayne gretzky's 1988-89 topps card, but i could be wrong.

upper deck also has some garvey cards numbered to 25, and i've added this 2007 sp legendary cuts quad materials card

to the collection. i am still on the lookout for the dodger version of this card.

this 2002 upper deck sweet spot classics bat card

is paired with the gold version of a jersey card from the same set that was already in my collection.

there aren't too many cards numbered to 15 in my collection, but i do have this one from 2019 panini national treasures

it does kinda suck to see a sticker auto on a card numbered to 15.

even worse is a sticker auto on a card numbered to 10 as is the case with this 2012 topps golden moments gold sparkle card

the card would look a lot better with a hard signature in my opinion.

going back to 2016, panini released something called pantheon. there were a bunch of garvey cards, and one that i didn't have until a couple of years ago was this "arena acclaimed" materials card

that is numbered to 10

this is a "bronze" card, but the only other version is numbered to 1 and panini calls that a "holo silver". go figure.

also from 2016, panini's national treasures release included a "six swatch signatures" card. i already had the "black" version which is numbered to 10, but i now also have the "green" version numbered to 5

these are really attractive cards in my opinion, even with padre brown, yellow, and orange.

one of my favorite recent garvey numbered gets is this 2004 upper deck legends gold autograph card

that is numbered to 5

i have 2 of the 4 garvey gold autographs now which is two more than i really ever figured i would find. 

finally, the newest numbered garvey card to come in to my collection is this 2021 topps dynasty relic-auto card

numbered to 10. this is the "dap-sg2" card, one of three different cards (each with a different photo) of garvey in this set. it completes my trifecta of having one of each of the three, each numbered to 10. i previously showed the other two in this post.

i don't see the trend of numbered parallels and low-numbered base cards changing any time soon. and so it goes for the player collector, although i am long since resigned to not having anywhere close to all of them. 

bonus content!

sometimes player collections reach a point where the line is moved and items are added that are a bit of a stretch. i have a couple of new examples, beginning with this 2022 topps x aaron judge curated set card of dusty baker

which features steve garvey in the on deck circle in the background. unfortunately, not much of garvey is visible, but i will still add this to my garvey collection (along with one for the dodger collection).

in addition, i recently found this 1991 dodger pocket schedule

in a box that i hadn't looked through in several years. i am adding it to the garvey collection because he appears on two of the pins that were given away that season, including one honoring the infield of cey, russell, lopes, and garvey (not the way i normally refer to them, but going around the horn that's how it is). and yes, both the 30-home run pin celebrating dusty baker, garvey, cey, and reggie smith, and the infield pin are already in my garvey pc. there just aren't enough cards featuring garvey, cey, russell, lopes.

dynasty fantasy

just over three years ago i rolled the dice on a box of 2018 topps five star. it was the most i had ever spent on a box, eclipsing what i had paid for a box of 2001 topps tribute. i totally struck out with the purchase. the card shop guy was excited to have me open the box in the store and i know he felt badly for me when the forgettable contents were revealed.

fast forward to today, and what i spent on that box seems like chump change when you look at releases like topps transcendent and topps dynasty.  that got me wondering: what if i were to buy a box of 2021 topps dynasty?

according to cardboard connection, the "best price" on these things right now (right now being early january when i wrote this post) is $625. each box contains just one card, and that card is numbered to no greater than /10.  underneath the cover sleeve shown above lies a plain white box:

lifting the lid on the box reveals a padded foam interior:

now what if i were to purchase a box of 2021 topps dynasty and find a player that aligns perfectly with my collection? what if i were to purchase a box of 2021 topps dynasty and find an autographed patch card of steve garvey?

what if i remove the foam insert to reveal the card inside:

steve garvey dynasty autograph patch card! with a red dodger jersey number patch! huzzah!

now to be clear, i did not buy an unopened box of 2021 topps dynasty. instead, i purchased an opened box that contained this card

i wanted no roll of the dice this time around! nor did i want to pay the full retail price that the box is commanding. still, even though i spent less than the cost of an unopened box, i spent a significant amount of money on this card. i considered this my christmas gift to myself.

removed from the box, it looks like this:

here's the back:

ebay 1/1 bonus - it's his jersey number:

this card is also numbered as "dap-sg1", and it looks like there are three versions of garvey cards from this release out there, so that means that there are two other 06/10 (in addition to other levels of manufactured scarcity) cards in existence. 

i was also able to pick up a "dap-sg3" version (numbered 07/10)

which features a photo of garvey from 1980 rather than mid-70s garvey on the one i have. the "dap-sg2" version uses a photo of a younger garvey, circa 1972 or so as far as i can tell.

kudos to topps for changing the text on the back of the card:

it does mention his 1974 mvp win again, but also gives props for his annual hit totals which were a big deal to me as i followed his performance each year.

these two cards, but the first one in particular, instantly become pillars of my garvey collection. that first one is right up there with the 2001 leaf certified materials 6/6 card, the bat barrel cards, and a couple others that i haven't shown yet. i am pretty happy to have it in my collection!