four for four twenty

here's a 1981 donruss tommy lasorda card

that has something in common with these next four cards - 2019 topps heritage kenley jansen (this is the chrome parallel)

2020 topps mookie betts

2021 topps chrome platinum anniversary joe kelly (this is the refractor parallel)

and 2022 topps austin barnes

those four cards represent a four year run in which topps had assigned a dodger card to number 420 in one of their sets

i took note of it in 2021 when i saw the checklist for platinum anniversary. alas, there was no continuation of this in 2023, but i couldn't help but wonder if it were an intentional thing, similar to what upper deck did with number 666 in their early days.

not that it's a bad thing - 420 is a number associated with cannabis use, thanks to some california teens in the 1970s and i pass no judgement. it was just conspicuous to me that topps put a dodger in that spot four years running.

speaking of four years running, if cody bellinger (seen here on a 2022 topps allen & ginter chrome mini)

homers today, he will have hit a home run on 4/20 in four consecutive seasons. bellinger, as you might know, has a few 420 themed memes out there.

i almost forgot to mention - the donruss lasorda card up top is the first dodger card that i am aware of to slot at number 420 in a major set. these days, the dodgers have a 1 in 30 chance of being there in just a handful of sets each year. i took a quick look and found that no other team had more than two consecutive seasons at 420 in a topps set. donruss put the a's at 420 three years in a row in their flagship set in the mid-1980s, and the rangers were at 420 three years in a row in major pacific releases. it makes some sense to me as it has to be easier to set a checklist by starting with the previous year's, but maybe, just maybe, there were some shenanigans afoot.

deja vu, but not all over again

a week or so before christmas i found myself across the border in wisconsin. i chose not to pick up any new glarus, but i did make a stop at iconic sports cards just off of i-94 in hudson. it was the second time i've been to the shop, and this time was as positive as the last.

i headed over to the monster boxes sorted by team but first saw a random box of miscellaneous cards sitting on a table. this 1996 pinnacle summit card

was fronting one of the rows. i grabbed it thinking that it was probably not anything on my dodger team set list because the front has it as a very clear jason kendall card. the back

does identify piazza and includes a dodger logo. at any rate, it did not look familiar to me so it was among the cards i purchased. when i got home, i realized that this card was on my team want list and that it was one i did not previously own. i was sort of surprised that i need cards from a mid-90's set like this but i guess i do.

it's getting to the point where i can't just pick up a panini clayton kershaw parallel and safely assume it is a need, but this 2021 mosaic mosaic parallel

was one that i didn't previously own.

boxes like these are good for finding base cards from higher end or obscure releases, and i found a 2021 topps tribute duke snider card 

and a 2025 topps all-star game hyeseong kim card

as evidence.

i don't think anyone was asking for a chrome version of allen & ginter, but in 2022 there was a chrome release separate from the regular a&g set. this walker buehler card

is a numbered magenta parallel

parallels like that are the primary thing i look for these days in these sorts of situations. here's a 2024 topps update gold parallel of dinelson lamet's card

along with three parallels from 2024 topps chrome update/2024 topps chrome sapphire edition

sapphire is something that shows up a lot in boxes like this. i am guessing people buy the sets and pull a couple of specific cards and dump the rest?

in addition to parallels, i am on the lookout for inserts. here is a foursome of freddie freeman inserts that were all new to me

those are from 2024 topps cosmic chrome, 2024 topps heritage high numbers, 2025 topps, and 2025 topps chrome, respectively.

one more dodger insert to show - jason wrobleski's 2025 topps silver pack card

at some point, checklists switched from calling these "silver pack" cards to "chrome" cards but that gets confusing when there are 35th anniversary cards (without the "mojo") in chrome releases so i've stuck with the silver pack nomenclature.

the last time i visited the shop, i picked up a couple of non-certified autographs, and i grabbed one this time around

the late tim crews' 1989 donruss card is really a nice looking card in my opinion and i am happy to be able to add a card he (supposedly) signed to my collection.

it wasn't all dodgers that i purchased - here's a 2024 topps cosmic chrome willie mays galactic greatness insert

and a 2025 bowman dylan crews rookie of the year favorites insert

that i added to my stack.

one more that i will show is this 2022 topps chrome sapphire owen miller green parallel

it's a nice double play card and is numbered to 75 on the back. in all, i wound up with 29 singles for which my cost was $15.

i asked the guy at the counter to grab a hanger pack of 2025 topps allen & ginter, and here's what that contained

it was nice to find a new orel hershiser card in a pack. the mel ott card at the end is a short print

and it sort of looks like the short prints have slightly different coloring.

my pack also included a francisco lindor foil filigree parallel

along with a pair of mini parallels

one gold (obviously), one base mini (less obvious)

the main (full size) inserts this year are "wicked curves" and "sweet victory" and i got one of each - both yankees

the checklists for these inserts is not bad, with some players and moments that don't typically get a lot of play in the current hobby (like sparky lyle) showing up.

i also asked the guy at the counter if he had any old 9-pocket pages lying around from people bringing in old binders of cards to sell. the card shop in the western twin cities used to have some of these binders but i hadn't noticed any the last time i was there. and, the monthly card show used to have one or two people selling binders with junk wax era star cards that i bought once or twice more for the pages. i used these pages for sending cards and i had recently run out of my most recent batch.

anyway, the guy looked over and picked up a binder and handed it to me. it was very clearly a 1993 leaf collection of national league teams

i am guessing that the former owner put this together sometime after 1997 as the brewers were in the american league when the set was released but they were in the binder. since i was in wisconsin, here's a look at some of the brew crew cards that were in the binder

i wasn't looking for ultra pro platinum sheets to cut up, but that's what i got. there was no charge for this binder or these sheets or cards, which included a couple of the heading to the hall inserts

pretty cool move and much appreciated.

in all, my total was $22 and i handed over $2 plus my second 2025 topps chrome shohei ohtani card which was easier for me to find than many of the cards i picked up at the shop. it will probably be a few months, but i'll be back to wisconsin and this shop for sure.

the bell can't be unrung

the dodgers have produced 18 rookies of the year. of the first 17, only jackie robinson, jim gilliam, and jim lefebvre spent their entire mlb playing careers with the franchise, so it was pretty much inevitable that the club's most recent winner of the award, cody bellinger, would wind up playing somewhere else. in fact, it wasn't even a surprise that the dodgers did not sign him after the 2022 season, given how poorly he had fared at the plate since his 2019 mvp campaign even though he was heading in to his year 27 season. and, now that the decision was made and the dust has settled a bit, there is bound to be some second guessing as bellinger is playing well for the cubs. however, there is no going back - you can't unring that bell(inger).

i recently added a 2022 topps allen & ginter chrome gold parallel bellinger autograph card

to my collection. i picked up the card because i realized that i did not have a bellinger auto in my collection, and even though this one is on card and numbered to 50, it wasn't very expensive. that surprised me a bit given the resurgence bellinger is experiencing in 2023 with the cubs, but i am not complaining.

i assume that the dodgers struggled with the decision last offseason to sign or not sign bellinger, but even now as he is playing well, i don't disagree with the decision that they made. here's a comparison from august 21 between james outman - the guy who has, for the most part, taken over for bellinger in center field - and bellinger:

you can see how well bellinger is playing (when he plays) in 2023. in fact, at this point in the season, bellinger could have gone 0 for 4 in each of the cubs' remaining 40 games and he would have still hit what he hit for the dodgers in 2022. however, what is not shown are the salaries - $722,500 for outman in 2023 and $17,500,000 for bellinger in 2023. sure, bellinger has the better statistics (in fewer games played), but over $16,000,000 for another 1.7 war isn't worth it, especially with the dodgers once again running away in the nl west. besides, there will be a bigger payday for bellinger on the other side of this season which carries a bit of a risk.

anyway, i have some bellinger cards that have been languishing in my scanned folder for a while, so here you go:

his status as an elite player on a high profile team meant that bellinger was included in a bunch of online sets, like topps' throwback thursday line. this one is from 2020

i would say it is about time that topps included an mvp subset in flagship again.

here's a 2022 topps 582 montgomery card

from "set 2". it gives off some 1992 topps vibes to me.

this is easily one of the oddest bellinger cards i have in my collection

it's from the 2019 topps direct 360 gary vee set, and is a "wine pairings" card. i guess cannibalizing bellinger would best be paired with a german wine.

he was also included in a bunch of insert sets, like this 2020 topps warriors of the diamond card

that celebrates his 2019 mvp campaign - 9.0 war. wow.

and here's a 2020 topps gypsy queen tarot of the diamond insert

which anoints bellinger as "the star"

he also got some prime real estate on team cards, like this 2022 topps factory set gold star parallel

not the most flattering photo.

panini didn't avoid bellinger either, as evidenced by this "eyes on the prize" mosaic parallel insert form 2021 mosaic

giving some screen time to aj pollock as well

and then there are the regular old base cards, like this 2021 topps gallery card

i am guessing that we will see a boatload of bellinger cards in the near future as the cubs are likely going to return to the postseason. i'm not sure what uniform bellinger will be wearing in 2024, but we will definitely see plenty of it on cardboard.

this situation reminds me a bit of what happened with adrian beltre after the 2004 season. however, the circumstances were completely opposite. while bellinger struggled in his walk year, beltre put together a career year for the ages, leading the national league in home runs, as noted by this 2005 playoff prestige card

the dodgers decided not to resign him, and he went on to create for himself a hall of fame career while the third base turnstyle continued to spin at dodger stadium. i get it - it's tough being a gm.

as for bellinger, i am guessing that we will see a boatload of his cards in the near future as the cubs are likely going to return to the postseason. i'm not sure what uniform bellinger will be wearing in 2024, but we will definitely see plenty of it on cardboard. i will tip my cap to him, just like he is doing on this 2018 topps 1983 all-star card

and be happy for his success, as long as he still swings at those back foot breaking balls against the dodgers in the postseason.

tree-ing up summer

tomorrow is memorial day, which is often seen as the kickoff to summer. growing up, summer to me meant no school, baseball, time with friends, and family vacations. for the latter, we would pile in to our rv and drive all over the western united states and canadian provinces.

many a time, we hit a national park or two - yosemite, yellowstone, glacier, death valley, zion, rocky mountain, etc - on our way to our ultimate destination. one park that we didn't visit as a family was joshua tree.

i added the chrome version of the 2022 topps allen & ginter inside the park mini to my "meaningful and just because" collection due to the fact that it is one of the parks that i've been to most often, even though i didn't get there until i was in high school.

located off of the 10 near palm springs, it was a bit out of the way for our family vacation routes. however, my friends and i were inspired by u2's 1987 album, "the joshua tree", to check out what was then a national monument. our first visit occurred in the summer of 1987, and over the course of the next five or six years, we went to the park to hike, camp, and do some freestyle rock climbing (a very tame version of freestyle rock climbing mind you) several times. 

i am very thankful for my parents and friends instilling in me an interest in national parks - an interest that includes state and regional parks as well - as they really are a great resource for us collectively and a fantastic way to spend time outdoors.  this summer, i have plans to visit at least one national park in the pacific northwest as well as one here in northern minnesota.  as for joshua tree, i last visited the park about 10 years ago, but hope to get back someday. i think there is a work related conference in palm springs next year, so fingers crossed!

i hope everyone has/is having an enjoyable memorial day weekend!

welcome to the hotel show in minnesota

i am pretty sure that the last time i went to a card show in a hotel i was a kid. it was actually what turned out to be the first national convention which was held near lax as i recall in 1980. the second national i went to, in 1991, was at the anaheim convention center, so i don't think i've been to a hotel show since. i've been to shows in other convention centers, malls, retail spaces, baseball stadiums, church gymansiums, warehouses, and even a national guard armory. no more hotels, though. until last friday.

that, by the way, is a 2022 panini the national card of clayton kershaw - a card that was available at last year's national convention that was held at the atlantic city convention center and not a hotel.

anyway, i found that card at a hotel card show last friday. it was a card i was very happy to find, as i received a parallel of it (yes, there are parallels) from a trading partner, and the back mentions clayton kershaw's flirtation with a perfect game in his 2022 season debut against the twins - a game that i attended.

as for the show, it was organized by a promoter who i do not believe was involved in the older semi-annual shows that used to take place at the earle brown center, and it was held at the hyatt regency hotel in downtown minneapolis. i was able to sneak away to attend on friday afternoon, and as soon as i walked in to the show space, i figured it would probably be my last hotel show. it was just too much.

i realized that because i am not working on any vintage sets at the moment, nor am i looking for the hottest rookies in any sport, most of the offerings were not geared towards me. i did a quick quarter lap and stopped at the first dime box i found. 

this dealer had dime, fifty cent, and dollar boxes, and i made it through all except the dollar boxes before i had to leave for a work call. i pulled 46 cards from the dime boxes and 49 from the fifty cent boxes. he told me that the fifty cent box would be considered a 3 for a dollar box, and i only had to pay  $20 for those 95 cards.

the haul included my first look at 2021 bowman heritage and 2022 bowman heritage

clayton beeter was traded to the yankees for joey gallo, so there is some synchronicity in that pairing.

i added a few dodgers from each set, plus a 2022 dylan carlson card

which shows dodger stadium seating in the background.

this dealer's boxes also introduced me to something called 2022 panini capstone

and there were also plenty of cards from late 2022 chrome-y releases like allen & ginter chrome, chrome sonic, and stadium club chrome

yes, that buehler in the middle is from chrome sonic and not regular ol' chrome. the andre jackson stadium club chrome card at least features a different photo than his normal stadium club card. however, brandon crawford's chrome card

is the same. still a nice double play card though!

and here's another dime box double play, courtesy of 2021 topps holiday

at the last show i attended, i bought a basketball card for my memorials collection, and i did the same here with this 2022-23 panini player of the day card of kat

he's sporting the league-wide patch for bill russell.

more pulls from these boxes included a modern card of don drysdale

a blue parallel of clayton kershaw

a metallic snowflake parallel of walker buehler

and a sampling of shiny 2022 topps chrome offerings

there we have chrome ben baller, cosmic chrome, chrome sapphire edition, and chrome update represented.

i found another joey gallo dodger card in one of the boxes, along with a silver portrait mookie betts and an a&g x mini of cody bellinger

the gallo card is from wave 5 of the 2022 topps 206 set, and is actually a piedmont back parallel. tcdb lists gallo as a yankee in the set, but i am happy to have one more card of him documenting his short time in dodger blue.

a couple more from this initial dig include a vladimir guerrero card

from 2021 topps pro debut and this jackie robinson card from 2022 topps x aaron judge

there were plenty of other nice cards for my collection, as well as the collections of some others.

after my call was done, i returned and did a full lap of the room. i only recognized one dealer from a local show, and i had just dug through their wares a couple of weeks ago so i kept going. i stopped at a nearby table where the dealer had more bargain boxes laid out.

he was offering some cards at 12 for $1, 5 for $1, and discounted "as marked". they were sorted by team, which is always super helpful.  i wound up with 36 cards from the 12 for a buck box, 46 from the 5 for a buck box, plus another 7 cards that were marked anywhere from $1 to $3 each. i got a bit of a break and paid $20.

i dug through more than just the dodgers, and found some cards for my mini-collections, including a pink wave refractor from 2022 topps chrome update

and a card showing "the catch" 

from 2020 topps heritage. i collect any and all cards that show the catch.

also going in my name/number on the back collection is this 2018 topps stadium club ryan zimmerman card

it shows zim after he hit a go-ahead home run in game two of the nlds against the cubs.  had the photo been more widely cropped, we might have been treated to a davey lopes sighting!

who was serving as the team's first base coach back then.

here's a card i found of lopes' dodger teammate don sutton

from 2015 panini cooperstown. i was very happy to find it for less than a dime.

i was also surprised to find a couple of cards from 2004 topps tribute hall of fame edition in the box. here's duke snider:

and here's snider's 2019 topps tribute card

which was also in the box, although it was in the 5 for $1 box and not the 12 for $1 box like the '04 tribute card.

these next three were marked at $1 each - a 2020 bowman's best cody bellinger refractor

a 2020 topps stadium club chrome clayton kershaw

and a 2017 topps gold label framed autograph card of andrew toles

this 2017 topps chrome rookie autograph of toles

was marked at $2. toles' story is a sad one, and i hope he is making progress in his work towards coping with his mental illness diagnoses.

dee gordon makes an appearance thanks to this 2011 topps update throwback manupatch

marked at $2, and i added another manupatch - this one of mookie betts

from 2021 topps - which was marked at $3.

by this time, it was obvious that i was only going to be looking for bargain boxes, but they seemed to be in relatively short supply compared to all of the glass cases on tables, and padded briefcases toted by many attendees.  i found one box showing cards at 5 for $1 and grabbed 5 including a 1998 fleer flair paul konerko need

and i followed that up with another 6 cards from another table for a total of $2. those cards inluded another minor league vladdy card

this one from 2022 topps heritage minor leagues.

i also paid just about "full price" for another 36 cards from a different dealer's five for $1 box - i got one free by paying $7. however, i could consider that my freebie was this 2013 topps nl stars clayton kershaw card

that i had been watching on ebay. i missed these factory sets in 2013 and will now turn my attention to the matt kemp and adrian gonzalez cards from the set.

my favorite find in these boxes, however, was this 2015 topps gypsy queen duke snider short print

wonderful.

i ended my afternoon back where i began, with the first dealer i visited. i returned to dig through his dollar boxes, and wound up with 27 cards that i obtained for $25. there was plenty of sapphire

like these from 2021 bowman chrome, 2022 bowman chrome, and 2022 topps chrome, and more shiny stuff from 2021 topps chrome ben baller

2022 topps chrome sonic

and 2022 topps stadium club chrome

i really did enjoy digging through all of these boxes, so maybe it is a "never say never" situation when it comes to hotel shows in the future.

bonus content!:

i heard some chatter at one of the tables about a release date being set for 2023 topps heritage which was good to hear. when i got home, i checked cardboard connection and saw this image

among the card examples. i can't wait!