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.

'tis the night before christmas

deck the halls and what not - it's christmas time! it's also time for me to show some topps holiday cards that i've added since we last shared yuletide greetings.

this release should really be called "topps christmas" because that is the only holiday the cards reference, and it's been that way since the first issue in 2019. here's a 2019 cody bellinger variation

that is pretty easy to spot.

this 2020 bellinger variation

is a bit tougher. here, the variation is the "la" ornament hanging off of his bat. i am guessing that there are many of these languishing in forgotten boxes of unwanted base cards.

the 2021 set included the bead curtain design, and here's a max scherzer variation

i wore a scarf just the other day.

mookie betts variations are also in my possession - this one from 2022

and this one from 2023

as well as this one from 2024

that last one is him in an elf hat, but the card design has it looking more like something that comes out of a christmas cracker.

this year, the variation i purchased was roki sasaki's

which combined the santa hat with the christmas light necklace.

i also picked up betts' 2021 base card to complete the team set

as well as the remainder of the 2025 base cards i needed to complete that team set

the parallels have evolved over the past few years, and i added a few of them to my collection over the past few months. here's freddie freeman's 2022 silver metallic snowflake parallel

and then freeman and max muncy on their 2024 equivalent

except these are called "silver glitter" now.

no surprise that 2025 expanded on the parallels. here's clayton kershaw's sliver glitter

dalton rushing's light blue & white glitter

blake snell's metallic blue foil christmas lights

teoscar hernandez' gold foil christmas lights

and freeman's green plaid

that last one was a throw-in into a lot of 2025 allen & ginter i bought which was a nice surprise. it came with some other, non-dodger inserts from 2025 topps holiday that i found interesting, like this evergreen harmon killebrew card

which is die-cut. i also got a laugh out of seeing emmanuel clase on the nice list

what a crazy story that is.

it wouldn't be (almost) christmas without me thinking of the late rickey henderson. at some point during the year, i found a seller with rickey's 2003 topps chrome traded base and refractor listed. they were listed separately and i am not sure that the seller knew one was a refractor. i bought them both 

for $40 which is a steal (pun intended). let's take a moment to look at rickey's almost career totals on the backs of these cards

the refractor is noted on the back down by the card number.

i still need a couple more refractors to complete my 2003 topps chrome traded team set, but i did find james loney's card shortly after picking up the rickey

this one was listed as a refractor, and it was pretty obvious from the photo of the front, and it is marked as such on the back

just in a different way than rickey's.

rickey's 2003 upper deck card is probably my favorite from his dodger stint

but i have questions about the back

i have never seen "mariners" shortened to "mrl". and, "athletics" is nine characters, so why not say "mets/mar". ponderous.

back to christmas, i pounced on this complete printing plate run from 2024 leaf metal happy holidays web exclusive

so i suppose i could print my own steve garvey holiday cards now? i haven't seen any of the actual cards hit the market yet, but i may have missed any that did because these are so short printed by leaf.

some other holiday "hits" to share - a 2022 topps holiday cody bellinger relic

and, very fittingly, a 2025 topps holiday jhonkensey noel relic

that i pulled from a holiday tin earlier this month. it's the first noel relic card i've pulled. ha.

also in that tin was a 2009 design card of ol' saint nick himself

which is part of the multi-year santa archives. here's the back:

i remember hearing about zsu zsu pets but did not partake.

earlier in the year, i found the 2014 card in a dig box at the lcs

here's the back

i don't recall any of those toys. i think i first heard about paw patrol last year. 

finally, here's the first card i purchased from 2025 topps holiday - the 1978 design santa archives

i've added it to my 1978 topps master set. any idea why santa's position is identified as "cpt"? at first i thought that was an abbreviation for "captain" which didn't make a lot of sense. i googled "cpt" and found that it is also an acronym for "carriage paid to" which is an international trade term that means the shipper delivers goods at their own expense. that certainly applies, but it seems like an obscure "position" for mr. claus. here's the back:

ah yes. this i remember. it was all star wars at my house that christmas. i remember getting the milennium falcon and immediately mixing up the stickers on the back. good times. here's hoping that 2025 creates memories that last a lifetime.

and now please enjoy norm macdonald reading the dickens classic. merry christmas to all and to all a good night!