heavy is the head that wears the crown

after picking up that 1997 pacific card-supial card in diamond kings' card draft a few weeks ago, i went to see what other insert sets i was missing from my dodger want list. as you probably know, pacific had some great sets with kick-ass inserts, culminating (in my opinion) in their 2000 invincible release in which the base set was as good or better than their inserts.

anyway, i quickly realized that i had not included the 1997 pacific crown collection gold crown die-cut cards in my want list. i fixed that oversight and then ordered todd hollandsworth's card

from sportlots. the other two dodgers in this insert set (as well as the cardsupial set) are hideo nomo and mike piazza, so holly was the cheapest one to obtain. he was on the top of the world back in 1997, appearing in a number of insert sets as the reigning national league rookie of the year. unfortunately, the level of success he enjoyed during his rookie campaign was hard to replicate and he was eventually traded away.

in fact, the dodgers traded away all five of their consecutive rookies-of-the-year, including 1994 winner raul mondesi.  i recently went to comc to add some cards to my collection (although oddly enough i did not look for more pacific inserts), and i included this 1995 topps cyberstats card of rauuuuuuuuuuuuuul

along with that of pedro astacio to complete my dodger team set. the back shows raul's enhanced projected stats

that might have been without the strike. that's a pretty solid rookie campaign for sure.

there are really only a few types of cards that make me go to comc these days, and one of the two cards that did it this time was this 2004 upper deck legends carlton fisk bronze parallel

not just any bronze parallel, but a memorable moments subset card. these really show off the bronzing, and the gold versions are even better. unfortunately, the gold ones are limited to five of each and are usually priced based on that scarcity rather than the collectability of the player shown.

the other card that drew me to the site was a 2017 topps chrome joc pederson parallel refractor. you know i am on the lookout for more of these cards for my rainbow, but unfortunately, i outsmarted myself and bought another gold refractor instead of the green one i was looking for. i have now added the green refractor to my list of most wanted cards!

to fill out the order, i went hunting for a few mini-collection hits, such as this 2019 topps update willie mays greatest moments insert

i will add any and all cards that show "the catch" to my name/number on the back collection.

speaking of numbers, i added a few more cards to my "42" mini-collection. from 2016 topps, i picked up the jackie robinson day variations of lorenzo cain

wil myers

and a second scott van slyke card

since the first one is in my dodger collection. speaking of which, i decided to complete the team set of the 2018 topps update jackie robinson day manufactured patch

i already had matt kemp's card, so i added yasiel puig, corey seager, clayton kershaw, and cody bellinger to the collection.  i also added josh bell's card

for the mini-collection. note that none of these cards would work this year as there were no "42"s on the fronts of jerseys on jackie robinson day 2022. 

i picked up two more cards for the 1957 topps set build

now down to 30 cards needed!

of course, i also added a few more dodgers to the order. the reason i was able to add that 2017 joc pederson green refractor to my most wanted list is that i bought tommy lasorda's 2020 topps allen & ginter card

that had been on that list previously. tommy completes another team set for me.

i was looking for a card that cost 34 cents or whatever it was that i had left (over the $4.99 shipping), and so this 2013 topps update j.p. howell walmart blue parallel

was the lucky "mr. irrelevant" card. it doesn't complete a set or anything, but it's a dodger card i needed.

before i got to howell, however, i added some other dodgers to the order, including a different 2013 topps update parallel

yasiel puig emeral foil rookie debut! this card was fairly unattainable back in 2013. eight and a half years later, easy peasy.

you may recall that i've been focusing on topps chrome, and this 2016 topps chrome update ross stripling card

means i just need the julio urias card to complete the team set.

this hyun-jin ryu 2013 topps chrome update card

does complete the team set for me, which is nice.

just a couple more cards from the order, and they are both photo variations. this 2019 topps ryu card

is unremarkable, but it was cheap.  better is this 2018 topps update sandy koufax legend variation

always nice to get a new koufax card, especially at a decent price.

that takes care of most of what i ordered from comc (there were a couple other cards, including one for another blogger), but that's not the end of the cards that came in the mail that same day.  matt from diamond jesters has already sent me his return for the cards he claimed in my last "almost free stuff friday". he send this 2022 topps andre jackson card

which completes my series 1 dodger team set. well worth the cards i sent matt's way.  thanks matt!

speaking of trading, let me know if you have any pacific dodger inserts, a 2017 topps chrome joc pederson green refractor, or any other of my wants - you will be rewarded!