(i didn't want to see) apathy in the uk

i was in the uk for a couple of weeks last month, and i decided to keep an eye out for trading cards. i didn't have to wait too long before i spotted some, as there was a significant display of 2026 topps premier league cards in a grocery store in porthmadog - in fact, two different displays

and again in the window of what i would consider a neighborhood market

i didn't purchase any of these cards, but it was interesting to see them and note how visible topps is making them.

i later spotted some tobacco cards displayed on the wall of one of the english pubs we went in. 

as far as i could tell, these 1937 player's coronation series: ceremonial dress cards are actual cards - not a promotional or modern poster. it's a partial set (there are 50 total cards in the set) and they don't seem to be worth too much, but i would guess that the cards have been in place there for decades.

i found no topps baseball uk edition cards which is no surprise since the last issue of those cards was in 2022, and i understood that it was an online product, not necessarily available in brick and mortars. speaking of which, i found no hobby shops that carried cards. there were a couple of shops we discovered on our adventures that looked like they could have had sports cards, but they drew the line at funko pops, apparently. the last time i was in britain, i saw some pokemon cards at a convenience type store, but i didn't see any of that this time.

i do have a couple of recent uk edition pickups to share from that last release to show off:

walker buehler black parallel

these are numbered to 125 which is different from the flagship black parallels

freddie freeman and mookie betts base cards

and a clayton kershaw big ben parallel

which is numbered to 99

this is one of the more unique parallels in uk edition, but i feel that i should remind everyone that big ben is the bell inside the tower, not the tower itself which is formally named "elizabeth tower". 

i think i would like to find a union jack parallel but i haven't done so yet. i do regret that these were not purchased in the uk. sadly, i believe the last cards i have purchased in person outside of the united states were o-pee-chee cards in the early 1980s or perhaps some hockey cards in the early 90s. 

i didn't see a whole lot of baseball things of any sort while we were there. a few dodger hats - one person wearing a dodgers shirt - but when i said "go dodgers" to one of the people wearing a hat, they looked confused. several yankee hats were noted, but were largely worn by what i assumed to be tourists from asia. i did see an older gentleman at the british museum wearing an expos hat which made me smile. i didn't even see any of the wbc gear for great britain. i wouldn't have minded picking up a shirt with the classic default font. it's worth noting (because it relates to this post) that i came across a couple of old tour posters featuring the sex pistols, from whom i took inspiration for the title of this post.

at the conclusion of our trip we flew from london to boston before returning to the twin cities, which sort of stunk because of the layover and having to go through security again after clearing customs, but it did afford me an opportunity to say hello to pedro martinez in the tsa precheck security line at logan. not sure where he was headed, but that quick moment was better than any card i might have found abroad.

as rick steves says, "keep on travelin'!" to which i will add "keep on collectin'!"

bonus content - happy 37th anniversary to kirk gibson and his game 1 walk-off

i've had that black parallel of his 2013 panini hometown heroes curtain call insert in my scanned folder for not quite a year waiting for tonight!

another legend of dodger baseball

last weekend was an exciting one at dodger stadium. the team swept the pirates and it was alumni weekend to boot.

on friday night, the team inducted dusty baker into their "legends of dodger baseball" fraternity. coincidentally, i just added this 2013 panini hometown heroes state parallel 

of the left fielder for the team of my youth to my collection. dusty was there in person, of course, as were some of his old teammates like steve garvey (a fellow "lodb") and reggie smith, both of whom spoke during the ceremony honoring baker. other members of the "lodb" group were there, including orel hershiser, manny mota, kirk gibson, and fernando valenzuela. sandy koufax, who is a member of the ring of honor (along with valenzuela) was also there. each of those guys, along with baker and garvey, also received their dodger blue blazers which is now a thing like at the masters or the nfl hall of fame.

on saturday night, the team added former owner walter o'malley to the ring of honor, which is the retired number display. vin scully and jaime jarrin are the only other non-field personnel honored (with microphones rather than numbers), so i was curious to see how the team would recognize o'malley. they basically did what the giants started doing over 40 years ago and used o'malley's name and the team logo.

that's ann meyers drysdale (don's widow), erin scully (vin's daughter), and laura lasorda (tom's daughter) unveiling the logo. time will tell if this unlocks the tributes for brooklyn greats like zack wheat. i've thought it made sense for a big ol' brooklyn "b" for wheat since i first saw the placards for mel ott and others on the fence at candlestick back in the early 1980s.

there were a ton of former players on hand for o'malley's ceremony including the aforementioned players as well as bill russell, ron cey, steve yeager, mickey hatcher, rick dempsey, hideo nomo, shawn green, eric gagne, james loney, nomar garciaparra, andre ethier and many more. i think i even spotted jim lefebvre there. peter o'malley spoke about his father and was also given one of the dodger blue blazers.

on sunday, it was matt kemp day. my former favorite dodger signed one of those ceremonial one-day contracts so he could retire as a dodger. he was also recognized in a pregame ceremony during which clayton kershaw told him that he was "da real mvp" in 2011. here's a 2013 topps museum collection copper parallel of kemp

that i added to my collection recently. juan pierre checked in via a recorded message (wearing a vintage "beast mode" t-shirt) as did dee gordon (from a farm somewhere) and a few others. it wouldn't surprise me to see kemp added to the legends of dodger baseball list someday.

it would have been a good weekend to be back in socal, but i couldn't swing it. i will have to get back there sometime soon to see what cards are representing baker and hershiser (he was inducted after my most recent visit to the ravine) on their legends of dodger baseball displays.

bet your bottom dollar

i am really looking forward to tomorrow. one day closer to the weekend, sure, but it's also going to be the season debut of clayton kershaw.

the future hall of famer is back from his offseason shoulder surgery and subsequent rehab and will be on the bump against the giants. my expectations are tempered, but i am hoping that he doesn't suffer any setbacks and is able to pitch for the remainder of the season on a regular basis.

kershaw is just 56 strikeouts away from 3,000 and if he stays healthy over the next 10 weeks, he has a real shot at achieving the milestone this season. of course, that depends on his stuff. anyway, here are 17 kershaw cards to share in honor of his 17th season kicking off tomorrow.

2024 topps grand gamers

2024 topps superstar blueprints

2020 topps choice black parallel /299

2016 topps chrome sepia refractor

2017 topps triple threads

2019 bowman's best

2019 topps allen & ginter x

2020 bowman platinum

2013 panini hometown heroes zip code parallel

2015 topps tribute

2017 bowman chrome

2019 panini prizm blue prizm parallel

2020 panini prizm stargazing white wave prizm parallel

2021 panini donruss photo variation holo pink parallel

2022 panini capstone summit

2023 topps favorite sons black parallel /299

2024 topps silver pack chrome 1989 35th anniversary

once he gets on the mound, the "k is for kershaw kountdown" will continue! stay tuned!

get back

if you are looking for beatles content, this is not the post for you, although i did start watching the beatles documentary on disney+ a while back but haven't got back to it, no pun intended. no, today is the day that i share most of the cards that are in my often mentioned "name/number on the back" mini-collection.

i'll start by showing a card that would fit in to the collection, but it's not there (yet).

that's a 2013 panini hometown heroes yasiel puig short printed card. it's a fairly recent addition to my collection, and sits in my dodger collection. i don't really plan to track down another one for the mini-collection, but who knows.

the idea for this mini-collection was spurred by the existence of some cards that i liked aesthetically, but didn't necessarily "fit" anywhere in my collection. i have always liked photographs that show a subject from behind, giving viewers a glance at what they are looking at. another reason for this mini-collection is that when one goes to a baseball game in person, players have their backs to you much of the time, especially if you sit in the outfield seats or behind home plate. as a result, these cards often mimic the views that i enjoy at the ballpark. 

the first card that struck me in this way was paul molitor's 1998 topps card

molly was my favorite non-dodger for awhile, but what drew me to this card was the vantage point of the photographer. i was playing baseball in an adult league when the card was issued, and i saw similar scenes every time i was in the on deck circle. i really really like this card.

the second card that made me consider starting this mini-collection was vladimir guerrero's 1999 topps gallery card

i had a vladdy pc going at the time this card came out, so it fit in my collection, but again, the point of view of the photographer put me on the field or in the dugout. two years later, i found this 2001 topps stadium club mo vaughn card

and i knew i had to start a specific mini-collection. i even referred to this card as "perfect" in this post. still, it took me a long time to commit, and in the meantime, more cards were produced that fit the bill. i also found some older cards that i added to the collection. 

i've listed out all of the cards that currently sit in this collection here (there are over 90), and i'll show about half of them below:

there are some historic baseball moments that resulted in cards that fit this collection. like this 2007 upper deck masterpieces babe ruth card

and from the same set, a carlton fisk card

fisk's home run "trot" was also featured on a 1999 upper deck century legends memorable shots card

and a year later, upper deck included a card of "the catch" 

in the defining moments insert set to their 2000 legends release. "the catch" may have been the first baseball highlight that i took a strong liking to. i remember coming home from little league practice after catching a fly ball in the outfield with my back to the infield and telling my parents that my catch was just like willie mays'. so, i am always looking for cards that feature the play for this collection, and nick sent me one awhile back - this one is from 2016 topps

the vladdy up above is one of the rare baserunner cards in this collection, but there are a few others, like this 2015 topps evan longoria 'til it's over insert

and rickey henderson's 1999 upper deck century legends card

sometimes the baserunner makes it to home plate, as on this 1999 topps gallery mark mcgwire card

sometimes fielders make the cut as is the case with andy van slyke's simply fantastic 1992 topps stadium club card

this is one of my favorite cards thanks in a large part to the third base coach cameo.

matt williams' 2001 topps stadium club card 

is another "fielder" example.

on denard span's 2014 topps card (target red parallel)

we get the rare on-field camera man view as opposed to the specator view, but i like it! this card shows span tipping his hat to the crowd after making a game saving and game ending catch against the giants in 2013.

sometimes, there are pitchers that make the cut for the collection, such as jeff lahti's 1984 donruss card

david cone's 1993 upper deck card

and hideo nomo's 2001 topps card

pregame lineups also provide an opportunity for images to be used for cards that fit in this collection. such is the case with this 2002 topps card

and this 2018 topps update card

this 2017 topps stadium club willie mccovey card

features a photo i absolutely would have taken had i been there at the giants' spring training venue to do so.

there are a couple of "on deck" cards in the collection, including this one of david dahl

from 2019 topps stadium club. by far, however, the greatest number of cards in this collection feature players at bat.

2021 topps heritage dick allen baseball flashbacks

2007 topps moments & milestones joe mauer black parallel

2001 upper deck rickey henderson

sometimes, the vantage point shifts closer to the seats behind home plate, which is great. here are a few of those types of cards

1985 topps stickers steve garvey

1994 topps george brett gold parallel

2009 upper deck o-pee-chee chone figgins

2017 topps stadium club nolan arenado

2007 upper deck first edition vladimir guerrero

2002 upper deck vintage sammy sosa/cubs checklist

1992 topps stadium club tom pagnozzi

here's one that features the scene as it appears from behind the batting cage

that's a 2003 topps stadium club j.d. drew card and darn if it doesn't make me feel like a batting coach.

most of these batter cards use photos from the camera wells near the dugouts. here are some more:

1995 select mark mcgwire

mcgwire's 1993 select card features a centerfield camera shot of him at the plate - i've thought about creating a mini-collection of those cards, too, but so far i've resisted.

2000 upper deck gary sheffield

love this card!

1982 donruss duane kuiper

1999 upper deck ultimate victory shawn green

1999 upper deck victory ken griffey jr sweepstakes

2000 upper deck and upper deck gold reserve magglio ordonez

2002 topps total jeff bagwell

2012 topps frank robinson 1987 mini

sometimes it's a nickname on the back

but the card still fits, like this 2019 topps big league juan soto card

the camera well next to the visitor's dugout at target field is a great place for photographers to capture aesthetically pleasing images. joe mauer's 2011 topps chrome (and refractor parallel) cards

are a great example of this, however, the wider shot used for his factory team card

is all kinds of fantastic.  from the same set, we get denard span's card

with a similar image used.

and then there is the 2008 upper deck manny ramirez card

which tells the story from behind the subject. great card!

this 2010 topps allen & ginter nick markakis card

features a shot from a higher vantage point in the stands, which is fairly uncommon i would say.

the most recent card to enter this collection actually hasn't arrived yet. i ordered three of this 2022 topps now freddie freeman card

one for the dodger collection, one for the dodger stadium collection, and one for this one.

i'll finish with this 2016 topps gypsy queen jackie robinson walk-off winners insert

i love seeing number 42 on cardboard.

it is a bit subjective as far as what card makes it in to the collection, but if it makes me feel present i am all too happy to add it. this is for sure one of the odder mini-collections i have, but i really do like seeing all the cards together.