one large piazza to go

i received an email from tom at angels. in order prior to one of his recent giveaways asking if i had a need for a mike piazza postcard. i checked my collection and said please and thanks and i soon received this in the mail

it's a postcard that was used by the dodgers to respond to piazza's fan mail as a way of acknowledging the fan's interest without piazza having to do anything. however, it is officially cataloged as a 1993 barry colla postcard.

i figured i would show another card of piazza's that i recently picked up via sportlots or ebay (i can't recall) - it's his 2017 topps 1987 all-star insert

and then show the two together to prove that the postcard is, in fact, postcard sized.

and so it is.

tom also sent a card that i requested from his giveaway - this 1987 fleer star stickers steve bedrosian card

bedrosian is standing in dodger stadium, which is why i was keen to add the card to my collection. thanks tom!

separate from tom's giveaway, i have also recently added a couple more oddly sized mike piazza cards, like this 1995 post cereal card

which came to me unfolded. here is what would be the front and back of the card:

no logos on the card, but with piazza being a catcher you don't really miss the logos. only the cub player's helmet is obviously lacking a logo. solid photo selection by whomever it was.

one more oversized piazza i picked up was this 1998 topps super chrome card

it's his regular chrome card, just super sized.

and then there is a regular old card, from 1998 donruss

it notes his trade to the mets, completely bypassing his marlins tenure.

i put these last three cards together so you can see the differing sizes

pretty standard sizing of cards as far as non-standard cards go.

piazza isn't the only dodger for whom i've been adding oversized cards to my collection. clayton kershaw has a few, and over the last couple of months i've picked up some of them. here's a 2017 topps allen & ginter boxtopper

and, while this looks like a regular 2020 topps turkey red insert, it's actually the boxtopper version

i prefer the allen & ginter boxtoppers that are different than cards you can find in the box in standard size. topps also went a different route with 2021 stadium club and the master photo boxtoppers

i like having cards showing dodgers holding the world series trophy. this photo has been modified to remove the mask that kershaw was wearing below his chin, and that's ok by me.

back to just a larger version of a regular card as a boxtopper, we have this one

from 2022 topps update. it's a reprint of his 2008 update rookie card in larger format.

here's a 2021 topps allen & ginter murad reimagined insert

that i will use for scale.

here's all of the kershaws together, showing their relative sizes

four different sizes there, with the ginter boxtopper being pretty large. i think it required a 8x10 ultra pro sheet to store in my 2017 dodger binder.

big or small, when it comes to dodger cards i collect them all!

reaching for new loes (and lowes and logans)

i haven't placed a sportlots or comc order for a few months now. i still buy on ebay occasionally, but am really focusing on steve garvey stuff and maybe timeless teams parallels if they pop up at a reasonable price.

one of the last non-garvey, non-timeless teams ebay purchases i made was a 1952 topps billy loes card

it's super colorful and reduces my low number needs for the dodger team set to just 8 cards. i have no illusions of ever completing this team set, leaving it and the 1953 topps dodger team sets as the only ones i have not and likely will not complete. i'm ok with that, although i might try to get the last four 1953 cards that i need.

some of the last sportlots orders i placed included cards from my "nefarious 9" list of most wanted cards. they included a 2005 upper deck mvp derek lowe card

and a 2006 topps allen & ginter derek lowe card

i believe the a&g lowe was a short print, but regardless, both of these lowes complete team sets for me.

some other formerly most wanted cards that i added to complete team sets were a 2017 topps allen & ginter logan forsythe card

a 1999 pacific alex core card

a 2000 topps hd adrian beltre card

a 2005 topps retired signature duke snider card

a 1984 topps cereal series fernando valenzuela card

(not sure how i didn't already have one of those)

a 1999 upper deck ovation adrian beltre card

and i also added this 1991 swell don drysdale card

to finish up yet another team set!

even though these cards were crossed off the list, there are always more! following kerry's lead, i've moved the list from the web version sidebar to a link below the header so that it is more easily available on mobile devices.  take a look at my most wanted cards and see if you can help a blogger out! you will be rewarded!

they came in 2 by 2 from 2 x 3 heroes

some other folks took the title 'return of the jedi', so i'm going in a different direction to show some cards that jedi jeff from 2x3 heroes sent my way recently.  there were a few pairs that go great together, such as these 2017 topps stadium club sandy koufax gold and black foil parallels:

and these black and gold 2017 topps allen & ginter justin turner mini parallels:

and these 2017 topps gallery corey seager artist proof paralle and base card:

that's a nice trio of duos!

there were other cards, too, including a big lot of some 2008 upper deck goudey and 2017 topps heritage high numbers that i had requested in one of his giveaways a while back.  there were more dodgers, as well.

here's a blank back from 2018 panini donruss:

you can't tell, but i assure you that on the front of the card is cody bellinger's 1984 design card from the set. in fact, it's the photo variation version of his 1984 design card. so that means that this card is a photo variation and a blank back variation at the same time. that's some panini hijinks right there!

one more card - it's a 1990 topps ray searage card!

i've got to believe that this is the first time this card has been shown on a blog, right?

thanks jeff!