one down, still nine to go

you might recognize the title of this post as i've used it before. it means that i have added one of my "nefarious 9" - my most wanted cards. of course, that also means that a new card has been added to the list. the list is dead, long live the list.

this time, the card obtained was....

2022 topps chrome #84 albert pujols refractor parallel

unfortunately i forgot to scan the back and i didn't bother to dig the card out of the binder for this post.

here are the facts about this card:

position on the nefarious 9 list: 8

how long was it on the list? it lasted four months on the list (added on march 1, 2025)

why was it on the list? this refractor was the last one i needed to complete my dodger team set of the basic refractor parallels

how was it obtained? this card came to me as part of a sportlots order in july of 2025

what replaced it on the list?  2021 topps stadium club chrome #283 tony gonsolin

one question i don't typically include in these posts is what prompted me to purchase the card (aside from the fact that it was one of the nefarious 9)? in this case, kevin the diamond king reached out and asked if i also needed the pujols prism refractor. i did, and he sent it

along with a bunch of other dodger cards. i figured if he was going to send me the prism refractor, i might as well get the regular refractor. and so i did.

the other cards kevin sent were just fantastic. here is a colorful trio of 2020 panini donruss tony gonsolin parallels

plus a holo prizm of the same card from the donruss optic line

i think i will start calling him "gonso-long" since he is on the 60-day il so often.

how about a 2020 panini chronicles dustin may phoenix pink parallel?

it's numbered to 25

so thank you very much!

i found out that topps did a collaboration with derek jeter in 2022 because kevin included this 2022 topps x derek jeter call of the captain clayton kershaw card

it's actually a blue parallel, and is numbered to 175

and then there was a 2017 panini black friday kershaw manupatch

but none of those cards were the biggest surprise in the bunch.

the biggest surprise of the lot was this 2022 leaf in the game used sports triple relic rainbow cracked ice card

that features hall of famers duke snider, gil hodges, and walter alston. just a tremendous card to see in the package. all three of those numbers are retired by the dodgers, as is number 34. so, not too many "4s" left. i wonder if kenley jansen will make the hall of fame and have his number 74 retired by the club.

thanks kevin - i have some cards on their way to you! and please let me know if you can help a blogger out with any of the cards on my nefarious 9 - you will be rewarded!

something in the air

generosity has been prevalent in the blogosphere for a long time, and recently there were some giveaways and surprise envelopes from multiple sources. i figured it was time to highlight some of these instances that have furthered my collection.

first, the diamond king had a giveaway featuring shohei ohtani cards. i requested a 2018 panini diamond kings card

and true to form, kevin included a couple of extras. this is a 2017 panini black friday cody bellinger card

comc calls it rainbow spokes, tcdb calls it wedges. whatever it is, it's great!  and this is a 2022 topps chrome platinum anniversary max muncy card

platinum cream toile & rose gold refractor, and it's numbered on the back to 75.

kevin wasn't done there, as a while later, he offered up some paul skenes cards. i requested a 2024 bowman insert chrome prospect card

and once again, kevin included some bonus dodgers.

that's a 2020 panini chronicles phoenix ruby wave cody bellinger card numbered to 199, and this is a 2018 topps fire duke snider orange parallel card

numbered to 299.

thanks kevin - i hope the cards i sent your way made it there ok!

next up, rod from padrographs had posted that there were some mailings sent out from padrographs hq, and that one of them was a poster in a tube mailer. well, guess who got the poster?!

rod sent me the steve garvey "out of the blue" poster that looks like this:

mine isn't signed, but it was easier to find a photo online than to try to roll it out and take one myself. i have a couple other garvey posters that i need to get set up somewhere.

rod also sent some cards, including one of the garv

along with a 1982 fleer roger erickson signed card

there were also some unopened packs, including 2002 upper deck world series heroes. nice to see don drysdale on the wrapper!

i don't really believe in unopened product, so here we go. my pack included a duke snider card

plus some other folks who played in the world series at some point

other packs included two 1992 upper deck minors which yielded some fun content, including chad ogea in tailored shorts

these days a few players are wearing these "above the knees" pants for real. here's the immortal skeets thomas

with one of the better broken bat cards out there.

there was one dodger card in the packs - greg hansell

i already had this card in my collection, but i found someone who needed one for theirs...

that would be tom, from angels in order. the hansell came in handy because i was preparing a return envelope for tom thanks to him sending me some cards a couple of weeks earlier. he sent these three cards from 1992 classic update white travel edition

along with a 1993-94 fleer excel roger cedeno minor league card

and a 1995 upper deck minor league top prospects karim garcia future stock card

i don't typically seek out minor league cards so it's great to have someone sending them my way!

not to be outdone, tom later had a giveaway in which i was able to procure this card:

2013 bowman platinum yasiel puig prospects chrome green refractor /399. it's really shiny and a great lead-in to st. patrick's day.

thanks kevin, rod, tom, and everyone else out there for bringing the generosity to the blogs. i am feeling inspired to do another "almost free stuff friday" in the near future. stay tuned!

nobody expects the spanish inquisition (or new todd hundley dodger cards)

i would count topps manufacturing a card of todd hundley as a dodger in 2021 as a wholly unexpected development.  they did do such a thing, however, as this 2021 topps archives snapshot card proves

hundley was one of three dodgers in the set, along with victor gonzalez

and mookie betts. betts' card was the only one of the three not provided by madding aka kerry of cards on cards in a recent envelope of cards sent my way. while betts wasn't in that envelope, i have received a number of his cards from kerry over the last year or so, including:

2020 bowman chrome

2020 bowman platinum

2020 panini chronicles contenders

and 2020 panini chronicles titan

chronicles is one of the most confusing issues out there - right up there with bowman. although i still think bowman is more confusing with its variety of inserts and sub-issues.

in direct contrast to my surprise in finding a new todd hundley dodger card in 2021, one of the most expected things in my collecting experience is receiving such envelopes from kerry. in fact, they come at such a pace that i find it difficult to keep up in expressing my thanks.  here are a bunch of other cards sent to me in exchange for cardinals on cards over the last few months:

2020 bowman chrome cody bellinger

2020 bowman chrome brusdar graterol

2020 panini chronicles score walker buehler

2020 panini chronicles limited gavin lux

2021 panini prizm sandy koufax

2021 panini prizm corey seager fireworks

2021 panini prizm zack mckinstry purple parallel

kerry also sent me a team set of 2015 topps stickers (minus the logo sticker):

look at all the turnover there! none of those guys are current dodgers, and some aren't playing anymore.  here's the other player included in the team set:

and as i type this, there is a good chance that he won't be a dodger any longer, either!

here's another card featuring clayton kershaw - a 2020 topps big league league leaders orange parallel

and one more from that set that i've added to my dodger stadium collection - joc pederson

shown celebrating a joc pop.  it looks like 2021 big league will be out in 2022 - i pre-ordered a box back in may and am not sure i will ever see it. on the other hand, i know i will continue to see cards from kerry in my mailbox. thanks kerry!

don't look back you can never look back

i haven't seen any deadhead stickers on a cadillac lately, but i did acquire some boys of summer autograph cards last year, thanks to panini's 2020 america's pastime release, which was actually part of their difficult to understand chronicles release. there are five versions of steve garvey's card, the first of which is the "base", numbered to 99

i didn't seek it out, but a card numbered 78 in the print run resonates with me. the summer of '78 was a good one for the garv (he was named all-star game mvp for the second time) and for me, too. that was the time that i fully immersed myself in baseball card collecting with my neighborhood friends. good times.

the other versions of the card are standard panini parallels - gold #/25, holo silver #/10, green #/5, and black #/1. i have the gold

and the holo silver cards as far as the parallels go: 

you know, there are plenty of action shots of garvey in which logos are obscured, yet panini loves to use the image of him in his batting stance. here's the back:

you can see there that panini makes no mention of chronicles, just america's pastime. so confusing for future generations.  as for that image on the back, which is the same used for the closeup on the front - it has been used by panini before, and actually looks ok on unlicensed cards. the only thing that gives away the lack of license is the blank helmet.

summer is a couple of months out yet, but not out of reach. i've already got my wayfarers on.