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!

ttm blasts from the past

forever stamps are a good thing, especially when it comes to through the mail autograph requests.  one just never knows when (or if) a request will be filled.  i've received a few in the last couple of months that i figured i would share.

first up is danny heep, who signed a 1989 topps

1989 fleer

and 1989 score

card for me.  this return was relatively quick as i sent the cards out on february 1st, and received the cards back on june 13.

here's brett butler who has signed for me in the past. 

i didn't have a 1991 topps traded card in my autograph collection until this one came back, but i can't update my topps dodger autograph project since butler is representing a different release.  i sent that card to butler on february 11, 2017 and got it back on april 2, 2018.  not quite 14 months.

ken howell was the dodger bullpen coach for a long time. he was replaced this season by former phenom mark prior.  would you believe that i received my 1985 topps traded card back from howell over five years after i sent it to him?

well, you should, because that is the truth.  i sent to howell on february 18, 2013 and received it back on may 29, 2018.  that length of time was not quite the longest wait i've endured - pete mackanin took five-and-a-half years to return a card to me.

however, mackanin was unseated about a month ago when i found some todd benzinger cards in my mailbox - 1993 topps 

and 1992 topps stadium club

he kept a 1989 upper deck card.  i sent these cards (plus a 1989 upper deck card that he kept) to benzinger on december 10, 2009.  they came back to me on june 14, 2018.  that's 3,108 days!  8.5 years!  it gives me some hope for other outstanding requests.

as always, thanks to all who sign ttm - no matter how long it takes!

looking to 86 '89

as i grow more disillusioned with the 2017 products released by topps, i figured i would go back and see if i could obliterate a certain year from my dodger want list.  i figured that 1989 would be a good year since the dodgers won the world series the previous season, and so completing this task would mean that i would have all of the cards that celebrated that improbable finish.  i was already well on my way when i officially committed to the endeavor thanks largely to my 8-plus years trading within the blogosphere.  i didn't buy too many cards in 1989, and there were five major manufacturers back then, so this is a fairly decent task to have (nearly) completed.

anyway, most of the cards that i was in need of were specialty issues, like cards from the woolworth set.  there are a few orel hershiser cards in the set that i was missing, including this nondescript one

but also this one that shows orel in the world series with his dirty uniform

which makes the card a more tangible "baseball highlight" card.

reliever jay howell was also featured in the set,

thanks to his game 4 save on the road in oakland.

while it's great to see cards like the howell, 1989 small sets were all about orel hershiser and kirk gibson - the reigning cy young award winner, and the reigning mvp.  here's hershiser on a fleer baseball mvp card

and a fleer superstars card

both featuring dodger stadium and franklin stubbs in the background.

gibby shows up on a fleer baseball all-stars card

and a fleer heroes of baseball card

and they both get discs in the holsum schafer's

and king-b

oddball sets.  gibson seems pretty happy about those quality meat snacks.

tim leary was a feel-good story in 1988, so he got some love on 1989 cardboard, including this 1989 score hot 100 insert

there were old-timey players included in sets in 1989, too, thanks to swell.  here are the two cards i needed to complete the dodger team set - joe black

and andy pafko

my dodger andy pafko need list is very short these days, but will likely not get any shorter - if you know what i mean.

there are still a few oddball cards and stickers (i'm not counting minor league sets in this pursuit) on my 1989 want list, but i am close enough to finishing 1989 that i will certainly give myself a pass if i don't ever pick up the two doubleheader cards and the rest of the panini stickers.  still, see if you can help a blogger out!

23 is a magic number

matt at bob walk the plank sent his half of our most recent trade a few weeks back, and the cards he sent reduced my want list for the 2016 topps allen & ginter numbers game insert set to just 23 cards.  (i was trying to fold in some modified schoolhouse rock lyrics here, but am giving up).  coincidentally, one of the cards he sent me was don mattingly's, which celebrates his number which happened to be 23.

so, how many cards did matt eliminate from my quest?  eric hosmer knows the number.

yes, 35 cards put quite a dent in my want list, but there are still opportunities to help me out!

thanks to matt, i also own 2 2016 topps framed cards, and they have both come from him.  first was a yasiel puig card, and now this j.p. howell card

these are thick and heavy and ultimately have no reason to exist, but such is our lot as team collectors.

matt has also sent a few panini cards my way recently, and the two that were part of this package were pretty nice.  first, a ross stripling auto from 2016 panini national treasure

and a mike piazza bat relic from the same set.

the absence of logos is obvious on stripling's card, but panini could and should put out a set of catchers in their gear and the lamentations about no logos would be minimal.

thanks matt! i'll kick off our next round of trading very shortly...