another standout chrome year

while i was completing my 2007 topps chrome refractor run dodger team sets, i was also picking up other refractors from other topps chrome releases. the one set that i hit the hardest during that time was 2008. the card design from that year really lends itself to the refractor treatment as there is color built in to the design along with ample border space.

these base refractors - hiroki kuroda

blake dewitt

and chin-lung hu (autograph)

were the ones i needed to complete the team set of refractor parallels.

the copper parallels from 2008 are pretty sharp, and i've almost completed that team set, too. here are the last few that i acquired in that effort - brad penny

russell martin

james loney

derek lowe

andre ethier

hiroki kuroda

and blake dewitt

i also have the matt kemp and andruw jones copper parallels, leaving the chin-lung hu autograph as the only card yet to obtain.

there is no x-fractor hu autograph but i only have a few of the dodgers, including russell martin

martin is also only one of the two blue refractor parallels that i own

but i will probably work to correct that. they are really great looking cards. i don't know if topps has changed their refractor printing or if its design based, but these 2008 cards hit a little differently than more recent releases from what i can see.

the almost daily dodger - hiroki kuroda

i saw a clip on the mlb app recently where an active player from japan (can't remember who it was) was asked for their all-time japanese starting nine. i don't recall all of the players, but the pitchers that were mentioned were yu darvish and daisuke matsuzaka. i was waiting to see if hideo nomo would get a mention, but he did not.

the dodgers have had several pitchers who came from japan, and while we wait for shohei ohtani to make his dodger mound debut next season, i figured i would share some cards from my scanned folder of another dodger pitcher from the land of the rising sun - hiroki kuroda

here's his 2008 topps triple threads base card

that finished the team set for me

this is his 2010 topps chrome refractor parallel

and this one is the 2011 topps cognac diamond anniversary parallel

the refractor completed my team set as well, but i still need a few more of the "liquorfractors" to finish the 2011 parallel set.

by my count, the dodgers have had 7 pitchers from japan in their history, starting with nomo. he was followed by kaz ishii, takashi saito, and then kuroda. since kuroda pitched for the dodgers, they have employed kenta maeda, darvish, and now yoshinobu yamamoto.

kuroda, who won 79 games in his major league career (spent with the dodgers and yankees) sits third all-time in that category among japanese pitchers, behind nomo and darvish. some fellow dodgers keeping him company!

i guess i'm on a rickey kick

i haven't had too many mailings hit my mailbox in recent weeks, but a couple of them had something in common. i picked up a former most wanted non-dodger card from sportlots - a 2019 topps stadium club rickey henderson card

that features fellow future-dodger eddie murray. it's a perfect fit for my lurker collection.

a couple of weeks or so later, jon from penny sleeves for your thoughts sent me a 2004 upper deck play ball rickey henderson home run heroics insert

the card celebrates the 81st lead off home run of rickey's career. it was also the last home run of rickey's career. i really appreciate rickey henderson dodger cards - thanks jon!

in between receiving these cards, i went to the monthly card show two weeks ago and spent about an hour going through the club vp's 5/$1 boxes that were absent from last month's show. i didn't bother to visit any other tables as i was on a time crunch.  i wound up taking a bunch of rickey cards home with me...

of those first 54 cards, 16 are rickeys. i was happy to find a new double play card - the 1997 marquette bank 1987 twins 10th anniversary steve lombardozzi card just before the nolan ryan cards in the last scan. i realized after i scanned these cards that the two cards from that set were actually 1997 cards and not 1987 cards. that's why they are out of order. i don't know why the four nolan ryan cards were scanned with cards that i thought were from the 1980's.

the last card above, along with these nine

make a complete set of the 1990 upper deck reggie jackson baseball heroes insert set, minus the autograph card.

there were quite a few holograms in the boxes, so i grabbed a few as you will see in this next batch of cards

only 7 rickeys in that batch of cards. a few vladdys for the collection, as well as a couple of dodger needs and some cardinal/brave trade bait refills. but wait, there's more!

a rickey as an angel parallel and more vladdys...

i hadn't seen those "you crash the game" cards before. it looked like the guy had a couple of sets - i assume they were redemption sets.

the randy johnson card in this next group somehow escaped my knowledge until that morning. it features the dodger stadium murals from 1998, and ron cey in particular. i'm now looking for the bowman chrome refractor version

that's a nice 1999 topps stadium club frank thomas for my "name/number on the back" collection (post coming soon).

rickey as a met, among other cards:

there were a whole slew of 2001 topps archives cards in one box. i know i have a near complete set, but i didn't have a list with me so i just grabbed a couple ryans and a jackie.

more cards:

the 2009 upper deck update barack obama card goes in my lurker collection, thanks to the presence of albert pujols. i couldn't leave those 2010 topps target throwbacks in the box even though i really only wanted the ebbett's field card, and some of the "yo momma" cards are original backs. i didn't expect to find any buster posey rookie cards, but there they were. also, rip jeremy giambi there on the "the flip" card.

next up might be the best find of the show for me, a 2010 topps blank "you sketch it" card:

although the purple refractor of hiroki kuroda from 2010 topps chrome was a nice find, too.

i wrote a post recently that featured a couple of 2011 topps diamond anniversary parallels, and the prevailing feedback i received was that folks liked these parallels and they are tough to pass up when they show up in dime (or two-dime) boxes. case in point:

this next scan features a 2011 andre ethier card that i had never seen before - it was a target exclusive i guess:

i couldn't pass up the 2018 topps update ohtani/trout in a golf cart cards. i guess that was 251 cards but i told the guy i had 250 - oops. that would be $50 but he said $40 and threw in a 300 count box. nice. i guess that means i was digging through a bunch of 16-cent boxes.

not too much rickey there in the last half, but still some fun cards. like i said, some of these are already on their way to trading partners, but let me know if there is something that you might be interested in.

it takes a community (and more) to build a collection

i've enjoyed the generosity of several bloggers in the past few months.  all have helped build my collection in their own way, and the trades are appreciated!

jon from community gum posted a series of trade bait posts, and i found a few cards for my collection, like this 2013 topps gypsy queen ozzie smith card

that will find a home in my dodger stadium collection.

jon supplemented this and my other trade bait requests with a bevy of other cards - all dodgers now - including this 2017 bowman chrome national convention sandy koufax card 

it's shiny and prismy and refractory!

david from tribe cards hosted an allen & ginter case break, and i took the dodgers.  the break netted me quite a few cards in addition to a couple of team sets.  here's postseason ace walker buehler's card

i hope to see many more big game starts for buehler in the years to come!

julie from a cracked bat completed a trade with me.  she sent lots of good dodger cardboard, including a team set of 1996 pacific crown collection estrellas latinas

that raul mondesi is half of the team set.  ismael valdes (not shown) is the other dodger in the set.

jeff from 2x3 heroes sent a pwe that included a former nefarious 9 need

that tommy lasorda card from 2018 topps archives is great! it's strange to see a full sized manager card in the 1977 design, but in a good way. shameless plug - check out my top 9 needs/wants on the sidebar - you will be rewarded for sending any of them to me!

bru from remember the astrodome spoke up and took a ken giles card off my hands! he even sent cards in return! one of them was this 2018 panini chronicles cody bellinger select card

2018 chronicles looks like a better product than the 2017 version, and i'm happy to have this card in the collection!

andy from stadium fantasium contacted me with an offer to pick up the last two dodger 60th anniversary stadium giveaway sets! that was a great email to receive.  unfortunately, due to some work conflicts, he was only able to get the 2000's set (which featured clayton kershaw in the "hof/legends" card slot)

but he also sent a couple of earlier sets which is very much appreciated.  i had speculated that vin scully would be the one to get a card in the last set - the 2010's - but it turned out to be yasiel puig.  i like puig (puig my friend) but that was kind of a let down.

night owl sent a bunch of needs (thanks for checking my want lists!) including this 2009 topps allen & ginter hiroki kuroda national pride insert

i completed that particular insert set, but never picked up a kuroda for the team set.

fuji from chronicles of fuji sent me a don sutton card that was missing from my post-dodger sutton pc

it is odd that i would be missing a card for a pc that from a set that i enjoy so much, but c'est la vie.

speaking of sets that i enjoy, gavin at baseball card breakdown sent along a card for my 1957 topps set build

61-year old cardboard right there.

thanks to one and all for the trades!