i cey it is so - i collect cards of ron cey as a cub (and an athletic)

the title of this post says it all, really, but i do collect any and all cards of the penguin.  even those, like this 1986 gatorade cubs oversized oddball

that feature the stocky third baseman in pinstripes and stretch-waisted pants.

here's the list if you happen to have any non-dodger ceys that need a new home.

next year may be the last for jimmie hall cards

so, i have a pc of former twin jimmie hall.  he had cards produced from 1964 through 1970, and so i've been adding some buybacks over the past few years.  this year, i was able to add his 1969 topps card boughtback and stamped as part of 2018 topps heritage

just as i had done in 2017 with his 1968 topps card

with 1970 topps being the last set to include hall, next year's heritage will probably be my last chance to add "new" cards of the guy.  topps seems to have otherwise cooled on the idea of buybacks like this 2014 buyback of the 1969 card

so it seems that there is a hard stop on my pc.  that assumes that hall is not included in future archives releases which is probably a decent bet.  hall still has fans here in minny, but the only way he would supplant the likes of oliva, carew, or puckett on the checklist is if he were to be part of the autograph checklist, and even then there are other fan favorites like hrbek and torii hunter to consider.

i added a regular ol' vintage hall card not too long ago for my 1965 topps set build

although i still need a stamped version of this card (assuming it was part of the 2016 topps heritage buyback release).  his aforementioned 1970 card is a high number, so a buyback may be pretty scarce, but i'll still be looking for it to add to my collection.

another original post - with rankings!

this post is not about 2015 topps original buybacks, but rather 2004 topps originals - a set that included signed buybacks.

1975 topps cards are not the best to get signed as they already have the facsimile auto on them, but i decided not to pass up a 1/1 of steve garvey

yay!

the 1975 topps card may be my least favorite of the garv's dodger flagship cards, but it is still a card of my favorite player and i have a card that nobody else does.

with that said, let's see how i rank the aforementioned garvey cards.

13. 1975

chronologically, this is the first garvey card that features the all-star designation, but not the first one i saw.  plus, 1975 topps is not my favorite set overall, and so this card suffers from formed opinions which are not this particular card's fault.  however, there are cars in the background and the gray uniform coupled with the pose that obscures the red number or blue script on the front of the jersey makes the colorful border only exacerbate the dullness of the photo.  plus, the pose is pretty passive.

12. 1982

this image is not too far from the one that i like so much on another card, but it is not as good in my opinion, so here we are.  the modern helmet and dual batting gloves (not a garvey look i was used to), plus the use of pink and purple detract from the aesthetic. i do like the 1980 all-star game patch and the bright blue sky, and the batting pose is a bit more authentic.  with a better card design, this one would be higher.

11. 1976

not too different from the 1975 card.  i just find this one kind of blah with an inauthentic pose and a washed out photo.  perhaps if the cropping had been different so that his feet were shown symmetrically it would be more appealing to me.

10. 1980

there are a lot of batting cage shots for the dodgers in the 1980 set, so this card didn't really stand out to me back then.  i do like the black all-star banner, and the ribbon design.

9. 1983

i was really looking forward to this card, even though i knew it would be his last as a dodger.  i didn't mind the porthole design, and i liked the photo selection for the main photo, even though there's a lot of white and brightness.

8. 1981

more pink for the dodgers, something i know night owl has addressed in the past.  i liked the unusual photo selection, even though i've always wondered where his bat is and how many steps out of the batting box he's taken.  it can't be that many - i assumed that this was the first step - but then where is the bat?!?

7. 1979

the second garvey card i pulled from packs, this was a letdown following the 1978 card, but i liked the fact that it featured some in-game action against the giants (hello, marc hill), and i thought that the all-star ribbon was well-integrated into the design.  i have no idea, obviously, what garvey and hill are reacting to, but i figured that garvey had tried to check his swing on a slider away and didn't care for the first base umpire's call.  his inability to lay off the slider away cost him a lot of walks and who knows what else.

6. 1977

another in-game photo, but this one features garvey in his entirety. i've always been confused by the plurality of the all-star banner on the 1977 cards, but i'm glad that topps didn't crop this card any differently due to the presence of the banner.  i don't recall who it was that pointed out to me that 1977 topps was really just a 1971 topps re-do, but i can't unsee it.  aside from the position pennant, they really are similar.  anyway, i like this garvey card.

5. 1973

this one ranks this highly because of the 'passing of the torch' symbolism of wes parker reaching out to garvey at home plate.  it is otherwise an odd photo choice, and the cropping is pure 1973 topps.  still, it is one of my favorite cards of garvey's.

4. 1972

there was a time, about 38 years ago, when i thought that i would never own a 1972 topps steve garvey card.  it's a high number, and was a legend like bigfoot or the loch ness monster in my neighborhood.  as such, i probably like it more than i should.  it does show garvey in the 1971 away uniform with the piping on the shoulder, which makes it unique among these other cards.

3. 1971

the rookie card.  from the time i first saw this card, i was enthralled with his youthful appearance, the black batting glove, the mlb anniversary patch, the fact that he played 3rd base, and the card design itself.  i still like it very much.

2. 1974

this is one cool card.  it's dark and moody and horizontal and awesome.  it's also my wallet card.

1. 1978

yes, there are a couple of light standards and a scoreboard/billboard thing in the background, but the colors, the all-star shield, and everything else results in perfection on cardboard.

every time you cross a card off of a want list, an angel gets its wings.

attaboy, mr. haverkamp.

everybody's favorite non-blogging, trading giants fan recently sent me this card of the reds' jim stewart.  it was one of four cards i needed to complete my set. and to think, i get to send giants out of my collection to thank him for sending me a set need! it's a win-win!

i'm down to one as i type this, and i have a target set on boog powell!

thanks for the help mr. haverkamp!

into the ethier

andre ethier is officially retired, and gets a ceremony tonight in dodger stadium to mark the occasion. topps really surprised me by including ethier in the series 2 release this year, and i have no complaints because final tribute!

ok, i do have one complaint.  no complete career stats on the back!

ethier wasn't a homegrown dodger, but he did play his full major league career with the club. as a result, he finds himself firmly in the teens when it comes to many dodger career stats.  his 1,367 hits are just shy of the penguin's 1,378 dodger hits which puts ethier in 17th place.  he's 13th in total bases, although current dodger matt kemp is 14th with a very good chance at passing ethier this season.  a bit higher on the leaderboard, ethier is 8th in dodger doubles, sandwiched right between jim gilliam and eric karros, and is tied with shawn green for 12th place for home runs.

ethier's final playing appearance came in game 7 of the 2017 world series when he delivered a pinch-hit single to drive in the dodgers' only run of the game.  one of my favorite andre ethier fun facts is that he followed in the footsteps of fellow arizona state alumni rick monday and paul loduca to wear number 16 for the dodgers.  number 22 (previously worn by sundevils bill buckner and brett butler) would also have been acceptable.

here's to you, andre ethier! congrats on a great dodger career.

nefarious needs no more

it's an idea that i stole back in july of 2009 from saints of the cheap seat who took it from the collective troll, and it is an idea that has similarly been adopted by pretty much everyone.  it's a list of most wanted cards posted on the sidebar - i call mine the 'nefarious 9'.  

i had exclusively housed my list over at my first blog, but i've recently added it to the sidebar here at my current digs as well.  and to mark the occasion, i did a near-complete purge of the list thanks to trying out the sportlots box with a large, multi-seller order, along with my preferred method - a trade!

the first two cards on the list have been there for a while, and they are not very common it would seem, and so they remain.  they are a 2007 topps chrome blue refractor takashi saito card, and a 1989 fleer box bottom (white back) orel hershiser card.  the rest were finally added to my collection.

i didn't scan the card that was at number 3 (2017 topps allen & ginter clayton kershaw), so the post begins with number 4 on the old list, 1993 fleer kevin gross.

yeah, that's the back of the card. i like the back because it says 'gross' in really big letters. it also shows the back of kevin's jersey with the 'k. gross' lettering.  the 1992 dodgers were the 'grossest' dodger team in a couple of ways - they lost 99 games, and they also had two pitchers named gross.  kip gross joined kevin on the roster, which begs the questions: why did kevin just have 'k' on the back of his jersey and not 'ke'? what did kip have on the back?

most wanted number 5 was this 1988 fleer award winners pedro guerrero card

guerrero was not the official sporting news comeback player of the year in 1987 (that was the cubs' rick sutcliffe) but guerrero did have a great 1987 campaign following his 1986 season in which he trashed his knee on a very poorly executed spring training slide.

number 6 on the list was cory snyder's 1994 topps stadium club card

like most of the cards that show up on the list, i needed this card to complete my dodger team set.  thanks to the multi-seller and multi-order nature of my sportlots purchase, i now have a double of this card.

the next three were recent additions to the list - 2012 topps chrome andre ethier

completes my set, and 2018 topps andre ethier

was easily my most wanted card out of this year's series 2 release.  this one came from julie at a cracked bat.  you'll see more of this card tomorrow.  thanks julie!

bringing up the rear of the list was kelsey grammer's 2015 topps first pitch insert

i watched cheers and frasier, but don't consider myself a fan of grammer which is probably why his was the last dodger related first pitch card i needed.  i also don't get why grammer gets a card and former dodgers like the infield or steve garvey or vin scully don't.  timing and the celebrity angle, i guess.

i've had a non-dodger 'bonus' card on the list for a while as well, and it was a 2016 panini diamond kings vladimir guerrero card

i am a little annoyed at panini for taking the red out of vladdy's expos uniform but leaving it in on the on-deck batter.

i am pretty sure the cards that the ethiers and grammer replaced on the list were a 2015 topps heritage high number joc pederson rookie performers insert

a 2008 upper deck piece of history andruw jones stadium scenes insert

and a 1999 grandstand san bernardino stampede steve yeager coach card!

those three cards actually came from a comc order earlier in the year.

so, the list has been mostly purged but is now repopulated.  the list is dead, long live the list:

1 - 2007 topps chrome takashi saito blue refractor

2 - 1989 fleer box bottom orel hershiser (white back)

3 - 2003 bowman #39 odalis perez 

4 - 2004 fleer greats #101 babe herman

5 - 1990 topps hills hit men #13 eddie murray

6 - 1995 topps finest #228 hideo nomo

7 - 1988 topps big #154 mike davis

8 - 2001 upper deck mvp #218 kevin brown

9 - 2011 topps opening day superstar celebrations #25 matt kemp

bonus non-dodger cards - 1982 o-pee-chee #305 don sutton

as always, any help is appreciated - you will be rewarded!

no slippers, just ruby

sometimes there are too many parallels and i decide to just have one representative card for my steve garvey pc.  this is a 2017 panini flawless ruby parallel autographed card of the nl iron man

who am i kidding - i'm still on the lookout for other 'colors' of this card, although at reasonable prices.

in other news, i see that new dodger brian dozier is wearing number 6 (his preferred number 2 is retired by the dodgers, and 6 is the lowest number that was currently available).  i'm hoping that he does it proud.