Topps...Don't Ignore Us

I've had two low-level redemption cards sitting in redemption limbo for over two years now with the Topps company.  Seriously low level.  Matt Purkey, I believe.  Same player for both cards.  Ridiculous.

So, I wrote an email to Topps a couple of days ago and asked for anything just to get these redemption cards cleared.  I really, honestly do not care what they send back.  I'd take one of those sweet throwback Topps t-shirts they are hawking on the website (those are sick).  Anyway, have I heard anything back from Topps?  Nope.

Crickets, people.  I hear crickets.

But, I shall not give up.  Topps is a good company (albeit a lot slow with redeeming these blasted redemption cards) and I feel that they will do the right thing and replace them cards with something.

I believe!

Happy Saturday, peeps.

What To Do When Your Favorite Player Gets Traded

Now that the trade deadline has passed, I think things have settled enough to talk about it.  Yes, I am a Tampa Rays fan.  I am not afraid to express my allegiances and never have been...even during the (s)Hit Show years and the failed experiments with aging sluggers (Canseco, Castilla, etc...).  Anyway, the trade deadline happens every year, yes.  Players get traded from team to team, yes.  Sometimes...like this friggin' year...your favorite player gets traded.

So, if you have a personal collection (or PC) of a certain player, what do you do with that personal collection if that player is traded?

I raise this point because David Price is my favorite player in baseball.  He was the best pitcher the Rays have ever had on the mound.  Ever.  David is a solid dude and treats the fans, teammates, and coaching staff with respect.  Plus, he's  a friggin' warrior.


But, now he's in Detroit.

I have just about every common card ever made by every company for Mr. Price.  Do I keep them?  Do I sell them?  What to do?

Let's get real here.  If David Price had not come up through the Tampa system I'm pretty sure I would not be a huge fan.  If Price had come up through the Padres system, I'm sure I would still respect his game but I would hold him in the same regard that I hold...Adam Wainright.  Great pitcher, but not a fan of the team.

With that one paragraph I answered my own question.  I am a David Price fan.  I will be no matter what team he plays for because he came up with US.  We watched him grow and become an ace and win the Cy Young.  So, my cards and my sweetspot ball I got in Spring Training from David (he really is a cool dude)...all of that will be staying in my house.

But...I am not one to tell others what to do.  If Pujols fans out there feel that they were betrayed when Albert took the money and moved to Bev-er-leeeeee (Hills, that is)...I feel it's perfectly reasonable for you to sell all your Pujols memorabilia.  If you support your team over individual players then I think you have the right to ditch the players memorabilia, burn the jersey...whatever.

But, me?  Naw, I'm gonna keep it all.

Hell, right now he's the only Cy Young winner in Tampa Bay Rays history.  I collect history.

2014 Topps Pro Debut

Even with the minimalist design and the logos that I can't quite always put my finger on,  I like Topps Pro Debut.  Since the first release (in 2009, I want to say and am too lazy to look it up), I liked the idea of hitting prospects early and starting to collect their cards from the minors.  Plus, Debut has never been too expensive.  That's key for a frugal collector.  But, I've snagged some nice stuff out of Pro Debut in the past...a Mike Trout jersey, a Cardinals prospect signed printing plate, patches, etc...

The minor league card concept his hardly a new one.  Teams have been coming out with their own sets of player cards since seemingly the beginning of time.  Yes, in the past they were mostly regional and were hard to get if you never got to that particular ball park.  Then came the internets!  Then came Pro Debut!  The minor league card had gone nation wide!

Anyway, this year's installment of Topps Pro Debut just carries on the tradition of the past.  A clean, white border with solid photos and a tiny team logo in the corner.  That's it.  Simple and nice.  Perfect for having players sign.

The set has 222 base cards and a bunch of SP's a parallels and colors (oh my!).  But, the basic set collector...this is easily do-able.  Of course there are autographs and patches there, too for us 'hit' chasers out there.

A few autographs in the checklist:   Clint Frazier, Kyle Hunter, Nick Ahmed, Trevor Gretzky...you're getting the drift here aren't you?  These are the kids.  These are FUTURE players.  One thing most people like is that for a box of Pro Debut to show if it paid off or not is that one must wait.  Not just months, either.  Oftentimes, years.  In our culture of immediacy this sort of thinking and waiting is just intolerable.

But, to me, that's what makes Topps Pro Debut so fucking great...

*Cardboard Connection once again "loaned" me some info.

Oh yeah, I bought two packs.  You know, because research... Anyway, I didn't get shit.  Except for a base Carlos Correa and base Bubba Starling.  Come to think of it...I'm not actually sure what I got.  I'll just have to wait and see!

2014 Goodwin Champions

While the newest version of Allen & Ginter is completely awesome.  The newest version on Goodwin Champions is just...shit.

The cards themselves are hideous.  Gold (maybe brown-ish) card stock.  The ever present 'hand painted' images are just sort of...blah.  In fact, the whole set just seems kind of lackluster.  It really makes me feel like we may be witnessing the death spiral of the whole GC series.  Upper Deck will have to do something pretty soon in order to revive this dud.

One redeeming quality is the collation of autographs.  Supposedly, there are 3 per box.  This is higher than just about every other product out there.  So, that's a plus.  But, you just might pull an Ickey Woods, Joel Rosario, or a Will McGirt auto.  However, knowing that this is an Upper Deck product the company is likely smart enough (and they ARE on the checklist) to sprinkle in a Michael Jordan, Peyton Manning, Joe Montana, or Wayne Gretzky auto in here and there.  This alone should keep people buying.  Maybe.

Of course there are subsets galore.  Monsters, WWI cards, blah blah blah.  For my tastes, and I'm sure for the tastes of the readers (both of you!) of this blog...there just ain't enough baseball in there.

So, for that fact alone I give this set a solid D+.

For research purposes, I bought a single pack.  I like Paul Coffey but a base card AND a mini of Paul in the same pack?  Sigh.  I did pull a Theo Fleury Goudey card so that was kind of cool.  But, I did not get ONE baseball player.  What the fuck, UD?

Verdict:  Skip it.  Buy something else and pick up singles of Goodwin Champions as you see fit.

*As always, Cardboard Connection is rad for the info hookup.

RIP Tony!

2014 Allen & Ginter

I know, it's been forever since I have posted about the hobby.  Maybe it's because I am feeling disenchanted with the prices and the products that are hitting the shelves in recent years.  Yes, they look awesome.  But...normal folks can't afford fifty bucks a pack (Five star, Museum, etc...I'm looking at you!).

Then comes the new edition of Allen and Ginter.  Once again, Topps does this one right.  The 2014 set of A&G is absolutely amazing in it's simplicity and class.  As always, it's a high quality product, pleasing to the eye, and not to heavy a hit on the checkbook.  Kudos, Topps!

The set itself looks like a do-able situation for those set collectors out there with a reasonable 350 card base.  Of course there are the inserts, the minis, etc...which are a separate animal on their own.  But, I am one of those rare creatures that just loves the mini cards.  Don't know why.  Maybe it's just because I have an affinity for small things!  Topps has thrown in a 'metal' mini card set too.  I may have to check that subset out.

The autograph selection looks nice, as well.  They've got Biggio, Glavine, Trout, Myers and a whole host of other signers in the series.  The variety of the baseball autos looks solid.  Then there are the non-baseball autos.  Here they've got Anthony Bourdain, Snoop (Dogg) Lion, Kevin Smith and others.  To me, it's a very weird set of non-sport autographs.  Other than a few, I would probably be disappointed if I pulled one.

Topps has also thrown in a booklet card subset, which is a nice touch.  I don't remember if they had these last year (don't think they did).  But, the subjects of the booklets looks REAL strong.  Josh Hamilton, David Wright, Evan Longoria, Tulowitzki, and Darvish are all represented.  These may take some luck to pull or some coin to procure, but may be worth the cost/risk.

Just chock full of subsets and inserts, the 2014 version of Topps' Allen and Ginter will guarantee that with each pack you open...you'll likely be surprised.  Which is a good thing.  Me?  I bought one pack (trying to pay of debt, here) for research purposes.  What'd I get?  Not much.  A McCutchen base mini and a Kershaw base that will likely go out TTM for an auto.

The verdict:  Buy it.  But lots of A&G.  As Snoop Lion would say, "It's the shizzle".

*Once again, much love to the folks at Cardboard Connection for their info and images.

2014 Bowman Inception

Bowman Inception is a product that I am completely torn about.  On one had, I love the look and feel of the card.  They really are cool looking.  On the other hand, there is one pack per $100 box.  One pack!  Five cards for a hundred bucks.  Hmmm...it's got me a little turned around because I avoid those one pack boxes like the plague.  But, Inception...it's just cool.

Ok.  So, here's the run-down.  2014 Bowman Inception is pretty friggin' sweek, looks-wise.  Here's a shot of one of the cards:

That's an on-card autograph of soon-to-be-slugger for the lowly Cubs, Kris Bryant.  Anyway, you just had to take a look at the card to get an idea.  Bowman keeps getting better and better with the look of their Inception line.

Each box is around a hundred bucks.  DA Card World had them for $95, I think.  Within each said box is a pack of five (5) cards.  So, around twenty bucks a card.  At least they are all autographed.  Yup, every single one.

So, there is no base set.  There are no SP's and SSP's to chase after.  If you are a set-collector...well, keep fidgeting with your ball sack because Inception ain't the product for you.  Go after regular old Bowman...a set collector's wet-dream.

Here's a copy of the checklist from the Sportscardradio.com folks.  You can see that Bowman Inception for this year is heavy on rookie auto's and minor-league prospects.  This here is a prospector's product.  However, the Autographed LetterBooks sub-set looks pretty friggin' stout with Trout, Harper, B. Hamilton, and Bryant all representin'.

If you have the scratch and wherewithal to shell out a hundred bucks for five autographed cards that may or may not be worth a cent in future years, 2014 Bowman Inception is for you.  However, if you are like me and wish not to piss your money away on a product (that really looks awesome) that may tank in value in coming years...buy some other stuff.  Or...as a wise man told me when looking at box of this stuff at the LCS:

"Dude.  Just wait and buy singles from that shit.  You'll get what you want, at least."

Very sage advice.  

Could It Be A Curse?

Am I jinxing former ballplayers when I write to them TTM asking for a little bit of their time?  Am I, without knowing it, punching their eternal clock?  For a while, it really felt like this was what happened.  Let me explain.  Also know that when I talk about these people, I am not making fun of the deceased.  I actually respected every one of these people as players and people...so, this is just an instance of Can't Hit The Curve pointing out a weird coincidence.

Exhibit A:  Mark Fidrych.  Mark "The Bird" Fidrych was a phenomenon back in the day.  Weird guy, weird delivery, wacky antics on the mound...and he was a fucking monster his rookie year.  Nobody could hit him and he ended up winning like 20 games or something.  Then...well, then he kind of faded away into obscurity but remained a favorite because of just how strange he was.  So, I write to The Bird and he sends back a beautifully signed Topps All Time Fan Favorite and index card made out to me.  I was really happy because I had been out of the TTM game for a looooong time.  Well, Mr. Fidrych has an accident on his property four days after I receive my mail from him.  Obviously, I'm bummed.

Exhibit B:  John Wooden.  Former UCLA men's basketball coaching legend, John Wooden, was kind enough to sign a small piece of hardwood floor (and an index card) and inscribe "UCLA" underneath.  Very cool return and made me extremely pleased.  Now, considering his age, it was not a complete surprise that Mr. Wooden passed away.  But, he died THE DAY I received his package.  This freaked me out a little.

Exhibit C:  Jim Fregosi.  Dies the same year that I get a return back from him.  He signed and returned three cards from his Florida home.  At least I think he lived in FL. Anyway, the same year may not seem a big deal but with the other two...maybe more than mere coincidence.  Mr. Fregosi was far too young to pass away.

Exhibit D:  Greg Halman.  Minor leaguer, yes.  But, the kid might have been a big star if I hadn't have decided to write him a letter and ask for a signature.  I did and now he's gone.  The CHTC curse struck Mr. Halman and he was stabbed to death by his own brother in the Netherlands.  This is actually a very sad story and hearing about it really struck me kind of hard even though I never know Greg Halman personally.

Exhibit E:  Duke Snider.  Hall of Fame Dodger, The Duke was always generous with his time and signed tons of fan mail over the years.  He was a class act.  But, Mr. Snider passed away just two months after I sent him a card (a Topps reprint, I believe) to sign...which he did, sending it back within a week.  Duke Snider's passing was huge for collectors.  I feel bad for jinxing him.

Exhibit F:  Virgil "Fire" Trucks.  Mr. Trucks was likely the best ever TTM signer...given a strong run for his title by Mr. Pat Neshek.  Anyway, Mr. Trucks was famous for going above and beyond when someone asked him for a signature.  Plus, he was an amazing pitcher back in the day AND he is the uncle of uber-guitarist Derek Trucks (one hell of a talented family).  So, I send Virgil a card (one card, mind you) and ask politely if he will sign for me.  In the mail, I receive a package...of SEVEN cards...I sent the dude ONE.  Virgil Trucks was that kind of guy and he passed away a mere month after I had received his letter back.

So, I'm starting to think I may be cursing those who are so kind to sign their autographs through the mail.  Maybe it's dumb luck or coincidence.  But, I'll tell you...it felt really strange to have all these folks pass fairly soon after signing for me.  Just weird.

Happy collecting!  Get your TTM's out, folks.  This seems like a long-forgotten area of our hobby!