Top 5 Baltimore Orioles Autos/Relics

The Baltimore Orioles are one team on a short list of clubs that I'm willing to write one of these top 5 auto/relic card posts for. 

Along with previous subjects like the Red Sox, Cubs, Cardinals, and Athletics, I have a fair share of Orioles relics and autograph cards, making it a lot easier for me to formulate a strong list of 5 standout cards.

I've only pulled 1 or 2 Baltimore Orioles hits from packs myself, meaning that most of the Orioles relics and autographs in my collection were purchased by either myself or my Dad. 

Nevertheless, this revelation makes sense, for I vividly remember my Dad returning home from a Baseball card show a few years ago with a ton of HOF relic cards that he found for incredibly low prices, including a large stack of Brooks Robinson cards.

Although relic cards aren't as popular as they once were, I enjoy picking up relatively inexpensive jersey and bat cards at the show. As far as collecting hits are concerned, I'm not fussy over whose cards I collect. 

Truth be told, I care more about the price of the card and the set design than I do about the actual player. By purchasing less expensive relics or even some autos at the Baseball card show, I've been able to boost my hits collection, allowing me to write posts like this for several different teams.

Every time I write a top 5 cards post, for either a player or a team, I always try to feature a wide range of different cards, even though I'm only showcasing 5. This time around, however, I unintentionally chose cards of just 2 different players; Brooks Robinson and Jim Palmer.

While I'm not too keen on featuring cards of just 2 players, the 5 that I selected are truly the greatest Orioles relic cards and autographs in my collection. Beginning with a Brooks bat relic from 2004, here are my top 5 Baltimore Orioles autos/relics.

#5 2004 Topps Tribute Hall of Fame Tribute Relic

There were a couple of Orioles relic cards that, based on set design alone, I preferred to the one shown above. However, the thing that I appreciate most about the '04 Topps Tribute HOF card above is the sizeable bat relic that Topps included.

Arguably, a smaller bat relic would've gelled better with the other numbers in the year 1983, but Topps went out of there way to include a large, game-used bat relic of the 15-time All-Star. 

The Tribute set design from '04 is very elegant, especially with the gold box around the words "Hall of Fame" at the bottom. The photograph is standard, nothing too special, but it succeeds in working well with the rest of the elements of the card.

#4 2006 Fleer Greats of the Game Decade Greats

Even when Fleer was taken over by Upper Deck in 2006, the Greats of the Game brand remained one of my favorite Baseball card products. The set designs are classic and the checklists feature players who are often underrepresented as far as Baseball card products are concerned. 

The previously mentioned relic card sets, especially from the 2006 release, are spectacular. This includes Decade Greats card above and another Brooks Robinson game-used bat relic. 

The card sticks primarily to orange and black, Baltimore's team colors, and features a simple yet effective design that draws attention first to the bat piece, then to the black and white photo of Robinson.

#3 2002 Fleer Box Score Hall of Fame Material

I promise that this is both the final Brooks Robinson card and the last bat relic in the top 5. After this card from 2002 Fleer Box Score, I'll move onto the top 2 where both the cards feature Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer.

Speaking of the HOF, the #3 card on this list is from the Hall of Fame Material relic card set, featuring yet another game-used piece of Brooks Robinson's bat. I really love the brown border as well as the sepia photo, for they both contribute to the overall feel of the card.

I can't quite describe what it is, but I'm a huge fan of the style of this card. My only criticism is that the Orioles logo should reflect the time in which Robinson played, not the actual Baltimore logo from 2002.

#2 2011 Topps Tribute Dual Relic

I don't have all that many dual, triple or quad relics in my collection, but I cherish the ones that I do have, especially the Palmer card from 2011 Topps Tribute. This is the base version of the dual relic cards from the set, so it's serial numbered out of 99 copies.

When scanned, the card background appears to be a mix of pink and gold, but it's more of a shiny silver color in real life. Like the first Tribute card on this list, multiple elements come together to create an impressive card, including a nice gold ink facsimile signature above the 2 relic swatches.

#1 2018 Topps Archives Topps Rookie History Autographs

The only autographed card on this list also happens to be one of my favorite autos or relics in my entire card collection. For the price of a blaster box of cards, I purchased a redemption card for this Topps Rookie History on-card auto of Jim Palmer, one of the greatest pitchers of the 60s/70s.

Topps was quite successful in recreating the 3-time AL Cy Young award winner's rookie card for this 2018 Topps Archives autograph insert set. Not only am I thrilled that the autograph is on-card, but it's also serial numbered out of 125 copies on the back. Talk about getting a bang for your buck.

I still love each and every one of the relic cards featured on this list, but none of them could top the spectacular HOF autograph that earned the #1 spot.

Frankenset Page #50

After well over a year of posting frankenset pages several times a month, I've reached the 50th sheet out of 74 total pages, indicating that I'm over 2/3 of the way done with posting pages from this 666-card custom-made set.

Originally, I created this frankenset out of a combination of boredom and a desire to try something new. Now, roughly 2 years after the original set was finalized, it's become a staple of my blogging habits. In any given month, I tend to post 4 total frankenset pages. 

Not only do I enjoy going in-depth regarding each and every frankenset page, but I've grown accustomed to having these posts as an option for when I don't necessarily have an idea for another blog post. 

The only thing I'm worried about is what I'll do once I eventually finish up the final 24 pages of this binder. For the last 13 months, frankenset pages have been a reliable option for my blog content. 

Because of that, I can foresee myself creating an entirely new custom-made frankenset to share on the blog as soon as I finish the 1st one up, whenever that may be.

As is the norm with frankenset pages, some of them, overall, are superior to others. Although I personally selected each and every card that made this set, some pages are just better overall. Page #50 is an excellent example of one of those pages.

Featuring cards #442-450, cards on this page can be traced back as far as 1963 and as recently as 2016. Now, let's go in-depth and see what this page has to offer.

#442 1963 Topps J.C. Hartman

J.C. Hartman's 1963 Topps card is one of a handful of cards that I have in my collection featuring members of the Houston Colt 45s team. Just like the Washington Senators and Seattle Pilots, I tend to pick up inexpensive Colt 45s cards, when available, at Baseball card shows. After all, there aren't that many cards of those teams out there. 

As for my favorite Houston Colt 45s card, it really isn't a question. For the price of a blaster box of Baseball cards, I snagged Joe Morgan's rookie card, showcasing the Hall of Famer as a member of that club, at a Baseball card show a few years back.

#443 2016 Topps Heritage Yu Darvish

To put it lightly, the Yu Darvish signing has not paid dividends thus far for the Chicago Cubs. Barely 1 year into his 6-year $128 million dollar deal with Chicago, Darvish has an ERA of 4.98 in just 68.2 innings pitched. He was also limited to only 40 innings in 2018 due to an injury in his throwing arm.

From the moment he first took the field as a member of the Chicago Cubs, it seemed apparent that the Darvish signing would come back to haunt the Cubs. He's yet to find his groove, and although I'm pulling for him to be successful, I fear that his best seasons could already be behind him.

#444 1988 Topps Cal Ripken Sr.

Although his son, Cal Ripken Jr, was very successful during the 1987-1988 seasons, the same could not be said for the Baltimore Orioles team, led by manager Cal Ripken Sr. Under the leadership of the latter, Baltimore went just 67-101 before he was fired following the Orioles' 0-6 start to the 1988 season.

#445 1992 The Sporting News Conlon Collection Hal Newhouser

Though I highly doubt that a product like this would ever be made nowadays, it would be awesome to have a set, similar to the Conlon Collection cards, that featured solely black and white images. However, I suppose I'll have to be satisfied with the occasional black and white photo that appears in Topps Stadium Club.

It's also fairly amusing that this card asks "why not in the Hall of Fame" considering the fact that Newhouser was enshrined in Cooperstown later on in 1992.

#446 1974 Topps Len Randle

As soon as I complete one of the vintage Topps sets that I'm currently working on, I'll likely move on and begin collecting 1974 Topps. It encompasses the thing I love the most about 1973 Topps, interesting and slightly unusual photographs, while also featuring a more exciting set design. 

Better yet, '74 marked the first year that Topps wasn't released in different series so I won't have to worry about expensive, pesky high-number cards.

#447 2007 Topps Heritage Mark Redman

It was brilliantly recreated for the 2007 Topps Heritage set 12 years ago. Now, in 2019, the 1958 Topps Flagship set is set to appear in 2019 Topps Archives alongside the '75 and '93 set designs.

Although some collectors don't like the fact that there's no grass or dirt featured in this set, I'm very fond of this set, especially the untraditional background colors like pink and light blue. 

Even though only 100 subjects will be featured in the '58 design in 2019 Archives, I can't wait to see what Topps ends up doing with this set 3rd time around.

#448 1994 Flair Matt Williams

Thanks in large part to the dime bins at the Baseball card shops and shows, I've seen quite a few different cards from the Flair product, manufactured in the early 1990s. While I'm not exactly sure what collector's thought about this set when it was first released, I like both the cardstock and the photos from this set. 

#449 1972 Topps Bob Lemon

When I first started collecting the 1972 Topps set, I recall going to the Baseball card show and picking up a few singles that I needed in order to make progress towards completing this 787-card product. 

One of these cards was Mickey Lolich, a sensational pitcher for the Detroit Tigers for a number of years. The other was Kansas City Royals manager, Bob Lemon.

#450 1991 Topps Wade Boggs

I sincerely hope that, in addition to having this as the 450th card of my frankenset, this Wade Boggs card is also present in my player collection of the 12-time All-Star. The 1991 Topps set is already nice enough, but that background image is just insane. The angle, the clouds everywhere, everything about it is sensational. 

Take notes, Topps, especially for the Topps Heritage cards. This is how you make proper use of sky in the background of a Baseball card.

Top 5 Cards; Jim Palmer

After I redeemed my Jim Palmer redemption auto after the Baseball card show on Sunday, Topps wasted very little time in shipping the 2018 Topps Archives card. According to the USPS tracking, the redemption is set to arrive in the mail this Thursday. 

In the meantime, it appears that I've been successful in ridding myself of my case of writer's block, thanks, in large part, to new cards coming into my collection. 

I have a team collector's package ready to recap later this week, not to mention the redemption card which will come in the mail any day now, and before I know it, I'll be right back at the Baseball card show on Monday.

Needless to say, there's a lot going on when it comes to Baseball cards, and it's forcing me to stay busy which I view as a very good thing. But before I can move on to a new package of cards, I wanted to do a top 5 cards post for Jim Palmer, inspired by the redemption card that I picked up at Sunday's show.

Palmer was undeniably one of the greatest pitchers in Baseball history, but he doesn't receive as much recognition as he should. He amassed well over 2,000 strikeouts, finished just shy of 300 wins, and maintained a 2.86 ERA while pitching in 3 different decades.

I may not be spoiled when it comes to vintage base cards of Palmer like I am for other players, but card companies like Topps and Upper Deck have helped grow my 78-card player collection over the years. Behold, my top 5 favorites.

#5 2018 Topps Big League

Even while writing this post, my choice of Palmer's 2018 Topps Big League card surprises me, yet the more I study it, the more confident I am in this choice. Topps chose to feature Palmer alongside fellow Orioles legends, Ripken Jr. and Brooks Robinson, in the 2018 Big League set, and they nailed the Palmer card, in particular, by choosing a logo appropriate to the time period in which he played.

The Big League set was a surprisingly well-received release in 2018 and one that I'm glad to see return this year, especially if retired players, like Palmer, are featured to the extent that they were in the 2018 set.

#4 1971 Topps 

I, unfortunately, do not have Palmer's base card from 1971 Topps, but this card commemorating the 1970 AL Playoffs is nevertheless a great option. While I wish the photo was in color instead, the black borders of the '71 set never fail to impress me, and this card is no exception. 

The photo choice is near-perfect for this card, and Topps was able to nail the balance between how much space the borders take up. If the postseason highlights card looks this nice, I'd love to get my hand's on Palmers base card from the 1971 Topps set.

#3 2005 Upper Deck All-Star Classics Box Scores

I have a feeling that these inserts from 2005 Upper Deck All-Star Classics are somewhat rare, for there is only 1 of them listed on the entire COMC site. The Palmer card is the only one that I have from the entire set, and the inserts themselves feature a very unique concept that we don't usually see on Baseball cards.

In the case of Palmer's card, the entire box score from the 1977 MLB All-Star game is featured with the National League on the left and the American League on the right. Moreover, you can see who played, scored, drove in runs, and got a hit, and the box score will tell you that the NL defeated the AlL this year with a final score of 7-5.

#2 1976 Topps

My other copy of this card is occupying spot #450 in the 1976 Topps set while this one is a part of my Jim Palmer player collection, and it's also my 2nd favorite Palmer card that I own. The image quality may not be stellar, but the Orioles jersey looks pretty cool on this card because of how it's practically red rather than the lighter orange we're used to seeing nowadays.

Speaking of orange, the color combination at the bottom of this '76 Topps card is the typical Orioles orange along with a lighter shade of green. In true 1976 Topps fashion, an intriguing color combination is featured, and surprisingly, it looks pretty great.

#1 1967 Topps

This time around, in regards to the choice for spot #1, it wasn't a hard decision. Frankly, there's just nothing that could beat this World Series highlights card from 1967 Topps, honoring game #2 of the 1966 Fall Classic between the Baltimore Orioles and the L.A. Dodgers.

The design reminds me of 1955 Bowman because of how it's made to look like an old-fashioned TV, equipped with "tuners" that list the game number and the final score. Better yet, the photo is in full black and white, not a sepia/yellowish color like the '71 set. This time, it's an action image in full that also happens to be in black and white as well.

I guess, when I have a card as eye-catching as this one, I don't really need any vintage Jim Palmer base cards. I'll take this World Series highlights card any day of the week.