The Series 1 Highlights

With Topps Heritage set to come out a week from this Wednesday, the 3 blasters I purchased of 2020 Topps Series 1 will likely be my only sampling of the product unless it's the only thing available at Target a few months from now when I have the itch to open packs.

Last year's Series 1 had virtually no big-name rookies and contained fewer inserts per pack, so I'm pleased with the adjustments that Topps has made to the set.

The addition of the Turkey Red inserts as well as including Alvarez, Bichette, and Lux, among other rookies, in the checklist only gives it a greater appeal.

In my previous post, I touched on a few specific aspects of the product (RC medallions, inserts, etc), I saved my best pulls for this post, one that'll include rookies as well as variations.

As far as the base checklist is concerned, I usually chase cards for my player collections as well as the major rookies, and there were a lot of them in 2020 Series 1.

Jesus Luzardo and Gavin Lux, although unbelievably talented, are players I know very little about. Brendan McKay and Bo Bichette, on the other hand, have been on my radar for a little longer thanks to the Bowman mega boxes as well as Bowman's Best.

The main draw to this year's Series 1, however, is Yordan Alvarez, the Astros' power-hitting phenom with both an RC logo and an All-Star rookie cup on his 2020 Topps Flagship card.

In the first 2 blasters that I opened, both of which were purchased at Target, I landed 2 Alvarez base rookies, as well as the '85, insert at the top of this post.

Whereas I usually don't start collecting a player's cards until their second full season, I think I'll make an exception for Alvarez who hit 27 homers in 313 at-bats last year.

The Juan Soto image variation above breaks the pattern of featuring only rookie cards in this post, but it's just such an interesting pull that I couldn't help but show it off.

Following his World Series victory, Soto's stock is, arguably, higher than it's ever been before. I'm not sure how I feel about Washington Nationals players wearing Montreal Expos jerseys, but I will say that it's a cool thing for Topps to have captured on cardboard.

Plus, the angle complements the jersey and helmet very well, as weird as it may be to see the Nationals' team logo so close to that of the Expos.

The Soto SP may be the most interesting card of the break, but this Aristides Aquino SP, another image variation, carries the most value. Anything with an RC logo can attract some interest, so I might end up selling it on eBay.

Regardless, Aquino is yet another highly-desired rookie from this year's class featured in Series 1. I actually prefer his base rookie with the throwback uniform, but the image variation is definitely my best pull from the 3 blasters.

Aquino hit 19 homers in just 205 at-bats last season, so, like Alvarez, he's a young, power hitter to watch in 2020. If I hold onto this card, I'll definitely watch him a bit more closely. 

Graded Card Pickups; 2019 National Recap Part #6

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to participate in Topps' 3rd annual National Baseball Card Day this year, the very event that I talked about on my very first blog post back in August of 2017.

Though I'm fortunate enough to have multiple Baseball card shops in proximity to my house, only one of them was registered on Topps' list of participating stores, and they ended up being closed for vacation once the date came along.

Alas, I had no way of getting the free packs or the exclusive Bryce Harper card (not that I care that much about him, to begin with). With supplies running dangerously low and my LCS closed, I went to the Baseball card show today.

Not to worry, I didn't buy a single Baseball card. Rather, I went to the show because the guy who runs it has terrific prices and an unparalleled selection. I was able to purchase all the boxes, sleeves, and sheets that I needed without breaking the bank.

One of the many things I purchased was another 2-row box for my graded cards which are the subject of today's National recap. Collectively, my Dad and I ended up with multiple of PSA or Beckett graded cards during our time in Chicago but no space within the box to store them.

More so than upping the value of a given card, I see grading as a way to preserve some of the older collectibles. Nowadays, if I'm thinking of buying a vintage card (not from the want list) or even a modern autograph, I typically lean more towards graded cards, particularly Beckett.

Specifically, 3D cards often have issues with their surface if they're not preserved correctly. In addition to the singles that we picked up, my Dad and I found some unbelievably fair priced 3D cards, graded by PSA.

One of the first vendors we bought from had a stack of graded 3D cards from the 1970 Kellogg's set for just a few dollars each. Not only did multiple cards, including the Bando and Campaneris, pique our interest, but all of the grades were fairly high. 

Given how susceptible 3D cards' surfaces are to damage, I was impressed that the cards received grades like 6 (EX-MT). Bando and Campaneris were both essential parts of the 1972-74 World Champion Oakland A's teams, and Reggie Smith (at the top of this post) had some stellar seasons with the Red Sox.

I can't imagine there are many graded Seattle Pilots cards out there, nevermind a 3D card. After I completed the 1969 and 1970 Topps team sets of the short-lived team, I decided to turn my attention to any Seattle Pilots cards or memorabilia that I can find.

Certainly, a PSA 7 Tommy Harper from the 1970 Kellogg's set fits the bill. Though I'll be keeping this card alongside all my graded cards, it will definitely count towards the Seattle Pilots PC that I've developed.

It's challenging to fully appreciate a card when I can't scan it properly, but the Pilots jersey along with the 3D design makes this card one of my favorite pickups of the entire show.

The final of the 3D cards isn't in as great of condition as the previous 4, but I'm satisfied with a PSA 4 of Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew, especially when the card is as phenomenal as this.

Backgrounds aren't something I pay attention to when it comes to 3D cards, but the sky and clouds are a magnificent choice for the shot of Killebrew in a classic Twins home uniform. I'm also not a fan of facsimile signatures, but for some reason, Killebrew's works well on his card.

Although I'd be content to buy nothing but graded 3D cards, I want there to be some variety in what I purchase, something I expanded upon in yesterday's post. I could've bought all of the graded 3D cards that the dealer had, but I opted to move on instead.

Unsurprisingly, many of the cards at the show were graded, ranging the 1st Bowman autos of today's hottest prospects to vintage Topps cards from the 1950s. 

Many of the sports cards on display were either out of my price range or not on my radar, but I didn't have to do much digging to find inexpensive and desired graded cards throughout my 2 1/2 days at the show.

I'm always looking to add new Red Sox cards to my collection, and a fair-priced graded card is just that much better. I forget exactly what I paid for this 1973 Topps Dwight Evans rookie, but I'm quite pleased with the purchase.

I've become very familiar with the 1970s Boston Red Sox teams, particularly the players on the 1975 club. Evans was a longtime Red Sox whose defensive capabilities aren't fully appreciated. 

Though he hasn't been in a recent release in some time, I enjoyed seeing him in Upper Deck and Fleer sets across the early 2000s.

When I began selling on eBay towards the end of last year, I listed and quickly sold a Topps Update base rookie card of Juan Soto, a decision I later regretted given how immensely talented the 20-year old is.

Though I have another Soto card from The National which I'll be showcasing later this week, I needed to make amends for my blunder and add another Soto rookie to my collection. For around what I sold the Update card for, I bought a graded version of his 2018 Topps Chrome Update card.

I originally planned on saving this gorgeous card for my final recap post where I showcase my greatest pickups of the show, but I felt that Lou Brock's 1962 Topps rookie card should be included along with the rest of the graded card pickups.

While I can't say that I was searching for this specific card as I was browsing the show, both my Dad and I have known about and wanted this card for several years. I remember purchasing his '64 Topps card, on the Cubs, at last year's National, but the rookie card is something totally different.

Everything about this card, the orange background, the wood borders, the blue cap, makes Brock's rookie a true classic. Given all the reprinted card insert sets that Topps has put out, I'm surprised this card hasn't been featured all that much.

Nonetheless, this card is undeniably one of our best pickups from the show, especially since it received such a high grade. A BGS 6 is challenging to come by, especially for a set that shows damage as much as '62 Topps.

It's still a little unusual to see Brock in a Cubs uniform, but I'm incredibly pleased with this card in addition to all the other graded cards that we brought back with us.

Buying a card that's already graded definitely affects the value, but if you like knowing the value of and preserving your cards, I firmly believe it's worth the little extra in cost.

Finalizing a Few Things

Unsurprisingly, I've left a lot of work for myself to do over the next few days before my Dad and I leave for the 40th NSCC show this coming Tuesday.

If last year was any indication of how many cards I'm going to bring back with me to Massachusetts, I need to tidy up the Baseball card room to the best of my ability before I leave. That way, once I return, everything will be much easier to organize and put away.

While I've cleared off a huge portion of counter space for stacking and cataloging cards, there are still stacks that need to be put into the online inventory, then into player collection boxes.

Furthermore, there are a few decisions regarding what I'll be purchasing at the show that I'd like to finalize before I board my flight for Chicago in fewer than 3 days. Even though I've been anticipating The National for months, I can't shift my attention to the show until I finish up a few things.

As I mentioned, I currently have 4 large stacks of cards, all for my player collections, sitting in my Baseball card room, ready to be put away. To be quite honest, I have no idea how these piles got out of control so quickly. 

They consist of cards from a wide range of products; there are some from the 2019 Topps Stadium Club set as while as Panini Prizm, 2001 Topps Archives (which I recently realized I never organized), and some Baseball card show/shop pickups.

I have 1/4 of the cards cataloged online, but I still need to put them all away before I leave for the show. This, undoubtedly, is going to be the most challenging thing to accomplish over the next 48 odd hours, but I have my eyes on the prize and am hoping it'll all work out.

After all, the last thing I want to do is come home on Sunday, August 4th and have stacks of Baseball cards on the table before I even begin to unpack.

This might not be the greatest timing in the world, but I also decided to start collecting a new wave of players right before I head to Chicago so that I can acquire some of their cards at the show. 

For the most part, this group consists of last year's major rookies. The new PCs include the 4 players above, Rhys Hoskins, and Gleyber Torres, just to name a few. Now that these superstars are no longer in their rookie seasons, it'll be much easier to collect cards of these talented players. 

Last year, you couldn't find an inexpensive Acuna or Ohtani rookie card if you tried, but now that they're in their sophomore seasons, I wouldn't be surprised to find 2019 cards of last year's ROY award winners in the quarter or even dime boxes.

One of my biggest motivations to start collecting cards of the 2018 rookie stars occurred while I was organizing cards from the 2019 Topps Stadium Club set. As you can see, there are 2 cards of Juan Soto; one shows him in the on-deck circle, the other with a bucket of Gatorade about to be dumped on his head.

After placing these 2 cards side-by-side, I learned that the latter of the 2 Soto's is actually an image variation, a fairly rare pull out of Stadium Club and something that I didn't even notice at first glance. 

One this happened, I became motivated to not only collect cards of Soto but many of the other talented rookies from last year. The 2018 rookie class will likely go down in MLB history, so it would be foolish of me to ignore the cards of these players that I already have and not collect cards of guys like Rhys Hoskins and Ozzie Albies.

However, my new wave of player collections isn't limited solely to rookies from the 2018 season. There are a handful of veterans, some of whom have been around for a while now, that I've decided to begin collecting along with some members of last year's rookie class.

In addition to Freddie Freeman and J.D. Martinez, I'm going to start PCs for Javier Baez and Alex Bregman before I head off to The National. The latter 2 players had sensational breakout seasons in 2018, and it looks like they're carrying that momentum into this season as well

Barring any injury, I'm also going to see Javier Baez play in person for the first time in 3 years. He's greatly improved since I visited Wrigley back in July of 2016, and I'm truly excited to see him take the field and showcase his growth.

Not all the things that need finalizing have to do with new player collections. Rather, the next and (hopefully) final thing left to do is to figure out exactly how much 2019 Topps Allen & Ginter my Dad and I are going to purchase at this show.

Admittedly, I caved and purchased a little more A&G to have a stronger sampling of the product before making any major decisions. I must say that Topps has done a phenomenal job, once again, with the set. 

Though I was skeptical of the card backs at first, they are very effective, though they are slightly repetitive. The full-bleed photos are something that we haven't really seen before, and the checklist is filled with retired players, including guys like Phil Niekro and Tony Oliva.

The minis look fabulous this year, whether we're talking about the A&G backs, black-bordered minis, or some of the inserts like New to the Zoo and Lost Languages. The set stays true to the Allen & Ginter brand, and that's something that people who cherish this set, like me, can appreciate.

The sole question left is how much A&G, as well as Topps Chrome, my Dad and I would like to purchase at the show. Hopefully, we can sort this out along with all the other things included in this post.

 I realize that it's going to be a slightly hectic few days, but I'm beyond excited for the show.