Secret Santa: Uncovered

Roughly a month ago, I signed up to participate in A Penny Sleeve For Your Thoughts' secret Santa. This event marks the first time I've participated in some sort of holiday exchange since I began blogging back in August of 2017.

I'm putting the finishing touches on my secret Santa package as I speak, so it should arrive at its recipient by the middle/end of the upcoming week. As for the cards that I received, I didn't think too much about that part until a package arrived earlier today.

As it turns out, my package is from The Bucs Stop Here. Right off the bat, I have to thank Nate from the blog for sending a wide assortment of excellent cards, which I'll get to in a minute and Jon for organizing the exchange.

I hadn't even looked at a single card Nate sent me before I found a thoughtful note attached, explaining a little about his collecting habits and what the package entails. The secret Santa has already helped me make a connection, so I'm very appreciative of that.

Now, let's get to the contents of this exchange.

Even if I hadn't read his note, I can certainly tell that Nate took a close examination of both my want list and player collection tiers list while putting together this package of cards. There were several team bags, labeled with corresponding parts of my collection, the first of which was "want list +
Kimbrel."

Inside the bag, I found a few needs from my A&G frankenset, including the Daniel Bard and Luis Severino cards above from 2011 and 2019 Ginter respectively. I also came across some new additions to the Kimbrel Collection, like Topps Chrome Update.

Speaking of chrome cards, from the contents of the package and his blog, I think Nate's a pretty big fan of these sets. The majority of the cards he sent my way are chrome cards that also feature players that I collect, a win-win situation if you ask me.

3 of the cards in the image above (Goldy, Sale, and Kimbrel) will go to their respective PCs whereas the Kershaw insert will end up in my 2018 Topps Chrome master set binder.

I dedicated a whole post to these 150 Years of Baseball chrome inserts a month or so ago, so it's nice to see that a few, most notably Ozzie Smith, were sent my way. In fact, I'd never seen this card until it showed up on my doorstep in a bubble mailer.

When I first purchased and pulled these cards from packs, I considered completing the insert set; I soon came to the conclusion, however, that these cards were better off as parts of player collections than all together in a set, so I opted for the former of the 2 choices.

The selection wasn't limited to just Topps products, however. Panini was also represented by a couple of parallels from the 2018 Donruss Optic set: an Andrew Benintendi holo and a J.D. Martinez pink, another couple of awesome additions to my player collections.

Speaking of PCs, each bag of player collection additions was labeled based on what tier the player is a member of, a sign that Nate truly took his time to look over my want list and tiers. For example, while Benintendi was in the silver tier bag (50+ cards), Martinez was in the bronze (50> cards).

Big Papi, on the other hand, is a member of the platinum tier. That is, I have 200 or more cards of the, hopefully, future Hall of Famer. While I have the base version of Ortiz's 2017 Topps Chrome card, I did not have any of the refractors until today, so I was incredibly pleased to find the prism version in one of Nate's team bags.

I'm also a huge fan of serial numbered cards, and I'll take any opportunity to add them to my player collections for the right price. Acquiring them in trades is even better, for they present me with the opportunity to acquire cards that otherwise wouldn't be available to me.

It appears that Chris Sale will be healthy by the time Spring Training rolls around in 2020. Hopefully, he can become the pitcher he was in the first half of 2017, the year this blue chrome refractor is from because when he's at his best, Sale's a top 5 pitcher in the game.

Finally, a couple of Vladimir Guerrero relics, one of my favorite players and type of card to collect. The decline in the popularity of the relic card only helps lower the prices and increase the availability of these cards, for the most part.

Whether he's on the Expos or Angels, I love collecting Vlad Sr. relics and have amassed a respectable collection of them. Now, I can add an Angels' jersey relic and an All-Star game warm-up uniform card to my collection, thanks to Nate

Everyone go check out his blog, and thanks again for the awesome package, Nate. It's much appreciated.

Major Progress With '76 Topps; 2019 National Recap Part #4

173. 

That's how many cards I picked up for my 1976 Topps set while at The National, easily the largest haul brought back from the show for any aspect of my collection.

Most of the cards shown in the previous 2 blog posts were purchased by my Dad. There have been cards from the 50s and 60s, 3Ds, and vintage oddballs galore over the last couple of posts.

Throughout most of the show, we divided and conquered so that we could each focus on our own objectives. While my Dad spent a large portion of his time purchasing vintage oddballs, I tried to concentrate more on the want list, particularly the Topps Flagship sets that I'm trying to complete.

Unsurprisingly, I wasn't able to find any 1979 Topps while I was there since most vendors don't bother selling individual cards from that set. Even 1976 Topps proved challenging to find, though I eventually tracked down a dealer with excellent prices on cards from this colorful set.

At first, I only wanted to go through about half of the cards on my '76 Topps want list before moving onto another part of the show. However, after skimming through the pages and seeing the stellar prices, I realized that this was my best chance to make huge strides with this product.

The odds of finding such an enormous selection of 1976 Topps cards for incredibly low prices are slim, so I continued through the binder and ended up going through the entirety of my '76 Topps want list. As a result, I ended up buying 173 cards that I needed to complete the set.

Unlike the next Topps set that I choose to build (either '73 or '74 Flagship), I began collecting 1976 Topps not because I had a ton of cards from that year. In fact, when I drew up my want list upon deciding that I'd be collecting this set, I barely had 100 out of the 660 total cards.

With that being said, '76 Topps is quite affordable, and the brilliant color scheme is ultimately what inspired me to begin building this set despite how few cards I had. 

I've mentioned before that my favorite Baseball card sets are the ones where every base card looks different. Thanks to the various color combinations for each team, this trait applies to '76 Topps. 

I knew that completing this set would present some challenges, but the affordability and the vibrant design inspired me to start this project. Now, with the set almost complete, I couldn't be happier.

In addition to overproduction, a reason why Topps sets from the 1990s are so forgettable is that there wasn't anything to differentiate Oakland A's cards from Houston Astros cards like there was in '76. 

Even modern-day Topps sets use green for the A's and orange for the Astros to help the set stand out, but this wasn't as pronounced in the 90s. Clearly, with 2 colorful banners on every base card, 1976 accomplishes this.

Even for teams like the Indians and Astros who utilize the same 2 colors (orange and pink), the order is switched to change things up and help create a unique design across the entire set. 

Other than the iconic 1975 design, I can't think of a more vibrant Topps set than 1976, though the uniforms certainly help with this.

Topps' decision to cease releasing Flagship in multiple series caused the value their cards to plummet beginning in 1974. Furthermore, many collectors, including myself, consider 1975 the last year of true vintage cards.

These 2 factors contribute to the overall affordability of 1976 Topps. Even cards of Hall of Famers like George Brett and Mike Schmidt are far less expensive ($3 and $4 respectively) compared to similar cards in another Topps set that I've completed, 1972.

With a set like '72, you have to worry about high numbered cards, HOFers, team cards, and especially condition, all of which contribute to the price of a card. However, many of these factors don't apply to '76. The set is beautiful and the cards are inexpensive; it doesn't get much better than that.

Beginning in the 1970s, Topps began noting a player's All-Star status by placing a symbol or banner on his base card. They continued this tradition for many years, particularly during the 1980s.

If I remember correctly, however, this inclusion began in 1976 when Topps used actual stars to demonstrate that a player was an All-Star. It's always challenging to beat the original, especially when it's something as simple yet classic as a bright yellow All-Star star. 

I already had most of the All-Stars' cards before heading to The National, but I picked up a couple new ones while I was there, most notably Ron Cey's card with red and blue banners.

Before the days of insert sets as we know them today, Topps included many subsets throughout the 1970s Flagship products. Ranging from Boyhood Photos of the Stars to Father and Son Duos, the subsets consisted of around 10 cards and followed a certain theme.

1976 Topps has a couple of these subsets, one of them being The Sporting News All-Time All-Stars, easily one of my favorite subsets that Topps has ever done. The checklist includes HOF legends in a fantastic red, white, and blue design, not to mention spectacular black and white photos.

I'm not that knowledgable when it comes to these cards. Since the set is All-Time All-Stars, the players may combine to form 1 complete team. All I know is that these cards are one of the high points of '76 Topps, and that's saying a lot considering how fond I am of this set.

With this massive 173-card purchase in the books, I'm just 39 cards away from completing my 3rd Topps set from the 70s. At the same time, only 48 cards are standing in my way of finishing '79 Topps as well. 

Though I'm taking a necessary break from buying cards, for the time being, there's no doubt in my mind that I'll be able to complete both of these 70s Flagship sets by the time the Holiday season rolls around.

After that, it'll be time for me to turn my attention towards '61 Topps and whichever Flagship set I try to complete next. 

For now, I have to concentrate on those 39 cards stopping me from completing yet another one of my favorite Baseball card sets ever produced.

Crossing the Halfway Mark

Over the next few weeks, the majority of my Baseball card budget will likely be devoted to the 2019 Topps Heritage set, whether it's a hobby or retail box or individual cards. 

Although I'm highly anticipating the release, the product will likely prevent much progress from being made regarding my various want list sets, or at least stop me from purchasing set needs myself.

Thankfully, there's still the possibility of trading, and I was fortunate enough to receive a package filled with 1979 Topps singles right before the Heritage is set to be released. I completed this trade on Twitter, something that I'm not totally used to, but I can definitely say it was a very pleasant experience overall. 

Thanks to the generous Mark Hoyle's shoutout on Twitter, I was able to complete a trade with Yankees fan Mark Del Franco. Thanks in large part to my abundance of Yankees cards and a few needs for his '69 Topps set, I was able to even out a trade in which I received roughly 100 1979 Topps singles that took me over the halfway mark for this set.

Yeah, that's the stack of cards that arrived at my door on Monday, all cards that I needed for my 1979 Topps set, a product I seldom see available at the Baseball card show. I've always seen it as a transition set of sorts between the 70s and 80s, and maybe that's why collectors don't necessarily hold onto it. 

It's also helped by the lack of big-name rookies besides Ozzie Smith, yet I've always been a huge fan of the set design, nevertheless. Now, thanks to Twitter, I have over 50% of the set in my possession, and like 1961 and 1976, completing this Flagship set finally seems achievable.

As for the cards that Mark sent my way, there were multiple standouts that really screamed "1970s" even though the iconic decade was almost over by the time this set was released. Seeing color on 70s cards is most definitely a given but between the uniforms, banners, and backgrounds, there's definitely no shortage when it comes to 1979 Topps.

Also, I know I've mentioned this before, but I absolutely love the retro-style Baseball with the Topps logo shown on every card. It's definitely a design I'd love to see again, and it makes me excited for Topps Heritage in 9 years (but who's counting?).

1979 Topps is the best possible set to witness the changes that the 1970s presented for the game of Baseball. Brand new teams, a fresh wave of MLB players, and different uniforms were all introduced in the 1970s, causing it to be night and day between '79 Topps and one of the first few Flagship sets of the decade.

Although the Astros' rainbow jersey is an easy choice for one of the greatest uniforms of all-time, the all-black White Sox uniform, quite paradoxical, isn't anything to sneeze at either. 

It can be slightly odd, at first, to witness players changing teams, especially when that player is showcased on a Baseball card with their new ball club. This was even more prevalent in the 1970s when, for the first time ever, MLB players were allowed to become free agents.

Jim Lonborg spent 7 years with the Red Sox before becoming a Phillie for the final 7 years of his MLB career. Though he spent equal time in Boston and Philadelphia, I still don't completely recognize the 1967 AL Cy Young award winner unless he's in a Red Sox uniform.

While I don't mind the combo cards that Topps uses as checklists in their Flagship and Update sets today, the 1979 Topps set was able to accomplish something that's nearly impossible; make a checklist card seem interesting, fun, and appealing.

I wouldn't ever think that a bright pink checklist with an old-school logo and a green banner would be a fitting combination for a checklist card, but these look pretty awesome, as awesome as checklist cards can look, at least.

I may not have taken a long look at the 2019 Topps Heritage checklist, but I did not spot any team cards on the 400-card base set list or the 100-card SP checklist either. This likely means we won't see team cards in Heritage this year, and I'm not upset about that whatsoever.

After Series 1 switched to ballparks following Topps' "attempt" at a "team card" for years, it doesn't appear that team cards will be featured in Heritage, likely because it would get repetitive to feature the same ballpark shots in at least 2 different products.

To cap it all of, I received 2 All-Star cards in this extremely generous trade package as well that's helped me make unprecedented progress with the 1979 Topps set. Before receiving these cards in the mail, I was struggling to find these cards at the show no matter when I went, so any progress I can make with this product is an incredibly positive thing.

Not to mention, I love the All-Star cards in this set, and Greg Luzinski and Vida Blue are perfect examples of some forgotten 70s players who were, at one time or another, superstars. 

Having these 2 cards, along with all the others that I've acquired on my journey towards completing this set, affirms the belief that, eventually, 1979 Topps will be completed.

It'll just have to wait until after 2019 Topps Heritage is released. 

Want List Pickups; Big and Small

Given that my Baseball card want list is roughly 6 pages long, it often appears unlikely that I'll ever complete certain base or insert sets that I've been piecing together for years now, like 1976 Topps, for instance.

Besides my player collections, the want list exemplifies virtually everything else that I collect, from the 1959 Fleer Ted Williams set to the last 3 (almost 4) sets of Topps Heritage, and everything else in between. 

The problem is; with multiple different sets to focus on, it takes longer to complete the products on the want list. It's somewhat frustrating for somebody as impatient as myself, but the wait is most definitely worth it when I place that final card of the set into its respective sheet.

On the occasions when I can't find everything that I'm looking for at the Baseball card show or for a fair price online, trading with other bloggers has become my go-to option for checking cards off the want list. 

All it takes is leaving the list on my blog and initiating some trades with fellow bloggers as well as viewers. If not for the generosity of my trading partners, I'd be much further away from completing the sets on my want list.

Recently, I completed a trade with Greg of Night Owl Cards in an effort to acquire more cards from various sets on the want list. 

The package arrived in the mail earlier this week, a few weeks after we finalized up the trade, but honestly, that wasn't the end of the world. Thanks to Greg's generosity, I've made progress towards completing certain sets.

For example, the 2015 Topps set which has maintained the title of my favorite Topps base set of the decade in light of the somewhat recent release of 2019 Topps Series 1. To me, 2015 Topps is a much-improved version of the 1990 Flagship set.

My decision to start collecting this set was based on the fact that I had already accumulated a couple hundred of the cards, mainly through Fairfield 20-pack repack boxes. Now, I'm only 121 cards away from completing the greatest Flagship set of the century. To put this into perspective, I'm roughly 83% of the way there.

The color-centric borders are paired with equally impressive photography to create a set that remains quite difficult to beat. The attention to detail is evident, leaving many of the cards, like Jose Quintana's, looking as if they belong in Topps Stadium Club. 

Even though the cards are fairly common pickups, it'll still be very rewarding to complete this product after almost 3 years of piecing it together.

Much like the standard frankenset posts that I post roughly once a week, I'm also in the process of creating an Allen & Ginter mini frankenset that I'll likely create a series for once it's finished. I have 350 spots in the checklist, meaning I'm encompassing base cards and SPs, and I've already filled somewhere around 1/3 of the spots. 

When I initially began this project, I debated on adding Gypsy Queen minis and thus having an Allen & Ginter and Gypsy Queen mini frankenset, allowing me to complete the set faster. However, Greg has sent me minis for the frankenset on multiple different occasions, and because of the cards that he's sent me, I'm determined to keep this frankenset exclusive to A&G mini cards.

This Stephen Piscotty mini was likely my favorite of a group that encompassed both Baseball players and non-sport individuals as well. A&G minis aren't typically something that dealers sell individually at Baseball card shows, and they don't turn up too often in the dime bins, so it seems likely that I'll be counting trading and COMC to get this frankenset completed.

The older Topps sets are where I begin to run into trouble when it comes to completing sets, though my completing of 1972 and 1975 Topps last year has made me more confident in my ability to complete 2 other 70s products, those being 1976 and 1979 Topps.

The main issue with completing 1979 Topps lies with how many cards I need to track down, not necessarily many major name rookies or high-number veterans. The checklist consists of around 720 total cards, and I've managed to complete roughly 1/3 of the set over the last couple years. 

Like A&G minis, I don't see too much of this set at the card show, but that doesn't mean I won't be looking when I (hopefully) head to the Mansfield show tomorrow.

The 1976 Topps set is a similar story, though the 660-card checklist is definitely less daunting. Even though it's not as widely-loved as some of the other 70s sets, '76 Topps ranks in the top 10 of my favorite Topps sets of all-time without a doubt. 

Despite my best efforts, I understand that it's going to take a while before sets like '76, '79, and 2015 Topps are completed, but if I've learned anything, it's that completing a set of cards is an incredible goal to accomplish, no matter what the product is. 

As long as I keep trading and buying a reasonable number of cards from the sets that I'm piecing together, I should be able to complete at least 1 major set of cards from my want list this year. 

A Pleasant Surprise; Card Show Recap #15 Part #3

Before the Black Friday show, I hadn't been to the Mansfield sports card show in a number of months for a number of reasons. Non-Sunday shows not being possible, wanting to save money for The National, and it not being a weekly show all contributed to the fact that I wasn't able to attend for quite some time.

This time, the main question was not if I could attend, but if I wanted to take part in the COMC Black Friday sale instead. Ultimately, I chose the baseball card show and could not be more happy with my decision. 

Not only did I come back with a nice variety of cards, but I also received a pleasant surprise from someone I met in-person for the first time while at the show.

I've been trying to attend the Mansfield show the same day as fellow Red Sox fan and loyal reader Mark Hoyle for months now, but as I said before, it hasn't worked out. If I remember correctly, we were at a show or 2 the same day earlier this year but hadn't realized that until the show had been over for a couple of days.

Mark seems to be a regular at the Mansfield sports card show, and his Twitter page is chock-full of awesome Red Sox cards and memorabilia finds from previous trips. Once I had been at the show for about 15 minutes, we met each other at the front and chatted for a little while. 

Before we parted ways, he generously handed over a package of 1976 and 1979 Topps cards from the want list, much to my surprise and appreciation. To make things even more special, he told me that a majority of the cards included in the box were pulled by him out of packs back when he was a kid. Don't worry, Mark, I promise I'll take care of them.

After completing 1972 and 1975 Topps having been completed over the last 6 months or so, I reminded myself it was time to turn my attention towards these 2 sets with more emphasis on 1976 due to it being the older of the 2 70's sets that I'm currently building. That time hasn't quite come yet, but I also haven't spotted much or any '76 or '79 Topps at the shows I've been attending.

One of the most underrated Topps sets I can name, 1976 Topps takes a page out of '75 Topps' book by featuring bold color combinations just like 1975 Topps did. What helps to separate 1976 Topps from the latter is less emphasis on the colors and more on the images and equally colorful jerseys.

There are only so many colors and combinations out there, meaning sometimes in a Topps set, a couple of teams need to share a certain shade or duo of different colors. Despite all of this, 1976 Topps does an excellent job at making certain that the set doesn't get redundant.

In addition to having a perfect-sized checklist of 660 cards, teams with the same color combo, at least in this instance, have the colors flipped in order to create a wider range or unique cards across the set. 

I'm no vintage set guru, so I can't say for certain if something like this has been done before, but even if it has, it shows why '76 Topps is one of my favorite sets in a decade full of some of the best sets ever made.

Because 1976 Topps is a set from the middle of the 1970s, it means there are plenty of cards with colorful uniforms, action images, and intriguing backgrounds. Out of the 30 or so cards from the set that Mark generously gave me, these 4 were my personal favorites due to how well they represent the decade that the set is from. 

In particular, Nyls Nyman (awesome name) and his red White Sox jersey show the short-lived red-striped uniforms that, combined with light green, gives the card a slight Christmas feel.

Moving on, Mark was kind enough to send me off with another 30 cards or so from 1979 Topps, the 2nd 70s set I'm piecing together and yet another example of an underrated product. With the perfect placement of the retro Topps logo on the baseball, '79 Topps also includes color combinations and bright banners that vaguely resemble '76 Topps in some way or another.

Like the lot of 1976 Topps cards, I instantly picked out some favorites amongst the 1979 cards with Gene Tenace on the Padres taking top prize as my favorite of the entire group. Even though 1979 was the last year of the 70s and times in baseball were changing, the colorful uniforms that became so popular throughout this decade would be able to live on for a little while after.

Team cards are featured in both sets, but only 1979 Topps includes prospect cards, a concept that would be expanded upon throughout the 1980s, becoming rookie stars and/or future star cards including the same number of players, 3. Of the 6 total players between the Mariners and A's prospect cards, Bud Anderson and Dwayne Murphy are the sole names that I can recognize.

Thanks to Mark and the Mansfield sports card show, I was able to have an incredible Black Friday without spending hours in line at Target. Instead, I ventured through dime boxes and was the recipient of a wonderful box of cards that will go towards my completing of these 2 70s sets.

Thanks again for the cards, Mark. I truly appreciate it.