another standout chrome year

while i was completing my 2007 topps chrome refractor run dodger team sets, i was also picking up other refractors from other topps chrome releases. the one set that i hit the hardest during that time was 2008. the card design from that year really lends itself to the refractor treatment as there is color built in to the design along with ample border space.

these base refractors - hiroki kuroda

blake dewitt

and chin-lung hu (autograph)

were the ones i needed to complete the team set of refractor parallels.

the copper parallels from 2008 are pretty sharp, and i've almost completed that team set, too. here are the last few that i acquired in that effort - brad penny

russell martin

james loney

derek lowe

andre ethier

hiroki kuroda

and blake dewitt

i also have the matt kemp and andruw jones copper parallels, leaving the chin-lung hu autograph as the only card yet to obtain.

there is no x-fractor hu autograph but i only have a few of the dodgers, including russell martin

martin is also only one of the two blue refractor parallels that i own

but i will probably work to correct that. they are really great looking cards. i don't know if topps has changed their refractor printing or if its design based, but these 2008 cards hit a little differently than more recent releases from what i can see.

the almost daily dodger - derek lowe

i miss guys like derek lowe pitching for the dodgers. what i mean is guys who make over 30 starts a year for four years in a row with an era under 4. here's a 2006 bowman chrome card of lowe

that completed my team set a few months ago (aside from the james loney autograph card that is considered part of the base set - some real base set bs!).

lowe twice led the national league in games started during his four year stint with the dodgers, and the club qualified for the postseason in two of those years. he wasn't flashy, but he averaged around 210 innings pitched each season as a dodger. in contrast, gavin stone was the only dodger in 2024 to throw more than 140 innings, and no dodger started more than stone's 25 games. 

still scratching that 17 year itch

it wasn't too long after i had completed the 2007 topps chrome dodger team set that i decided to go after the blue refractor parallels. the base chrome cards seemed pretty lackluster, and with the chunky borders, the blue refractors were fantastically blue! it took me a while, but i got there, and i recently finished off the regular refractor and white refractor team sets, too.

here's the base dodger team set for comparison purposes later on.

j.d drew, andre ethier, rafael furcal

jeff kent, brad penny, juan pierre

chad billingsley, jason schmidt, matt kemp

randy wolf, takashi saito, russell martin

derek lowe, greg maddux, delwyn young  

the black borders don't do the base chrome any favors, and shame on topps (and other companies at the time) for including autographs as base cards.

now here is the blue refractor team set - note that there was no delwyn young card in the blue refractor style

j.d drew, andre ethier, rafael furcal

jeff kent, brad penny, juan pierre

chad billingsley, jason schmidt, matt kemp

randy wolf, takashi saito, russell martin

derek lowe, greg maddux  

having the blue refractors but not the regular refractors gnawed on me a bit, so i got that job done.

j.d drew, andre ethier, rafael furcal

jeff kent, brad penny, juan pierre

chad billingsley, jason schmidt, matt kemp

randy wolf, takashi saito, russell martin

derek lowe, greg maddux, delwyn young                

much, much brighter, of course. the young card is numbered to 500 in refractor form.

now for the white border refractors

j.d drew, andre ethier, rafael furcal

jeff kent, brad penny, juan pierre

chad billingsley, jason schmidt, matt kemp

randy wolf, takashi saito, russell martin

derek lowe, greg maddux, delwyn young    

the "pop" on these is largely background dependent. speaking of backgrounds, there was no nomar garciaparra chrome card in 2007, but he is in the background of chad billingsley's card.

the white refractors are numbered to 660 - hard to see on the scanned card back

but the delwyn young auto is only numbered to 200

interestingly enough, i have no xfractors in my collection. maybe that's next. or, the red refractor parallels. there is always something to chase!

color me back

when i posted the 2023 panini donruss duke snider cards the other day, i was reminded about another recent case where i had a parallel in hand well before i landed the base card. the card i am referring to is eric gagne's 2006 topps bazooka card, which i had in gold chunk parallel form

months before i picked up the base version. i actually added the base to my most wanted list, and wound up with two copies so i could put one in my names/numbers on the back collection. i was a fan of the no names on the backs of jerseys in the early 2000's, by the way.

putting this card away with the others, i noticed that topps took the time to color match the backs. here's derek lowe's gold chunk card

and the back

definitely a gold parallel all around.

here's hong-chih kuo's blue parallel

which is also blue all over the back

now here's gagne's base card with white borders

but a gray back

so close!

these cards maeda my day

he may not pitch for the dodgers any longer, but i can still get excited about adding kenta maeda cards to my collection. i recently added two numbered parallels, in fact, including this very nice 2016 topps finest gold card

and this red parallel 2016 donruss optic card

from kevin aka the diamond king. he also threw in a pink wave refractor of craig kimbrel

from 2022 topps chrome update, which i was also happy to accept. these cards were in return for me sending a couple of 2016 topps julio urias cards kevin's way, and i think he may have overcompensated me!

earlier in the spring, i received a text from mr. haverkamp letting me know that there would be something showing up in my mailbox around opening day. here is what he sent:

you have likely seen these cards if you do any player searches on ebay. it's an aceo card by edward vela, and there are a few garveys out there. here's the back:

i've never pulled the trigger on any of these, but i am happy to have one. jim reported that he came across a seller at a show that had quite a few for sale. thanks for thinking of me, jim!

before that even, i received some cards from nachos grande as part of his "not so secret santa" project. i was happy to find a couple of 1995 score summit dodgers that i needed

among the stack of cards that were sent. so happy, in fact, that i went out and picked up billy ashley's card

to complete the team set

chris also sent a trio of vlads that i needed

hailing from 1999 pacific, 1999 topps opening day, and 2000 topps stars. merry belated christmas!

bo at baseball cards come to life reached out to me earlier this year to see if i wanted some 2006 bowman chrome dodgers that he had found. i sure did!

there was also one from 2007

and all were needs that i was able to check off the want list. thanks bo!

more recently, jon at penny sleeves held a ridiculous giveaway that many of us benefitted from. i claimed a few cards, including this 2012 panini cooperstown

insert that extolls the virtues of don drysdale's career.  jon also sent me a 2017 topps silver pack jackie robinson card

so much generosity out there in the blogosphere - thanks to all for contributing to my collection!