a dimebox dozen dodgers from nick

i am happy to report that nick from the dormant dime boxes blog is still participating in the blogosphere through trades. i received a package from him earlier this year, which was the second one he sent me following his "retirement" from active posting. as usual, there were plenty of new-to-me cards from a wide variety of releases. 

1978 dover hall of fame reprints zach wheat

this is a 1911 t205 reprint of the hall of famer, representing the franchise's "superbas" era. here's the back

1988 card collectors 1911 t205 reprints kaiser wilhelm

this is a different reprint set of the 1911 t205, and the card features another superba. here's the back:

you don't see typhoid referenced on a baseball card too often.

more old-timey guys via 1985 big league collectibles

stanley bordagaray was better knows as "frenchy", and clyde sukeforth is probably best known as the dodger manager when jackie robinson made his major league debut.

2025 panini donruss pee wee reese

i no longer add panini checklists to my want lists, but happily accept dodgers, such as reese.

1988 sportflics fernando valenzuela

i am always happy to add a fernando card to the collection! i am down to needing only mike scioscia for the team set. look for scioscia to show up on the nefarious nine at some point.

1991 classic update green travel edition eddie murray

this is the second classic murray card i've received in the mail this year, coming on the heels of one from mark z.

2017 panini diamond kings clayton kershaw

this one wasn't new to me, but i hadn't shown it on the blog before, so here you go.

2025 bowman chrome shohei ohtani

definitely appreciate those who send ohtani cards to me!

there was gold in that thar package - from 2003 topps, 2015 topps update, and 2020 topps

the adam liberatore card got me thinking about being more intentional with the 2015 gold parallels because of the unique border design. more on that in a future post.

in addition to those (and other) dodgers, there was the regular influx of vladimir guerrero cards. several were new-to-me, like this 2001 topps home team advantage parallel

and this smattering of cards

from 2002 donruss diamond kings, 2002 mlb showdown all-star game, and 2003 upper deck finite.

double play cards are something nick and i both collect, so there are always some of those, too. here's a 1997 bowman felix martinez international parallel

plus six others that were new-to-me

some nice cameos there from the likes of david ortiz and trea turner.

i'll finish by making it a baker's dozen of dodger cards - here's a 2025 topps ohtani and mookie betts dynamic duos insert

maybe someday at the national nick and i can recreate this card.

i still go to nick's blog regularly - mainly to use the blogroll to find new posts from other bloggers, but also just in case he's had the itch to start posting again. maybe someday. thanks nick!

smooth sailing out of los angeles

as a team collector, i don't typically avoid dodger cards in bargain bins unless i am certain that i already own them. i do pause, however, when i find parallels of guys like dennis santana, which was the case at a show last year. i wound up bringing home these 2019 panini donruss optic and 2019 topps parallels

but i would have preferred them to be of a current dodger. 

santana seems to have found his groove in pittsburgh which makes me happy. the dodgers in recent years have been quick to jettison young talent that they have developed in exchange for other teams' talent. in santana's case, they dealt him to the rangers for a minor league pitcher who toiled in the dodgers' minor league system through last season, and is now a free agent. i get that they are dealing from a surplus, but i still appreciate the older dodger way that allows me to collect and cheer for "homegrown" players for an extended period of time, as with clayton kershaw or will smith.

other dodgers whose departures i understood but to some degree regretted include joc pederson 

that's a 2016 topps update 500 home run futures club insert. spoiler alert - joc won't get close to 500 homers, but he hit some big ones for the dodgers and i am glad he is no longer in the national league west so i can root for him a little more.

cody bellinger, seen here on a 2022 panini prizm illumination insert

and a 2022 topps 1987 insert black parallel

was another one that was tough to see move on in free agency even though his performance with the dodgers in his last years had not warranted a big contract. i hope he has a nice season for the yankees but is at home in october. i do think the game is more fun when the yankees are good, but i really want the blue jays to get another crack at a title.

i was ready to be a ryan pepiot fan, but adding a proven starter in tyler glasnow was a deal too good for the dodgers to pass up. pepiot's 2022 topps chrome update purple refractor

was the last one i needed for that dodger team set of parallels.

just a couple of weeks ago, it was announced by the rays that pepiot was headed to the il and replaced on the 40 man roster by michael grove, seen here on a 2023 topps chrome sepia parallel

grove is also injured at the moment. i was ready to be a fan of his as well, but now all i will have are random cards to find at shows.

another example of a short time dodger that had a lot of cards available for me to collect is miguel vargas. this is his 2024 topps yellow parallel

and i am sure i will be finding vargas dodger cards in bargain boxes for years to come. will i buy them? time will tell. adding tommy edman and michael kopech in the trade that sent vargas to the white sox was a great move by the dodger front office, so i hope that vargas finds his way in chicago and lives up to a bit of the hype that surrounded him in his earliest dodger days to pay back that championship level deal that is currently a bust for the sox.

gavin stone, seen here on his 2023 topps chrome update refractor

and landon knack, shown on his 2025 topps gold parallel

are still dodgers as of now. they are both on the injured list, and who knows what will happen once they are healthy. there's not a lot of room on the pitching staff at the moment, so it's possible that these two become trade bait once they prove themselves healthy. i hope not, especially knack who i like, but i get it if it is the case.

and then there are guys like dalton rushing. 

his 2025 panini donruss card is one of many that i already have of him, and who knows how long he will be a dodger? blocked by his fellow university of louisville alum will smith, who is signed to a long-term deal, and too good to be in triple-a, he's not getting a lot of playing time. so far this year he is playing very well when he does play, but is it just enough to entice another team to make an offer that fills a different dodger need later in the season?

we will have to wait and find out who will join the likes of santana in the former dodger makes good elsewhere camp, and then subsequently haunts the bargain boxes and collections of team collectors like me.

there's a new favorite in town

hey! the 2026 baseball season is upon us!

clayton kershaw's retirement brought an end to his run as my favorite active dodger. that means i needed to pick a new one for 2026, and it was a pretty easy decision. my new favorite active dodger is mookie betts.

there are a few reasons i chose betts, but it basically boils down to the fact that i really enjoy watching him play the game. as you can imagine, i have a number of his cards in my scanned/not posted folder, so here are a few:

2021 topps 582 montgomery

standard portrait and basic card design from a set that nobody really needed or asked for.

2023 topps favorite son insert

betts is the best player to come out of tennessee in the history of the game. his war surpasses hall of famer todd helton, and all other natives of that state. dodger fans might recall that jim gilliam is also from nashville, which seems fitting as he was also highly skilled at multiple positions.

2023 topps allen & ginter short print

betts had two cards in the 2023 ginter set for some reason. this is the one numbered in the 300-series.

2025 topps gameday drip insert

he cleans up pretty well, and still wears that plastic bat and ball necklace he got from a young fan several years ago when dressed to the nines.

2024 topps 2023 silver slugger winner manufactured relic

this card is not as thick nor as heavy as the manurelics had been in the past. likely because it was just inserted in packs rather than included as a bonus card to blaster packaging.

as for the card that represents betts in my favorite dodger collection, i didn't have a lot of choices at this point so i went with his 2026 topps flagship card of which i had a couple extras.

with the changing of the guard, i was thinking about kershaw and my fandom. i would say that he is firmly on my "mount rushmore" of favorite dodgers of all-time. this gives me an excuse to post more cards, like his 2021 topps yellow parallel

joining kersh in that quad of dodger greats is steve garvey, seen here on a 2021 panini donruss orange holo parallel

those are my two favorite dodgers of my lifetime. the third player on this list is sandy koufax, whose 2020 topps allen & ginter silver portrait parallel is shown below

including koufax is a nod to my dad and his fandom, but i would think most dodger fans in general consider koufax one of the four greatest dodgers of all-time.

the final player in the foursome is jackie robinson. this is his 2021 topps gallery printer proof parallel

it may sound dumb, but i am really proud to be a dodger fan because of jackie robinson. 

one thing with betts becoming my favorite dodger is his autograph. i have signed cards of each of my favorite dodgers through the years (and favorite non-dodgers, too - post forthcoming). i do not, as of yet, have an autographed card of betts. i did re-acquire a rookie card of his (i sold the couple of base rookies i had found in packs back in 2014). this time, i found a 2014 topps update gold parallel of his rookie debut card

it's not in the best shape, but that's why i was able to acquire it for a really low price. here's the back

i'll keep my eye out for an autographed card to add, but prices are pretty ridiculous even as he has begun signing a significant number of cards for topps in the last couple of years.

i'm looking forward to the season and following betts as he chases his fifth world series title!

i took a handful at my will

one month ago was the monthly twin cities collector's club show. i wonder how many collectors told their significant others that they were going shopping for valentine's cards, not baseball cards. i was able to get to the show without issue as my spouse was working. 

if you're wondering, the post title comes from the replacements' song "valentine". i did, however, take a handful (handfuls, really) of cards from three different sellers, including one that i hadn't really spent much time with in the past.

that seller, or sellers (they are a couple), have had a large number of monster boxes at the past couple shows i've attended. they mark these boxes as "dig boxes" and price the cards at a quarter apiece/five for a dollar. this time i noticed set prices for larger quantities, including 500 for $100 which represents no real savings from their regular pricing.

anyway, there was a vacancy at one spot at their table and i took it. i was pleased to immediately see a wide variety of card releases represented, with most cards being inserts or parallels or oddballs. i found some of each type, including the only card i have ever seen that features an escalator

that is a 2003 topps factory set exclusive draft picks card of ryan wagner. chad billingsley of the dodgers has one of these cards, but his photo is boring. here's the back:

i took a quick look at comc, and wagner has by far the most interesting card in this ten card set.

i got pretty excited when i hit a vein of these cards

that's the back of the 1985 hey hey cubs jack brickhouse playing card set. i currently feature one of these cards on my most wanted (non-dodgers) card list, and i was hoping to find it at this show. i did find one of the joker cards, but not the one i wanted

still, jack brickhouse and harry caray make for a fun card. i also grabbed the five of spades which includes a team photo of the 1984 national league eastern division champs

both ron cey and davey lopes are shown on this card - lopes is at the left (as you look at the card) end of the first row, and cey is the third person from the end of the first row, counting from the right (again, as you look at the card). cey's solo card is the one i really want from the set (lopes is not featured). i'll find another way!

these two cards really stuck out 

they are a pair of day glow orange parallels from 2013 topps archives. as i recall, this was a hobby store promotion and i remember getting a pack from three stars sportscards in minneapolis back when they were issued. or maybe it was their little canada location. anyway, i remember these cards and i can't say i've seen them in the wild before. they don't scan quite right, but i assure you they are day glow orange.

more parallel goodness was found with this 1996 pinnacle paul molitor starburst

this 2021 topps chrome platinum anniversary sammy sosa blue prism refractor

and this 2024 panini donruss optic george sisler orange velocity parallel

i don't always go for panini stuff in these boxes, but i did this time. part of it is seeing cards like sisler's and new cards featuring personal favorites like bert campaneris

that's a 2025 panini donruss optic blue velocity parallel of the "other" campy. back when i was all in on the a's and "billy ball", campaneris' cards became some of my favorites as i tracked down a's cards back to 1965. and, here's the billy in billy ball, along with some other managers in parallel form

sadly, i didn't find any of tommy lasorda's panini parallels in the boxes i looked through.

i could almost forgive panini's logoless status to chase an insert set like the "numbers" from 2025 panini select as it has some congruence with my retired number mini-collection

however, in the end, i don't think i will complete the set.

i did find a few cards for my other mini-collections, though, including a 1993 upper deck sp deion sanders card

featuring dodger lurker jose offerman, and a 2007 bowman blue parallel of paul konerko's card

featuring a tatooine environment.

my big daddy vladdy also benefited 

with some new to my collection expo and angel cards.

there were dodgers to be had as well, and again i was very pleased with the variety. this is a 1991 playball usa (broder?) card of darryl strawberry

that i didn't already have. and this is a 1996 fleer ultra hideo nomo rising star insert

i have seen this card so many times, and i am sure i have at least two in my dupes box, but this one is the gold medallion edition parallel, and was a need until now. i guess fleer was an early adopter of the "parallels of inserts" phenomenon!

i didn't plan on finding cards like this 2000 bowman randey dorame retro-future parallel

or this 2002 upper deck victory kaz ishii rookie short print

(which i later found out was actually an insert in upper deck's 2002 rookie debut set) but there they were, and now they are in my collection.

same goes for this 2003 upper deck mvp odalis perez sportsnut insert

and this 2011 topps attax james loney foil parallel

just a crazy amount of variety in these boxes. this 2016 topps rainbow foil parallel

featuring dodgers zack greinke and clayton kershaw was more along the lines of what i would typically expect to find in these sorts of boxes, and it was still indicative of the majority of what i saw. still, the oddballs were ever present, like this 2022 sport kings volume 3 jackie robinson card

and these two 1977 1941 play ball reprints of pee wee reese and kirby higbe

i prefer reprints that are catalogued, but would have picked up the pee wee card regardless.

here are a couple more dodger duos from the same sets - 2025 panini select reese and don drysdale

and 2025 panini crusade gary sheffield and dalton rushing

pee wee and big d are from different subsets within the select set, and the rushing is a silver parallel of the base crusade card.

i did find a shiny card of sheffield from 2025 topps allen & ginter

that's a silver portrait parallel, plus a couple of holiday sorts of parallels. first, 2025 topps series 2 michael conforto

and then a 2025 topps holiday teoscar hernandez silver metallic parallel

i had made my way through three of the boxes at this point, with no clear path to the others, so the gentleman half of the couple handed me his "refill" box to go through. i found a couple of 2025 topps costco flagship cards

to add to my pile. actually, the pile had turned into a 600 count box. i asked him if he was going to count the cards, and he said that $100 was the max price regardless. he also noted that there was still a bit of room in my box and encouraged me to take some more cards, which i did, 

but that's enough from this seller for now.

the other seller that usually has some great stuff in his bargain boxes wasn't there. he is a snowbird and headed to arizona after the january show. he actually sold his bargain boxes to a different club member after that show, and that guy was there with the boxes. i found some cards to take, including a couple of parallels from 2023 topps holiday

a 2021 topps update yoshi gold parallel

a 2023 topps chrome update noah syndergaard sepia refractor parallel

and a 2023 topps now card featuring lebron james and mookie betts

the print run on that card was ridiculously high which explains it being in a bargain box.

as for non-dodgers, i grabbed a 2011 topps 60 years of topps rich gossage insert

because it was an original back

version, and a 2021 topps jake cronenworth card

numbered to 99 and ripped!

the last time i found a rip card in a bargain box, it was also ripped, but the interior card was still there. not the case this time. 

i stopped after developing this short stack of cards that included a few others not shown, and it was clear that i was not going to get the same sort of bargain pricing that the former owner of these boxes would have given, so i paid and moved on to another seller that i typically buy from at these shows. 

this is the dime box guy who keeps his dime boxes - one is his and one is his friend's so you have to keep the cards separate! - under his table. it's inconvenient and uncomfortable, but there are always cards that are worth more than a dime to me, like this 2025 topps allen & ginter chan ho park chrome mini parallel

and this 2017 bowman chrome minis cody bellinger card

i was never going to seek out a 2020 topps finest matt beaty "the man" insert

and now i don't have to. a lot of the cards in his box this time were chrome parallels, and i took a 2024 topps chrome tyler glasnow xfractor

and a 2020 topps chrome kevin newman sepia refractor (for the double play collection)

among others. 

very rarely, i will grab a base card out of these boxes. this time, i took jacque jones' 2004 fleer ultra card

because of its prominent featuring of rollie fingers' retired number on the wall of the oakland coliseum. i'll add this card as a header to my retired numbers collection. i just wish it were cropped slightly differently to show more of the jersey and number 34.

by the time i resurface from looking through the dime boxes, i am usually ready to move on. this time, i actually looked at his table top and saw a small box of bargain relics and autos. i picked out this 2020 topps hyun-jin ryu 1985 relic

for two bucks.

one thing i was hoping to do at the show was find some 2026 topps cards to complete my dodgers team set. there is one guy who always has new stuff, but i've vowed to never buy from him again. i once saw him at a target searching packs, and the last time i tried to buy a couple of cards from him, he wanted to reprice them. no thanks.

the only other place i saw 26 topps was at the table of the couple i mentioned first in this post. these cards did not count as part of my 600 count box haul, but that was fine with me. i added the dodgers' team card

the shohei ohtani/yoshinobu yamamoto combo card

plus the two league leader cards

i needed. i didn't see dalton rushing's card, so i'll have to find that elsewhere. i did pick up a few inserts, though, including 1991 cards of yamamoto

and mookie betts

as well as betts' titans of the game card

and ohtani's stars of mlb card

all in all, it was a pretty good day at the card show. the march show is next week, and i might just see what i can find. stay tuned.