Donuts from Johnny's Trading Spot, Part VI

Several weeks ago, I read a post at Johnny's Trading Spot titled Instant mini collections up for grabs. "Up for Grabs" always gets my attention, so I threw my name into the mix. They were supposed to be randomly assigned, but through a lucky draw and one trade, each of the winners wound up with exactly what they originally wanted most. For me, that was cards with batting donuts.

Part I II III IV V

Last one!

1977 Topps #126 Rod Gilbreath
1979 Topps #165 Frank Taveras
1981 Fleer #545 Keith Hernandez
1981 Topps
#319 Rowland Office
#445 Ellis Valentine
#465 Bill Russell
#558 Barry Bonnell
#723 Bruce Bochte
1982 Fleer #209 Chris Speier

These cards were all "First Row" cards in my collection. I keep my cards stored in bpxes with 3 rows each, sorted by year and set. I always take notice when I acquire a card that is old enough to go in the first row. Right now that's anything 1984 or earlier, though 1984 Topps is getting close to being pushed into row 2. So, in total I've got 12 first row cards here.

1984 Donruss #285 Greg Gross
1984 Fleer #20 John Shelby
1984 Fleer #299 Tim Flannery
1985 Topps #496 Donnie Scott
1985 Topps #647 Rafael Ramirez
1986 Donruss #401 Terry Francona
1986 Fleer #270 Rich Dauer
1986 Fleer #278 Fred Lynn

Thanks again to Johnny's Trading Spot for the kickstart to my batting donut collection.

Giant Pile of Prizes from Jaybarkerfan's Junk, Part 7

Sometimes when I win a contest, I set the prize aside until I have time to fully rummage through all of it. In this case I won a contest back in late September, and I think the "Small Flat Rate Box" arrived by early October. I opened it immediately, but it's been sitting on my desk, too daunting of task to sort, since then. I finally felt the need to dive into it, and give jaybarkerfan his proper thank you post.

Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

I'm finally at the end of the box. It's been quite fun digging through all the cards from different sets.

1979 Topps #666 Rich Dauer
1980 Topps #224 Willie Montanez
1986 Donruss #240 Mike Moore
1989 Donruss All Stars #3 Paul Molitor
1991 Topps #339 Larry Walker
1993 Stadium Club #299 Larry Walker

My collection doesn't include very many cards from before the mid-80s, so those top 3 cards are definitely in the first box (I sort them chronologically). At the bottom, we have Hall of Famer Paul Molitor - his second card in the box - and 2 cards of former Cardinal Larry Walker.

1980 Topps #244 Cardinals Team Checklist

No, this isn't a giant card, I just thought I'd zoom in a bit. I'm assuming this photo was taken in Spring Training, because that stadium overhang doesn't look like anything I know in St. Louis. 1979-1980 wasn't the strongest time in Cardinals history, and in fact the best player on this card is probably Keith Hernandez, possibly after Ken Boyer.

2008 Heritage (High Numbers)
#502 Jamey Wright
#517 Brian Burres
Black Back #549 Jeremy Sower

I don't know how rare the black-back cards are, or what the print run of the high number set is, but the Jeremy Sowers card is both, so presumably rarer than a run of the mill 2008 Heritage card.

2008 Heritage (High Numbers)
#537 Toronto Blue Jays (Checklist)

Unlike the 1980 card above, this checklist isn't only for Toronto Blue Jays. If it was, there'd only be a few cards on it, or Topps would have had to mix regular and high number cards onto the checklist.

1988 Donruss Pack (x2)
1989 Topps Pack
1985 Fleer Stickers Pack
1986 Fleer Stickers Pack
1989 Baseball's Greatest Grossouts Pack

To top the prize off, it even included a few unopened packs. For now I'm going to wait to open these, though this is the 25th anniversary of 1989 Topps, and everyone loves arbitrary milestones. But no, I'll wait. That's gotta be some stale gum by now.

That's it! That's the whole box. A big Thank You again to jaybarkerfan (Jay Barker Fan? I never know the right spacing and capitalization in the blogging world) for the awesome prize.

Diamond Giveaway Winnings, Part II

[Part I]
I only paid for 25 cards to be delivered, and showed you the "rest" in the last post. Now here are the best, completely subjectively and based on my own opinion.

1954 Topps #118 Carl Scheib
1958 Topps #287 Sam Jones
1967 Topps #279 Frank Linzy
1979 Topps #181 Mike Garman
1980 Topps #554 Art Howe
1984 Topps #690 Jack Clark

So what do these 6 guys have in common to put them in the "best" category? They all played for the Cardinals, even if it was brief for some. The '54 Scheib up there really hosed up my perfect grid for scanning, and doesn't fit in any sleeves I have. Such is what we'll put up with for a nearly 60 year old card. And with Art Howe we've got a well known manager, a featured character of Moneyball, a former Cardinal, and the Tequila Sunrise Astros jersey, all in one card. He also looks a little like John Cleese. Finally, I can always use another Jack Clark card.

2011 Topps - Diamond Die Cuts #DDC-48

Oh yeah, I can't forget card #25. These Diamond Die-Cuts really don't scan nearly as nicely as they look in person. If one was made of one of your favorite players, I highly suggest tracking one down.

That's it for the Diamond Giveaway for me. I've pulled a few Golden Giveaway cards this year, but haven't redeemed them yet. I think I'll wait and see how obsessively I buy 2012 Update and then evaluate if I want to trade them off or try for more fabulous prizes.

Diamond Giveaway Winnings, Part I

Here's a nice orderly view of 18 of the cards I won in the 2011 Topps Diamond Giveaway, ordered from oldest to newest. There's no overarching theme to these, except that they are the leftovers after picking 7 for my next post.

1958 Topps #222 Bud Daley
1958 Topps #422 Norm Zauchin
1964 Topps #323 John Buzhardt
1972 Topps #57 Bob Oliver
1973 Topps #129 Terry Forster
1975 Topps #644 Bill Fahey
1976 Topps #221 Jim Todd
1976 Topps #576 Maximino Leon
1976 Topps #647 Ramon Hernandez

These were mostly guys I haven't even heard of, despite being a baseball history nerd. But, cards older than me are always cool to get. Also, these are apparently the first 1976 Topps cards in my collection.

1978 Topps #280 Buddy Bell
1978 Topps #590 Bobby Murcer
1979 Topps #139 Luis Pujols
1979 Topps #683 Dan Meyer
1981 Topps #229 Rollie Fingers
1983 Topps #305 Larry Bowa
1983 Topps #533 Luis Salazar
1984 Topps #434 Harold Baines
1984 Topps #454 Joe Beckwith

This group definitely had more guys I know. I learned of Buddy Bell originally because the announcers would incessantly talk about the 3 generations of the Bell family in baseball when David Bell was on the Cardinals. Rollie Fingers is well known of course, and his signature facial hair is featured on this card. The Larry Bowa may be headed TTM to try to get a signature for a big Cubs-fan friend of mine, who idolized Bowa as a kid. Harold Baines, of course, played for many years, and in multiple stints with the White Sox and Orioles. I'll bet he's one of the few guys to have his number retired by a team, then play for them again 12 years later.

Hey Big Spender

Fuji's working us like dogs for this contest, and now wants to know: What's the most you have ever spent on a single sports related item?

I bet I'm not the only one to use this post title.

I'm sure my biggest single purchase is well below the price of some others', but given that I was about 13 and had no job when I bought it, I feel like there should be some sort of multiplier in play.

1979 Topps #116 Ozzie Smith RC

The thick plastic sort of caused a washed out look when I scanned it, but it's actually quite bright. The back has a little fading damage, perhaps from gum. If I remember correctly I bought this around 1995 or 1996, when Ozzie's career was ending. In retrospect I should have waited, but I saved for a long time to get this card. I'm pretty sure it was booking for $80 or so at the time, and that's about what I paid for it. I really don't know how I got to that much money, because I remember checking it out at my LCS for a long time before buying it. I probably saved everything I got, allowance, birthday money, showing the grandparents my good report card money, and who knows what else.

I figured that wasn't a bad price given the good condition and the fact that I was buying it in the St. Louis market. I'd guess the value has taken a bit of a dive in recent years, because little did I know Tony La Russa and Ozzie would not get along. La Russa decided Royce Clayton would be the starting shortstop in 1996, prompting Ozzie to immediately declare it his last year. They were both a bit bull-headed about the whole thing, teaching me an important lesson about not idolizing and emulating every trait of professional athletes. He then refused to have much to do with the Cardinals while La Russa was around, which of course lasted until the end of 2011.

If I wanted this card today, I don't think I'd pay $90 for it. I'd probably go $50 just because he's a hometown hero, but I'd have to really talk myself into it. Of course, it's quite liberating to look at it and think what I would pay, and not worry about what the book says I should pay.

A Contest win from The Diamond King

I won a contest at The Diamond King over a month ago.  He was kind enough to offer up some Beat Up Vintage for merely answering a question on his blog. 

1979 Topps

#411 Sisler/Cobb

#415 Brock/Brock - I love that he gets featured twice on 1 card

#430 Dave Parker

1974 Topps

2 Hank Aaron 54-57

4 Hank Aaron 62-65

He sent 2 of each of these!

1973 Topps #400 Gaylord Perry

1972 Topps #37 Carl Yastrzemski

1971 Topps

#180 Al Kaline

#525 Ernie Banks

These were looking pretty rough, so I didn't even pull them out of the sleeve.

1955 Bowman #216 Preacher Roe

Man is this one beat up, but I don't care; it's 56 years old!

1993 Topps - Gold #119 Pedro Munoz

1994 Topps - Black Gold #42 Sammy Sosa

I'm a fan of the Topps Gold and Black Gold, especially from 1992, so these are great additions.

Next up, some Nomars!

2002 Fleer Genuine #93

1999 Upper Deck MVP - Swing Time #S6

1999 Upper Deck HoloGrFX - Starview #S6

1998 Studio #60

I really liked Studio, in fact I have the whole set of 8x10s from 1997

The Vintage was the real prize in the contest, with the Gold and Nomars thrown in since they are some of my favorites.  I really enjoy the 70s cards (and 50s!) because I started collecting in the 90s and don't have a lot of older stuff.  Even though I was a big Nomar fan, my collecting waned around 1999-2000, so those cards nicely fill in some gaps too.

A big thanks to the Diamond King!  And go check out his blog!