Piecing Together Some Cards

Stadium Club has been back as an annual release for Topps for 3 years now and one of my favorite parts of the rehashed product is the Triumvirate cards.  These puzzle piece looking cards really started in the late 1990s Stadium Club sets, but came along for the ride when Topps brought back the brand.  I was quite happy with the decision.

One of the original Triumvirate cards from the 1990s....

I don't run out and put together the entire insert set or anything, but I tend to work on the Cardinals and a few other single cards of players that I enjoy collecting.  Former Durham Bulls mainly.  Last year the Cardinals Triumvirate set featured Jason Heyward, Yadi, and Adam Wainwright.  Looked nice all put together at the end.....

Not quite sure about that Heyward card in the middle, but overall a really nice looking set of Cardinals cards.  The 2016 Triumvirate Cardinals set featured all pitchers.  The single cards....

I like the background on this year's set a little bit better than last year.  I know that the green color sort of gives a little bit of a Christmas vibe with the red on the Cardinals uniforms, but I still think it works well with the black background at the top of the card fading down to a light grey at the bottom.  Rosenthal was probably a solid choice for this set when the good folks at Topps were putting this set together, but he had some struggles this year.  

Wacha is the other end piece in the puzzle.  I honestly would have loved to see Carlos Martinez is this spot instead of Wacha, but I do not get to pick the players for the cards.  Of all the young arms the Cardinals have brought up over the last three to four years, CMart has clearly turned out to be the best.  Not to say that Wacha hasn't had his moments.  See 2013 playoffs.  

The center card in the set belongs to Adam Wainwright.  I've got no complaints here.  It's getting late in his career, nice to see him pick up a few more insert cards along the way.  

All three cards put together....

Looks sharp.  I cannot wait for the 2017 Stadium Club set, I will put this together again next summer.  

Two New Cardinals Pick-Ups

I added two new Gypsy Queen Cardinals cards yesterday afternoon from another local collector.  I had not really gone out and tried to pick up any of the Cardinals relics/serial numbered parallels from this set, so I might have to take these two new cards as a good starting point to add a few more of these.

First up is this Wacha relic.  No serial numbers or anything here.  Just a nice looking relic card.  I do like the framed relic pieces better than the non-framed.  The frames on the cards seem a little bit tighter this year.  In past year's the cards would slide and move around inside the frame.  This year's seem to do less so.  Maybe it's just this card....

and finally a brand new Lackey card.  This is the one per box framed card that is numbered out of /499.  A nice looking card.  I have not really done much with Lackey since he was traded to the Cardinals last season.  He has pitched well and has a lot of cards.  Maybe a project for my upcoming summer break.

More Topps High Tek

Not a lot of time for chatter today, but I wanted to show off the latest additions to the collection.  All of these cards are from the 2014 relaunch of the Topps Tek product and came into my collection via a trade for a few extra Rays autographs I had hanging around my desk.  I was originally going to cash in a single Alex Cobb autograph for a few base cards, but ended up being able to swap out an extra Steven Souza autograph for a cool 1990s autograph out of the Tek set.

Here's a look at the new base cards from the Tek set I added:

I still have some more Cardinals cards from the base set I need to add, and since I picked up the Pujols, maybe I should just go ahead and try to put together the whole entire set.   It would be a fun set to put together.  I also picked up one autograph from the set as well, which was not originally on my list of cards to add, but I really liked the looks of the card.....

I actually have another Edgar Martinez autograph in my collection, but it is not nearly as nice of a card as this on-card Topps Tek signature.  I know that he has signed for several different Topps products over the past two or three years, but I have just not added one of his cards to my collection.  I liked Edgar Martinez as a player, he was a great nineties players, so I will put this card in my box of autographs and shuffle my Donruss Signature sticker autograph out in a trade for something else...

2014 Topps Update

We are getting near the end of the 2014 baseball card calendar.  The release of the Topps Update set usually represents the tail end of the year.  There are a few things hanging around out there, like Bowman Draft and some really high end $400 a pack autograph thing, but not a lot left.  I picked up a jumbo box of 2014 Topps Update at my favorite local card shop here in Raleigh Big D's Sportscards.

I have the base set of the 2014 Topps Update set pretty much put together out of my jumbo box, but I am still going through and sorting things out for all of those photo variations and sparkle cards.  Cardboard Connection has a really good checklist if you are looking to figure out which packs of cards are short printed.

So, let's skip past the base set for the moment and look at the hits out of the boxes.  My autograph:

I am not sure if I am going to redeem this card or not.  I have only picked up two redemptions this year, but my first card is still outstanding.  Not sure that I am really going to see this one through, but I really like the Strata cards.  Perhaps a trade, or I can sell it, and redirect the fundage.  My relic hit......

I could not ask for anything better than this card right now.  Jeter is a great hit.  Again, not a card I will probably hold onto, but should bring back something nice in trade, or sale.  My manu-card.....

This is my second or third cool Joe Morgan insert that I have picked up this year.  I have another one or two of these that are on the way, but this is a pretty nice looking card.  Not the thickest manu card that Topps has put out this year, but I really like the World Series theme that Topps has running in this year's Update set.

My other inserts:

I really like the insert sets in Update.  The minis have been a favorite of mine throughout the year and I have a few more to chase down now.  The World Series cards are really nice and the Power Players cards look a lot like something out of the late 90s Topps sets.  I picked up one other card from my box, a black Julio Teheran, and traded the card to the owner of Big D's.  Jimmy is a pretty big Braves fan.  I landed these three cards.....

 

A Trip To Big D's Card Shop Part 1

My trips into my favorite local card shop tend to focus on adding some cool Cardinals or Rays cards to my collection.  Actually this trip was for a box of cards, but in the meantime, the owner of Big D's Jimmy had his eyes open looking for some cool cards for my collection.  We will get to the box in Part 2 of this post, but first let's look at some cool single cards.  Lot's of cool things here, the Rays are up first....


Both Rays items I picked up yesterday were signed items from players who had stopped in Durham on their way to the Majors.  Really cool items that Jimmy found from a great local autograph collector.

This is a Jeremy Hellickson autograph on a ticket stub from his first Major League victory.  Really cool and unique item of one of my favorite Durham Bulls.  I love collecting autographs and the vast majority of my autograph collection is in card form, but I love finding unique items like this.  Who has a ticket stub from Jeremy Hellickson's Major League Debut hanging out in their house?  I do not know, but I am really happy to own this piece.  Here's a look at Hellickson during the game.  John Jaso is catching....

I also landed a nice ball from pitcher Matt Moore.  Moore spent a good deal of time in Durham before landed a job in the starting rotation of the Rays.  The ball is from the Southern League and features a nice signature of Moore on the sweet spot of the ball.  

Two really nice Rays autographs and both are on unique pieces.  On to the Cardinals half of the post. All my Cardinals additions are in baseball card form.  First up are a few Yadis.

Starting simple, this is a Molina short print from this year's Topps Heritage set.  Not many cards show off Yadi's cool neck tattoos.  One more Yadi short print.....

I posted one or two of these variations before with my box breaks.  This is the Stats variation which features the Sabermetric stats on the back of the card instead of the traditional stats that Topps has put on their cards for years and years.  Topps has already added the WAR stat to the back of the regular cards, but think a few of these stats could find their way onto the regular issue of Topps cards.  I'd love to see the OPS+ stat there.  

Still staying pretty simple, this is a pair of rookie cards from new Cardinals pitcher Sam Tuivailala.  I have a good feeling about Tuivailala and could see him moving into a prominent role in the Cardinals bullpen in the near future.  I had posted a pair of his autographs a few weeks back.  Nice player, give him a look.

On to things that are a little bit harder to find...This is a nice copy of a 2013 Bowman Platinum Blue parallel.  The card is numbered to 40/199.  Taveras cards still seem to be selling low even though he has started to pick it up at the plate in recent weeks.  Hoping that Matheny can find him some at-bats on a regular basis next season.  Next Taveras card.......

I have always love the Bowman Inception cards.  Last year the set was my favorite product of the year.  It was a nice product again this year, and I have added a few autographs from the set, but not quite as gaga over this year's issue.  Still I love this Taveras.  He's got a great signature and the card has a nice on-card autograph.  This is the green version of the card and is serial numbered to just 75 copies.  

Jimmy picked this card up for me this past week.  I pulled a copy of the Hank Aaron card like this and was more than happy to pick up a Wacha card numbered to just 25 copies.  Have you looked at the Wacha card from Allen & Ginter and compared it to the Trevor Rosenthal?  They could be brothers.  

On to my favorite.  I LOVE THESE.....

Topps puts out all kinds of parallels.  Pink, camo, etc, etc, etc.  The best of them all have been the Acetate parallels numbered to just 10 copies.  I have picked up a few Cardinals cards.  Love this card and the set.

Overall, the single cards and items I picked up from Big D's today were all really awesome adds.  I am not sure how I would ever find half of the cards I pick up for my collection if it were not for the owner, Jimmy, keeping his eyes open for all of these cool cards.  If you live around Raleigh-Durham, or are visiting, a trip to Big D's is well worth your time.  If you can't make it into the store, you can also check out the shop on Facebook and Twitter.  

New Cardinals Autographs

I am really going to post a little more on Topps 2.  I promise, but time has been tight this week with my school year winding down.  Report cards, End of Grade testing, teacher evaluations....it has been a really busy week.  However, I see the light at the end of the tunnel and am looking forward to my last week of this school year.  I will also be spending a little time catching up on cards this weekend, including a few good posts on the Topps Series 2 cards.  Promise.  

In the meantime I have two other cards I picked up last week on my trip in to Big D's Card Shop to pick up and open my box of series 2 cards.  Jimmy, the owner of the store, had been looking out for cool Cardinals cards for me and ran across two really cool autographed cards.  The first card I picked up from Big D's was a Carlos Martinez autograph from last year's Topps Chrome set.  

I have another copy of this card, but this is just a really cool autograph.  Could not turn down another copy at such a great price.  The card features an on-card autograph of the Cardinals hard throwing reliever/part time starter.  My second card:

Jimmy was pretty sure that I was going to have this card, but if you remember back in the day, I had a little bit of an issue with this set.  The airbrushing in this set was pretty outrageous, but a Wacha rookie autograph is a Wacha rookie autograph regardless of the quality of airbrushing.  

2014 Topps Heritage Base Set

Last post for a few days on the 2014 Topps Heritage set.  I love the base set for this year's set which is based on the 1965 Topps design.  Pretty spectacular looking cards and I really am looking forward to seeing this set put all together.  Here's my quick spin through this cool looking set:

 

Again, the base set borrows the design from the 1965 Topps set.  One of my personal vintage favorites.  There are some great looking cards in this set, but the Eric Sogard is really cool.  The glasses of Eric Sogard are highly underrated and are cool to see on a baseball card.  The set also features some players showing off some cool hair. 

My personal favorites are the Bryce Harper comb over and the Colby Rasmus mullet.  Harper always seem to have cool hair.  We've gone from mohawk early on in his career to this...Well played.  Colby I am not so sure about.  The hair looks like something from Kenny Powers.  Perhaps Colby has a future as a gym teacher in North Carolina.  

There are also cool prospects cards in the set.  Both Enny Romero and Tim Beckham had rookie cards long ago, but it's nice to see a pair of Durham Bulls players on the same card.  I believe all of the teams have a pair of prospects in the set.  The Cardinals have a prospects card with Kolten Wong and Audry Perez.  They also have a split prospect card featuring Kevin Siegrist and Giants prospect Heath Hembree. 

 

The League Leaders cards are cool too and a great copy from the originals in the 1965 set.  The backs are cool too and again a great copy.  Sorry I did not put a scan up on the back of the card.  

The World Series cards are also a great throwback to the 1965 Topps set.  Well, the Cardinals won the 1964 World Series so the final outcome of the cards in the 65 set was better.  There are still good cards in the Heritage set for Cardinals fans.  I like this Wacha card from Game 2 of the Series.  

There are also some great update cards in Heritage.  Plenty of players in new uniforms and Topps actually did a pretty good job on these cards.  Yes they are airbrushed, but they are well done.  It was nice to see a Jhonny Peralta and Peter Bourjos in a Cardinals uni. 

Thank Mr. Pujols

There are mornings where I have to pinch myself that Albert Pujols is no longer a member of the Cardinals.  Seemed like he would always have the birds on the bat across his chest, but we all know how that turned out two off seasons ago.  While I was initially bitter at the fact that Albert took his services to Orange County, I am pretty hip to the fact that he is gone now.  I am sure there are many other Cardinals fans who went through the dame grieving process.  

Now that Albert is hanging out with the underachieving Angels for the next eight years, the only piece of Albert left around St. Louis are the two draft picks the Cardinals received from the Angels for signing "Da Albertross".  

First, the Cardinals received the Angels first round pick, the 17th overall in the 2012 MLB draft, and they also received a sandwich pick in between the first and second rounds, which turned out to be the 36th overall pick.  The Cardinals used the picks to select two college players: Texas A&M pitcher Michael Wacha and Stanford outfielder/3B Stephen Piscotty.  I decided to spend a little time checking out their cards this past week and added one of each.  Let's start with Wacha.

2013 Bowman Bowman's Best Refractor Die-Cut

  

I landed this cool looking Bowman's Best Refractor insert of the Cardinals pitcher which came out of this years Bowman set.  The card is serial numbered to just 99 and I love the cool shape of the die cut.  Topps has done some good work recently with some of their die-cut cards and the Bowman's Best cards are some of the sharpest looking of the bunch.  Wacha seems like he's going to be a good Major League pitcher for a long time.  The Cardinals have put him into the rotation recently and he has pitched very well.  I am eager to see what he can do over a full season of starting and not shuffling between the Majors, AAA, and the bullpen.  Here's a sampling of his work on the hill....

Piscotty has not made an appearance yet for the Cardinals, but had a really good year playing for the Cardinals Double-A team in Springfield and High A team in Palm Beach.  His total line for the season included a .295/.355/.466 line with 15 homers and he also walked more than he struck out.  He has some pretty good reviews around different Minor League sites.  He ranked as the 10th best prospect on the team before 2013, but with Rosenthal, Miller, Wong, and Matt Adams graduating to the Majors I think he will be a top 5 prospect next year.  Here's my new card of the Redbirds prospect....

2013 Bowman Inception Stephen Piscotty Autograph

This Piscotty autograph comes from the Bowman Inception set.  Great looking card.  I've started wondering about putting together this set.  Back on track... Piscotty actually had an autograph last year, but the card has one of those awesome Topps airbrushing jobs.  How do you get a Stanford uniform to turn into a Cardinals road jersey?  Not very well.  He also has a card out in this year's Bowman Chrome set which is either not airbrushed, or done by someone not in seventh grade.  

I am very happy with my two newest Cardinals cards and owe a big thank you to my favorite Anaheim Angel of Orange County, California USA Albert Pujols.  I know your wheels are bad...how's that elbow feeling?

2011 Topps USA Baseball Michael Wacha Triple Relic Autograph

The quality of Cardinals prospects on the field and in baseball card sets has been on the uptick in recent years.  While it makes my job as a Cardinals collector a little bit more difficult, I will take the challenge of tracking down a good Oscar Taveras over the likes of Jim Journell any day.  My most recent Cardinals card addition fits that profile.

2011 Topps USA Baseball Michael Wacha Triple Relic Autograph

The Cardinals made Michael Wacha their first round pick in last summer's amateur draft.  I remember searching my favorite card sites after the end of the first round for signs of Wacha cards.  I found that he appeared in several of the USA Baseball products, but also found that the cards were selling north of $30.  I found several that were available in trades, but the asking price was often steep for a player that just graduated college.  

Now, I understand Wacha has been a fast mover through the Cardinals system and that Cardinals collectors can be, at times, a little overboard about picking up cards.  I remember the J.D. Drew craze in 1998.  However, with a little patience, and Leaf flooding the market with non-licensed/unattractive autographs, the market on Wacha cards has greatly turned for the positive.  If you're buying.  Most of these cards are now selling around $10 and can be easily picked up in trades with collectors for say a Adam LaRoche and Sean Burnett autograph.  Not bad at all.