Trading Card Co-Op Part 3: Babes In Card Land

I was boxing up a few cards late last week, figured I would have some down time during Hurricane Matthew, so I ventured into the Trading Card Co-Op for a few 200 count boxes.  One does not simply walk into a card store however and just buy boxes, we still have to check out the cards.  Right?

I also brought along my newest assistant to help me look through the cards.

A child's first trip into a card store is a big deal right?  I am not sure what kinds of cards my daughter likes yet, what team she is going to cheer for, but it's a monumental occasion nonetheless. She slept on the trip into the card store and the first fifteen to twenty minutes that we were at the store.  Not much hep initially.

Since she doesn't really have any opinions on the baseball card front at the moment, I went ahead and picked out the cards that I thought she'd like best.  Let's take a look.

First up is an older Topps autograph.  I am pretty sure that I have a few Pat Burrell autographs in my collection already, but I was also pretty certain that I did not have this card.  I was right.  Pat was the first overall draft pick back in 1998.  He was sort of the hot rookie card guy back in the late 1990s.  I am not sure that people were crazy for Pat the Bat cards like current collectors fawn over Kris Bryant, but he was definitely popular.  Pat was briefly on the Rays towards the end of his career.   Little girl approves.  

There were two framed Ginter cards in the same box as the Pat Burrell card.  When I am watching baseball with my daughter she really enjoys looking at the black framed pictures in my baseball card room.  Babies like contrast.  I am pretty sure that she would have liked these cards if she had been awake to gander at them.  I like that the Braun card has a gold background on the mini and the Upton is a Buyback from last year's Ginter set.  I have a few of the Cardinals buybacks, keep meaning to post them...another day, another post.  Frames, that is what was important here.   Again, little girl approves of these cards.  

Last two.  

I picked out two cards that would fit my collection a little bit better than the three up top.  I still like those cards, but they do not exactly fit in with the whole Durham Bulls, Cardinals, and Rays thing.  So, the card above was a nice pick up that the store manager Jimmy had set aside for me along with the card below.  The Longo patch is from this year's Museum Collection....

The card above is an Alex Reyes autograph out of Bowman Inception.  This year's autographs are not his first, so they are a little bit more affordable than some of his previous Bowman graphs.  He's going to be a good one.  Since these two cards fit my collection, and are great looking cards, I am sure that the little assistant would be happy that I added these two cards to my collection.

30 Year Top 50: 2005 Bowman Chrome

#4- The 2005 Bowman Chrome set is the best collection of rookie autographed cards produced in the last 30 years.  There were many important rookie cards issued during the 2005 baseball card calendar.  Andrew McCutchen, Justin Verlander, Matt Kemp, Jacoby Ellsbury, Ryan Bruan, Billy Butler, and Jered Weaver just to name a few. A quick glance at some of the card sets from 2005 will show that many of the important rookie card players made it into some of the sets.  There are even a few sets that included an autograph or two from the spectacular list of rookie players.  However, this set has them all on cardboard and almost all of them have an on-card autograph in this set.

2005 Bowman Chrome Justin Verlander Autograph

Like many of the chrome re-hashes of Bowman and Topps base sets, I did not initially collect this set when it was issued in 2005.  Instead, I slowly picked up the cards over a few years.  My first card that I went after was this Justin Verlander autographed rookie card.  I did not follow the Tigers too much in 2006, Verlander's first full season, until the Tigers reached the playoffs.  I was impressed by what I saw and decided that a nice Verlander rookie card would be a good addition to the collection.  

2005 Bowman Chrome Ryan Braun Autograph

About a year later I added the Ryan Braun autograph when the Brewers called him up and I decided to just pick up the rest of the set.  The set was really well thought of when it was released in 2005, but in the years since it's release the cards have really taken off in value and popularity.  In my opinion, there are seven key rookie cards in the set: Ryan Braun, Justin Verlander, Matt Kemp, Andrew McCutchen, Jered Weaver, Ryan Zimmerman, and Jacoby Ellsbury.  

2005 Topps Chrome Matt Kemp Autograph

There are other good players in set and I've heard people argue the pros and cons of the Stephen Drew, Billy Butler, and Matt Garza cards too.  However, I think that the three aforementioned players fall short of being included in my group of seven key rookies from this set.  Spend a few minutes looking them up on Baseball Reference and there is clearly a line here between the elite players and good players.

2005 Bowman Chrome Jered Weaver Autograph

One of the best ways to rate a great set is to pick out the great cards in the set and then try to determine their effect on the rest of the set.  If a set is not dynamic or spectacular the key cards will stand alone in spite of the rest of the set.  With great sets, the key cards have heavy demand and value, but also drive the popularity, price, and demand on the rest of the cards.  

2005 Bowman Chrome XFractor Jeff Niemann Autograph

For example, one of my first cards I picked up after the Verlander was this Jeff Niemann card.  He was the third overall draft pick in the 2004 draft and was a highly thought of prospect in the lower minors.  I watched him for a year in Durham playing for the Bulls and he seemed like a solid pitcher, but nothing spectacular.  His rookie cards generally reflect Niemann's level of performance on the field.  Most sell for less than $5 and are pretty easy to find.  However, Niemann has an autograph in the 2005 Bowman Chrome set which regularly fetches over $10 and often has competitive bidding on Ebay.  The only explanation for this specific card being twice as valuable as the other Niemann rookie cards is that it is valued more because of the set, rather than the player.  

2005 Bowman Chrome Jacoby Ellsbury Autograph

This set can rarely be found for sale as a whole, but collectors can assemble the set card by card.  All of the cards are still available on the secondary market and haven't really dried up.  Most of the good rookie cards in the set sell north of $100 with paralleled serial numbered versions going much higher depending upon how limited the print run.  I worry about the health of Matt Kemp and Jacoby Ellsbury, so I could see a slight slide with their cards in the future.  However, players like Justin Verlander and Ryan Bruan are not going to get any cheaper and I think as the continue to compile good career numbers these cards will be harder to find and even more expensive.  

30 Year Top 50: 2005 Topps Chrome Update & Highlights

#8- I am generally not a huge fan of the Chrome lines that Topps rehashes out every year, but I have to tip my cap to them with the 2005 Topps Chrome Update & Highlights set.  The set features a brilliant list of rookie cards which have allowed this set to quietly become one of the best sets released during the past decade.

2005 Topps Update & Highlights Ryan Braun

When Topps issues a Chrome version of a set I generally yawn.  The Chrome lines of Topps cards started in 1996 with the release of the 1996 Topps Chrome set.  The Topps Chrome cards looked exactly like the regular 1996 Topps cards except they had the Chrome effect.  To show collectors who do not dabble in the world of modern cards the difference, the card above is the Topps Update & Highlights version of Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun.  This card was later placed in the Topps Chrome Update & Highlights set too which is pictured below.  

2005 Topps Chrome Update & Highlights Ryan Braun

I am not sure why, but collecting the same cards over again, but with different finishes never excited me.  There is generally a monetary difference between the base set and Chrome sets, but it is usually caused by a few select rookie cards.  I always managed to add the Chrome rookie cards that I wanted for my collection without opening a bunch of packs or sinking money into a box.  Instead, I could always find the cards as singles on the secondary market.  The game changer for the Topps Chrome sets started in the mid 2000's when Topps started placing autographs and a wide variety of parallels into the sets.  The changes caused collectors to flock towards the Chrome products, and in particular, the 2005 Topps Chrome Update & Highlights set.

2005 Topps Chrome Update & Highlights Jered Weaver 

As I mentioned before, the Topps Chrome Update & Highlights set started off with a set of great rookie cards.  The rookie cards included Ryan Braun, Jered Weaver, Ryan Zimmerman, Andrew McCutchen, Matt Kemp, and several others.  The Chrome single cards rookie easily surpassed the Topps Update & Highlights base set singles.  Within the Chrome Update set the different parallels then added even further value to the rookie cards.  

2005 Topps Chrome Update & Highlights Black Matt Kemp

There were several different variations on the rookie cards.  The most basic parallel card in the Topps Chrome Update set is the refractor card which has been a constant throughout the Chrome sets.  There were also Chrome Black and Red parallels which were limited in production to 250, for the black, and 65, for the red.  These parallels are highly coveted by collectors and they often sell for a premium.  For example, a basic Matt Kemp Topps Chrome Update card can be found for around $10 on Ebay or CheckOutMyCards.  The black parallel of the Kemp card usually reaches prices north of $100.  

2005 Topps Chrome Update Andrew McCutchen Autograph

The 2005 Topps Chrome Update & Highlights set also featured autographed rookie cards.  There are roughly 17 autographed rookies in the set and the two best cards belong to Reds outfielder Jay Bruce and Pirates star Andrew McCutchen.  While both are sticker autographs, they are in high demand and often fetch for a nice price on the secondary market.  A raw copy of the Bruce might fetch around $30 while the McCutchen card hovers just south of $100.  

Overall, this is my second favorite 2005 release.  There is one more 2005 set that ranks above this one in my opinion, but the single rookie cards in this set are a can't miss for any baseball card collector.  The fact is, that this set started strongly when it was released, but has continued to gain steam and popularity as the players have reached the majors and have played there for multiple seasons.  While some might look at the value of the cards in this set as excessive and high, the value in the case of the 2005 Topps Chrome Update & Highlights set is well worth with it.  

30 Year Top 50: 1993 Topps Finest

#18-Today's set is rresponsible for introducing the world to the term "Super-Premium" baseball card.  I guess that between 1989 and 1992 collector's quickly got tired of the notion of simply receiving just "premium" baseball cards.  The Topps Finest brand was supposed to represent the best of baseball in 1993 according to the Topps company.  The set had a limited print run and a set of exciting chase cards, limited to a print run of 241 cards each, called refractors.  The term and use of refractor cards has greatly expanded over the past decade and is now found in multiple Topps sets.

1993 Topps Finest Mark McGwire 

I think that some collectors would have placed this set higher on the list, but I had two real issues with the set.  First, there are no important rookie cards in this set.  I don't care how much you like J.T. Snow, or think how great of a player he was, he's not significant in the world of baseball cards.  Rookie cards are always important, in my opinion, in the long-term success of a set.  Second, Topps expanded the use of the technology used in this set to sets that weren't super premium and not limited in print run like this set.   If this set, along with a few other limited "Super-Premium" sets were the extent of the refractor use, I believe these cards would be even more valuable and more sought after.  

1993 Topps Finest Refractor Ozzie Smith

In my opinion, this set is a really great chase set.  What cards does everyone want?  The refractors.  They are super rare at a print of 241, which for 1993 was microscopic, and they have a huge following making the secondary market very competitive on sites like Ebay.  Sellers have a highly desired item and can often sit on them and wait for a collector to pay their price for the card.  Which sure enough someone will eventually.  

1993 Topps Finest Refractor Lou Whitaker

I have a rather large and extensive card collection, but actually only own three of the Topps Finest Refractor cards from this set.  Two of them are Cardinals and the other one, the Lou Whitaker above, I found on Ebay way under price because the lister had misspelled Whitaker, Witaker.  

1993 Topps Finest Refractor Ray Lankford

While I am sure that someone has assembled the entire 1993 Topps Finest Refractor set, there aren't many copies of these cards floating around and they make for a great chase.  If you are a set collector, these cards are probably going to disappoint unless you are long on time and money.  I do think this is a fun set to look into if you have a favorite 90s player, or a team that you collect.  After ten years out on the market, I am still looking for the Lee Smith, Gregg Jefferies, and Todd Zeile cards from this set.  Not that I can't find them, but I don't love Todd Zeile for $99.  

Like the 1993 Topps Finest Set?  Not in my Top 50 countdown in the 2008 Topps Finest Autographs.  I know it sounds like a bit of an odd choice, but this one is more of a personal preference and the ability to actually find and assemble the set.  Like I said above, the refractor and "Super-Premium" innovations that Topps used in making the 1993 Finest set have been reused and rehashed so many times over the past decade that there are easily two dozen other sets that I could potentially place in this space as a similar quality product to the featured set.  

2008 Topps Finest Finest Moments Ryan Braun Autograph

There are several reasons to love the autographs in the 2008 Topps Finest set.  First, for some reason Topps has equated "Super-Premium" to mean that it's cool to buy a box of cards for around $100 and find sticker autographs.  The 2008 set is an on-card autograph set.  The background space where the players signed the cards is white and clear and it appears, for the time being, that the autographs are actually going to hold up and not fade.  

2008 Topps Finest Finest Moments David Wright Autograph

Second, the autograph cards in the 2008 Finest set are a solid collection of players.  There aren't any must have cards in the set, but at the same time, you can find the autographs of Hanley Ramirez, David Wright, Ryan Howard, Ryan Braun, Cole Hamels, and many others.  In my opinion, if you are a fan of baseball and like collecting autographs, they are all worth owning a card of.  Why not an on-card autograph like these?

2008 Topps Finest Finest Moments Ryan Howard Autograph

The last reason to check out these cards is that you can actually assemble the entire set.  The 1993 Topps Finest set is 199 cards and most people collect the refractors.  Most common refractors sell for $10-$20 and the star players can run into the low $100s.  Plus, some of the cards are becoming difficult to find.  The 2008 Topps Finest autographs aren't difficult to find and shouldn't cost you more than $20-$25 for one of the better cards, like Ryan Braun.  

2012 Topps Five Star Ryan Braun Auto/Jersey

I have been slowly picking up different Five Star cards over the past few weeks through some trading.  The product is high end and beautifully made.  However, it also falls into my wax rule.  If I purchased a pack of these cards I would end up with a few Vida Blue autographs, or maybe a Luis Tiant.  I am not saying those aren't cool cards, but given the sticker price is three digits I don't want to get a $15 autograph or $5 jersey card.

2012 Topps Five Star Ryan Braun Jersey/Auto

Luckily, I have been able to pick up a few of these great cards and am still looking to add a few more to my collection.  I ended up purchasing this card for just over $20 which is a steal for a Ryan Braun on-card autograph especially one from a great high end product like Five Star.  Braun actually has several autographs in the set, this being the most common.  Next week I have a few more Five Stars coming in and will do a little bit bigger write up on the set as a whole.  Enjoy!  Go Pack!  

30 Year Top 50: Topps Triple Threads

#34-This post is going to be slightly different than the other posts that I have made for my Top 50 countdown.  I came up with the idea of doing this countdown leading into my 30th year in baseball card collecting this summer and put thought and consideration into where to rank all the different card sets that I have brought into my life since the summer of 1983.  The Triple Threads brand started in 2006 and is still currently running.  Every summer I eagerly await the release of Triple Threads and cannot wait to pick out a handful of really cool cards to add to my collection.  In many ways, the Triple Threads set is a top 10 on my personal list, but looking at the big picture and taking into account important rookies, design, etc, etc this is where it falls.  Note that I did not attach a year.  I do have a few I like more than others, but not a clear cut favorite.  Let me walk you through why I love this product:

2006 Triple Threads
I was initially really excited about the release of Triple Threads in 2006.  I rushed up to a card shop, which is no longer with us, in Durham to buy a pack.  Quickly spotting the product behind the counter I bought a pack of the high end product and immediately remembered my rule about high end wax.

2006 Topps Triple Threads Dan Johnson Dual Jersey/Autograph

Starring me back in this face was this Dan Johnson card.  Of course, he ended up playing for the Durham Bulls and won the International League MVP, so I would have ended up with the card in my collection anyway.  Right?  Disappointed, I did not open another pack of Triple Threads the rest of the year.  Since that time I have traded for a few.

2007 Triple Threads

My second venture into Triple Threads went much better.  I opened approximately zero packs of product, but worked the secondary market very hard to come up with a few gems for my collection.  My favorite:

My first Triple Threads card with a patch piece was a Shawn Riggans with two jersey pieces, a piece of green patch from the old Devil Rays unis, and an autograph.  I found it cheap in an Ebay auction and picked out the card since Riggans was having a great season for the Durham Bulls.  Riggans struggled in the majors and now out of baseball.  Still a cool card and turned the corner for me on this product. 

2007 Topps Triple Threads Shawn Riggans Dual Jersey/Patch/Autograph

2008 Triple Threads 

We all have misses in life and the 2008 Triple Threads set was a miss for me.  I didn't have many players I was excited to collect out of this set and the players I did collect, well....

2008 Topps Triple Threads Elijah Dukes Triple Bat/Autograph

I think I also picked up a few Jo Jo Reyes cards, Melky Cabrera, and a few other infamous characters.  I did pick up a good selection of Matt Holliday relic cards from this set after the Rockies run to the World Series.  This was the first year that I really went after the relics cards along with the autographs.  More recently, I landed a nice Dimaggio relic piece in a trade.  

2008 Topps Triple Threads Joe DiMaggio Six Piece Relic

2008 Topps Triple Threads Matt Holliday Six Piece Relic

2009 Triple Threads

I have two favorites in my collection from the 2009 set and would rank this set in a three way tie for the lead in the best Triple Threads sets.  My favorite card I picked up in 2009 which is a Ryan Braun patch/autograph.  This card has patch pieces from his Futures Game relics, the red/black/yellow pieces along with a thicker piece of black or navy patch.  I also love the word: HAMMER on the card.  If I ranked all of my Triple Threads cards against each other this would finish in the top 5.  

2009 Topps Triple Threads Ryan Braun Triple Patch/Autograph

My second card I picked up a few years ago after watching Nolan Reimold play for the Norfolk Tides. Sometimes I get a feeling about a player I watch in the minors and was fairly impressed by Reimold.  I found this card on Ebay really cheap and figured I would, at worst, have a really cool looking cards.  Reimold is looking like a regular though, so I think I did well with this card.  I love the orange jersey pieces and the yellow/red/black patch piece like the Braun. 

2009 Topps Triple Threads Autograph

2010 Triple Threads

I loved the 2010 release of Triple Threads.  If I had to narrow the Triple Threads sets down to the best, this would be another among my favorites.  The best part of the 2010 release was the inclusion of on-card autographs.  In someways, it gives this release a slight nod over the 2009 set, except the more standard looking Triple Threads cards were still sticker autographs.  My favorite two on card autographs were Andrew McCutchen and Howie Kendrick.  The McCutchen was my first McCutchen autograph and the Kendrick card is just signed really cool.  I've always like Howie's signature and I like how he just wrote over the whole card.  

2010 Topps Triple Threads Andrew McCutchen Jersey/Autograph

2010 Topps Triple Threads Howie Kendrick Jersey/Autograph 

The regular Triple Threads cards were still cool, but again, Topps used sticker autographs.  My favorite has to be Zorilla.  Ben Zobrist.  Again a personal Top 5 Triple Threads card. 

2010 Topps Triple Threads Seven Piece Relic/Autograph

2011 Triple Threads

The 2011 release was similar to the 2010 release in many ways and again, I would consider this to be among the three best Triple Threads sets along with the 2009 and 2010.  The veteran cards were generally sticker autographs.  My favorite is my Miguel Cabrera autograph, which I also collected all of the similar relic cards.  

2011 Topps Triple Threads 13 Piece Relic/Autograph

The young star players in the set were on card autographs like the 2010 release, but I felt the design of the 2011 cards was a little truer to the set.  

2011 Topps Triple Threads Jaime Garcia Triple Jersey/Autograph

The real drawback to this set, in my opinion, is the veteran cards with a single piece of jersey or patch.  If you are going to use sticker autographs the only reason to duck the design of the Cabrera card above is to cheapen the product.  I love the Matt Holliday card below, but I would have gladly tried to find a copy with multiple relic pieces in the regular Triple Threads format.

2011 Triple Threads Matt Holliday Patch/Autograph

2012 Triple Threads

I feel like the set has taken a little step back this year.  Still a really cool product and I own several really nice cards from the set, but the player selection is a little lacking in my opinion and there are several cards which are repeats from previous years.  Also, similar to the 2011 is the pattern on the autographs. Veterans are on stickers, younger players are on card, and there are single jersey autographs that are also stickers.  My two favorites from 2012:

2012 Topps Triple Threads David Freese Autograph

 2012 Topps Triple Threads Lance Lynn Jersey/Autograph

If you like the follow up I do on card sets not in my Top 50 be sure to check back tomorrow for a special piece I am putting together on a few sets released over the past few years similar to the Triple Threads releases.