Buyback Franken-set: Some Improvements to the Binder & Crossing 500!

Well, the 2017 season came to an end today for the Boston Red Sox.  Tough the way it ended but I think even Boston fans have to admit that the better team won in Houston.  Let's drown my sorrows with a batch of ten buybacks for my franken-set project, shall we?

1989 Topps #321 - Red Sox Leaders

I have eight more to get through from the last lot I was processing before I got sidetracked with a whole bunch of buybacks that arrived in trade.  These are buybacks that I hand-picked from an eBay seller that was offering them dirt cheap with combined shipping, so it should come as no surprise that I ended up with this Red Sox Leaders card.

Jim Hinton and his airbrushed cap and uniform had been residing in slot 321...

...but not any longer.

1989 Topps #386 - Andres Galarraga All-Star

You can't go wrong with an obnoxiously bright All-Star card from the late '80s, especially when it features a whole lot of blue due to both the backdrop and that fantastic Expos jersey.  Amazingly, this is only the second best Galarraga buyback I've gotten my hands on lately.  The better one will be featured here soon enough.

Once again we've got some competition here...

...and once again the existing card was no challenge at all for the newcomer.

1987 Topps #68 - Tony LaRussa

The '87 buybacks are so prevalent in this year's program that I'd ordinarily avoid choosing one in a hand-picked lot like this, but I've always enjoyed this LaRussa card so I couldn't help myself.  It looks like Tony's up to no good here, and there's certainly no shortage of folks milling around in the background on this one.

Once again we have a conflict when it comes to the franken-set...

...and once again the new entry wins out.  Starting to see a pattern here?  You can see why I named this particular post "Some Improvements to the Binder"...

1988 Topps #476 - Dave Stewart

Finally, here's one that breaks that trend as Dave Stewart's '88 release is my first #476 buyback.  A nice card to fill this relatively obscure number too, as Stewart was a beast in 1988.  He made a career high 37 starts, and led the league with a mind-blowing 275.2 innings pitched.  Dave surpassed 20 wins for the second of four consecutive seasons, earned some MVP votes and finished 4th in Cy Young voting as well.  Oh yeah, and he propelled the A's all the way to the World Series where they fell to the Dodgers.  Not a bad year!

1986 Topps #639 - Bo Diaz

My reasoning behind this selection should be obvious.  This Bo Diaz has got to be one of the best photographs in the entire franken-set, right?  Well, if it wants to make that claim there's another card already in place that it'll have to dislodge first:

Nothing wrong with this Art Howe per se...

...but I'm going with the Bo.  Aside from the fact that it's just a nicer card, it feels good to boot an Astro from the binder right about now.

1988 Topps #720 - Tim Raines

Second Expos buyback of the post, featuring Hall of Famer Tim Raines!  1988 wasn't Tim's best season by any means, far from it, but I could do a lot worse in slot 720 than a guy with a plaque hanging in Cooperstown.  This is a number I didn't have previously, so that's exactly what happened here!

1985 Topps #220 - Fred Lynn

Next up, the great Fred Lynn.  Nowhere near as cool a card as if I had managed to track down a buyback from his Red Sox days, but interesting enough for me to throw a low-ball bid at since I'd already won some cards from this seller.  Does it make the set?

Talk about stiff competition, a '59 Frank Malzone!

Sorry Fred.

1985 Topps #237 - Julio Franco

This Julio Franco is my favorite buyback in today's post.  I just love acquiring cards of ageless wonders like Jamie Moyer, Bartolo Colon, and Julio Franco here.  This is actually my first Julio Franco buyback of any sort, and I love that it's from pretty early on in his career too.  How can you not like that smile?

Well, it turns out it's a battle of the smiling players for a spot on the franken-set here, as I find this '74 Ken Brett already in slot 237.

I'm guessing some collectors, particularly those older than me by a good few years, would have made the other choice here, but I let my love of Julio Franco shine through here.

That's the balance of that particular eBay lot, but since I'm two cards short of an even ten like I usually do let's crack open two of these Heritage box-topper 1968 buybacks that have been sitting on my pack shelf for at least a couple of months now...

1968 Topps #453 - Sammy Ellis

Wonderful, another hat-less player from '68 Topps.  I've got over a dozen of these 2017 Heritage buybacks in my collection now, and more than half of them feature cap-less players.  Oh well.  Sammy here went 9-10 in 24 starts for the Angels in 1968.

Already got a much more colorful buyback in slot 453 though, plus it features a hat (albeit an airbrushed one).

So long Sammy!

1968 Topps #550 - Clete Boyer

I fared a little better with the other pack, pulling a nice relatively high number Clete Boyer (complete with cap!).  Surprisingly I was missing #550 before pulling this one too, so Clete gets to hold down this "hero number" in the binder, at least for now.

That's a wrap for tonight.  This round represents a significant milestone as this project goes, as the three new numbers in this post take me to 500 total cards now in the franken-set binder!  It's taken me well over a year, partially because of the lengthy way that I scan and deliberate each and every individual buyback, but I'm really getting there.

For my next buyback post I'll have to come up with something special to celebrate the achievement!

Franken-set Progress:  500/792 (63%)
"Rejected" Buybacks:  352
Total Buybacks in Collection: 852