COMC Blaster - Nothing But Baseball Cards!

Time for the latest COMC Blaster post here on the blog.  Typically these $20-worth-of-COMC-cards posts tend to be varied, since my purchases on the site are all over the place.  Today though, let's "rip" through one that contains nothing but good ol' fashioned baseball cards!

1954 Bowman Walt Dropo - $1.25

I find myself falling in love with the 1954 Bowman release more by the day.  To me, this is one of the most beautiful and under-rated sets of the 1950s.  All the charm of the early '50s Bowman colorized paintings, but on an oversized card.  I used to be able to snatch commons in nice condition like this up for a dollar or just a little more, but these days there's not much low-hanging fruit like that left on COMC.

1954 Bowman Daryl Spencer - $1.20

Grabbed this Daryl Spencer from the same seller as the Dropo I believe.  With only 224 cards on the checklist and, unlike the Topps set from this year, no Hank Aaron or Ernie Banks RCs to chase, this set is one I have a long-term objective to complete.  This pair that opens today's post brings me to 33 in total now.

2015 Topps Chrome Purple Refractor Mookie Betts - $2.02

Let's move forward a few decades through time and see some shiny, modern cards next.  This gloriously bright Mookie Betts Purple Refractor makes me miss the days when the flagship Topps set had a nice all-the-way-around-the-card border for parallel cards like this one.  It also reminds me just how much I enjoyed that 2015 Topps design.  I don't think they've put out anything since that comes even close for me on the flagship/Chrome front.

2015 Bowman Chrome Blue Refractor Eduardo Rodriguez - $1.00

As far as 2015 releases go, Bowman doesn't hold a candle to Topps.  Still, tempt me with a relatively rare, colored RC refractor of a pitcher who is slated to be a pretty big part of the team's rotation this year (if there's baseball that is) and I'm sold!

2014 Topps Yellow Yasiel Puig - $1.51

This card is pretty well outside the realm of what I normally collect, but I was just inspired by the awesome amount of yellow between the border and the classic Topps Rookie Cup logo.  While it's not saying all that much since I only have a handful, if I had to get rid of all of my Puig cards but one this would be the one I'd keep.

1994 Flair Hot Glove Matt Williams - $.65

Possibly my favorite card in this entire post.  The 1990s were a strange time for baseball cards.  Some really questionable things came out of the decade for sure, but some really awesome things did as well.  The 1994 Flair Hot Glove insert set is definitely the latter if you ask me.  This 10-card insert set is one of the top ten insert sets of the entire decade in my opinion, maybe even top five.

To be able to snag Matt Williams' card from the set for mere pocket change was pretty rewarding.  I've got three of these tracked down now, seven to go.  Still have the big names like Bonds and Griffey remaining, but mark my words I will finish this one someday.

1959 Topps Ted Abernathy - $.63

Let's take a stroll through the wonderful world of 1959 Topps next.  This is the 1950s set that I've made the most progress on so far.  Even though I don't feel like I prioritize it all that much, I've been casually at it for such a long time that I'm getting up there.  This Ted Abernathy, with what looks more like a country fair than a ballpark in the background, was an easy pick-up at 63 cents.

1959 Topps Bennie Daniels - $.63

If I find a cheap '59 in halfway decent shape like that last card, I typically check the seller's inventory to see if he/she's got any others I need.  In this instance I scored the Bennie Daniels The Sporting News Rookie Stars card...

1959 Topps Hank Foiles - $.63

...and Hank Foiles' base card, each for that same low price from the same seller.  If only I could scoop up all the remaining needs I have for this set at less than 3-for-$2 prices...

1959 Topps Milt Pappas - $.87

Milt Pappas' card set me back slightly more than those first three '59s, but is in truly fantastic shape.  If I ever do finish this set, and revisit the binder to upgrade any truly poor-condition cards, I'll certainly be able to pass right by Milt here.

1959 Topps Herm Wehmeier - $.59

Ditto for Herm Wehmeier, who was aptly priced at 59 cents!  Vintage gold.

1959 Topps Jim Piersall - $1.10

The final 1959 Topps card in today's blaster is my favorite of the six.  While I obviously prefer cards depicting the great Jim Piersall with Boston, this is a fine-looking '59 indeed.  With these six now added to the set build binder, I'm up to 357 cards and counting now in this quest!

2014 Topps Finest X-Fractor Billy Hamilton - $.65

One project that's going to probably be put on ice for a bit is my goal of finishing the 2014 Topps Finest X-Fractor set.  My source for these things has primarily been COMC, as it's typically not worth the shipping cost to pick these up one or two at a time on eBay.  I've still got some in my backlog at least, like this Billy Hamilton RC...

2014 Topps Finest X-Fractor Matt Holliday - $.67

...and this Matt Holliday.  Up to 57 out of 100 of these now.  I still have quite a few in my COMC "to be posted" reserves, hopefully by the time I get through those in the coming weeks/months COMC is shipping out packages again and I can resume my hunting.  I'm gonna need sunglasses to look at this set in a binder when it's done!

2015 Topps Chrome Sepia Refractor Rusney Castillo - $1.45

Yes, I paid almost $1.50 for a RC of a guy who's considered one of the biggest free agency busts in Red Sox team history.  It's not like that price was due to the fact that I picked this up back in 2015 either, as I grabbed this less than 6 months ago.  The reason?  I think Sepia Refractors are attractive, and I'm getting tantalizingly close to finishing off a 2015 Red Sox team set of them.

1983 Donruss Julio Franco - $1.00

Julio Franco is one of my favorite baseball players to passively collect.  Somehow I had yet to track down this awesome early-career Donruss card from his time in Philadelphia.  Just look at that fresh-faced Julio, still with a good couple of decades or more of MLB ball in front of him.  Would I have plucked this from a dollar box at a show?  Absolutely, especially in this condition.  So it was a no-brainer to grab it off of COMC for a buck even.

2014 Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects Franchises of the Future Mini Blake Swihart - $.53

I typically try to maintain a positive demeanor on the blog here, because this hobby is after all supposed to be fun first and foremost.  If I'm being honest though, this card sucks.  Even the name is annoying.  It's like everything I despise about modern Bowman products condensed down into one single mini card.  Even for 53 cents I would not pick this one up today, but a few years ago when I grabbed it I wasn't so wise I guess.  Oh well, Red Sox card count increases by one nonetheless.

2014 Bowman Chrome Bubbles Refractor David Ortiz - $3.25

I would not have predicted that the most expensive card in today's post would be a parallel from 2014, but here it is.  I've gone on many times before about how beautiful these Bubbles Refractors are, so I'll spare you the pain of listening to that again.  Suffice it to say David Ortiz here leaves me just one card short of a complete Red Sox team set of these beauties!  (Clay Buchholz remains).

With that card, we're up to $19.63 for today's running total.  Instead of wasting an hour searching for a yet-to-be-posted baseball card that only cost me 30-40 cents, we'll just call it here.

I hope you enjoyed this baseball-only rendition of the COMC Blaster series.  Thanks as always for stopping by my little corner of the internet! 

Oh, quick teaser too, this weekend I plan to show the results of a pretty amazing cardboard flip that I pulled off while sheltering in place here.  If you're into amazing vintage baseball cards make sure to stop by sometime on Saturday, I think you'll be amazed by what I have to show...