One Card Post - Gettin' Miggy With It

What:  2013 Topps Archives #GH-MC - Miguel Cabrera Gallery of Heroes
Where:  eBay
How Much?:  $3.99 (plus shipping)

Why?:  I'm a full half dozen cards in now as far as this 2013 Topps Archives Gallery of Heroes insert set goes.  Couldn't pass up this gem featuring the last triple crown winner on the offensive side of the ball, for less than $4 before shipping.  I'm not much of a Tigers or Cabrera collector, so this instantly becomes probably my best overall card of the man.

Because these stained glass beauties are best viewed with some back-lighting, here's a picture featuring Cabrera in his new OneTouch home, in front of the window in my hobby room...

Absolutely awesome.  Six down, nine more to go including the tough Mike Trout.  I will get there though!

I managed to post here on the blog 30 days out of the 31 calendar days in July, falling just short of my post-a-day goal.  I can't promise that I'll maintain that ferocious pace through the upcoming dog days of August, but I will be back with more content later this weekend for sure.  Until then, thanks as always for stopping by!

One Card Post - Graded Gwynn

What:  1983 Fleer #360 - Tony Gwynn RC (PSA 9)
Where:  COMC
How Much?:  $15.50

Why?:  Picked this one up in November of 2018 on COMC, just getting around to featuring it now.  I was honestly shocked to find one of Gwynn's three major rookie cards in a PSA 9 slab for just $15 and change.  This guy does not get the hobby love that he deserves!

Got this from the same seller as the Boggs RC from this set I featured last year, in one fell swoop.  Still haven't managed to track down a Sandberg to complete the trifecta.  Certainly a card that's on the radar for later this year if I find the right bargain...

One Card Post - Ronaldo!

What:  2018 Panini Prizm World Cup Green & Orange Wave #154 - Cristiano Ronaldo
Where:  COMC
How Much?:  $8.50

Why?:  I know soccer cards aren't that much of a thing around the sports card blogs, but I enjoy them.  I had a blast watching the 2018 World Cup, and ripped many, many packs of the Panini Prizm World Cup set that summer and fall.  I'm not only trying to complete the base set, but I'm also trying to build the 300-card set a second time in parallel format.  This will be sort of a parallel franken-set I guess, where I'll try to get as much variety across the many types of parallels as I can manage on my budget.  Nice to get one of the big three names from this set (Messi & Mbappe being the others) represented in that endeavor.

If $8.50 seems expensive to you for a modern soccer parallel, you'd be surprised.  With the soccer card market having really taken off recently, this is now a $20+ card based on most recent sales.

One Card Post - My First '60-61 Parkhurst Card

What:  1960-61 Parkhurst #56 - Bill Hicke/Ralph Backstrom/Ab McDonald
Where:  eBay
How Much?:  $6.00

Why?:  This is the final card from my 5-card Parkhurst pick-up that was a small present to myself for surviving the first few weeks of sheltering in place.  I was drawn to this card for a couple of reasons.  First, it's my only 1960-61 Parkhurst card to date.  Secondly, I love vintage combo cards, and while they're much more common on the baseball side I don't run into hockey versions all that often.  $6 well spent, one card down 60 more to go from this release!

One Card Post - My First '62-63 Parkhurst

What:  1962-63 Parkhurst #52 - Lou Fontinato
Where:  eBay
How Much?:  $4.46

Why?:  With a price point below five dollars, and in fantastic shape, I can't believe it took me all these years to finally add the first 1962-63 Parkhurst card to my hockey collection.  I first learned of Fontinato when I discovered back in 2014 that he had amazing penmanship for an enforcer!  Quite a few years later I'm really pleased to add a vintage card of his to my collection at last...

One Card Post - Dineen RC at Last!

What:  1985-86 O-Pee-Chee #34 - Kevin Dineen RC
Where:  COMC
How Much?:  $2.50

Why?:  Completely inexcusable that I call myself a Whalers collector, yet never tracked down a copy of Kevin Dineen's O-Pee-Chee rookie card until now.  One of the best players in franchise history, longtime captain of the team, and fan favorite.  I'm not sure it's possible to make a better contribution to my Hartford Whalers collection for $2.50 than this card.

One Card Post - '53 Minner

What:  1953 Topps #92 - Paul Minner
Where:  COMC
How Much?:  $1.60

Why?:  I plan to keep making good progress on my '53 Topps set in 2020, so time to get this cheap COMC pick-up inventoried and featured.  The lower right corner's a little rough, but I can't believe the deal I got on this one at $1.60.  One card closer, another one bites the dust!

One Card Post - Back in the Saddle

What:  1960 Topps #71 - Marty Keough
Where:  COMC
How Much?:  $.50

Why?:  I was off work last week on vacation, and decided to make it a vacation from cards and the blog as well.  Spent a lot of time with friends, outdoors, and enjoyed a few amazing concerts.  Also took a road trip to Saratoga Springs, which was pretty cool.  All in all, a good week.  It's a little tough getting back on the horse here, so I'll go with a one card post here tonight.

Red Sox team set need from the '60s for two quarters?  Bent corner or not, I'll take that deal any time!

One Card Post - New '52

What:  1952 Topps #83 - Billy Johnson
Where:  Antiques Store
How Much?:  $6

Why?:  More and more, baseball cards from the '50s give me the most satisfaction in terms of my collection.  The iconic '52 set is certainly no exception, and I'll gladly pick up any card I don't already have from this release in halfway decent shape for a bargain price like this.  4x World Series champion Billy Johnson puts me at two dozen cards now from '52 Topps!

One Card Post - Hammerheads Yelich

What:  2013 Topps Pro Debut #127 - Christian Yelich
Where: Hobby Shop
How Much?:  Quarter box!

Why?:  Threw this one into my quarter box stack a couple of years ago just because I enjoy a good minor league card, and because Yelich seemed like a promising young player at the time.  Certainly looks like a solid quarter box pick-up nowadays!  Wish they would have had his standard Topps Update RC in there, but I'm pleased with this one.

After all, I don't have too many Jupiter Hammerheads cards in my collection!

One Card Post - Graded Frank

What:  1971 Topps #640 - Frank Robinson
Where: eBay
How Much?:  $17.99 (free shipping)

Why?:  I picked this one up partially because I don't have nearly enough vintage Frank Robinson in my collection, and partially because it compliments the PSA-4 Nolan Ryan that I picked up from this set earlier this year.  I thought this was a pretty decent price for a legend like this.  A nice example from a notoriously tough set as far as condition goes, too.

Okay, back to the Bruins!

One Card Post - My First '60-61

What:  1960-61 Topps #52 - Doug Mohns
Where: COMC
How Much?:  $3.63

Why?:  Not much time, trying to watch the Bruins here.  Can't believe I scooped this one up -my first '60-61 hockey card, period- for just $3 and change.  Alright, back to the action!

One Card Post - Ultra Buyback HOF Edition

What:  2016-17 Fleer Showcase '92-93 Ultra Buyback #207 - Glenn Anderson (#'d /25)
Where: eBay
How Much?:  $4.00 (free shipping)

Why?:  My latest acquisition in my long-term quest to nab as many of the '92-93 Ultra buybacks from Fleer Showcase as I can.  I'm certainly not going to pass up a HOFer from the set, like Glenn Anderson here, for less than $5 shipped!  I think Glenn might be about as under-rated as you can be while simultaneously being enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame.  Guy had just under 500 career goals, and more than 600 career assists.  More than that, he's remembered as being an absolutely clutch player in the playoffs.

I'm up to 14 of these buybacks now, well 14 of the non-autographed cards anyway.  Thanks to keeping my eyes peeled long after this product disappeared off of shelves and a saved eBay search or two, I hope to make more progress on this soon...

One Card Post - Rink Rat!

What:  1991-92 Pro Set - Rink Rat Card #2
Where: COMC
How Much?:  $3.25

Why?:  My brothers and I were members of the short-lived Pro Set "Rink Rat" fan club in the early '90s.  For the 1991-92 season, Pro Set produced a couple of hockey cards for the club's members featuring its namesake rodent mascot.  I'm not quite sure what happened to my childhood copies, maybe I'll come across them someday.

I have no idea how many of these were printed, and how many of those printed were lost to time and/or careless children, but I do know that these are relatively rare nowadays.  I feel very fortunate to have secured this one for just a few bucks.  By comparison, there's just a single one of these available on COMC at the time of this post, and the asking price is an astounding $45.25.  eBay?  Just the same card from COMC, but marked up to $56 and change.  Yikes!

To me though, this is one of those cards where the pure nostalgia overrides any monetary value one could assign to the card itself.  Takes me right back to a simple time in life, collecting cards as a kid.  You can't put a price on that.

Remember, "a young person without an education is like a hockey player without a hockey stick".  Wise words indeed Rink Rat, wise words indeed...

One Card Post - A Beautiful '52

What:  1952 Bowman #56 - Clyde King
Where: COMC
How Much?:  $4.25

Why?:  To me, this is just about a perfect vintage baseball card.  Love the glasses, the bright background featuring a large wall advertisement and chain link fence, but most of all love getting a new vintage Brooklyn Dodgers card.  Little bit of wax staining on the back, but crease-free, vibrant, and well-centered.  An awesome addition to my ever-expanding collection of '50s Bowman...

One Card Post - A Semi-star Sabre

What:  2014-15 Fleer Showcase - Flair Showcase (Blue Ice Parallel #'d /99)
Where: COMC
How Much?:  $4.49

Why?:  I picked this one up just about three years back now on COMC, and it's only finally getting a moment on the blog now.  At the time, I was intrigued by Reinhart given that he was a high draft pick (2nd overall) and wondered what kind of player he may develop into.  For less than $5 this seemed like an interesting pick-up, especially since it was a relatively rare parallel with just 99 copies out there, and because it harkened back to the '90s with its design.

Well, after a couple of solid if unspectacular seasons, Reinhart is really coming into his own here in 2018-19, thanks in large part to getting significant ice time with stars Jack Eichel and Jeff Skinner.  After posting a career high 50 points last year, he seems poised to smash that this season as he's already recorded 45 points in just 51 games played.

I truly hope the Sabres can make the NHL playoffs this season.  Their fan base has certainly been patient enough, and I'd love to see some different teams in the mix this post-season.  If they do make it, they'll need significant contributions from Sam Reinhart in order to advance very far...

One Card Post - Orange Magma

What:  2017 Topps High Tek Orange Magma Diffractor - Xander Bogaerts (#'d /25)
Where: COMC
How Much?:  $6.25

Why?:  Here's another of my COMC Black Friday purchases from last year that I hadn't gotten around to showing yet.  Every so often I search the site for Xander Bogaerts cards, as he's really the only active baseball player that I player collect.  When I stumbled upon this "Orange Magma Diffractor" on the higher end price-wise of what was available (around $8), I was intrigued.  I'm a confessed sucker for acetate cards, thus have always been a fan of Topps' various Tek releases, and this was a rare enough Bogaerts card that I might not stumble across another copy for years, if ever.  I threw out an offer of $6.25, the lowest the seller would even consider, and was pleased when they agreed.

My favorite thing about this card is that it reminds me so much of the orange lava lamp that I had in my bedroom as a teenager.  I loved that thing, and spent more hours than I'd care to admit just listening to music in its glow.  Looked pretty much like the back of this card:

One Card Post - An Elite Roy

What:  1993-94 Donruss Elite Insert (#'d /10,000) - Patrick Roy
Where: COMC
How Much?:  $6.40

Why?:  It's amusing in today's hobby landscape to think that a set serial-numbered to 10,000 copies would cause an uproar, but that was certainly the case in the early '90s when the famed Donruss Elite Series inserts hit the market.  These were absolute gold back in the day, and are one of the rare examples of cards that have held their value fairly well over the years.

There are 15 of these available from the '93-94 release, an original set of 10 and then five "update" cards.  You can certainly find them, but expect to pay a few bucks even for the lesser players on the checklist, often times $10 or more for HOFers.  I think I got a solid deal on Patrick Roy when the seller accepted my best offer of $6.40.  That's three of these in hand for me now, a dozen to go.  I'm not chasing the set vigorously, but hopefully a few more bargains like this one present themselves down the line...

One Card Post - Pastrnak Exclusives

What:  2016-17 Upper Deck Exclusives Parallel (#'d /100) - David Pastrnak
Where: COMC
How Much?:  $4.50

Why?:  It's 0 degrees out in Rhode Island, with a wind chill of -20.  I'm sure for some of you who live further north than I do this might be considered a "mild" winter day, but for the climate I'm used to it's pretty damn cold.  Seemed like the perfect day to feature a hockey card on the blog.

Grabbed this Exclusives parallel of Bruins winger David Pastrnak last November on COMC, just a few days before their famed Black Friday sales promotion.  I thought the $4.50 asking price was more than fair, and this made for a really nice mid-range addition to my small Pastrnak collection.  David's having another stellar year so far, sitting within the top 20 in the league in points, and tied for 9th place with 27 goals at the time of this post.  I highly doubt whether I'll run into another copy of this one priced at less than $5 ever again...

One Card Post - Tough Guy Tallboy

What:  1964-65 Topps #35 - Reg Fleming
Where: eBay
How Much?:  $7.00

Why?:  I adore the 1964-65 Topps tallboys.  Despite being just 110 cards deep, the set is deceptively hard as it contains quite a few very short-printed cards that regularly go for hundreds of dollars in just about any condition.  A checklist alone could be quite an adventure.  So, I just take the approach of grabbing cheap examples on the rare occasion that I encounter them over the years.  That approach has worked well so far, as Reg Fleming here represents my 15th card from the set.

Fleming was known as a tough customer who played with a lot of grit, and was a fan favorite in many of the cities where he spent time during his 20-year professional career.  The back of the card features some evidence of this, as the cartoon mentions Reg setting an NHL record for most penalty minutes in a game!