Signature Sundays - Dave Babych

Not much time today, so here's a quick auto while I have a minute:

I've grabbed nearly all of the Whalers autographs from 2012-13 Panini Classics, but that doesn't mean I'm done with the set.  I know I'm starting to sound like a broken record but Panini really caught my attention with this release.  The checklist has so many players from my days of youth NHL fandom that I just can't pass up on the on-card autos given how little they typically go for.

Today's card is a perfect example.  I picked up this Dave Babych auto from the same seller as my Dave Tippett, for the low price of $3.83.  Someday I'd love to add a certified Babych auto where he's depicted with the Whalers, but for now this is a more than acceptable placeholder.  Awesome photo, awesome retro uniform and equipment, awesome on-card auto with uniform number.  Great looking piece of cardboard all around.

Here's another look at the backs, also well done in my humble opinion.  Apologies if you're sick of this set, but you'll be seeing some more in future Signature Sundays posts!

More Sportscards from the Dollar Store

Douglas from Sports Cards from the Dollar Store and I have been trading quite a bit, in fact it's gotten to the point where I never even remember whose turn it is anymore, I just pile up cards and send them out when I've got enough to fill a bubble mailer.  The last package I received came in a couple of weeks ago, and I finally got around to scanning and inventorying all the cards.

As usual, there were some Whalers cards to be found.  I actually needed at least 10 of them, which is pretty damn good for any package at this point.  I'll show the rest in a moment, but first...

...a random David Krejci card.  While I've basically abandoned my Krejci player collection, I still appreciate a chance to add a new one to my collection.  I picked up just a single pack of 2011-12 Upper Deck Victory just to get a taste, and wasn't fortunate enough to land this one.

Douglas sent the majority of a 1992-93 Score Canadian team set in a previous package, and Bergevin was one of the few I was still missing.

This is my first Glen Featherstone card, which will come into play soon on my Whalers Hockey Cards blog.

Here's one that was on my Zistle want list, Verbeek's base card from the 1994-95 Leaf Limited set.

A fantastic, brand-spanking-new Whalers card, from 2012-13 SP Game Used!  This one makes a  single card team set and was one I'd been watching on eBay and COMC.  Really nice to grab this card in a trade, especially since Douglas was kind enough to pick it out specifically for me.

Here was the centerpiece of the deal, a Pat Verbeek Materials relic from the 2011-12 Panini Limited set.  This is a really sleek-looking card and features a swatch that's actually a Whalers color.  This one's also numbered to 99 copies, not too bad.  This is my one and only Verbeek relic.

Another card closer to my 1993-94 Pinnacle team set.

This set's a first for me, 1995-96 Pinnacle Summit.  This would be right around when I got out of card collecting the first time around.

Finally, a Sean Burke Topps Premier base that I probably owned 15 years ago but don't any longer.  Another one bites the dust off of the Zistle want list.

This package wasn't all about Whalers though, there were some set needs as well:

When I got back into collecting in 2007, I decided I wanted to hand collate the entire 1990-91 Upper Deck hockey set.  I busted a wax box of both the high and low series, scanned and sorted and updated my want list.  6 years later I've already picked up one or two complete sets over time but still feel like I want to finish my hand-collated one.  This package put me quite a few cards closer.

I won't show them all, but there were at least 10-12 anyway.  Only a few stragglers left and I'll be done with this one.

Inside the package were 20+ cards towards my 2013 Topps set.

Again, I won't show them all, but there's a small sampling.  I've seen this Darwin Barney card pictured about 900 times at this point, nice to finally have my own copy.  I'm actually getting close with this one, and thanks to an upcoming trade I should have Series 1 finished off before Series 2 hits shelves.  That would be a first for me!

Finally, in closing, here's a Red Sox card I've also been chasing for some time, Wade Boggs from the 1987 Topps Glossy All-Star set.

Thanks for another great trade Douglas!  As usual, it was thoughtful and right up my alley.  I'll be in touch soon when I've got enough cards to warrant sending another envelope to Canada.

Now That's a Top of the Rotation!

I know we're only a couple of weeks into the 2013 baseball season, but man have the starters at the top of the Red Sox rotation given fans a lot to be hopeful about!  Let's look at how Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz have fared after 3 starts a piece:

Jon Lester is cruising right along, with a 2-0 record with an impressive 1.42 ERA.  In 19 innings pitched he's allowed just 15 hits and 3 total earned runs.  His strikeout-to-walk-ratio is an impressive 6:1 (18 Ks, just 3 walks).  He once again looks like a legitimate left-handed ace.

If Jon's numbers are considered impressive, then Clay Buchholz has been mind-blowing.  He's a perfect 3-0, and in 22 innings has allowed just a single earned run for a miniscule 0.41 ERA!  In yesterday's effort he took a no-hitter into the 8th inning and struck out a career high 11 batters.

I think it's certainly interesting to debate just how much of this success can be attributed to new manager John Farrell.  I tend to be skeptical about a manager's impact on their starting pitching rotation, but with John's history as a Red Sox pitching coach with both of these guys you can't help but assume there's a tie-in there.

All I know is, I hope Jon and Clay can keep it up!  How about you, if you're a Red Sox fan how much impact, if any, do you think Farrell has had on these two guys in 2013?  Even if you're not a Sox fan, how much weight do you put on the manager when it comes to the performance of his starting rotation?

Signature Sundays - Milt Schmidt (and a Long Overdue Thank You)

This week's Signature Sundays post is the perfect time for a long overdue thank you to Douglas of Sports Cards from the Dollar Store.  Quite a while back now (must be close to a year ago at this point), he sent me a really cool oddball item:

This is a 1969-70 O-Pee-Chee Boston Bruins "mini-card album", which it seems were designed as a place for collectors to apply their O-Pee-Chee stamps.  The album is just about exactly the size of a standard trading card.

When unfolded there are four players from the album's team depicted inside.  What I love about this one is that someone stuck a Cheevers stamp in here many, many years ago, so you get a good idea of what the before and after looked like.  This is also the closest thing I have to a 1969-70 O-Pee-Chee Bobby Orr.

On the back are two more players prime to be stamped.  The Bruins weren't the only mini-card album that Douglas sent though, he also included the Blackhawks album:

This one's got a Bobby Hull stamp inside, how cool is that?

Yet another Hall-of-Famer on the back.  What does any of this have to do with Milt Schmidt or an autographed card?  I'm getting there.  Along with the two albums, Douglas included a single card in the package:

This is a new Milt Schmidt that I definitely did not have, from the 2006-07 In the Game Heroes & Prospects set.  This card was the perfect addition to my collection, Douglas certainly knows just what type of cards are in my collecting wheelhouse.  As proof of just how well he knows my collecting interests, here's a card that I had picked up just a week or two before his package arrived:

I got the autographed version, and Douglas sent me the base.  A nice couple of additions to the Milt Schmidt collection (even if the auto is a sticker).  This is the fourth Schmidt auto I've managed to pick up, and like the rest this one was criminally under-priced at just $10.36 with free shipping.

Thanks for sending this thoughtful package many months ago Douglas!  I'll have another post up later this week with your more recent package...

PWE Bomb from The Diamond King

Continuing to catch up on trade posts, here's a quick one featuring a PWE that I unexpectedly found in my mailbox this past week from Kevin, aka The Diamond King.

He's clearly been reading some of my posts, because he knows I like '90s promotional sample cards.

I also showed my very first die-cut card from this Fleer set, a Nolan Ryan, very recently.  I don't think it's a coincidence that Steve Carlton arrived in my mailbox not long after.

Here's a cool Reggie Jackson from a set I'd never seen, 2000 Upper Deck Legends.  Kevin's picked up on the fact that I much prefer Reggie Jackson with the A's.

Another promotional sample, of Manny.

In closing, a second Oakland Athletics Reggie Jackson, this one from the 2005 Donruss Throwback Threads set.  There was also a 1974 Topps Brooks Robinson in the package, which I'll probably pay forward in a future PWE package to another blogger since I already have a copy.

Thanks for the awesome and unexpected package Kevin!  I've got a stack of 'roid rage cards I'll be sending your way in the coming days...

Adrian Gonzalez, We Hardly Knew Ye - Another Printing Plate and Crossing the 50 Card Threshold

After Adrian Gonzalez's brief couple of seasons here in Boston, I decided to try to collect as many cards depicting him with the Red Sox as possible. It's been a while since I updated my count, and with Gonzalez in the news today for failing to protect his pitcher during a charging of the mound yesterday, I figured it was the perfect time.  Here's a few recent additions...

I've got just about all of the 2011 Diamond Anniversary Red Sox at this point, but was still missing this one until I grabbed a copy on COMC for $.75.

This 2012 Topps Chrome base card was acquired in a recent trade, with Brad from Brad's blog.  I had almost every colored refractor parallel of this card, and even a couple of printing plates, but not the base card until Brad sent it to me.

Numbered to 562, this 2011 Heritage Chrome Refractor is another recent COMC pick-up.  With a book value of $6 this one seemed like a total score for the $.88 I paid for it.

Here's another one from COMC, another card closer to a 2011 Topps Chrome rainbow.

This Hope Blue Diamond parallel from the 2011 Topps Update set is really a slick-looking card.  I've seen a few of these posted elsewhere but in hand they look a lot nicer than the standard Diamond Anniversary parallels.  They are serial numbered to a relatively scant 60 copies each, so I was happy to fork over the $5 that it cost me to win this one on eBay.

Finally, I've saved the best for last, here's my latest Gonzalez printing plate.  This was the yellow plate that was used to print Adrian's 2012 Topps Archives base card.

This is the sixth Gonzalez printing plate I've been fortunate enough to snag.  I've missed out on a few because I'm not really willing to pay $20+ for one of these things, but I landed this one for the very reasonable cost of $10.01 plus a couple bucks shipping.

These six cards take me over the 50-card mark in the collection, and I'm also just four plates away now from my goal of having 10 of these things by year end!

Adrian Gonzalez Red Sox Cards - Count

Total Cards - 52

#'d /2011 - 1
#'d /999 - 1
#'d/562 - 1
#'d/199 - 1
#'d/100 - 2
#'d/99 - 1
#'d/75 - 1
#'d /60 -2
#'d/50 - 2
#'d/25 - 2
#'d/10 - 1
1/1 - 7
Relics - 1
Silk - 1
Autographs - 1
Printing Plates - 6

1 Post, 2 Trades

Not much time for blogging tonight given that the Bruins and Red Sox are playing simultaneously (watching both thanks to the miracle that is DVR), so here's a really quick post to knock out a couple of trade packages that have been sitting on my card desk for a few days now.

First was a Zistle trade with user lordofchance.  He sent along 10 cards that I was missing towards my 2013 Topps Series 1 set.  Some were no-namers and unfortunately 3 of the 10 were Yankees, so I chose Prince here to represent the lot.  I'm down to just about 60 cards left, and in truth that number is even less because of another trade package from Canada that I'll be posting shortly.

I saw this card posted over at Golden Rainbow Cards a while ago and shamelessly begged for it.  Bryan was kind enough to send it my way in return for a couple of 2013 Topps Braves parallels.

This is the Chrome Refractor variation, numbered to 564 copies.  Jacoby is racking up RBI at an impressive pace so far this year so I'm happy to add this one to my collection.

Thanks for the great cards guys!

1953 Topps Project - Ellis Kinder

Back at the beginning of the year I laid out my goals for 2013, as many bloggers do.  In some areas, such as growing my Red Sox and Whalers collections, and trading, I've done very well.  In others, not so well.  My desire to complete a 1953 Topps set in PSA 6 grade is one of those areas that's been a bit neglected.  At the end of 2012 I'd accumulated and posted an even 50 cards from the set, and I stated that I'd like to increase that number to 65 by the end of 2013.  So far I've posted exactly one and we're already in April, time to get moving!

Today's subject doubles as a new card for my 1953 Topps set, as well as a new Red Sox card.  Ellis certainly had an interesting career, as he didn't break into the big leagues until 1946 at age 31!  After spending his first couple of MLB seasons with the St. Louis Browns, the Red Sox picked him up in a trade prior to the 1948 season.  It was the 1949 season where he truly blossomed though, going an impressive 23-6 as a starter for Boston and leading the league with 6 shutouts.  Kinder would actually finish 5th in MVP voting that year.

For some reason the Red Sox decided to tamper with the situation and moved Ellis Kinder to the bullpen for the 1951 season.  He responded by leading the league in appearances (63) and saves (14), and again finishing in the top 10 for AL MVP voting.  Ellis saw the most action of his career the season this card was released, as he appeared in a league-leading 69 games in 1953, posted a career best 1.85 ERA, and finished with 27 saves, also tops in the league.

After the 1955 season, the St. Louis Cardinals claimed Ellis off waivers from the Red Sox.  He'd last a couple more seasons before finally hanging up the spikes after his 1957 campaign with the Chicago White Sox.  Unfortunately, just 11 years after retiring Kinder passed away as a result of undergoing open heart surgery.  He was just 54 years old.

Set Progress:  52 of 274 (19%)

Dufex Rocket - Team Set Complete

A short while back I posted this Andre Dawson '93 Pinnacle Cooperstown Dufex parallel, which I picked up on the cheap after reading about the cards on The Chronicles of Fuji:

I really got this one for a steal given how rarely these crop up, and I knew I wanted to track down a Roger Clemens to go with it to knock off the Red Sox team set.  As luck would have it, one was listed within a few days of my winning the above Hawk card:

Clemens cards have definitely dipped a bit in value since he "misremembered" a few years ago, but I still seem to face a considerable amount of competition when pursuing them for my Red Sox collection.  I was pleasantly surprised when I was the lone bidder for this card, taking it home for less than $10 plus a bit for shipping.

I love the look of these cards and I'm happy I was able to nail down a 2-card team set within just a few weeks, and for less than the cost of a blaster even with shipping included.  These are right up there in terms of the more interesting early to mid-'90s cards in my Red Sox collection.