COMC Black Friday - A Preview!

I feel like I was just about the last collector to receive my Black Friday shipment from COMC, but at long last the goods were waiting for me on my doorstep when I got home from work last night.  The COMC Black Friday weekend sale is one of my collecting highlights of the year given that I don't go to many card shows.  I ended up shipping over 200 cards between my pick-ups from that sale, and some other inventory I'd been sitting on.

This will give me posting material for many months to come, but for now I randomly selected ten cards from the shipment to show off today.  These ten actually ended up being a decent representation of just how random my COMC purchases tend to be.  Let's dive in!

1966 Topps Batman Black Bat #6 - Chloroform Victim - $.58

While I haven't pursued the project with much vigor, I would love to someday complete the 1966 Topps Batman set in any condition.  This example, which features Robin getting the chloroform rag, is creased, dented, rounded, torn, and even has some water damage.  Overall the visual appeal is still there though, and I'll honestly take any card I don't already have from this set for mere pocket change.

The back is perfectly legible too!

1956 Topps #496 - Wayne Terwilliger - $.59

The recent large lot of cards that I received from Shane Katz for my 1959 Topps set has really motivated me to keep it rolling.  As a result, quite a few of the cards I picked out during the promotion were needs for my set (including a couple of significant cards I'll be showcasing later).  At 59 cents I was all over this relatively high-numbered Wayne Terwilliger.  One card closer to completion!

2014 Topps Finest Green Refractor #97 - Jose Fernandez (#'d /199) - $.75

In 2014, Topps treated collectors to a very colorful Finest release, and it's a set I'm particularly fond of.  In fact, I think this is my favorite Finest release since the early to mid '90s anyway.  I'll grab just about anything I don't have already from this set if the price is right, which it certainly was here.  RIP Jose.

1957 Topps #399 - Billy Consolo - $.54

Few things make me happier than acquiring a vintage Red Sox card to fill a hole in my team collection.  This one seemed like a steal for 54 cents.  The 1957 Topps set is a thing of beauty, I'd love to take a crack at it someday.

2015-16 O-Pee-Chee Platinum Traxx Parallel - #55 - Tuukka Rask - $.50

Of course my order contained some hockey cards as well.  If you're a fan of bright and shiny cardboard like I am then you can't do much better than some of the parallels included in the O-Pee-Chee Platinum sets from the past couple of years.  The Traxx parallels in particular are spectacular, and I wasn't going to leave this Rask behind for two quarters.

1956 Topps #54 - Bob Keegan - $.59

Who am I kidding, I love all the sets from the '50s.  For 59 cents I was happy to inch one card closer to a '56 set.  This is probably the set I'd like to complete most if I ever get through the '59 release.  This wasn't the only '56 White Sox player named Bob in my order though...

1956 Topps #267 - Bob Nieman - $.83

...and I snagged this Bob Nieman as well.  This one presents fairly well as long as you don't inspect the "corners" too closely, haha.  For 83 cents though how can I really complain?  I might have to get a formal want list typed up for this set after all.  Maybe something to work on in 2017...

2015 Panini Select Camo Parallel #62 - Sergio Aguero (#'d /249) - $.75

I'm definitely in the minority when it comes to collecting soccer cards.  If that means I can land serial-numbered parallels of one of the most talented offensive players on the globe for under a dollar that's fine by me!  I've actually begun to develop a nice little Aguero collection courtesy of COMC.  Strange that every card I've shown so far has been under a buck.  I did land a few more significant pieces of cardboard on Black Friday weekend, just didn't happen to pluck any of them from the box when preparing for this post...

2015 Topps Buyback #1976-170 - Rick Wise - $1.25

You had to know there would be some buybacks in my order, right?  I just can't get enough of these things, and I peruse COMC at least once or twice a week to see what low-hanging fruit might be out there to be plucked.  At a buck twenty-five I wouldn't say this was "low-hanging fruit", but it was tempting enough given that it doubles as a new Red Sox card for me as well.

Besides, I've always admired Rick Wise as the author of one of the more dominant performances in baseball history.  As most fans know, Rick threw a no-hitter in 1971 in which he clubbed two home runs of his own at the plate.  How's that for dominance?  He didn't exactly accomplish this feat against a team of slouches either, this was done against a Reds lineup featuring names like Pete Rose, Tony Perez, George Scott and Johnny Bench.  Just unreal.

As far as my buyback franken-set goes, I already had this Cookie Rojas Heritage buyback in slot 170.

I'm taking Rick Wise over Cookie any day.

Franken-set Progress:  249/792 (31%)
"Rejected" Buybacks:  59

Last card for today is another random one, something you don't see here on Shoebox Legends very often...a basketball card:

1969-70 Topps #47 - Emmette Bryant - $1.13

I'm not a basketball guy whatsoever, in fact of the tens of thousands of sports cards that I own probably less than 50 of them are basketball cards.  Every so often one speaks to me though, as was the case with this '69-70 Topps Emmette Bryant.  I'm a sucker for "tall boy" cards like this, and couldn't resist one featuring my hometown Celtics.  I love the design of this set, with the four basketball action sketches framing the portrait.

This one is particularly awesome since Emmette and the Celtics won the NBA Championship in 1969, defeating the LA Lakers.  Bryant was a key contributor on that team, scoring 20 points in the deciding game 7.  At $1.13 this might be one of my favorite pick-ups from the entire weekend.  Never would have thought I'd be saying that about a basketball card!

Love the backs of these as well, with plenty of space saved for a nice, large cartoon!

So yeah, there's a taste of what's to come when I get around to showing off the rest of my COMC Black Friday goods.  These ten cards provide a nice overview of why COMC continues to be my #1 favorite hobby-related site.  Short of the yearly National, I'm not sure there's a card show I could attend that would offer the sheer variety and bargain basement prices that COMC does, especially during large annual promotions like Black Friday.

Did you participate in COMC's Black Friday promotion?  If so, what was the best bargain you landed?  I'd love to hear about it in the comments, and even better if you've posted any of your own Black Friday haul leave a link as well!

A Bevy of Boston from Burbs

Just a couple of weeks left here in 2016, which I know is something a lot of folks are thankful about.  For me, it means I need to get started on trade package posts here if I want to have any hope of being caught up when the calendar turns to 2017.

To that end, today I've got a long overdue post featuring some great cards that were sent to me a while back from Tony Burbs of Wrigley Roster Jenga fame.

Tony really bolstered my 2016 Red Sox collection with this package, starting off with this pair from the flagship Update Series set.  Both of these guys will likely be with the 2017 club.

Here's a Berger's Best insert.  I'm not sure how I feel about Topps re-printing cards that are less than a decade old, but a new Sox card is a new Sox card.

Here's a 2016 Topps insert I actually quite enjoy.  Of course it's one of about a thousand David Ortiz cards that Topps printed up during his final season, but it's a nice candid photograph that sticks out among the hundreds of Ortiz cards I've accumulated over the years.

I really don't buy a lot of modern product, and over the past few years I've done a good job training myself to stay away from the card aisle in Target and instead focus on hand-picking the cards I want.  While this generally results in a better overall collection for myself, I miss out sometimes on the latest fads.

Which explains how I just now acquired my first two Perspectives inserts, which everyone else was blogging about many months ago.  I remember some people complaining about the font that Topps used on these, but I'm a fan.  In fact, these might be some of my favorite inserts that Topps has produced in a decade or more.  The minimal design and focus on the awesome full-bleed photos was a great idea if you ask me.

I picked up just a single hanger pack of 2016 Topps Bunt, but have been receiving the Red Sox cards from this set like crazy in trade packages lately.  I'd missed out on David Price until now, thanks Tony!

Another shining example that I've stayed away from 2016 releases for the most part is the fact that this blue parallel of Jackie Bradley Jr represents my very first 2016 Opening Day card of any kind.  Jackie had a great season, I'm happy to have this parallel.

I found a nice trio from Heritage High Numbers as well, including third baseman Travis Shaw.  Travis was dealt to the Brewers earlier this month in exchange for bullpen arm Tyler Thornburg.  Seems as though they are betting on a slimmed down Pablo Sandoval to hold down third base in 2017.  That should be interesting to watch.

Here's one of the two cards that, if I recall, initiated this trade to begin with when I asked about it in a comment on Tony's blog.  I just thought it would be cool to have cardboard representation of Lincecum's stint with the Angels in my collection.

Matt Barnes will likely be starting 2017 in the Boston bullpen after making 60+ appearances for the team in 2016.

Here's the other card I recall asking about when Tony posted it.  Since I just sent my Topps Now Bartolo Colon HR card off to Canada in a trade package last week, it's nice to be able to supplant it with this one.  Maybe not as rare or valuable as the Topps Now version, but it still reminds me of the same home run which is good enough for me (especially given the awesome buyback I received in exchange for the Topps Now Colon - post coming soon).

Tony included a nice array of older Red Sox cardboard in this package as well, like this '67 Hank Fischer which looks like it has some real stories to tell.  I believe I have a better-condition version of this card sitting in my "scans to be processed" folder, so this one's time in my collection might be short-lived.  If that's true I'll be sure to pass this one along to yet another owner.

Here's another card that's been well-loved to say the least.  The wrinkles on the left side don't detract from those wonderful facsimile signatures at least!

Here's one that took me a few minutes to identify.  It's apparently from the 1991 Panini "Top 15" Album Stickers set.  As a fan of oddballs this is a solid addition to my small subset of Wade Boggs Red Sox cards.

And so is this one!  Sure, it's not officially licensed (hence the blacked out cap), but who doesn't love a new Post card?

There was such a wide variety of stuff in this bubble mailer that I even found a playing card, from the 1992 Bicycle Baseball Rookies deck.  There were a pair of oddballs that dwarfed this trio though...

Sweet!  Tony had a posted a few months ago that he claimed some Sports Illustrated for Kids magazines that his school librarian was clearing out.  I commented on that post that I liked this Sanchez card, and Tony was kind enough to send it my way.  Alexis' 12 goals are good for second in the Premier League so far this season; this will make a very solid addition to my small but growing soccer binder.

Tony also included Big Papi's SI for Kids card in the package.  Keep your 2016 Topps Ortiz cards and give me a nice oddball like this any day!

How about a couple more new-to-me 2016 Red Sox?  A nice Bowman Chrome of one of the team's best young talents, outfielder Andrew Benintendi...

...and a Sophomore Standouts insert of Rusney Castillo.  I'm not sure you can call getting demoted after 9 games a "standout" season, but I accept the card regardless.

Back to the '90s here, with a "Bonus Card" insert from 1992 Classic Best.  Same photograph as the base card from the set, but the borders are gone save for the grey strip along the bottom there.

This one made me smile as I always enjoy obtaining a new Canseco Red Sox card.  I have a ton of Finest hockey cards from 1996, but not the baseball variety.  A pretty sharp-looking card by '90s standards if you ask me.

I really love this Gold parallel of future HOFer Adrian Beltre.  He's one of those short term stop players that I wish had stuck around longer with Boston.  In the 6 years since he left in free agency, Adrian has batted .308 with 167 home runs, 563 RBI and an OPS of .873 for the Rangers.  He may be in his late 30s now but I'd much rather have Beltre patrolling third in 2017 than Pablo Sandoval.  Oh well...

Finally we have what might be my favorite card of the entire package, a 1993 Denny's Grand Slam hologram of John Valentin.  These cards are bright and vibrant, and there's also nothing more '90s than the hologram.

There were a few other cards included that I already had copies of, most of which have already been passed on to other collectors in the weeks that I've been sitting on this.  Tony, I'm sorry it took me so long to get these properly posted.  I really appreciate your generosity in sending them to me!

Bros

Quick post today, short on time this busy holiday season.  Since I don't have much prepared here's a scan of a pretty iconic card that I picked up back in July...of 2015!  Yes, it truly does take me forever sometimes to get around to posting things.

I haven't done any research to verify it (again, lack of time), but this has to be one of the earliest sports cards to feature a pair of brothers.  I'm not collecting the '54 set, and I'm not a Pirates collector either, this was one of those cases where I like the card just because.  I've been hoping to add this one to my collection for a long time now, and this relatively clean, slabbed copy was too tempting to pass up for $6 and change.

Well, that's all I've got time for today.  Thanks for reading, and hopefully your 2016 is winding down nicely!

Buyback Franken-set: Off the Wall - Part I

Today's round of ten buybacks comes from Shane Katz, proprietor of Off the Wall.  Shane reached out to me a while back and let me know that the owner of his local card shop had a pile of buybacks kicking around, and at very reasonable prices no less.  Since I had a small stack of cards to send Shane anyway I tossed a $20 bill in with them and asked him to grab as many as he could on his next visit.

Well, this turned out to be a better score than I could have possibly imagined for my buyback franken-set!  Shane grabbed me so many buybacks that I'm going to have to break them into a few different posts to make things easier to digest.  Today, the first ten...

1969 Topps #109 - Jim Lonborg

Starting with a bang here, with what might be my favorite overall buyback of all the ones Shane sent.  Jim wasn't far removed from his amazing 1967 season when this card was issued.  The photograph is just plain fantastic, complete with the waving American flag.  Can anyone with a keen eye tell me what that advertisement over Jim's shoulder is?

I couldn't be more pleased with this buyback, and best of all it fills a previously empty slot in the binder at #109!

1978 Topps #545 - Joe Kerrigan

Next up, Joe Kerrigan, who I remember best as a pitching coach (and for the blink of an eye, the manager) for the Red Sox around the turn of the century.  His '78 Topps release is a nice high number too at 545, and thus makes the cut for the set without competition.

1977 Topps #468 - Ramon Hernandez

Don't know much about Ramon Hernandez here, but I do know that's one hell of a mustache.  This was actually Ramon's final Topps card, as he wrapped up his MLB career in 1977 with a short, unimpressive stint with the Red Sox.  He does not have any cards from that brief time with Boston that I'm aware of.  This one is in the franken-set at #468 though.

1976 Topps #393 - Paul Mitchell

Paul Mitchell's Major League career lasted just a handful of seasons.  He was a first round pick of the Orioles in the 1971 draft.  He made his MLB debut with the O's at Fenway Park a few years later, which must have been a great day for him as a Worcester, MA native.  As far as the franken-set goes this card makes the cut as well at 393.

1974 Topps #102 - Bill Greif

Bill Greif was known for his "knuckle-curve" pitch.  He was the Padres' Opening Day starter in '74, which makes this card at least a little bit interesting.  I have comparatively few 2016 buybacks as well, so it's nice to get another one into the binder here, even if those mid-'70s Padres uniforms are indeed atrocious.

1972 Topps #377 - Terry Harmon

Next up is a 2014 Topps buyback featuring Terry Harmon.  I really dig these low-angle fielding shots from '72 Topps, and this one is no exception.  Anytime you can capture trees and some discarded warm-up gear in the same photograph you've done your job as a photographer.  I'm pleased to induct this one into the set in slot 377.

1983 Topps #579 - Rich Dauer

Rich Dauer played his entire 10-season career with Baltimore, and spent a few of those seasons playing across the second base bag from Cal Ripken, Jr.  He's a member of the Orioles HOF.  He makes the franken-set uncontested as well, a lot of nice high number cards in this first round of ten from Shane!  The majority of the buybacks so far have been from 1979 and prior as well, so I like getting a post-1980 card in for variety's sake.  Speaking of which...

1980 Topps #544 - Art Howe

...here's another card from the '80s that makes the cut, and another reasonably high number at 544 as well.  Pictured here in the midst of his career as a player, he would later go on to manage the Astros at the end of the decade.  You have to love those "so bad they're good" Astros unis.

1979 Topps #288 - Milt Wilcox

This is probably the most boring of the ten cards in this initial grouping, but Milt did win a World Series with the Tigers in 1984.  I don't anticipate this one having a long tenure in the binder, but for now he's in as my sole #288 buyback.  That's nine straight buybacks to make the set uncontested to begin this lot from Shane.

1975 Topps #324 - Ed Kranepool

Last up for today, a nice colorful Ed Kranepool courtesy of 1975 Topps.  Ed's 1977 Topps release was already rejected in a tough match-up, will this one fare better?  Unlike the first nine cards in this post there is some competition here as well:

A nice enough card, but I'm siding with the '75 Topps release.

Kranepool wins this time around.

This is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what Shane sent along.  There will be a handful of posts more in order to get through all of them, with the next one coming up later this week!

Franken-set Progress:  249/792 (31%)
"Rejected" Buybacks:  58