Signature Sundays - Mark Messier!

It's been some time since I wrote a Signature Sundays post here on the blog, but I've got a real nice autograph to feature today.  It's the latest in my quest to collect as many of the 1992-93 Fleer Ultra buybacks from the 2016-17 Fleer Showcase set as possible, and it features one of the most successful players in NHL history, Mark Messier!

Mark seems to be one of the more polarizing figures in the history of the league, you run into people who love the guy and people who can't stand him pretty regularly.  To me, it's hard not to admire his career accolades.  I mean, he played a quarter of a century in the league, and along the way won six Stanley Cups, and captained two different franchises to a Cup.  Messier was a 15-time All-Star and won Hart, Conn Smythe and Lester B Pearson awards during his storied career.  In the end, Mark ended up third on the NHL's career points list, behind only Wayne Gretzky and Jaromir Jagr. 

I'm really glad to add this Rangers autograph to my collection in particular, as I went on a trip to New York City with my dad in the summer of 1994 to see the Red Sox and Yankees play at the old Yankee Stadium.  The Rangers had just won The Cup and the city was rabid for the team and its captain, Messier.  I still remember going on a tour of Madison Square Garden that trip, and purchasing a Stanley Cup Champion souvenir puck.  I'll always think back to that when I look at this card.  Good memories.

You can't post a '92-93 Ultra card without showing one of the greatest card back designs of all-time.

Here's the COA that correlates to the holographic sticker on the back, ensuring the autograph's legitimacy.

So yeah, a very solid addition to my collection today.  As an admitted buyback lover, these Ultra buybacks from Showcase are some of my favorite cards to be released the past couple of years, period.  I have so much fun tracking these down, I feel like a 10-year-old in '92 all over again!  I didn't even notice until I had it in hand that this is a "Christmas" parallel, #'d 12/25, I've sure Gavin of Baseball Card Breakdown will love that.

With Messier in hand, I've got five of these autographs and counting now, though they obviously don't crop up all that often with only 25 of each in existence.  I'm not sure how many more I'll stumble across, but I sure do love this one.

Thanks for stopping by!

One Card Post - Gold Bogaerts

What:  2018 Topps Big League #134 - Xander Bogaerts (Gold Parallel)
Where: eBay
How Much?:  $1.00 (free shipping)

Why?:  I like what Topps did with the Big League release this year.  I got a bad taste though when the lone rack pack I picked up at Target consisted almost entirely of damaged cards (dinged corners).  So, instead of buying another I just grabbed this gold parallel for my Bogaerts collection for a dollar shipped.

COMC Blaster - Put Your Sunglasses On

It's Friday night, I'm through a long week of work that had me traveling all over the northern half of the east coast, and it's time to relax.  Seems as good a time as any for another "COMC Blaster" post.  I always enjoy doing these, let's see how far I can stretch $20 on the site this time around...

This first one is an absolute winner, and one I simply can't believe I went so long before acquiring.  I've been slowly plodding away at a 1959 Topps set for a good while now, and aside from that this Dave Sisler is just a fantastic card for my Red Sox collection.  Those glasses are great, as is the overall condition of the card.  I wish all my '59s looked like this.

I actually plucked three '59s from my card chest for tonight's post, and the second is one of the more entertaining names in the set.  In a set dominated by head shots, this is certainly a unique image.  It's also a "zero year" card (trademark Dime Box Nick), as Douglas never pitched for Cincinnati.

The third card in the trio is the least interesting of the three, but it still kills two birds with one stone as a set need and a new Red Sox card.  This trio brings me up to 282 cards from this set, painfully close to the 50% mark.  Best of all, despite being in great condition I paid just 88 cents each, from the same seller in one fell swoop.

Three cards in, and we've got a running total of $2.64.

Sticking with the theme of threes, I've got a trio of X-Fractors from 2014 Topps Finest up next.  2014 Finest may very well be the most obnoxiously colorful set to be released in the time since I returned to collecting in 2007.  I'm under the delusion that I may complete the entire set in X-Fractor form someday.  So, I couldn't resist Carlos Santana here for a mere 40 cents.

Same with Madison Bumgarner, one of the most dominant post-season pitchers of his generation, one of the best ever actually.  Was happy to bring this one home for just 49 cents.

Lastly, Will Myers from his days with Tampa Bay.  I can't tell if that's a bat flip, or just a standard dropping of the bat while taking off for first.  I'm thinking the latter.  Scored this one for a lean 38 cents.  I will buy any X-Fractor I don't have from this set that's available for 50 cents or less, but I've picked a lot of that low-hanging fruit at this point and will have to raise my threshold soon if I'm serious about completing the set.

We'll keep going with more shiny here; there's a reason this post is subtitled "Put Your Sunglasses On".  I seem to be unable to resist Topps Chrome Red Sox parallels, especially serial-numbered ones.  The sepia refractors in 2014 Topps Chrome are serial-numbered to /75.  I was able to secure this Jon Lester, complete with Green Monster backdrop, for 95 cents.

Speaking of my favorite parallels, the Pinnacle dufex parallels ('Museum Collection' for baseball, 'Rink Collection' for hockey) are some of my absolute favorites from the '90s.  The '94s are the best looking ones if you ask me.  I couldn't leave this Brad McCrimmon behind at 97 cents.  I now have the 7th largest Whalers collection on The Trading Card Database, and I still have many more to inventory to help me climb the ranks further.

This Matsuzaka is actually an insert, I think from Upper Deck's flagship set, that was like a preview for what the O-Pee-Chee release was going to look like.  I enjoyed Daisuke's time with Boston, and was more than happy to use up 55 cents in credit for this one.  Let's get back to the shiny...

How about a couple of really loud inserts from Panini's revival of the Donruss brand?  This Dominator Mookie Betts is serial-numbered to /999.  I paid 75 cents for it.  Unlicensed or not, that seems like a steal for one of the best players in the game.

This Elite Series Bogaerts is from the 2017 set, just like the Betts.  It's also numbered to /999, just like the Betts.  This one wasn't quite as cheap, as it set me back $1.25, but given that Xander has been my favorite player since he debuted in 2013 I didn't mind.

If you read my blog with any sort of frequency odds are you've seen me show one of these Bubbles Refractors from 2014 Bowman Chrome before.  This is the 20th one to enter into my collection, which isn't bad given that there are just 99 copies of each floating out there.  I shelled out $1.75 for this card.  It's a bit depressing that Jose Fernandez and Brad McCrimmon appeared in the same post.

Running total at this point is $10.13, so we're just a shade over the halfway point.  Onwards!

Wow, we even get a soccer card this evening!  Coutinho was one of the most dynamic and exciting Premier League mid-fielders to watch during his tenure with my favorite team, Liverpool.  I search COMC for his cards from time to time and have a very small collection.  I overpaid for this one for sure at $1.90.  It was a case where I stumbled upon it very recently after the set was released, and had I waited I could've picked up the card for less coin down the line (there's a copy up tonight for 55 cents).

Another set that I'm crazy enough to think I may finish one day is the 2011 Topps Chrome Atomic Refractors.  I've got two for you tonight, Brett Wallace who cost me an even dollar...

...and Ian Desmond who came in at 90 cents.  These cards are just plain beautiful.  Topps did a lot of things right in 2011 if you ask me, and these Atomic Refractors are certainly on that list.  There are 220 of these on the checklist, and I am much closer to completion with this set with 181 now in hand counting this pair.  Well over 80% done now!  Someday...

I was a young teenager in the mid-'90s when the AA Norwich Navigators farm team was established.  They played their home games less than half an hour from my house, and being a rabid baseball fan at the time, I was hooked.  The team didn't last long, but I have many great memories of spending nice summer evenings at their brand new stadium with family and friends.  There aren't a ton of them out there, but I am always on the lookout for a new Navigators card and this one fit the bill at just 53 cents.

Running total is now up to $14.46...

Yup, another Bogaerts card.  I'm not a huge relic fan, which is why you don't see many game-used cards posted on this blog, but I'll make an exception for Xander.  Besides, it cost me just $1.75.  Now at 107 cards and counting, I've currently got the largest Bogaerts collection on The Trading Card Database by a good margin.

Getting towards the end here, as the back half of the post is heavy on more expensive cards (though there's not a single card in this post that I paid even $2 for).  This 1967-68 Gilles Villemure is really beat, and has some bad paper loss on the back.  With that being said, I am not leaving any card from this set behind at $1.50 for someone else to scoop up.  Those glorious brown pads are worth a buck fifty alone.

Here's one more Bubbles Refractor from Bowman Chrome, featuring under-rated starter Jose Quintana.  I paid $1.23 for this one.  I'm not sure I'd make that same purchase today, but it gives me 21 of these now anyway.  That's the last shiny card for this evening, as the final card is of the vintage variety.  The non-sport vintage variety, that is...

I adore the 1966 Topps Batman cards.  This one's completely beat up, and seems to maybe even have suffered some light water damage at some point in its lifetime, but at 63 cents it's certainly an acceptable placeholder in my budding set.  I try to keep this blog PG, but when I first looked at this one my first reaction was that it looks like Batman and Robin are watching some Cat Woman porn.  What can I say, sometimes I have the mind of a 16-year-old.

Well, that brings tonight's running total up to $19.57.  I'm sure I could dig around for a card I shelled out 40 cents for, but since we're close enough I'll call it there.  Another fun installment of what has become one of my favorite recurring features on the blog.  Hope you enjoyed, and thanks for stopping by!

Buyback Franken-set: Reaching 1,200 Buybacks with a 1/1!

My last Buyback Franken-set post left me on the precipice of 1,200 total buybacks in my collection since starting on this a couple of years back.  I promised I'd dig out a significant one from my to-be-processed stash to celebrate 1,200, and here it is!

1977 Topps #210 - Fred Lynn

So many things to love about this buyback.  It's hard to make out, but if you click the image for a larger view you can see the stamp in the upper right of the photograph and yes, this is a 1/1.  This is my third 1/1 so far I believe, joining Mark Fidrych (or half a Mark Fidrych card anyway) and Nolan Ryan.

While the fact that the card is a 1/1 does add some variety to my franken-set, that really wasn't the main draw for me.  I'm just excited to own a '70s Lynn buyback, period.  This one, with a great photograph (love that uniform - especially the shoulder patch) and that nice, bright, 'A.L. All-Stars' banner along the bottom of the card, is just fantastic.

I love that we have the stat line from Fred's incredible 1975 rookie season here, and that this is an early enough Lynn card that we even get minor league stats including the Pawtucket Red Sox (sad to see the team leaving the state after having been around for that long).

I paid $18 and change for this card during COMC's Black Friday sale...in 2016.  Shows you that I've certainly got a decent backlog of these built up I guess.  I'm sure some of you are snickering that I paid that kind of money for a card that I could find for more like $5 in this NM or so condition (or less than a buck if condition was not a factor).

To each his own though, buybacks are just my thing and bring me more enjoyment than a lot of the other things I run into these days.  Another thing that made it worth it for me was that slot #210 in my franken-set binder was empty prior to this, so this fills that pocket and gets me a step closer to completing this project.  I highly doubt whether there's a #210 buyback in existence that could possibly bump Fred from his spot!

It's been a ton of fun working on this project for well over two years now, and I don't plan on stopping anytime soon.  After all, I still need almost 200 buybacks even with perfect "collation" from here on out, so I have plenty of posts yet to come.  Thanks for stopping by, and thanks to all of you who have taken the time to read or leave comments on my buyback posts over the years, I truly appreciate it!

Franken-set Progress: 622/792 (78%)
1990 Topps Buyback Set: 85/792 (10%)
"Rejected" Buybacks: 493
Total Buybacks in Collection: 1,200

Dime Box Dozen - Die-Cut, Shiny & Oddball

I'm watching the Red Sox/Astros game to wind down my weekend, seems like the perfect time to tackle another dozen from the last package I received from Nick at Dime Boxes...

This Limited Access card, from Circa Thunder, is oddly die-cut with the left and right edge essentially rounded.  Trading card companies sure did some strange things in the late '90s...

Another PawSox schedule, which will go nicely with the 1990 schedule Nick sent along in this same package.  I said it when I featured that one as well, but it's a bummer that the team is moving to Massachusetts in a couple of years here.

These 1997-98 Fleer "Million Dollar Moments" cards are strange.  At first glance they look like a giveaway or contest entry type card, but they actually feature a decent write-up on the bottom and are linked to a specific moment as the name implies.  I don't know the story behind this set, nor do I have time to research it, but if anyone knows any information on how these were distributed I'd love to hear about it in the comments.

File this one under "I can't believe I don't have it already".  I've really been working away at migrating my collection inventory from Zistle to The Trading Card Database, and of the 2,200+ Red Sox cards I've entered so far this one is missing.

Here's my first Prospects insert from the 2018 Bowman set.  Travis has bounced between AA and AAA so far this season, and appears to have fared well at both levels.  Maybe we'll see him make his debut soon.

I'm not familiar with Henry Ramos, but this 2010 Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects Refractor sure is shiny.  Looks like Henry made it as far up the ladder as AAA with the Red Sox, but is now in the Dodgers minor league system.  Not only did I receive the refractor of this card...

...but I got the Purple Refractor as well.  I'm on my way to becoming a Henry Ramos super-collector.

Since we're on the topic of purple refractors, here's a 2017 Rick Porcello.  Rick went from a surprise Cy Young in 2016 to giving up more hits than any pitcher in the league in 2017, but it's a nice looking parallel nonetheless!

Here's one from a set you don't see very often, at least I don't, 2002 Fleer Triple Crown.  Mike Lansing's final MLB season was actually in 2001, so I guess this is a sunset card (fittingly, from Nick, as his blog is where I first heard that term I believe).

You can't go wrong with a new Pedro Martinez card of any sort.  Certainly not a shiny insert from the '90s.

Here's another first for me, a Canvas parallel from 2017 Topps Gallery.  The more I see from this set, the more I like it.  That's a couple of new Porcello cards in this post alone.

Finally, for tonight anyway, an oddball.  This is from a multi-sport set that Upper Deck put out in conjunction with everyone's favorite licorice candy, Twizzlers, back in 2002.  An unlicensed release obviously, but a nice oddity for my Red Sox collection regardless.

Another great dozen there.  I've got just enough cards remaining to do one last post of a dozen, which I'll have up sometime later this week.  Thanks for stopping by, and thank you Nick for the great cardboard!

Buyback Franken-set: On the Precipice of 1,200

I've got a half dozen buybacks queued up for review tonight, which brings the total number of buybacks in my project up to 1,199.  I'll have to find something special for buyback #1,200, but in the meantime let's see how these contestants make out...

1962 Topps #115 - Bob Skinner

Coming out strong with a Topps Heritage 1962 buyback.  In my experience I just don't come across these all that often, in fact this is just the third one I've encountered so far despite being well past the thousand buyback mark now.  On top of that, Bob Skinner's 1962 season (his last in Pittsburgh) was a really good one, as he swatted over .300 while hitting a career high 20 home runs and driving in 75.

Tony Pena's 1990 issue has resided in slot 115 of the franken-set binder for a while now.

It has now been relocated to the 1990 Topps buyback binder.  Easy choice to begin tonight's proceedings.

This card was a member of a completed page as well.  Here's what it looked like with Tony Pena...

...and here's the new look after he was supplanted by Skinner.  A lot of brown borders here with two '62s, a '68 and an '87.

1989 Topps #191 - Sil Campusano

I have to be honest, I have no recollection of Sil Campusano, who played less than one total season's worth of games over the course of three years with Toronto and the Phillies.  When you accumulate this many buybacks, they can't all be winners...

Already had this '74 Al Fitzmorris in slot 191...

...and I see no need to move him on Campusano's behalf.

1988 Topps #390 - George Bell All-Star

Consecutive Blue Jays buybacks here, as we have George Bell's 1988 All-Star subset card.  I love me some '80s All-Star cards, so this would seem like a good candidate for inclusion in the franken-set.  Just one problem.

It's being blocked by an '80s All-Star card that I enjoy far more.

Strawberry, who only entered the binder just last post, retains his spot for now.

1999 Topps #408 - Mike Jackson

I didn't specifically pick out this buyback of longtime reliever Mike Jackson, it just came my way in a random lot that worked out to about a quarter per card.  It's not all that significant to me, I don't expect it to make the binder save for an open slot.

Certainly not going to put it in place of one of the most fun names from baseball's past, Joey Terdoslavich.

No offense to Mike Jackson, but it's Terdoslavich all the way.  Terdoslavich.

1967 Topps #29 - Tom McCraw

Today's penultimate card is a grinning Tom McCraw, courtesy of 1967 Topps.  This one's from the 2014 buyback program, hence the retro Topps foil logo, and I have to say it's pretty well beat to hell.  Doesn't bother me though, happy to add Mr. McCraw to my collection.  Does he make the franken-set, however?

Ouch, rough draw for Tom.  I certainly have not seen many of these 1963 Rookie Stars multi-player floating head cards in buyback format.

No way I'm booting the one I have from the binder in favor of this card.

1968 Topps #285 - Dick McAuliffe

We'll close it out with my personal favorite from tonight's group, a '68 Dick McAuliffe.  Dick was a 3x All-Star when this card was printed up, and won a World Series with the Tigers just a few short months later.  I place a little extra significance on buybacks where the player won a championship or a major award in the year that the card is from, which is why I had no problem shelling out an even dollar for this one on COMC a while back.  Well, that and the fact that I hadn't yet acquired a #285 buyback, so this one plugs a hole in the franken-set as well.

That's a wrap for tonight, thanks as always for stopping by!

Franken-set Progress: 621/792 (78%)
1990 Topps Buyback Set: 85/792 (10%)
"Rejected" Buybacks: 493
Total Buybacks in Collection: 1,199