Life

Well, I certainly didn't intend to go well over a week without posting here.  It's just been one of those stretches where life hasn't afforded me much spare time for my hobby.  Don't get me wrong, I'm very fortunate and not complaining by any means, but there's simply been little time for baseball cards of late.

For example, last week my work schedule looked like this:

Monday - Providence, RI
Tuesday - Hartford, CT
Wednesday - Providence, RI
Thursday - Boston, MA
Friday - Manchester, NH

Add to that some busy but fun weekends of doing things like watching an Irish band play at a pub on St Patrick's Day, or going to a brewery where you can throw axes (yes, that's a thing), and here we are.

You didn't come here to read my ranting about lack of free time though, you came here to see sports cards.  So here are a few random ones in an attempt to make this vaguely resemble a normal post...

Isn't that a beauty?  I won this in the contest a few months back on Night Owl Cards.  This was the card I had my eye on right out of the gate.  There were quite a few folks who got to pick before me, and I was convinced Willie would be gone by the time my turn came around.  In the end, it all worked out though.  I'm very late in posting this, but thanks for a great contest and a great card Greg!

Look at all those stats!  A whole lotta red and italic print there, that's for sure.

Here's a random one.  I picked up this hand-cut "strip" card shortly after I returned to the hobby back in 2007.  For whatever reason it never made it onto the blog until now, just about 12 years down the line.  Better late than never as they say.

Here's a better look at the front.  This is a Braves card, not a Red Sox card, and to be honest it's one I probably wouldn't spend the money on today.  It wasn't exactly a pick-up that broke the bank at $12.01, but still.

I don't know why I scanned it, but here you are.  The most boring card back in history.

A Ray Bourque Starting Lineup card from 1993 that's been in my "To Be Blogged" folder for way too long.

Let's close it out by looking at a handful of cards from my latest COMC order.  I've been really into 1958 Topps baseball lately, so I grabbed this Willard Nixon because I assumed it would be a new '58 for me as well as a new Red Sox card.  I have so few '58s that I didn't bother checking what I already owned when I picked this one up, and that was a mistake as it turns out I already had a copy Nixon.  In better shape, too.  At least I paid just 63 cents for it.

A fun card here, I don't know too many Star Wars fans that don't like Yoda.  While I don't collect Star Wars cards with any serious level of commitment, I couldn't pass up this Blue Rainbow parallel from 2016 Star Wars Tek for $1.75.  I have six of these parallels now, which are serial-numbered to /99.

Inspired largely by the great 'Desert Island Binder' series at The Shlabotnik Report, I've been on the lookout for some cheap copies of my favorite cards of the '80s.  Randy Johnson's 1989 Donruss Rated Rookie card was an obvious choice at 65 cents.  Love this one.

In the same vein, and picked up the same day, this '87 Cal Ripken is minty fresh and set me back just two quarters.  A classic card of one of my favorite boyhood players.  At two-for-a-buck these are the kind of pick-ups I should be making on COMC all day long.

I'd never heard of these Top Draft Pick promo cards that Upper Deck produced last year until I ran across this one while searching for Mathew Barzal cards a while back.  It was $2.75 and the seller wasn't accepting offers, a bit pricey for my normal COMC endeavors.  I was in full on Barzal prospector mode at the time though, and snatched it up anyway.  I was an impressionable young collector when Upper Deck released their inaugural hockey set, so that design carries some weight with me.

When it comes to buybacks, I typically stick to Topps and Topps Heritage on the baseball side.  I've always sort of half-collected Julio Franco though, so this 2017 Bowman buyback of his '90 Bowman release was too tempting to resist at 72 cents.  Now that is how you crop a photo!

We'll call it quits for tonight with this '64 Eddie Fisher.  I grabbed this one because, much like the '58 Topps flagship set, I've been drawn to the '64s lately when it comes to the '60s.  I've already landed the Koufax and Pete Rose cards from this set earlier this year, so figured I'd look around for some decent condition cheapies.  Fisher fit the bill at 52 cents.

That's all I've got time for right now.  I promise it won't be over a week before you hear from me again.  Thanks as always for stopping by!