My Non-Cubs Card(s) of the Year Runners-up

Testing, testing, is this thing on?

Wow, times flies doesn't it? It's been one of those years of long days and quick weeks. I've had a few other things occupying my time and money this year but I've tried to keep up with everybody as best I could in terms of reading and commenting. I've followed a few newer blogs in recent weeks but if there any other new ones, send links my way!

As for my collection, I think I added more non-Cubs cards than Cubs card in 2017. That sounds crazy for a year in which the Cubs were probably overrepresented in every set but with a few budget restrictions and much of my collection packed up, I tried to let the hype (prices) die down a little bit on Cubs cards and focused on things I knew I didn't have.

For example, I really went to town on my Ivy collection/Frankenset. For those who saw/remember my post way back in August 2016 showing off Page 1 (again, time flies!), a lot of changes have been made. I can't wait to do a few posts on those additions.

In the meantime, I did pick up a few 2017 cards that caught my eye for various reasons. I'm not quite ready to post my Favorite Card of the Year, a contest sponsored by P-Town Tom of Waiting 'til Next Year, so please bear with me as I show off a couple of runners-up. Since I can't in good conscience pick a non-Cubs card as my favorite, here are a few of those, in no particular order, grouped by set.

A trio of Ivy cards from Topps Flagship leads off. Hernan Perez and Denard Span may end up in the Frankenset depending on the competition with their card number. The horizontal Jace Peterson falls under the "Por Que No Los Dos" sub-sub-collection. Addison Russell makes a cameo sliding underneath.

Topps Now is something I continued to pursue in 2017, although this year I stuck to the resellers on eBay rather than going through Topps in bulk. I added most of the Cubs cards and the above Brett Gardner for the Ivy collection (despite what it showcases). Interleague matchups are a tough find for this collection.

I added a Giancarlo Stanton from a Nationals/Marlins game I attended later in the season. With a chance at him getting 60 homeruns, I couldn't pass up free tickets to bear witness. It was a rainy evening (note the empty seats) but cleared up by game time. The "I Was There" niche collection also grew quite a bit this year, mostly because of Topps Now.

The final runners-up come from the ever popular Stadium Club set. As always, lots of great photography in this set but two in particular fit my niche collections. If I have to have a Cardinals card in my collection, it better have some beautiful Ivy such as the Randal Grichuk. Ivy generally shows up as a blur on these cards so being able to make out individual leaves is pretty cool.

As a military brat, I lived in Fort Leavenworth, KS during the late 80's Bo Jackson hype and managed to take in a few Royals games. What a beast he was. But this card was added to my Ryne Sandberg collection as that's Ryno making a cameo behind Bo and an umpire getting into position.

I hope to give these cards their own posts eventually as they certainly deserve them. Since they are all from 2017, I can easily find their source photos and go more in depth on them. My next post will be my Cubs runners-up and then finally, my pick for favorite card of 2017. Sorry to drag this out over 3 posts but I'm trying to get my writing groove back.