Some 2014 Opening Day on Opening Day 2014

Thanks to those who answered my last call for the Fantasy Draft yesterday. Who's ready for some baseball?

And speaking of last calls, I'm making one more for the contest I announced last week since the entries have pretty much stopped. I'll announce a winner tomorrow so the deadline is midnight tonight, EST. Just leave a comment on this post if you haven't already.

In anticipation of sitting through two drafts and watching a little NCAA wrestling (basketball? pffffft) on ESPN last night, I hit my local red big box store on my way home from work. Unlike earlier in the week when I only walked away with a repack, this time they finally had the Heritage, Donruss and Opening Day.

But I'm already over the first two and will only be looking to add Cubs from those sets to my collection (or any horizontal and ivy cards). Oh, and if somebody has a spare Ryne Sandberg card from Heritage, I'm looking for one of those, too! Apparently he's a little more worthy than the Cubs new manager, Rick Renteria as Wrigley Wax pointed out this morning with a great post.

As you may have guessed by the title, I did in fact pick up some 2014 Opening Day, two blasters to be exact. I know the complaints about it being mostly a rehash of the flagship Series 1, but for the price point and the stuff that is new, I'm a fan.

When people talk about kids being priced out of the hobby, I think about when I was a kid and there were really only three sets. And then Score. And finally Upper Deck, for a buck a pack (those were the days), was going to price kids out of the hobby. For some of you, there was just one brand. Why do today's kids need more than that? I think Opening Day is a perfectly good option to go along with other brands like Triple Play.

I've collected the base set since 2010 and the Cubs from previous seasons, but never really collected the inserts aside from the Cubs. After starting the 2014 Topps Blog though, I think I'm going to chase the mascots and break them down as well since they share the same basic design template. These were inserted at a 1:5 ratio and I got the four I should have gotten. The missing fourth was an Orioles Bird duplicate that is available for trade. Next year, this set should grow by one as Clark, the Cubs new mascot will probably get a card.

The Between Innings inserts are a little tougher to pull at a 1:36 ratio. If they weren't, I might consider building this set too. I don't know much about stadium entertainment, so I think it would interesting to learn a little more about them by breaking these cards down. Maybe when the prices come down a bit and I've run out of mascots.

I wasn't sure how I felt about these Breaking Out cards. They're a little gaudy for my taste, but I can see how others would like them. The Harper was the first one I pulled so I thought it was a young guys set until I pulled the other three, more established stars. I didn't scan the backs of these and I wish I did because that is what sold me on this set. The blurb ties in the Opening Day theme by recapping the first Opening Day game by the player depicted. Last year, Harper homered twice in a 2-0 victory over the Marlins on Opening Day. Jay Bruce had a double and threw David Wright out at the plate in 2009. You get the point. 

Long time readers of the blog may recall my custom PASS design. The earliest cards from that set featured Cubs players showing emotion like those in this Fired Up set. I love the idea behind the set but the Fired Up graphic is engulfed in flames and too difficult to read. Great idea for an insert, mediocre on the execution. In case you can't read the names, I pulled Jason Kipnis, Jon Lester, Matt Kemp and Sergio Romo. 

I probably should have taken a picture f these 3D Opening Day Stars but I scanned them instead. I could take or leave this set as it's been done before. And by that, I mean if there were Cubs, I would take them and leave the rest. I ended up with five of these when I was only supposed to get four, but pulled a duplicate of the Carlos Gonzalez. All of them are available except for the Bryce, which goes to my son.

Another set that was pretty cool when it came out is Superstar Celebrations but with the addition of similar themed cards in the flagship base set, these may have run their course. Unless, by chance there's a Cub and I'd add that one. All of these are available, including a duplicate of the Justin Upton.

The Billy Butler is earmarked for Chris from View from the Skybox as he collects Royals and blue bordered cards but the rest of these blue parallels are available until he speaks up for them.

And finally, we get to the base cards. I'll tease and say there are some good looking Series 2 sneak previews but I haven't had a chance to scan all of them yet. I did get extremely lucky and managed to avoid any duplicates here and am more than halfway to completing the set. I probably won't take any chances on another blaster so I'll put up a want list soon.

I haven't even looked at the full checklist yet so I don't know if the Cubs have any Series 2 previews. Of the two Cubs I pulled, both were already in Series 1.

And I think that wraps up my card spending until the big card show in a couple of weeks. I probably should have saved my $20 for that but with my fantasy drafts and the NCAA wrestling semi-finals, it was a pretty good Friday night.

Backside Appreciation Part 2

My intial post on Backside Appreciation has been one of my most viewed posts since its debut. I'm sure it has more to do with piqued interest on the title more than the content, but that won't stop me from appreciating a few more backsides...

And it doesn't take much to garner a little extra appreciation, as you'll see by some of the posts that will be featured. But if it is enough to get me to do a double take and maybe do a little research, hopefully, some of you will find it interesting too. The review will more than likely be a particular card rather than the set it is from, although a minor dissection of the design will probably be included.

Today's card is Darwin Barney's "2012" Panini Prizm card. The 2012 is in quotes because while Panini bills this as a 2012 set, the statistical information includes the 2012 season, was actually released in 2013 and has a 2013 copyright. And as you can see on this card, it even mentions Barney's Rawlings Gold Glove Award that he won following the 2012 season.

Lack of logos aside, I really like the backs on this set. The content hits all the basics with name, position, demographics, and a blurb. As for the statistics, the layout is such that it only allows for the previous season and the player's MLB total. Normally, I prefer the way Topps does it, with a line for each season they've played, but I think this way works with this design.

Another thing I don't typically like but seems to work on this set, is the re-use of the front picture on the back. Many times we'll get a cropped version that is just a closeup of their face. While this set does crop the front photo, they've also made it sepia. And because of the shininess on the front, you also get a better view of the background of the photo on the back.

This caused the double take that earned its Backside Appreciation status. Without that second version of the photo, I would never have noticed Kosuke Fukudome's cameo on this card. Fukudome was traded away during the 2011 season and has fallen off my radar since. After looking it up, it appears he finished 2011 in Cleveland, signed as a free agent with the White Sox for 2012, was released and signed with the Yankees (minor league deal) for the rest of the season. He played 63 games for the Hanshin Tigers in the Japan Central League in 2013.

Now, the fronts of these don't scan particularly well, but even if you could somehow make out Fukudome in the background of the front, his face would be blocked by the MLBPA logo in the upper right hand corner.

A Couple of Card Show Pickups

A few weeks ago I was thumbing through a Beckett and decided to see if there were any card shows in the area besides the big CSA one that comes around a couple times of year. I needed a couple of storage boxes that I don't want to pay shipping on to buy online and thought a card show would be a good place to start.

Determined not to buy much of anything except for supplies until I finished reorganizing, I took $40 in cash and left the rest of my wallet in the car. I have no idea how much boxes and sleeves and toploaders run these days so I wanted to be safe.

The show turned out to be about 20-30 tables and after my first loop, discovered no one selling boxes. Well now what am I supposed to do a little cash in my pocket and a banquet hall in the local Best Western full of cards? Well, if you read the title of this post, you know I picked up a few things!

Everything below came from the same dealer who had a $0.50-$1 insert box and a $3 or 4 for $10 relics/autograph box. With all of the cards sorted by team, my money was spent within minutes. I pulled out a bunch of Cubs and casually sorted through some other teams looking for some trade bait. Knowing I was quite a bit off, I handed the guy my stack and said, "How close am I to getting these for $20?"

He flipped through them and said I was at about $50, which if I did the math in my head right, was around his "sticker" price. Hmmm, getting the feeling he's not going to be fun to negotiate with. I put a few things back, reshuffled the deck, handed it back and offered $30, which to my surprise, he accepted. He even gave me a 400 ct box and a couple of unused team bags because I had been asking for supplies.

I don't think I got the steal of the century, but I picked up a few cards I needed/wanted at a decent price. And it was probably still cheaper than eBay when you factor in the shipping I would have had to pay from multiple sellers to get the same stuff.

Let's start with the Cubs autographs...





2011 Tier One Tyler Colvin Autograph 336/999



Tyler Colvin isn't with the Cubs anymore but this is my first and only Tier One anything. Solid looking autograph too. Bold blue, almost every letter. Can't go wrong. 



2011 Topps Chrome Darwin Barney Autograph


I still haven't figured out how to scan Chrome cards but I promise that is what it is. This card looked so familiar to me that I couldn't decide whether I had it or it has just been sitting in one of my saved eBay searches. Remember, I was just going for supplies so I didn't bring anything resembling a list. 


2012 Bowman Prospect Mike Olt Autograph

So technically this is not a Cubs card but I couldn't pass on it. Funny how his 7-letter autograph looks longer than guys with 12+ letters. And that it looks like Matt and not Mike.

And now a bunch of Cubs inserts. I have frugally avoided 2013 cards thus far as a punishment for being unorganized/incentive to get organized but with them right in front of me I couldn't pass them up. Below you'll see a couple of Archives inserts with a Ryne Sandberg All-Star and an Anthony Rizzo tallboy? Is that what they're calling these? I don't even know the lingo, I feel like a fraud! Below those are a couple of the Home Town Heroes from this year's Bowman. I guess I should figure out which ones I still need now.

I also picked up a couple of older inserts too.

This Presidential Pastime Ronald Reagan card from 2004 Topps is now my second Cubs affiliated Reagan card to go along with my 2011 Opening Day Presidential First Pitch card.

 


2012 Topps Black Border Jairo Asencio /61

 

I picked up a couple of these black bordered cards last year so I figured I might as well keep trying to passively complete the team set.

These Welington Castillo rookie parallels were in my stack because the dealer also had one of the printing plates for this card. I thought it would be nice to pick up an instant starter rainbow but the plate was one of the ones I put back. Still good additions, and ones I needed/wanted more than the printing plate.

I also picked up this 2012 Bowman Jedd Gyorko autograph for Marcus over at all the way to the backstop, but the day after the show, he posted that he picked one up himself. Any other Padres/Gyorko fans out there want this?

So you may be thinking I got ripped off so far for $30. But keep in mind there are several more other team autographs I'm not showing off (I'll let those bloggers show off the goodies when they get them). And as usual, I saved the best (I think) for last. I've avoided a lot of Darwin Barney stuff on eBay so as to not get in to a bidding war with Paul from Wrigley Wax on something. But I didn't see him at this small card show hundreds of miles away from where he lives so I didn't feel so bad about picking this one up:

The dealer wanted $20 for this one outright because it is from the mini set, a more "in demand" set. But I successfully downplayed the horrible Cubs, Darwin Barney and the fact that he may have missed the boat on getting a high price so far away from the product release date. So either I overpaid for this and got the rest of the cards for $10 (I'm ok with that) or I talked him down on this and everything above (plus a few not shown) averages out to less than $2 per card (great for some, meh for others).

And I still had $10 in my pocket when I walked out the door...

Some 2013 Allen & Ginter Cubs Hits

I don't know what keeps me from jumping on the A&G bandwagon but I can't bring my self to get on board. By all accounts, I should like the product but as a whole, I just don't care. Maybe because I wasn't in the hobby when it came out and therefore not an early adopter. Maybe it's the price point. More than likely, its the checklist. Too much randomness.

But that won't keep me from picking up some Cubbies every now and then if the price is right. I still haven't picked up a base card team set yet but I added on some reasonably priced relics and autographs to other recent purchases.

 

You're not seeing double. As I mentioned last week, Brett Jackson cards aren't exactly lighting eBay on fire. One I added to an order I was already making with combined shipping. And as luck would have it, the other showed up in a different lot I picked up later in the week.

I was shipping out some Kerry Wood cards out to Tom of Waiting 'Til Next Year so I threw the extra one in his envelope. Problem solved!

These next two were purchased together. I didn't notice in the listing but when I got them it stuck out like a sore thumb. Hopefully, you can tell from the scan. Look at the two swatches. Are they from different parts of the jersey or different kinds of jerseys? Did the Cubs switch types of jerseys from one year to the next? Is one a gamer and the other BP or something? Darwin Barney has only been a Cub, but maybe the David DeJesus is from his Royals days? I have questions!

Funny what you notice sometimes.

I still have a few to pick up, but this was a good start.

Signature Saturday - Darwin Barney x4

When I noticed that the Cubs would be heading out to Seattle this season, I was very excited. One of my longtime autograph helpers from SCN, vinniemiller, has the Mariners as his home team and often gets me some former Cubs autographs. It was great to know I'd now have some help in getting some current Cubs knocked off my lists as well!

I ended up sending 50+ cards for various current Cubs that included mostly customs but a few "real" ones too. One of the tougher decisions I had to make was which cards to send for Darwin Barney. In the few chances I've personally had to get Cubs autographs over the past 2-3 years, I've yet to get him, though someone sent me a 2011 Heritage card signed at Spring Training last year. That means in addition to any and all "real" Barney cards, I also had an ATCRCS card, a 2012 custom team set card, a 2012 Gold Glove custom card and a 2013 custom team set card. I ended up sending 7 cards, hoped for 1-2, but expected 0. If you read the title, you can probably guess that vinniemiller was quite successful and sent me four cards signed by Barney.



His signature isn't what I would call legible, but it is fairly consistent.



Having two of my customs taken care of is a big relief. This one (the 2013 custom team set card) isn't nearly as dark as it scanned. I probably should have adjusted it before I posted it, but ain't nobody got time for that.

The two customs I sent that did not get signed were from the 2012 custom team set, the base card and the special edition Gold Glove one I made. I'll see if anybody is offering help in September and if not, I'll try again in Spring Training.

Of the three "real" cards I sent, two were Heritage cards. As I mentioned, someone sent me his 2011 rookie card signed last year so I thought, why not try to knock off 2012 and 2013 as well? It seems to be a theme, but the 2012 got skipped (just like my 2012 customs). I'm really not complaining, just pointing it out because I just noticed that while I was writing this up.



And the final card I sent in for Barney was the newest to my collection at the time.



This Archives card is from the first set of cards given away earlier this season at Wrigley Field. With a good range of fan favorites in the set, it might be something I consider chasing.

With my certified signed Barney cards, I think this brings my total up to 7-8. More from this batch of current Cubs will show up here soon!