Category: felix hernandez

Tim Foli is IN ACTION, And Other Delights: A Trade With Night Owl

First, some background: Night Owl and I have done enough trades to where I’ve lost count of how many there have been, but this one was pretty special. Y’see, I sent him the last 1972 Topps card he needed. Now, if you’re unfamiliar, the ’72 Topps baseball set is a raging pain in the ass to complete, because it’s 1. a big checklist and 2. was released in series throughout the season, the last two of which range from “pretty hard to get” to “my god my eyes are bleeding Z̬̮̭̙͚̙̞̩̱̦̺̣̙͓̲̺̹̤̅̌̌ͤ̿̓ͥ͞͞A̷̢̺͈͉͕̦͍͕̪̙̬̙̩̻̞̞̼̫̔͊ͤͪ̓͋͂ͯ̉̔́̚̕͢L̓ͫͮ̿͑̔̽̿ͪͧ͆͒̀͞͠͏̹̺͙͈͎̜̀G̴̛̣̦̦͉͔̺̽ͥͧ͐͗͑̇ͤ͌ͬ͗͒̀ͫͬͨ̑͟͝O̴̷̷͇̞̪͍͓̣̻͕ͭͥ̓̌̈̇̊̀“.

 

I’m working on mine, too, and with this trade, I’m at 77 cards from being complete, since someone sent the Owl the same card I sent him, only in rougher condition, and it arrived the same day the one I sent him did. How rough?

 

TIM FOLI IS IN CREASED RIGHT ABOVE THE KNEES ACTION kinda rough. That crease could explain while Tim Foli’s version of “In Action” looks more like inaction, too. I mean, that’s gotta hurt. It actually doesn’t look that bad in the scan (Also, I cleaned my scanner bed! Nice, right?), but in person, it’s pretty harsh. Thing is, when we’re talking 1972 Topps “commons” in the 700s, you take what you can get, so I was happy to get this back in the mail.

Also, I am not 100% sure (I think there may have been one other instance of this), but this may have been the first time I’ve ever traded with someone and had the same card in both the outgoing and incoming package. So, yeah, remarkable in a few ways already, and that’s before we revisit something fun I noticed about this pretty creased up card later in this post.

This wasn’t the only card in the trade, though. Hell, this was the last card thrown in the box, right at the end (it was right on top when I opened the box). Let’s take a look at what else I got!

HAY IT’S THAT GUY ALL THE KIDS LOVE

Now, I’m not collecting Bryant cards, but it is good to get them, in the same way it’s good to get Trout, Jeter, Griffey, and Bip Roberts cards. People tend to hoard them and/or ask for a bunch of money/cards for ’em, so when one shows up, especially one you weren’t expecting, it’s a relief. Why’d I get a ’16 flagship Kris Bryant if I’m not collecting him?

Well, because I’m a compulsive completist, and while I plan on continuing to put very little effort into it, I am accepting 2016 Topps flagship cards in trades (and, along the same lines, 2014 flagship; this strategy’s also worked out pretty well for 2012 Heritage), despite the fact that I think both sets are pretty uninspiring, designwise. Set collecting is rough, man. I’ll also confess, it felt a *little* like a Bip, getting them, even though I knew they were coming, but at the end of the day, this is an example of someone doing me a highly valued service by low-level addressing my inability to leave things incomplete without my brain screaming at me, so ultimately, I’m…relieved…to have this big stack in front of me (especially the Bryant on top), and I’m even gonna post a few more of ’em, even though I’m pretty sure that most people never want to see pictures of 2016 Topps again!

Somehow, I hadn’t seen this card until today. Great shot of the ivy. Awkward shot of everything else. This is basically the opposite of the super chill feet-first sliding catch Bernie Williams used to do with astounding regularity, that, for some reason, I’ve never seen on a Bernie Williams card (if any of you know of one where they caught him doing it, let me know). In Cameron Maybin’s case, I’m sure one of you have looked this up, but he almost had to have gotten hurt on this landing. Not exactly the kinda thing you want immortalized on a card, kinda like that Classic card of Andre Dawson where he’s gettin’ beaned, but obviously, not as bad.

I mean, come on.

“Future Star”? Come on, Topps! I mean, I don’t wanna get all “Logan’s Run” on poor Carlos (he is a former BlueClaw, after all), but he turned 30 a month ago, his first big league appearance was in 2009, and he’s been a professional ballplayer since 2004. He got to his first spring training around the same time Millie Bobby Brown was born! I found a card of Carrasco over the weekend from ’07 Bowman Draft. Almost a decade old, and Bush was still in office! I hope that this bodes well for Carlos, and his “Future Star” status leads to him pitching well into his 60s, but couldn’t they have done a “Late Bloomer” subset for him or something?

Now, Domingo Santana (another former BlueClaw), there’s a guy who still qualifies for the Future Stars label! He’s still only 24, despite seemingly being around forever (Wow, he broke in with the Phils’ farm teams when he was 16), and I think he could still do great things well before it’s time to RENEW.

Heh, King Felix likes my “Logan’s Run” references. I like King Felix, too. He’s a high number. (Don’t panic about the bottom left corner of the card. There was a smudge on the scanner that I found late. All better now. No, I’m not rescanning the bloody card. What do you think I do, write letters all day?)

Heh, and he’s laughing at the reference in the blurb for the last card. (Points to anyone who gets it.) Strasburg looks kinda like Steve Buscemi in this picture. Bless the both of them, and best wishes to Stephen Strasburg and his wife, who are expecting a kid this week!

NOOOOOOOO NOT MORE ’16 oh wait it’s Chrome. Less like Buscemi in this picture, but kinda like Jim Breuer, or someone equally stoned looking.

Now, Sandy, he’s got things under control. That darned smudge on the scanner aside.

Yay, Straw! Yay, Bunt cards I needed! (There were a few.)

There were a few Stadium Clubs I needed in here, too, from ’15 (Kiermaier’s about as exciting as it got, namewise)…

…and from ’16. Man, that’s a card.

For those of you who have stashes of ’14-16 Stadium Club doubles, and are also planning on buying too many ’17 Stadium Club, I’m happy to take those off your hands if I need ’em for any of those sets, and I won’t even make a comment about being Bipped, unless you send me ’15 Stadium Club Bip, which I already have 3 of, but I’ll always take more of.

Jumping back a ways, here’s Andre Dawson lookin’ MEAN on his ’96 Score card, probably because I posted that Classic Update earlier. This is another great card, and one I’d never seen. There was a small handful of ’96 Score in the box, too…

…but I can tell that Dutch wants me to get to the main event, and those of you reading this probably do as well, so here it is!

Yeah, a ’53 Bum! A creased-up ’53 Bum!

Hey…wait a second…

THE CREASES LINE UP PERFECTLY!

IT’S LIKE ONE OF THEM PUZZLE JOINTS!

WHAT INCREDIBLE SYNCHRONICITY!

 

Į̶̸̬̪̩͉̜͍͕̜̼̱̫̘̫̰̼͚͍̰̂̆̀̎ͫ̄͊ͭ̀̍ͬ̑ͭͨͧ͜ ̢̛͗͋̎̓͛̀͘͏̞̖͓̘̳̣̣ͅÇ̥̺͖͈̦̯̰̠̗͇͕̉ͧͩ̂͒A̐͐ͥ͐̾̈ͩ̚͢͏̕҉͉̤̩͓͈̱̥͉͚͖̣̪̪͓̙Ņ̴̵̷̗̙̪͈͕͔͍̫͇̭̟̘̘̬͔̞̼͇̰̅̂ͬͫ͗ͨͫ̽̚ ̥̺͇͙̪̠̬͚̲̮̣̠̹̖͒͑̒̄̾̇ͦ̔ͥ̄͒̅͡͡S̷̭͍̟̪̦̙͍̖̘͂̏̏̑͗ͤͨͨ̏̍͌̏̚͢͞Ę̫͕͉̬̱͚̠̰͕͍̥̮̰̯̻̝͖ͥͫ̊̐̓͛̒̿ͪ̀͢͜͞E̽̈́ͣ̍͏̟̟͉̠̳̦̣͕̟͙̺̹͈͕̻̫̖ ̵̷̸̤̙͓͔̗͙̰̗͂̓̔̊͘ͅF̧̛͈̳̖̬͍̘̙̦͚̣̙̼͙̤̙̹̹̦ͩ̃̀͑ͯ̈́ͬͧͫ̆̌ͮ̍̑ͣͬ̆̅͐̕͝O̸̘̘͙ͤͯ̑̆̿ͫ͂̅̀͒ͪ̓̀R̨̡̡͇̻͔͇͙̮̼͚̩͕̣͆̈́̇͐̍̔̓̊̍̎ͧ̕Ȩ̸̼̥̫͉̯̜̖̟̩̟̱̟̙̃̊ͪ̿̇̇̆ͤͤͩ̓́͝V̵̧͓̣̣̙̥̖̊ͦͩ́̀͜E̴̶̴̢̥̝̟͉̼̩̱͕͖̗̘ͧ̈́ͦͩ̽͆̋ͮͤͣͩ̇͑̓̉̕R̢ͫ̒̊̔̊̒̈̋ͬͪͥ́͗̑̚͡͞҉̴̝̯͙̗̣̳͖͖̟̜!̷̢̨͎̯̣̳̋ͪͦͪ̎͐̋̓̅͜ͅ!̧̙̝̤̜̗͍͕͖̬̯̣̲̣̭̆̒ͤ̽̊̋̑́̌͗͐ͯ̎͋̍ͦ́͠!̊͛̋͗̈ͩ͆̚҉̸̗̭̟̤!̶͚͈̰̳̳͉͉͕̝̮̤̫͔̯̲̅ͫ͌̌̈ͬ̏͆ͤͣ̀̇̕!̹͍̘͍̠͚̖̠̲̥̮̖̣̯̞̒́͆͋̇͋̄̾ͥ̂̂́̅ͪ͝ͅ!̸̵̲̖̳̺̖̣̗͌ͦ̂̈́͋ͭ̓̈́̋̿̇͘͡!ͭ̉ͨ̀҉̷̵̢̫̪̳͎̞̳̤̫̩̥͙̙̗̠̜͡!̨̛̱̟̙̲͈̭̖̲̙͎͍͕͖̫̠͛̃ͯ͐̈̑̅ͤ̈̇̒̄ͅ1̧̘̳͓̰͈͈̺̦ͧ̿̊̚ͅ1̸̨͓̗̪͍̼̦̩̤͉̒̉͒̀̄̓ͪ̾̈́ͧͦ̆͐ͮͪͪͩ̑1̡̐̊ͦͯ̉ͥ̓̆̀̃͂ͬ̏̾ͮͯ̔̌̚͝͏͏̱̺̜̟͎̗̯̜͉͔̹͓͔͇̱1̶̛̰͍̩̻͔͇͓͖̮̼̝̂ͦ̈́̆̇̎͛͆͒ͯ͋̄̍͐́̚̚̚1̟̺̞̺̙͍̗̤̜̗̬̲̥̮͑̓̊̈ͫ͐̓ͥ͗̾̐̔̾̃ͮ̓̇̾̑͘͝

 

(Thanks for the cards, Owl!)

2017 Donruss!

Finally had a chance to pick up a blaster of this stuff, which I’d been waiting for fairly eagerly since I saw the sell sheets. How’d I do?

Not too bad, I suppose.

If you’re seeing this year’s set for the first time: yeah, they riffed on 1990 Donruss baseball, which was…not many peoples’ favorite card design, but they managed to make it look solid just by making it not look red.

Just for a quick comparison, here’s Bernie Williams’ rookie from that set (sorry for the low-res pic, I just screenshotted it from Trading Card Database because all of my ’90s are upstairs). Now, by itself, it’s a fine looking card. Bernie being on it helps. But if you have to look at 716 of these, you’re probably not gonna be thrilled.

Anyway, Donruss changed their logo, added those diagonal stripes on the border, and rounded the corners of the pictures, but it’s a clear homage.

If this is the first time you’re seeing modern Donruss cards, you may be noticing that they don’t have logos or team names on them. They’re licensed by MLBPA, but not MLB. I will say that this seemed to limit their photography, or just the overall look of the base cards, a bunch this year, if only that it made the cards look kinda monochromatic.

It’s not as much of a problem in their 1983 Donruss homage inserts. The border colors help here. I wish the player name font had been a little more accurate…

(Also from TCDB, for quick comparison. Name lettering doesn’t look as…tense.)

…but otherwise, I’m more inclined to chase the 1983 inserts than I am the base set, after grabbing a blaster.

Some of that has to do with these cards, which are part of the base checklist, being seeded about 1 every 4 packs. There’s a reason why this set is selling for about $160 on eBay, and it’s because it’s very, very difficult to complete. By comparison, the 1983s, which are not part of the main checklist, come in at 2 per pack. After 7 packs, I’m over a quarter way through that set, and I’ve got 2 out of 45 from this part of the base set. It’s an old complaint with modern Donruss, they’ve been doing this every year since the brand relaunched in ’14, but this is the first time I’ve really looked at the numbers.

Then you throw in stuff like base variations (here, they’ve replaced Corey Seager’s name with “ROY” because he won Rookie of the Year), and it just gets to be a headache.

(This one’s already been traded to Night Owl.)

I did get some cool inserts, though. I mean, on a set like this, you can’t complain about these 3 names on numbered cards. Keeping the Altuve, the Trout’s definitely up for grabs (or going to COMC if it doesn’t go before I send out my next shipment), and I’m still deciding on the Machado (I don’t collect him, but it’s a nice looking parallel and it’s low-numbered).

They’re also seeding “hits” in every blaster this year (dunno if this is a new practice or not), and this is what I got. This is available for trade for the time being, too.

So, I’d say it wasn’t a waste of a blaster (or the money), but I wasn’t overwhelmed by it, either. I do like the Altuve card, and the base cards look good, but the short-prints at the front of the set checklist (unlike something like Topps Heritage, where they put them at the back where you can deny they exist) are a psychological deterrent to collecting this stuff seriously. It kinda does the opposite of what Panini wants it to do, I think. People want a run of 1-whatever, not 46-whatever, and they’re generally not willing to drop $3 a card to get there, especially without team logos.