Time to Fly

Happy Opening Day Everyone!  The Cardinals are set to start in about 30 minutes against the Brewers.  Should be a fun 4 game series to open the season against the defending Central Division champs.  The Cardinals slogan for this year is Time to Fly.  It is all over their website and pocket schedules.  My son and I like it and hope St. Louis will sore to the playoffs this year after a 3 year drought.  What better way to celebrate Opening Day that highlighting a Cardinals package from TCDB member jimetal7212.

 

Mikolas gets the starting nod today after a great 2018 All-Star season.  I hope he can repeat the success for another 5 years to justify his new contract extension.  Ankiel had to put his comeback attempt on hold due to an injury, but hopes to return sometime this year as a reliever.  I am pulling for him, but have my doubts.

Martinez also signed an extension this year, but only a 2 year deal worth $3.25 million.  Assuming Dexter Fowler slumps again (which I think he will), Martinez should get plenty of at bats.  I would think Hicks will get an extension later this year if he repeats his success from last year.  The Cardinals have a pattern of extending young players a year or two after their debut.

Matt Carpenter is returning to third base this year.  I hope Goldschmidt is great at digging bad throws.  I don't look for Carp to repeat his home run total, but you never know.  It is still weird for me seeing Carlton in a Cardinals uniform.  Growing up in the 1980s  I always think of him as a Phillie.

Heritage Flashbacks are good about featuring short term Cardinals.  Both of these guys played big roles for the 1967 World Champions team.  Cepeda even won the MVP award that year.

The 2004 Bowman Gold Rolen is a thick card.  These have a lot of chipping issues due to the black border.  The Ozzie is more my style.  This is from the 1987 Fleer Baseball All Stars box set.

Before Toys R Us was making purple Topps parallels, they cranked out some rookie sets in 1991.  Zeile and Jose were the Cardinals included in the 33 card set.  The Cardinals of the early 1990s featured some good young position players on some bad teams.  These 2 were long gone by the time the Cardinals returned to the playoffs in 1996.         

Canadian Trade

My trading with Canadian collectors has seen an uptick this year.  I once thought it was too expensive to ship up north, but using Paypal I can send 25-30 cards in a bubble mailer for less than $4.  The big key is to keep the package thickness to less than 3/4 of an inch.  The mailing time has ranged from 10-14 days.  Earlier this week I received a PWE from TCDB member sandyrusty that hit some team sets that have not seen much action in a long time.

This 1972 Topps is not gem mint, but I do not mind at all.  As long as there are no major creases, I am happy.  One of my yearly goals is to complete a 1970s team set.  I need 8 more to complete this one.  Quite a few short prints will be tough to find for a decent price though.

Canadians seem to have a good supply of O-PEE-CHEE cards.  The McGee rookie is the highlight of these 1983 cards.  I need just 5 more to complete this team set of 17.

I did finish my 1995 Select set with the Brian Barber card.  The Zeile is a 1995 Stadium Club parallel.  I need 2 more to finish that one.

I am one of the weird guys who considers a checklist part of the team set.  It is a good way to double check what I have and what I need.  This was the last 1994 Flair card that I needed.  Too bad there is a Cub pictured on the card.  

A Golden, Cheesy, and Fleer Kind of Trade

That title is not the greatest, but I was having a hard timing trying to describe my latest trade package from TCDB member Sportzcommish.  Once you see the cards, you will understand.
 

While Topps would only give you a gold border, Score went all out and did the entire card.  These 1994 Gold Rush cards do not scan well at all.  They are not that dark in person.  I love a card that shows a ball in flight like the Arocha one.

I am not for certain how the 1993 Kraft cards were distributed.  I have never heard of cards being included in cheese packages, but I was not an active cheese buyer in 1993.  I guess the pull tab makes this a pop up card.  Not a bad design for a food company.

John Tudor does not look very happy about having his picture taken.  Maybe he was in shock that Fleer included him in so many box sets in the late 1980s.  Todd Worrell on the other hand could not be more happy.

The only normal card in the package was a 2018 Update Salute Flaherty.  I wonder if Topps will airbrush his new #22 on any old photos for 2019.  I hope they are not that lazy.     

 

Marc Remembered I Collect Lankford

In my collecting world, there is nothing better than receiving a new Ray Lankford card.  Last year it only happened 3 times, all through EBAY purchases.  It has been forever since I received one in trade.  Last week I was searching the TCDB for some trade matches and came across a card I did not know existed.  What was even better was that Marc from Remember the Astrodome was the member who had the card.  We were able to work out a small Astros for Cardinals trade that brought me my second new Lankford this year.

This may appear to be a normal 1996 Stadium Club card, but it is actually the silver foil version issued in cereal box factory sets.  Not the flashiest of cards, but I will certainly take it.

Marc filled a PWE with some other Cardinals set needs.  These 3 1991 Swell cards finished my team set.  I don't mean to knock a MLB player, but Reitz is not one of the first Cardinals I think of as a Baseball Great.  Swell must use other criteria .

The Chrome Ozuna finished my 2018 Update team set.  I still need Flaherty to finish the 2018 Topps Fire set.  I hope Ozuna has a big year hitting behind Goldschmidt this year.  If he is fully recovered from a bad shoulder, he should return to 30 home runs and 100 rbis.

Another member of the outfield mix is O'Neill.  He made the opening day roster as a reserve.  If Dexter Fowler is his 2018 self, O'Neill should see a ton of playing time.  Lots of power, but lots of strike outs.

It was nice to put the 1997 Topps team set to bed.  At one time I used a website to make my team lists that did not include multiple player cards.  TCDB helped to fill a few holes in my collection because of this.  
 

Ron Starts My Heritage and Donruss Sets

My second March package from Trading Bases Ron B.  arrived Tuesday.  As usual it was overflowing with all sorts of Cardinals goodies.

My first 2019 Donruss cards include the Yadi and Mikolas variations.  I am not a huge fan of the design.  It is simple enough, but I do not like the large triangle cut out on the 2 corners.  I also do not care for the blurry backgrounds.

I also got a very good start on my 2019 Heritage team set including a Dejong short print.  This one will take a while to complete as there are 6 more Cardinals short prints.  Thanks Topps

Ron sent some sweet Heritage Chrome cards with the being purple and the Hicks refractor numbered to 570.  Not sure why the top of the Hicks card looks brown.

 One great thing about Opening Day is the mascot cards.  If you want to see something crazy, look up some of prices of completed auctions for the autographed versions.  Tough to give up $20 or more for an autograph of a guy in a costume when you can get a Hall of Famer like Brock or Gibson for less than that.  Supply and demand I guess.

Another trade, another Yadi Optic extra.  I did need the 2014 Heritage Chrome numbered to 999. 

For the 2001 season, Pujols played outfield while McGwire was the first baseman.  I remember after a month or so Pujols could not throw very well, so the cut off man would go out in shallow left field to receive his throw.  These 2 cards are part of the 2002-2003 Upper Deck Superstars set.  I do not like sets that mix different sports together. 

The final 3 cards have nothing in common other than being cool additions to my collection.  The 1975 mini Hrabsoky is in great shape, almost gem mint.  Helsley should be getting more cards later this year.  He will start in Triple A, but I would guess he will be in the Cardinals bullpen before the season is over.  Brock and Merrifield are tied together for playing in Missouri and stealing bases.  Whit has a way to go though before matching Brock's numbers.  

2 More Bench Trades

Continuing with the trades I received from Bench members earlier this week, the first card came from member David K.

David is one of the most generous traders you will come across.  All he wanted in exchange for this nice Gibson jersey card were 3 2019 Cactus League inserts.  Great deal on my end.

The next lot of cards came from member oriolefan1.  As you can guess, I sent him a few O's cards for some Cardinals.

 

Another 2019 Topps Gold Cardinals came home, along with my first Greatest Moments card.  Wish Topps would have used a side shot of Brock so you could see his face.

I do not find very many Honus Bonus cards for trade.  The 2017 set has quite a few Cardinals that I still need along with Silver Logo parallels like the Wong.

Shiny blue Optic looks almost as nice as Bowman Blue refractors.  This 2018 card is numbered to 149.

This is my first 2018 Gallery Canvas card.  Usually I dig the wood border, but the cartoonish looking Hicks  just does not make the card look very good.  Give me a nice photograph any day.

Seeing Pink and Yadi

Yesterday's mail brought 3 trade packages, all from members of The Bench trading group.  Today I will highlight the cards from member jmboehm33.

 

My 2018 Pink Refractor set is coming along nicely.  The Yadi and Ozuna are my first from the Update set.

More Yadi cards are always good.  The 2018 Select is actually a double if anyone needs it.  Pinnacle does make nice use of the cather poses for obvious reasons.

The other trader included 2 copies of this 2018 Press Proof card #ed to 299.  One of these is up for trade also.   

First EBAY win of 2019 and a PWE

Here it is almost baseball season and I just won my first EBAY auction.  I do surf auctions almost every day, but I rarely bid unless I find a Ray Lankford card I need or a nice Cardinals card/lot cheap.  Last week I found an autograph for less than $5 shipped featuring a player I did not have in my collection yet.

Roberts was the 43rd pick in last year's draft.  He did pitch in a handful of minor league games last year, but will have to sit out the first 50 this year due to a drug suspension.  Although it was not PEDs, cannabis is not something players should be smoking either.  Hope this is not a sign of things to come for him.

The same day I also received a PWE from TCDB member Godzilla8you (love the username). 

I like how Topps shows the grip some pitchers use.  These 2019 gold cards are my 3rd and 4th for the team set.  Just maybe this will be the year to complete one.

I am not a huge fan of the 150th cards, but it is nice to have cards of a player with only a few.  Not sure where Martinez will get his at bats this year other than a pinch hitter unless someone gets injured.  I pray that it will not be Goldschmidt.

The final card was a 1998 Upper Deck Special F/X Alan Benes.  Nice looking cards, but why couldn't these have been used for the base set.   

Classic Oz

My latest PWE trade envelope arrived yesterday from TCDB member twinscollector34.  As you can guess, I traded a handful of Twins for a handful of Cardinals.

Great start to this package with 3 oddball Ozzies.  Funny how the 1992 US Playing Card has logos, but the 1988 Nestle does not.  I guess Nestle was too cheap to pay for the license.  The 1990 Topps Big card completed my team set.  Ozzie does not look like his usual self without the beard.

I never opened any packs of Classic cards as a kid.  I cannot say I ever recall seeing packs though.  These 3 are from the 1993 Classic Game set.  These were part of a trivia board game.

The Score Gold Rush cards do not scan as well as the Topps counterpart.  Photography has came a long way since 1994.  If that was a 2019 card, you could most likely see the stitches on the ball rather than the white blob.
   

Kiddie Trade

This post has nothing to do with Jason Kidd.  For a year or two back in the early 1990s I bought a few basketball card packs, but soon realized my budget would only fit one sport.  That was the end of my 2 sport collecting days.  Anyway, a trade package from TCDB member Trinitydawg22 arrived yesterday that took me back to my younger days.  Nothing flashy at all about the cards, just some fun things to collect.

What kid doesn't love stickers.  Stickers that feature baseball players are even better.  These 3 are from the 1987 Topps Stickers set.  I have an old Red Foley sticker book somewhere in my collection, but have never owned any Topps albums.  I keep thinking one of these days I will buy one for my son, but have yet to do so.  Maybe this is the year.

The 1992 Topps Kids set is rather small with only 130 cards.  What it lacks in quantity, it makes up for in creativity.  I do not recall seeing a set with cartoons in the background.  There were 6 Cardinals in the set.  I still need the Ozzie Smith card to complete it.

Nothing to kiddie about these 1991 Topps Tiffany cards.  Just simple cards without a great deal of value that are fun to chase down.

The only thing kiddie about this 2018 Heritage insert is that Carlos Martinez acts like a kid sometimes.  Whether he is stacking cups in the dugout, or throwing water in a someone's face after they hit a home run, he keeps things playful in the dugout.  Not always a good thing, but I am guessing it is welcome change to keep things playful during the grind of a 162 game season.    

2 TCDB Trades

No catchy titles or introductions today.  Just highlighting a couple of trades that came in yesterday.  First came from TCDB member BobbyL.

All five of the 2016 Draft Chrome I needed came in a PWE.  Hudson is the highlight of the group.  I have the autographed version and also got this card autographed in person.  Not sure if he will be on the opening day roster, but he should get plenty of time in the Majors this year knowing how the Cardinals always seem to have 3 or 4 pitchers injured at any given time.

Next trade came from TCDB member pjdionne12.  He is one of my favorite trading partners on the site.  He also has a ton of cards I can use.  In addition to the cards below, he also sent a nice stack of trade bait and some Altuves for my son.

It has been awhile since I received any late 1980s oddballs.  These 1988 Fleer MVP cards fit the bill nicely.

I swore I had this 2018 Update Will Clark card, but I guess I had just seen it a million times.  I am always on the look out for gold parallels.  Hope Leone can stay healthy this year and be a key piece to the Cardinals bullpen puzzle.

I have plenty of Blue Chip cards from 2018 Topps Fire, but this is my first Flame parallel.  Sweet looking card.

After not getting in any game used cards in a few months, this is my second in as many weeks.  Leaf always did a good job with the Fabric of the Game cards.  Edmonds has a ton of game used cards out there.  This is my 8th jersey card of him.