12th New Lankford of 2024 Completes a Rainbow

One of the many things I have accomplished in my collecting career is to collect a complete rainbow of a card.  That is not an easy task considering both Topps and Panini cranks out 20 plus different versions of a given card.  Shiny cards, colored cards, Easter bunny cards, short prints, the list can go on and on.  I have never actively pursued a player rainbow until this year.  I never dreamed it would be an autograph set.

Up until this year, I have never owned a Panini Flawless card.  Thanks to the inclusion of Ray Lankford, that changed.  He was included in the Signature and Achievements sets.  I slowly went after any I could find.  Last week I found the last version of the 6 Signature cards.

I managed to track down the 3 versions numbered lower than this one first.  Funny how that works sometimes.

The complete rainbow includes the Platinum 1/1, the Emerald /5, the Gold /10, the Sapphire /15, the Ruby /20, and the base version /25.  

Indy Card Show

This past Saturday, my son and I spent the day in Indianapolis.  We had 3 stops to make: a card show, a car dealership, and an Indians baseball game.  We had success at all 3 locations.  The card show had a great variety of cards that I will show in a bit.  I purchased a used Chevy Colorado at the car dealership that I have been eyeing for a few weeks.  Lastly, we attended autograph night at the Indians game and obtained over 30 signatures of Pirate prospects for my trading friend Ron B.  

The card show was held at an American Legion.  We attended this show before COVID-19 hit, but not since.  This show had 60 tables featuring a nice mix of vintage and current cards.  We spent $46 over the 2 hours we were there.

Our first purchase included these 4 vintage cards for $25.  I was thrilled with these 4 cards.   The 1963 Topps Batting Leaders card features 3 Hall of Famers, including Stan Musial.  The 1972 Rick  Wise is a high number short print.  The 2 1969 Topps Bob Gibson cards completed my team set.  All of them are in great condition.  Not mint, but not beaters either.    

Our next stop was a table with 1 monster box of dime cards.  We pulled $2 worth.

Not very many Cardinals to be found.  This is my first look at 2023 Cosmic Chrome.  

Some cheap trade bait including more Cosmic Chrome and 2023 Topps Flagship.

Our third stop was another vintage table where the dealer was using a 2017 Beckett price guide.  Very friendly gentleman, but I had my doubts about the price he would quote for these 2 Cardinals.

Beckett value for this 1964 Maxvill and 1965 Gagliano high number was $21.  I paid $8, which I thought was a good buy considering both are close to mint.

The dealer around the corner also had a couple of vintage boxes.  This 1971 high number was marked at $7, but I got it for $5.  My scanner cut off the left and bottom sides.  It does have a fuzzy corner, but overall in good shape.

Our last stop was a table with multiple quarter and fifty-cent boxes.  We only had enough time to go through the quarter boxes.  We spent $6 with this dealer.

I really wish the boxes were sorted by sport.  We would have spent more money with the dealer.  We did find some nice Cardinals.

We were 1 for 2 on Altuve cards, as the Prizm card was a duplicate.

Also pulled a few cards for trade bait including 2 2024 Big League short prints.  Overall the show was great.  On June 8 the same promoters will be putting on the Midwest Monster in Indy with over 400 tables.  Not sure if we can make it, but sure going to try.

    

11th New Lankford of 2024

It has been almost a month since I obtained a new Ray Lankford card.  To my knowledge, Panini has not included him in any 2024 releases, so I am left to track down the few 2023 cards I do not have along with the rare older card that I need.  One of the 2023 cards was listed on EBAY with a best offer that I took advantage of last week.

This is my third version of the Achievements auto.  Hard to turn down an autograph of your favorite player for less than $20 delivered.

TCDB 2 for Tuesday #79

I only received 2 trades last week from TCDB, but that is enough for today's 2 for Tuesday post.  Not many cards to show off, but some nice ones nonetheless. First trade package came from member David657. 

I received 2 more cards in the trade that I used for autographing already, so you just get to see these 2.  The 1996 Bowman Foil Gant looks much better in person, as the early foil Topps used on Bowman cards does not scan well at all.

The second trade came from member expander.  

My 2024 Heritage team set is down to needing 3 short prints and 1 base card for completion.  I may actually finish a Heritage set before the following year's set comes out. 

It is nice to add a couple of current year parallels to the collection.  Walmart is the only retail store near my home, so I see very few of the yellow parallels.

I thought for sure my son had this 2023 A&G Altuve base card, but I was wrong.  Funny how some common cards can be missing from your collection.

  

Large Package from Ron B

I will not have a 2 for Tuesday post today because I only have 1 TCDB trade to show off right now. Things have been a little slow on the trading front for me.  Lack of time and new trading material are the 2 main factors.  That should change with the end of my son's baseball season this week, and a trip to a card show this Saturday.

I do have a lot of cards to show off, though, thanks to a great package I received this weekend from trading friend Ron B.  He has been accumulating a stack of cards for a couple of months that included a great mix for my son and me.

Starting things off with 2 inserts from 2024 Topps.  Arenado hit his 3rd home run of the season last night.  Maybe he can get on a hot streak and tempt me to redeem this code.

Goldschmidt finally broke an 0 for 30 something drought over the weekend.  It's hard to believe the 2022 NL MVP has fallen off so quickly.  Maybe he can get things turned around with the warmer weather.

More Arenado and Goldschmidt from 2024 along with a Winn RC.  The Arenado is a short print.

Carlson is also hitless in over 30 at bats dating back to last season.  Sooner or later the hits have to come.  Edman is still on the DL after wrist surgery last fall.  I have not heard of a return date for him, but it sounds like it will still be a while.

Some recent Topps parallels and inserts.  This is my first All Aces insert.  Love the design.

2 yellow parallels from 2020 Topps Update.  Remember not so long ago when the Cardinals first basemen were studs?

The shiny portion of the trade included 2 inserts and 2 older refractors.  Walker is currently in Triple-A, trying to revamp his swing again.  At some point, the team needs to leave him alone and see what happens.  Just let the kid relax and play.

4 inserts, all numbered to less than 100.  The Liberatore numbered 1/75 is my favorite.

Plenty of colored Panini products were included.  The Holo Red cards go well with the Cardinals' uniform.

My son also received 6 new Altuve cards, but he already has them put away in his binders.  Hard to keep a teenager away from his cards.       

  

  

  
    

  

TCDB 2 for Tuesday #78

Today's 2 for Tuesday will be a little different than previous posts.  I have 1 good trade to show off, and 1 not so good.  First the good trade with member rencherg.

The 3 pack of Cardinals included 2 prospects and a nice addition to my gold parallel chase from 2001 Ultra.  I have a chance to meet Ankiel in early August at a charity game.  Fingers crossed I get to meet him for the first time.  

The second trade came from member Toomy.  I should have known better than to agree to a trade with a member who only had 12 positive feedback.  The trade value was $10-15 in value, so I would not be out of much if something did go wrong.  2 months after he received his cards, I still had nothing and zero communication from him.  The same day I mark the trade as a problem, he finally send me a message saying things happened and he would be mailing out my end with some extras.  A little over a month later, my cards arrived a couple of days ago.

The original deal was for these 2023 Bowman Draft cards.  I received 2 copies of each except the Mejia.  I plan to get them signed when the players come through Peoria.

These are the extra cards he included. I needed the Molina but not the other 2. I changed his feedback from negative to neutral. He did complete our agreed-upon trade, just very late and with little communication.  I realize life does get in the way of this hobby sometimes, but it only takes a few minutes to drop a message and explain what is going on.    

  
  

Never Seen These Before

One of my favorite features of TCDB is the ability to search a member's trade list by team.  I always check my trade matches daily, then click the trade matching link to see if a deal can be worked out.  If the other member does not have any cards for me, I still check their trade list because there are a ton of Cardinals I do not have on my want list.  Plus there are plenty of cards I do not know even exist.  A recent trade with member EdTheStatMan gained me some new discoveries.  

These 2005 Topps First Year Draft cards were included in factory sets.  The 10 card set features these 3 Cardinals.  

TCMA put out a Cardinals All Time team set in 1983 featuring 12 players.  The Gibson card looks familiar, but I have never seen any of the other 11 cards.  

The Steve Carlton card is another one I have never seen before.  The 1996 All Star game was played in Philadelphi.  There are 5 cards in the set, one each produced by Topps, Fleer, Donruss, Upper Deck, and Pinnalce.  The other 4 cards show Lefty in a Phillies uniform.  I am not sure how these were given out, but it is a cool set regardless.  The Tudor card is a 1988 Drake card.  I have other Drake cards, but not from this set.  The one card from this trade that I have heard of was the 1989 Star Becker.  Star put out some boring minor league sets, but they are still Cadinals so I will take them when I find them.    

       

Fun at the Card Show

It was a baseball-themed weekend for my son and me.  I posted about our Sunday trip to a Peoria Chiefs game already.  Saturday we were able to make it to a 150 table card show a little over an hour away.  Hard to pass up a big show that close to home with only $1 admission.  We arrived a few minutes after the doors opened at 9:00.  There was a good-sized crowd already roaming the floor.  

Our plan of attack was to hit up bargain boxes on the initial walkaround and stop at some vintage tables as time allowed. We had about two hours to kill before we needed to leave. About halfway through, we abandoned that plan to save some time.  We ended up buying cards from 6 different dealers.

Our first buy was $2 worth of quarter cards highlighted by these 2023 Big League short prints.  These are not as difficult to find as Heritage sp's but do have some good value for a quarter, especially the Votto.

The next dealer had mostly basketball with a small box of modern baseball.  Nothing was priced, but he said he was looking to get out of baseball so he would give us a good deal.  This lot cost $4.  I already have the Graceffo auto, but I am sure another Cardinals fan will give it a good home.  

We only found 1 dime box dealer that contained inserts.  We spent $2 at his table.  I found 4 Cardinals I thought I needed.  The McGwire ended up being a duplicate.

I pulled some nice trade bait, including some Topps Gold cards, a couple of mojo refractors, and some colored parallels.  

My first vintage buy was this 1968 Topps Lou Brock for $10.  I was a little shocked to hand the dealer a $20 bill, and him not have change.  He put the card back until I returned with the exact change.  I hope he did not do business like that all day.  

This 1962 Topps Flood was marked $10, but the dealer sold it for $8.  I love it when I get a discount without asking.  My scanner cut off the bottom of the card.  It has a minor stain on the back, but overall is in great shape.

My final buy was these 2 1968 Topps for $80.  A little of an overpay, but these are in great condition.  I do not grade cards, but would guess they would be at least a 7.  The dealer had them marked $100, but came down.  Thrilled to mark off a couple of big ones from this team set.  

We barely managed to see all the tables in the 2 hours we were there.  I believe there will be another show in the fall at the same location.  I will make sure to allow more time at that one.