Two of a Kind from EBAY

Some how I forgot I had a few dollars remaining on an EBAY gift certificate, so last week I went shopping.  I managed to find a couple variations of one of my favorite cards from 2024 Topps Archives.

The black and yellow foilboard cards are not tough to find, but it was nice to get both for less than $2 delivered apiece.  Usually I prefer action photos over poses, but there is something about the bat over the shoulder pose that I like.  After getting the red version a few weeks ago, I decided it would be fun to see how many of these I can track down.  Scott is my favorite current Cardinals player.  He reminds me a lot of Vince Coleman, my first player collection.  If he could somehow manage to hit .250 next year, 50 stolen bases should be very attainable.  This season he was 34 for 38 while hitting .216.  

2025 Lot

It is already December.  2025 has really flown by.  I guess when you get older time can get away from you a lot quicker.  Before the calendar turns to a new year, I hope to finish up some 2025 team sets.  A TCDB trade that arrived over the weekend helped me cross off a few cards.

This is the complete 2025 Topps Holiday team set.  Glad to get them all in one trade.

3 of the 5 Cardinals from Panini Crusade.  Some of the colored parallels look great this year.  

These 3 started my Prizm team set.  Only 9 more to go.

2025 Topps Chrome is almost done.  Only 1 more to go.  Seems like I have been working on this one for months.  Hope to get it done before Chrome Update comes out.

I was glad to see Topps used a different photo for Winn's 2025 All Star Game card.  Only 2 Cardinals in the 100 card set, Winn and Michael McGreevy.  The only insert in the package was this 2024 Archives yellow foilboard.

The final card was from 2021 Panini Chronicles.  There are too many brands to figure out how close I am to completing this set.

I was happy to add all these cards to my collection, but you may notice I did not name the member.  He waited until 3 days after he received his cards before mailing mine.  If he would have communicated with me, I would have been fine with a delay.  He also shipped all 16 cards in a single pwe.  If any of the cards arrived damaged, I would have left him negative feedback.  Instead I did not leave any, and added him to my no trade list.  

  

Card Show Recap

Saturday brought the final quarterly card show at the Effingham Events Center.  This show has been great the previous 3 times this year.  Close to 100 tables with a good mix of returning and new dealers each time.  A major positive is most tables are sports cards.  I believe there were only 2 that were exclusive Pokemon/gaming tables.  

I was able to spend close to 3 hours digging through a lot of value boxes.  I also had the fortune of meeting another Ray Lankford collector from TCDB.  It was great talking about our collections and finding out where some of the more rare cards are hiding.  I spent $59 on everything below.

These 6 cards were in a quarter box.  The dealer did not want to make change, so he only charged me $1.  I would have paid that alone for the 2017 Update Ozzie photo variation.  I also found a needed Arenado insert and some trade bait for a couple of good TCDB members.

Another dealer had 4 quarter boxes full of inserts and parallels.  I found these 4 Cardinals and Altuves cards my son and I needed.

I also pulled these 12 cards for trade bait.  Got a small deal on the lot, only paying $3 instead of $4.  Nice to get a discount without asking for it.

The next table had some boxes of $2 autographs and a few $1 cards.  Nothing big, but I was happy to get a Mautz autograph.  He was the Cardinals 2025 minor league pitcher of the year.

The next dealer was my favorite.  He had 4 tables full of quarter boxes sorted by team along with another box of assorted inserts.

I did well finding some nice Altuve and Cardinals we needed.

I also found a lot of trade bait for TCDB member and long time trading friend Ron B.  I was shocked to find the Konnor Griffin parallel in the quarter box.

After finding so many nice quarter cards, I spent $4 each on these 2025 parallels.  The team border cards look great.

My final purchase was from the Ray Lankford collector.  He did not have any Lankfords I needed for sale, but did have a nice selection of vintage Cardinals.

I believe this is the first graded card I have ever purchased.  It will most likely be broken free of the holder soon.  The corners are a little fuzzy, but overall it has no creases and looks great.  It was marked for $45, which I was willing to pay, but I got it for $30.  

  

10th New Lankford of 2025

I always get excited when I find a new  Ray Lankford card I need.  The majority of them have been recent Panini products.  While I do love adding them, especially the autographed cards, the thrill of marking an older card of my want list is unmatched.  Last week I won such a card on EBAY.

This is the 1997 Flair Showcase Row 0 Legacy Collection numbered to 100.  Beautiful looking card in person.  I bid on a copy a few years ago that went for close to $50.  This copy was a little more than Lankford's uniform number 16.  

This card completed my run of Legacy cards.  1997 featured Row 0, 1, and 2 all numbered to 100.

1998 had Row 0, 1, 2,  and 3 numbered to 100.

1999 changed things up with Row 1, 2, and 3 numbered to 99.  For some reason the Row 1 cards are numbered on the front.  

    

TCDB 2 for Tuesday #128

It has been 3 weeks since my last Tuesday post.  My trading has been very slow lately.  Lack of new trade bait has a lot to do with it.  Hopefully that will change in a week or two with a trip to a card show.  One of the better ones in my area is on the 22nd.  I plan to have 2-3 hours free that morning.  In the mean time, I will plug away with a couple of small trades.  First up is a two pack of cards from member guags.

It was great to see Winn win a gold glove last week.  Maybe next year he can make his first All Star team.

Stars of MLB is an insert I hope Topps discontinues next year.  Not much demand for these.  Even the bigger stars like Judge and Ohtani can be found in dime or quarter boxes.  

The second trade package came from member sgill08.

Slow trading equals slow progress on team sets, like 2025 Topps Chrome.  Maybe this one will get done before the new year.

I do not get very many Topps gold parallels in trades.  Always happy to mark one of the want list.

As a Cardinals fan, I feel obligated to chase after red parallels.  Good thing 2024 Stadium Club made a base version and not a refractor one.  Great photography and a color match background is hard to pass up.  

Birds for Birds

You would think from today's title post I traded some Cardinals duplicates to another Cardinals fan.  As much as I love to do that type of trade, my latest TCDB trade involved birds of a different type.  This time, I traded a handful of Orioles to member George1369 in exchange for a great package of 5 Cardinals.

What collector does not love Kellog's 3D cards?  This 1983 Hernandez completes my team set.  

Topps had decided to flood each brand with numerous parallels.  Heritage used to consist of a handful of inserts and some short prints.  Now you get countless cards like this 2025 Chrome Light Blue Sparkle Refractor.  Not a bad looking cards, but a red version would match the Cardinals uniform.

I was thrilled to add these Fox Sports Midwest oddballs to my collection.  To my best guess, these were issued starting in 1998 and concluding in 2023.  Some years more that one card was issued.  I first saw these cards at the 2012 Cardinals Winter Warm Up where the David Freese card was given out to anyone in attendance.  There are 27 cards in the set.  The 9 I still need are from 2008 and earlier.  

 

More EBAY Winnings

Four more EBAY envelopes arrived since my last post, each one costing me nothing other than a portion of my gift card.  It is almost like getting cards for free.

I am not sure why this 2014 Stadium Club Ozzie Smith was hard to find, but now I can cross it off my wantlist and mark the team set complete.

These 2 Heritage short prints finished my 2022 and 2016 team sets minus the image variations.  I have to draw the line somewhere.

I guess you can call this 2024 Archives red foil an EBAY 1/1.  It is numbered 50/50 on the back.  I love the color match with Scott's uniform.  For less than $5 delivered, I thought this was a steal.

  

EBAY Lot

I have had a $25 EBAY gift card since the beginning of August.  I was hoping a new Lankford would be listed that I needed, but no such luck.  Last week I decided to cash in on a few different auctions.  Of course once I spent the gift card, I found a Lankford I needed.  I have not bought it yet, hoping the price goes down.

The first auction win was a lot of 75 different Cardinals.  Most were base cards from the last 3 or 4 years.  I needed some of them, with the rest being set aside for trade bait or in person autographs.  There was also a handful of inserts included.

The main reason I bid on the lot was the Wetherholt chrome I needed.  I won the lot for about the price of what it goes for.  I also needed the Mathews chrome.

A couple more Chrome needs include a 2025 base and a 2024 A&G.  

I completed my 2025 Bowman team set for a second time with this Saggese card.  The first copy I had was used for an autograph.

It is crazy to see 2025 Topps Holiday cards already out.  I am still hunting parallels from 2024 like this great color match plaid parallel.

The last 3 needs feature a 2025 Pujols Donruss parallel, a 2024 Archives Contreras parallel, and a 2022 Topps X Arenado.  

  

TCDB 2 for Tuesday #127

Only 2 trades left on my desk to scan last night, so guess what you get to see today.  First up is a 3 pack of Cardinals from member Bigdaddymac25.  You would think with a name like that and both of us being Cardinals fans, a McGwire card or two would be involved in the trade, but not this time.

Instead we swapped cards of another former Cardinals first baseman.  

I also gained 2 new Molinas for the collection.  Soon Molina may over take Ozzie Smith for the 4th most cards in my collection.

The second trade package came from member yankee98.  

I love getting 1990s inserts that I have never seen before.  This Gant is from 1996 SP.

2022 Topps Japan Edition was another unnecessary set that was produced, but the team collector in me still goes after the Cardinals in the set.

Topps online exclusives like these 2021 Montgomery Club cards are pretty cool.  I love the Musial card.  I do not actively seek these out, but will gladly grab them for the right price.

  

9th New Lankford of 2025

Things have been slow lately adding to Ray Lankford cards to my collection.  To my knowledge he was not included in any 2025 Panini releases.  That leave my options very limited.  With most of my needs being low serial numbered, it is rare to find something online that I need.  I have branched out and added some variations like this card that arrived last week.

You have seen many 1998 Pinnacle base cards by now.  Not a bad looking card, plus it gives Lankford a nod for making the 1997 All Star team.

Flip the card over and you will se a difference.

The Home stats version is the last one I needed.  I am not sure when I discovered the variations on TCDB, but it was a few years ago.  I waited until I had an EBAY gift card to buy it.    

  

Large Ron B Package

I feel guilty for not showing off these great cards from Trading Bases member Ron B sooner.  This huge stack of cards has been on my desk for close to a month.  For some reason I scanned numerous smaller trades before getting to all these cards this past weekend.  I guess better late than never.  As usual, Ron included lots of goodies for me and my son.  

It has been awhile since my son added any Altuve cards to his collection.  Nice to add a small chunk at one time.  Ron is from the northeast, so he has great luck finding these in dime or quarter boxes.  There must not be too many Altuve fans in Yankee or Red Sox territory.

1997 Pacific silver parallels are a tough find.  Although not serial numbered, they have a print run of 67.  Great to add a tough parallel of a Hall of Famer.

The rest of the cards I split up into similar themes like the Topps parallels.  Gold, gold foil, spring training, and rainbow foil cards are included.

Various Heritage parallels from the last 2 years.  Gotta love the Winn red parallel.  He was announced as one of the gold glove finalist today.  Fingers crossed he gets his first one.

Assorted Chrome refractors from the last few years.   The Pages is numbered to 125.  The TCDB lists it as a blue/green lava lamp refractor.  

Some Bowman brand parallels including a yellow numbered to 75.

A handful of Topps parallels and inserts.  The Ramirez is numbered to 99.

These four did not fit a theme, just the last of the Topps cards. Carlson is numbered to 99.

Starting the Panini portion of the parallels.  The Wainwright Donruss Otpic blue velocity prizm is a sharp card.

The Panini rainbow includes carolina blue, white wave, blue artist proof, and a matrix parallel.

Finishing up with some Elite Extra Edition cards.  Status red, prime numbers, status green, and pink.