Is it Lunchtime?

I just got back from my lunch break.  What better time to highlight a pwe from TCDB member CubinSTLsets.  We made a small trade earlier this month where he could not find a card.  I told him not to worry about, but last week he sent it along with 3 others.

This 1981 Topps Squirt was the missing card.  I do not think I have ever drank a Squirt before.  Those citrus drinks are not my thing.  The color scheme makes me think more of Mellow Yellow.

I remember eating boxes of Mac n Cheese to get these cards on the back of the box.  I have seen this card hundreds of times, but never had one.  Now I do.  You can almost call this a Panini card with that glaring logoless cap.

These well loved Hostess cards are from 1976.  I love these vintage oddballs.  The design is rather simple, but I love the character of the blue uniforms.  Also check out Simmons locks and McBrides side burns.  The 1970s must have been a good time.

OPC From a PWE

I should be caught up with my trade recaps by the end of this week.  Being gone 3 days for the Cardinals WWU and posting the highlights has put me a little behind.  Today's package arrived late last week from TCDB member Halfnard.  Most of my trades of late have been of the pwe variety.  I have no problem with this.  Not sure how many I have done, but I have yet to receive any damaged cards.  Hope this does not spoil my good luck.  On with the cards.

These 1979 O Pee Chee cards are far from mint, but I knew that going into the trade.  Nothing wrong with a little character to the cards.

This actually the second 1995 Electric Diamond Tewksbury card I received last week.  When I proposed this trade to Halfnard, I forgot I was getting this in another deal.  If Kerry does not need it, it will go into the trade pile.

Alan Benes was far from a flame thrower despite what this 1996 Topps Laser card shows.  All the pitchers in this set have the same background.  The hitters feature a red base runner or black batter.  Fun little set, but I can imagine the die cuts edges being bent on some cards if they are kept loose. 

A Little Fire and Cards

Catching up with some trades that arrived last week, today's recap is a pwe from TCDB member Hittinaway. 

My son's 2019 Topps Fire set is coming along nicely.  Just 24 more until the 200 card set is finished, but he still has some big names like Acuna and Alonso to track down. 

The 2002 Topps 206 had a ton of Cardinals if you count all the variations.  29 to be exact.  I still need 8 of them.  The 2015 Bowman Chrome set was more manageable with only 8 Cardinals.  I just need #44 John Lackey to finish the team set.

Rounding out the package are a couple of inserts.  The 2006 SI Max Action has a nice shot of Edmonds making one of his many highlight catches.  It was always fun watching him play centerfield in his prime.  I sure hope Alex Reyes has a prime with the Cardinals.  He has been hurt the last 3 years.  He is still only 25, but time could be ticking away.  I look for him to be a reliever this year if healthy, then move into the rotation next year.   Fingers crossed.

Catching Up with 2019 Inserts

It is crazy to think 2020 Topps Series 1 will be out next week.  If you are lucky, maybe you will find some blasters at your local Target or Wal-Mart earlier than the Feb. 5 release date.  I do not have any plans to buy any right now, but if I can find a team break with the Cardinals available, I may join.  Otherwise I will rely on trades to obtain the Cardinals base cards.

Even though 2020 cards are almost here, I am still tracking down a bunch of Cardinals from 2019.  I am making good progress with most of the base cards, but can still use a lot of the cheap Topps inserts and parallels.  Last week a trade with TCDB member Coleman23 brought a nice stack of them my way.

I was glad the Cardinals did not resign Ozuna.  I would rather them gain a draft pick, save $18 million, and let Tyler O'Neill and Lane Thomas play,  Ozuna may have a monster year in Atlanta, but I think the young guys will do ok in St. Louis.

I hope Topps cuts back on the number of parallels.  Rainbow foil and gold are fine, but did we really need a 150th set last year? 

I found the Greatest Seasons and Greatest Players inserts confusing.  Are they from the same set?  If so, why is numbering different?  I do like the All Stars set from Topps Update.  The red, white, and blue color scheme usually looks good on any card.  The Mikolas is the lone 2018 card from the package.  Hard to tell, but it is a Metallic parallel.

I also like the Iconic Reprints from Update.  Doubt I will ever own the original cards, so these will have to do.

Unlike the 2018 set, I have very few parallels from 2019 Big League.  I will have to do a better job of looking out for these.  Although it is a budget brand, I have liked all the Big League designs.

Back to the Bench

I usually do not post on the weekends, but I have a huge stack of trades that I need to recap before I file the cards away.  The first came last weekend while I was at Cardinals WWU.  It was a trade with The Bench member Polar Bear 67.  I traded him a handful of Blue Jay autos in exchange for 2 nice Cardinals.

This is my 8th game used card of Wainwright.  The patches are not the most exciting, but it is my first quad piece and first from Topps Museum.  Very well made card that is super thick.

This is also my 8th Kolten Wong autograph.  This is from 2015 GQ set.  Nice looking on card auto.  I think I have finally figured out how to get my scanner to work properly with my new laptop.  I hope I will no longer show cards with the top border cut off.

Cardinals Hall of Fame Musuem

If you read any of my posts this week about the Cardinals Winter Warm Up, you will recall the presentations hosted by the Cardinals Hall of Museum. The first 50 people received a mystery bobblehead from the previous years.  I never did score the Branch Rickey I was hoping for, but did come away with 7 bobbleheads to trade or sell.

A few weeks ago I renewed my family membership.  The Museum posted a special on their Facebook page on January 7th, national bobblehead day.  In addition to the 2 new bobbleheads given out in 2019, I also received a third bobblehead.  I chose a Dizzy Dean that I already sold for $40.  The 2 new bobbleheads are only available with a membership.  They were not given away at the WWU.
 

I will be the first to admit that I cannot stand Tim McCarver as an announcer.  Never liked him on Fox, hate it even more when he does games for the Cardinals regional network.  He did  however play on 2 World Series Championship teams in 1964 and 1967.  He was later part of the famous trade that helped start free agency.  McCarver and Curt Flood were the main players headed to Philadelphia in exchange for Dick Allen. 

Pepper Martin was a member of the Gas House Gang teams of the 1930s.  This bobblehead plays a small musical clip.  I find it corny and cool at the same time.  Martin was the leader of a group of players who formed a band know as the Marvelous Mississippi Mudcats Band.  I am not sure if they played anywhere in public, but would play all the time in the clubhouse after a Cardinals win.

If you would like more information about the Museum, check out this link.   If you are ever in St. Louis, I highly recommend a visit.  It is right across the street from Busch Stadium.  It is a great way to kill a few hours.     

Cardinals Winter Warm Up Day 3

Monday brought the third and final day of WWU 2020.  Unlike the first 2 days that run from 9-5, Monday is a little shorter with hours 9-3.  Right away we had 3 autographs to get from 9-10.  First up was Matt Carpenter.

Much like the DeJong ball, this one turned out great.  I always try to bring my own pens and sharpies instead of using the ones supplied.  By Monday they could get dried out.  The Bic Cystyal really stands out for baseballs.

Next up was a player that I have never received an auto from.

Mike Tyson played for Cardinals during the 1972-1979.  He was not much of a hitter, but did play a decent second base.  I was lucky to have doubles of both his 1976 and 1979 Topps.  The 1976 is now my oldest autographed card. 

Our third autograph in the first hour was former outfielder Bernard Gilkey.

He signed a few years ago at WWU, but I failed to prep the card.  These look so much better.  After getting the 3 autographs, my son and I meet up with a collector from a Facebook group to trade one of the Rogers Hornsby bobbleheads I received on Saturday.

 

The Cardinals have made a ton of Molina bobbleheads.  This one was a stadium giveaway in 2015.  After the exchange, we went down to the vendor area.  While we were waiting in the Carpenter autograph line, a very generous couple gave us a free autograph ticket for someone signing after at 1:00. I had a ticket for this player already, so I needed to find another item to get signed.  I will show that in a bit.  I did find a vendor with a 11x14 picture I had never seen before.

This photo shows the Cardinals outfielders from the 1993 and 1994 seasons.  Ray Lankford, Bernard Gilkey, Brian Jordan, and Mark Whiten all shared time during those years.  Wish I had found this the day before.  I would have had Gilkey sign it.  It will be a project for the future.

We also stopped by the Peoria Chiefs booth.  I have known the Chiefs GM for a few years dating back to when he was a ticket rep for the Memphis Redbirds.  We had a nice chat about the upcoming 2020 season.  I did buy a bobblehead while there.

This Gorman bobblehead was given out to the first 1,000 fans in Peoria on May 17, 2019.  I heard the lines that night were pretty crazy to get one.  The Chiefs always have some extras made to sell or give away as ticket incentives.  I have seen these sell for $30 and over on EBAY.  I gave $15 for this one.  

After a quick lunch, we went  back to the autograph area for the last time to get our final 3 players.  First up was Ken Dayley.

Dayley signs at almost every WWU.  I have gotten him before, but William from Foul Bunt needed a 1987 Topps for his set.  This one turned out pretty nice.

The next signer was also someone I had gotten from a previous WWU.

Mathews pitched for the Cardinals from 1995-1997.  He was traded to Oakland in the Mark McGwire deal.  Just like the Andy Benes card from Day 1, the Finest card looks great.  

Our last signer was Kolten Wong.

He won his first Gold Glove award in 2019.  I had brought this ball with me, but did not have anything to use for the free ticket we received earlier in the day.  I was hoping one of the vendors had a mini gold glove, but no luck.  My son picked out a nice 8x10 from the same vendor I bought the 11x14 from.

I bought a holder for this so my son can display it in his room.  And that wraps up WWU 2020.  We had a great time getting 28 autographs and 7 free bobbleheads.  The crowd was about the same as previous years, maybe a bit larger.  I will note that the players were very friendly this year.  Even the current players were very nice.  Not that they were not in previous years, but this year a lot of them thanked us for coming, shook hands, or just said hi, how are you doing.  Some years it is just a rush to get through the line that they do not even have time to say anything.