This Break Was A Loss

I have had pretty good luck with the recent box breaks I have joined.  The last 2 have yielded autographs and some nice inserts.  My most recent break ended up a lot different.  I purchased a spot for a hobby box of 2021 Bowman Chrome on The Bench for $20.  I picked the Cardinals and Brewers.  I was not expecting a lot out of a box with just 60 cards in it, but I have been on a nice streak so I joined.  I should have saved my money.

I ended up with 2 of the 4 Cardinals base cards.  That was it for the men in red.

I also received 2 Brewers base cards.  

My lone inset was this Mitchell card.  And that is what $20 got me this time.  Long story short, you win some and you lose some.  I lost this one big.

  

Golden Stars

I have never bought a factory set.  If I wanted a complete set, I would much rather have the enjoyment of building it by hand.  I know that is not as economical, but it is a lot more fun.  If you go the factory set route, you do have a few options of where to buy.  Target, Walmart, and Topps website are the main options.  Up until a year or two ago they were all the same.  Now you can get different borders and/or extra rookie variations depending on where you buy your set.  I do not actively seek out these cards, but if they are available in a trade, I will gladly take them.  TCDB user Luckyday busted a set this year that produced the gold star bordered cards.  I believe this set came from Walmart.  He traded me 20 of the 21 Cardinals in the set.  He wanted to keep the Dylan Carlson card.

I will not bore you with all the cards, just a few highlights.

Wainwright won his 17th game of the year Tuesday night for the Cardinals 17th straight win.  They also clinched the second wild card.  Molina must have really been hurting to not start along side him.  Wainwright has not singed a contract yet for next year, but is should be coming shortly after the season is over.  Fingers crossed the 2 of them will be able to break the all time record for games started by battery mates.

2 big reasons for the Cardinals win streak has been the play of the outfielders.  Both of these guys have been on fire.  It is crazy to see what some of O'Neill's cards are going for right now on EBAY.  If they keep going up, I may be tempted to sell some.  

The first 2 batters in the Cardinals lineup have also produced during the last month.  I would guess they will get some days off before the end of the season in order to rest up for the wild card game on Wednesday.  

    

#500

I have hit a couple of milestones recently on TCDB.  I passed 15,000 points last week.  This was done mostly by submitting card scans or checklists.   I also reached 500 trades thanks to a pwe from member nwcardsupplies.  Since I joined in January 2017, that is about 2 trades per week.  It has been a fun ride that I hope continues.  Here is what #500 brought me.

It is a new week and my trend of Topps Gold cards continues.  These 2 are from the 2005 Update set.  

The package contained a third numbered card with this 2013 Opening Day Blue parallel.  These cards look so great in hand that you would not think Topps would put them in a low budget brand.  Glad they did.

This 2018 Rainbow Foil card almost scanned like a chrome card.  I always like a card that shows the Busch Stadium outfield wall behind it.  It will need updated now that Ted Simmons had his number retired.

Edmonds has an outside change to have his #15 added to the wall.  He is already a member of the team's Hall of Fame.  Despite the lack of a background, this 2001 Leaf Limited is pretty sweet.  The red and blue works well with the Cardinals uniform and batting helmet.

Finishing up with a nice oddball from the 1995 Bicycle Aces set.  Jefferies was the only Cardinal in this set.  Looking at the checklist I thought it was weird Barry Bonds had 2 different cards in the small 52 card set, but more popular players like Griffey Jr. and Frank Thomas only had 1.   

   

Worth the Wait

Usually when a trade package is delayed, your first thought is the post office is at fault.  The majority of times I would agree with that.  The PO is still working to find a package I have been missing since the end of March.  I get an updated email every 2 weeks that says the same thing.  We value your business, but have not been able to track down your package.  I highly doubt I will ever see it.  At least it was only 5 cards with 4 of them being base cards.

Last week I had a trade arrive 3 weeks after it was agreed upon.  This time it had nothing to do with the mail.  TCDB member yankeedad69 and I agreed to a simple 3 for 3 pwe swap.  One day after, he tested positive for that famous virus everyone is tired of hearing about.  He mailed my end as soon as he was out of quarantine.  It was good to hear he had a very mild case.  On to the goodies.

Goldschmidt has been an absolute beast during the Cardinals 16 game win streak.  He is hitting close to .400 with 7 home runs and 16 rbis.  I hope he can get 2 more rbis this week to reach 100.  Flaherty came back from his shoulder injury to pitch on Friday.  It did not go too well as he only got 1 out.  Not sure at this point if he will be active for the wild card game.  The Goldy is a 2020 Bowman Platinum Ice parallel, and the Flaherty is a 2021 Heritage Chrome numbered to 999.

My son added a nice 2021 Stadium Club Red Foil to his Altuve collection.  The Astros magic number is down to 2, so they should clinch a playoff spot before the weekend.  

      

A Riley Good Trade

Most of the cards I have traded recently have been from 2021 Topps Chrome.  You would think that was the only brand of cards I had to trade.  It is very easy to trade the latest product, but I also have plenty of other trade fodder.  Not long ago The Bench member Rabs initiated a trade with me for some Austin Riley cards.  Last year I bought an EBAY lot that contained about 50 of his cards.  I sent 19 of them away in exchange for some Cardinals and Altuve cards.

My son got some really nice cards.  A rainbow foil and Topps gold were about the most boring of the bunch that included a 2017 Heritage short print and 2 cards numbered to 150.  The 2018 Topps High Tek blue was his favorite.

My favorites included these 3 numbered Musial cards.  The 2014 Archives Gold is numbered to 199, the 2014 Stadium Club Field Access to 99, and the 2019 Topps 150th Anniversary to 150.  I love the picture on the Stadium Club insert.

I have a handful of photo variations in my collection, but not enough.  I usually do not add these to my want list, but I think I will start to.  Goldschmidt lead the Cardinals comeback yesterday by hitting 2 home runs against the Brewers.  12 wins in a row now is hard to believe.  

This trade was not without color as I added a 2017 Gypsy Queen green and a 2014 Prizm red, white and blue parallel.  As much as I love Ozzie, the Carpenter card is my choice of these two.  

After Diaz made the All Star team in 2016 in his first year, there was a lot of talk of him being the Cardinals starting shortstop for a long time.  He last only 2 years.  He as found a nice role as a part time player with the Astros.  His 2017 Tribute card is very nice.  The 2017 Update Rainbow Foil highlights his All Star appearance.  

 

Lots of Ginter

If you have read my blog for a while, you know I am not a big fan of Allen & Ginter.  It is not that I dislike the looks of the cards or the player selection.  It is more about the content.  First, I am not a huge fan of minis.  I hate storing them, and A&G has a ton of variations of them.  Second, I really dislike the gimmick cards.  When I buy a pack of baseball cards, I want a baseball card.  I do not need cards of flags, flowers, world leaders, singers, or whatever else you can think off.  Some collectors love that type of thing and I have no problem with that.  It is just not for me.  That is why I have not purchased any Ginter packs in forever.  I rely on trades like a this one with TCDB member bubbabums to get me A&G Cardinals.  

My 2021 team base set will be complete once another trade comes in.  I will still have plenty of insets and dreaded minis to track down. 

I am uncertain if Allen & Ginter X included all the gimmick cards.  Even if they did not, I doubt I would buy any as it is an online product.  I still need 2 short prints to finish the 2016 team set.

My 2020 Allen & Ginter X team set is a little farther from completion.  I still need 3 for this one, with one being a short print.  

Not everything in the package was A&G related.  I received 3 new gold cards, 2 from 2009 Bowman and 1 from 2008 Topps.  I have had a nice run lately on the Topps Gold cards.  

The last card is off former farmhand Eli Montero who is now in Colorado after being a part of the Nolen Arenado trade.  Montero had a pretty good season in Double A before bumping up to Triple A.  I am not sure who plays 3rd for  Colorado right now, but I would not doubt Montero will see time there next year.

  

3 Chrome Autos

Most of my recent posts have showed cards that I received as a result of trading away some 2021 Topps Chrome cards.  Today I will show off a trio of 2021 Topps Chrome autos that I got purchased and traded for.  First up are a couple of EBAY wins.

I doubt of either one of these guys will have much of a career, but they are both new Cardinals autographs in my collection.  I paid less than $4 delivered for each one of these.

Next up is a trade with The Bench member Steelers8873.  I sent him a couple of Chrome inserts in exchange for this Kodi Whitley auto.

Mr.  Whitley could put a little more effort into his signature.  I already had an 2021 Topps 1986 autograph of him, but I will gladly trade for Cardinals autographs I do not have.  Since returning from the disabled list, he has become an important part of the Cardinals bullpen.  It is great to see the Cardinals on a long win streak, but I am still not planning on them going far if they do make the playoffs.  It will be a tough wild card game regardless of if the opponent is the Dodgers or Giants.