Coke and Oz

My latest trade package came from TCDB member belijr.  This trade has to be one of my favorites in recent memory due to the great variety it contained.  I welcome any Cardinals base I need from the last few years, but it is the harder to find 1980s stuff that gets me excited more.

I have seen the 1981 Topps Coke set on EBAY many times, but never had the chance to trade for one. I already had the checklist and Bruce Sutter, so these 9 along with the Keith Hernandez that the trader is mailing will complete my set.  There were 12 teams that Coke produced sets for in 1981.  From what I can tell, the cards were distributed regionally in Coke products.

George Hendrick was about the only Cardinals player you could consider being big hitter in the early 1980s.  He appeared in the set from 1981-1984 Drake sets.

Other than the 1985 Leaf card, I could not identify the other 3 Ozzie cards by site.  The Green Classic Game card is from 1987, the Fleer Kay Bee Team Leaders is from 1988, and the Baseball Card Magazine is from 1989. 

Donruss All Star packs include these quirky pop up cards in the 1980s, this one from 1986.  I remember popping these and displaying them on my dresser as a kid.  They did not stand the test of time in my room.

As a kid I would go to my local SuperX drug store and buy packs of Sportsflics.  I did not care if there were packs of Topps, Fleer, or Donruss.  I loved the "magic motion" of these cards.  This 1987 Joe Magrane is from the Rookies subset.

I did score a few modern cards with these 3 2018 Heritage High Number Cardinals.  This was the last of the base Cardinals I needed, but I need all of the SPs.  Could be a while before this set gets done.

Card Show Report

It was a busy weekend for my family.  Friday night my daughter was planning to go to a Halloween dance, but it was cancelled due to the rain (dance was to be held outside).  Instead we made the 2 hour drive to the University of Illinois to watch the #7 ranked women's volleyball team.  The Illini beat #13 Michigan in 5 sets.  I will say the ladies can pound a volleyball.  I would have second thoughts about putting my 5'11" frame in front of one of their spikes. 

My wife wanted to go shopping on Saturday.  I was told half a day, but knowing her mom and sister were also going I had my doubts. We left the house about 7:30 and returned close to 5:00.  A little more than half a day by my standards.  I had planned to finish building a pitching mound for my son Saturday afternoon, but that had to wait until Sunday.  I was able it yesterday and he will try it out tonight. 

One positive about the shopping trip was there was also a card show in the same area.  My son and I had over 2 hours to kill at a small mall show with around 20 tables.  I have been to this show once earlier this year with a little luck, but knew that there would not be a lot of selection.  Lots of vintage, one dealer selling boxes, and a lot of general miscellaneous stuff.  I did notice a lot of nice display cases that did not have a single card priced.  This is one of my pet peeves when it comes to shows.  Anyway, I was able to find a few cards for my Cardinals collection and some trade bait.
 

There were no dime boxes to be found, but I did stumble across some quarter boxes.  All of these 2018 Topps cards are photo variations.  Not the most rare of cards, but for a quarter each somebody will most likely need them.

The same quarter boxes also had a bunch of former Cardinals.  Yes I spent money on mini cards that I love to hate.

I was too lazy to check my inventory on TCDB to see if I had these 2018 parallels.  I needed the Norris rainbow foil, but already had the Lynn.  At least it was only a 25 cent mistake.

The other dealer I bought from had a box of vintage Cardinals for 20% off the sticker price.  These 4 1970 Topps cards set me back $20, but all of them are in great shape minus one soft corner on the Carlton card.  The Cardenal is one of those high number short prints.  Despite what my scanner did to the photo, all have great centering.  This knocked my team set down to needing just one card that the dealer did not have.  Maybe I will be able to track it down before the end of the year. 
      

Just the Inserts

It is rare that I do not work out a trade that includes base cards.  I am far from being a high-end collector.   As a result, most of my trades are in the $10-20 range.  Collecting team base sets is one of my main goals, but I will not turn away a good insert.  My latest trade from TCDB Hundomatic was full of just inserts.

You can always count on Heritage to feature the Flashbacks and Then & Now inserts.  The Topps Game card Weaver was a nice change of pace.  I am not a huge fan of it, but props for honoring the 1968 design.

The Tape Measue Blasts is my favorite of this group of Topps inserts from 2015, although none of them are that great.  I am a fan of retired players being featured on current issues, but the Schoendienst Highlight is not a great design.  The Adams First Home Run card is the silver parallel, one of the many colored variations of inserts from that set which were not needed.

I guess I lump parallel cards with inserts.  This 2017 Bowman Chrome refractor is numbered to 499.  Topps was close with the uniform number air brush.  Flaherty wears #32.

The main card in the trade was this Molina Spring Training relic.  I have no strong opinion on the manufactured cards.  I will take them, but will not go out of my way to find them.  This one will be displayed with the ball Molina threw my son at Spring Training this year.     

 

5 Minute Post

For my 5 minute post, I have one card to show off from an EBAY win over the weekend.

My first 2018 Bowman Chrome card is this Helsley auto.  Helsley finished the year in Triple A and should have a shot to make it to St. Louis some time next year.  He is a starter, but I would guess he will come up as a reliever just like Dakota Hudson this year.  He throws in the upper 90s, so he should be well suited for short stints.  This card knocked off one of my goals for this year as it was the 5th autograph of a new Cardinals player in my collection.  It cost me $4.50 delivered, but most of that was in shipping.  It arrived in a one tough holder surrounded by 3 layers of bubble wrap inside a bubble mailer that was doubled over.  Not much chance of damage with that type of shipping.

More 2018 Help and a Nice EBAY Win

My first trade package this week contained more help to my 2018 teams sets.  This package came from TCDB member pjdionne12.  He is quickly becoming one of my favorite trading partners on the site.  This is our 4th trade this year, all involving at least 10-15 cards going both ways.

It is said to think that a lot of Cardinals legends are no longer around.   Red passed away earlier this year, leaving Gibson and Brock as 2 of the older guys along with Herzog.  At least Archives is a way to remember the good ole days.

Once I complete the Fire base set, I hope I can find some of the parallels.  I am glad there is not a Target within an hour's drive, otherwise I would have busted more of this product than my budget could handle. 

I am getting close to completing the Big League set, just 2 more to go.  Allen & Ginter may get done by year's end if I am lucky.

Panini does shiny Yadi cards well.  The Optic is a base card, while the Select is one of the many brands in 2018 Chronicles.  I do not have a wantlist for the set yet, as I am still trying to figure out all the different brands. 

I received a couple of inserts in the package as well.  While they are not as sharp as the Topps Chrome pink refractors, Optic pink is not too bad.  The McGwire Diamond Kings 500 insert is rather bland.  The number does not need to be that large.

 My latest EBAY win is my first Harrison Bader autograph.  I would rather have his 2016 Bowman Chrome auto with his full sig, but that one is a little pricey.  This one only cost me $4 after I used my EBAY bucks.   

Still Plugging Away

The regular season ending on Sunday for most teams.  I enjoyed watching the two game 163s on Monday.  Although it was not do or die for any of the 4 teams involved, there was a lot at stake for each team.  I think Monday was the first time ever I rooted for the Brewers.  They ended up winning the division and sending the Cubs to the Wild Card game where they lost to the Rockies.  As the saying goes, I have 2 favorite teams:  the Cardinals and the team playing the Cubs.  The Cubs helped keep the Cardinals from the post season by winning 2 of 3 last weekend, but all that gained them was 2 more losses at home.

So the 2018 season is over for the Cardinals, but I still have plenty of cards to chase from this year.  Trading Bases member Ron B sent me a large trade package this week that put a nice dent in my needs.

 

I was able to finish my 2018 Topps Chrome base set.  At least until the Update cards come out.

I do not make it a point to complete parallel sets, but I may go after the pink refractors.  I have 6 of the 10 Cardinals now.

There are not very many Cardinals inserts in Chrome this year.  The Future Stars are very sharp.

The Big League set should not be very tough to complete.  I need 3 more, all of which I can find on TCDB.  I love the Molina card. 

It does not seem like there is much Donruss Optic being opened this year.  I have not seen very many on trade lists. 

Allen & Ginter had a ton of Cardinals this year.  I was nice to get the Bader sp card in this trade.  Carlos Martinez is also an sp that I will have to track down.  I was happy to add the Molina Trading Card Day as well.  Not have a card shop within 30 miles can make it hard for me to find these.

These are my first Heritage High Number cards.  I am glad I will never have to see another Greg Holland Cardinals card.  His signing was as bad as the Ty Wiggington deal, only Holland's was 3 times as much.

These 2 2017 Gold Label Class 1 cards finished a set.  Not sure if I will go after the other 2 classes.  I sure hope Weaver and Reyes can contribute to the rotation next year.  Reyes has been hurt for the last 2 years, and Weaver just plain lost his effectiveness the last half of this year.

Going back to the last decade are a couple of Pujols cards and a sweet Ozzie Triple Threads.  2007 Moments and Milestones would be my vote for the worst idea Topps had in a long time.  

Finishing out the package are a couple of Archives inserts and a 1997 Bowman's Best refractor.  Bowman's Best had always been one of my favorite brands.  The atomic refractors from the last 1990s are great looking cards.