3 Pack from The Bench

Last week, I completed my fifth trade this year on the Bench website.  This was the first online site I traded on.  Back in the early days, I would complete 15-20 trades each month.  Most of the members I traded with back then are gone.  I will visit the site most days but only open a few posts as quite a few members are only looking for the latest and greatest.  Gone are the days of team collectors dominating the site.  

There are still some good members on the site; I just do not have much they are looking for.  Member millo67 found a couple of cards he needed from my EBAY numbered lot and sent me 3 Cardinals in return.  

I have a few photo variations in my collection.  Most are the active player variety, like this 2018 Topps Update Jordan Hicks.  

I hope Goldschmidt signs with a team that will give him a chance to get to the World Series.  He was a great player during his time in St. Louis up until last year.  Great guy off the field also.  I admired how he played the game, not showboating or causing other headlines for the wrong reasons.

This mini arrived before the big lot I showed off on Monday.  It now sits in a stack, with the rest waiting to be filed away, hopefully this weekend. 

        

TCDB 2 for Tuesday #100

A few months ago, I was hoping to get to post #100 in this series before the end of the year.  I made it with 2 weeks to spare.  Good thing, as the next couple of Tuesdays will be a little hectic.  Gotta get those holiday parties in.   Today's first trade package came from member rustypetty.

This group of 2024 Topps inserts includes 2 former Cardinal first basemen and a future one.  Contreras is moving from catcher to first base in 2025 to fill the void of Goldschmidt.  The defense will take a hit, but the offense may be a little better.   

I have a slight man crush on Victor Scott.  He reminds me of my first favorite Cardinal, Vince Coleman.  He will fight with Michael Siani for the starting centerfield job next year.  Nothing against Siani, but I hope Scott gets the bulk of the playing time.

The second package came from member wmwynn1967.

Flaherty is the best available free agent starter behind Corbin Burnes.  He should cash in nicely with a three or four year deal.

I have not added very many 1990s inserts or parallels lately.  Stottlemyre is a 1997 Score Hobby Reserve parallel, while the Drew is from the 1999 SP Authentic Home Run Chronicles insert set.  He was the second biggest story for the Cardinals in 1998, behind the McGwire home run chase.

My son is still finding Altuve base cards from the last few years that he does not have.  They make great trade fillers.    

  

    

Mini Madness

Not too long ago, I often wrote about my disdain for irregular-sized cards, both big and small.  They are more difficult to ship safely, and storing them has always been a problem for me.  My oversized cards are in a shoe box, while the minis are put into a penny sleeve and filed in the proper monster box.  That does not sound like much of a pain, but the neat freak in me likes to see all my cards stored one way.  

My stance on these cards has softened. Over time, I have grown to tolerate the mini cards to the point that I actively seek them. I have even added quite a few minis to my team set wants on TCDB.  That led to one of my largest trades a couple of weeks ago with member mlsalin.  I traded him 35 numbered cards from my EBAY lot for 58 Cardinals, many of the mini variety.  

The lot included 10 different Gypsy Queen minis.  Highlights include two Gypsy Queen backs from 2012 and a 2014 Shelby Miller short print.

I added 27 new Allen & Ginter minis to my collection from 2007 to 2023.  Quite a few of them were the A&G backs.  The 2023 Rolen is a short print.

These are not quite as small as the other minis.  The top row is from 2011 Topps Lineage, while the Renteria is a 2003 Bazooka card.  

The regular-sized portion of the trade features 3 gold parallels.  

There were three numbered blue parallels from 2014 Topps Opening Day. 

Two nice color match Stadium Club red parallels.

Two horizontal inserts and another red parallel.

I am always a sucker for Hall of Fame players.  The Dean photo is a great one.

Speaking of great ones, here is the second-greatest Cardinal ever.  I doubt if anyone will ever top Stan Musial.  

My son added two Altuve inserts to his collection.  Nolan Ryan is on the other side of the Evolution card.  

 

  
          

16th New Lankford of 2024

It has been over two months since I added a new Ray Lankford card to my collection. Thanks to Panini's inclusion of him in the recently released Impeccable brand, I now have four new cards to chase.  I crossed one of them off the list last week.

This is the Holo Gold version of the Indelible Ink autograph card.  The other versions are numbered to 49, 25, and a one of one.  This card came up on EBAY at a good time for me, as I had $20 in gift cards to use.    
     

Almost Like Yesterday

I had several different stacks of cards to choose from to scan for today's post. After grabbing a random stack and scanning it, I realized the cards were very similar to the ones I posted on Tuesday. TCDB member b14rebel also included a couple of other cards.

Yesterday, I showed three 2024 Stadium Club cards; today, I have seven more. The Pujols card is the photo winner in this group. Topps did a great job of including the iconic arch design of the Busch Stadium upper deck.

Just like Tuesday, here is another McGwire insert. This one appears to show Mac taking a current call after hitting a home run, which he did quite a few times in St. Louis.

I have been slow to add any 2024 Allen & Ginter cards to my collection.  This Ozzie Smith is one of the two Cardinal short prints in the set.  I attended the game where Metro Boomin threw out the first pitch and had a bobblehead giveaway.  I cannot say I had heard of him before that night.  Guess that is showing my age.  

  

  

TCDB 2 for Tuesday #99

It is Winter Meetings week in MLB, which should lead to plenty of news.  The Cardinals GM stated the obvious yesterday that he will attempt to trade Nolan Arenado.  Although he stated the team prefers to keep Ryan Helsley, it would not shock me to see him traded.  The Rule 5 draft also takes place this week.  Last year the Cardinals picked up Ryan Fernandez, who became a reliable bullpen arm.  I am guessing there will be some new players with cards to show off in future TCDB 2 for Tuesday posts.  Today, you will see more of the same players.  First up is a 4 pack of Cardinals from member PIANELLI.

As always, I love the photography.  Topps did a great job with the Ozzie Smith card.  

This is my first red parallel.  These look great for a Cardinals collector like myself.

Second trade package came from member GoldenEagle555.

Two recently traded Cardinal outfielders.  O'Neill is now an Oriole, while Carlson remains a free agent.  Some team will surely sign him, hoping he will start to live up to his potential.  I will root for him as long as he is not a Cub.

I should make it a point to reach 1,000 McGwire cards next year.  This one puts me at 811.  His cards are plentiful and relatively cheap.  

  

  
        

Lucky Trade

I usually do not complain about a trade as long as the cards arrive safely.  Plenty of packaging and mailing options exist; collectors should decide which works best for a particular trade.  My rule of thumb is to ship cards the way I would want to receive them.  The bare minimum is a penny sleeve inside a top loader or nine-pocket page that is surrounded by thin cardboard.  I also put painter's tape over the top edge of the sleeve or top loader.  

Lately, I have been getting more packages with very little effort put into keeping the cards safe.  A prime example is a pwe I received last week from a TCDB member.  8 cards were put into 4 sleeves and stuck into a greeting card.  No tape was even used to keep the cards inside the sleeves.  3 of them were half out of the sleeve.  Despite the other trader's carelessness, all the cards were fine.  This will be the one and only trade with this member.  

I finished my 2024 Update and Pro Debut team sets with these two cards.

Metallic snowflake parallels should help get you in the holiday mood.  

I hope Victor Scott gets plenty of playing time in 2025.  I think he has better long term potential than Michael Siani.  I also think Masyn Winn could be an All Star in 2025.  

I received two numbered cards, one from 2023 Topps and the other from 2000 Fleer Focus.  The Kennedy is the photo variation.  

  

          

Color for Color

I am still receiving trade packages due to the EBAY colored lot I won at the beginning of November.  I have a few left to trade, but it has been an outstanding buy.  I have yet to show all the spoils, but I have added over 200 new Cardinals to my collection from trading those cards.  5 of them came from TCDB member Philpott.

Flaherty should have quite a few suitors this winter.  He will not get Black Snell money, but still should not have to worry about getting a job during the winter.  I am a fan of the Stadium Club red foil cards due to the color match with the Cardinals uniform.

I was surprised to read Gray prefers to stay with the Cardinals during the upcoming rebuild.  His decision is based on being close to home.  Nice to see some players value family over a few million dollars they will never be able to spend.  This is my second 2024 Topps gold parallel.  I think it looks more bronze than gold, but it is an improvement from recent years.

I like the colorful scans of Topps rainbow foil cards.  They almost look like a poor man's refractor.  

The only base card in the bunch was this 2024 Topps Pro Debut of 2023 1st round pick Chase Davis.  He made it to Double-A Springfield for the final month of the 2024 season.  He is a lefthanded-hitting outfielder with some power but sometimes struggles to make contact.  Depending on how bad the Cardinals are in 2025, he may make his debut by the end of the season.    

  

  

TCDB 2 for Tuesday #98

I was not certain I would have time for a Tuesday post today.  I worked late and had a meeting shortly after getting off.  Thankfully, it only lasted 30 minutes.  After a quick dinner, I have some spare time to highlight a couple of trade packages.  First one came from member Ronzo.

The end is in site for my 26 card team set from 2023 Topps Chrome Platinum Anniversary.  Only 5 more to go, one of which should be arriving before the end of the month.  

The second trade package came from member bdhrbob.

2024 Allen & Ginter has been a slow team set build for me.  I get several trade matches daily, but I have few cards the other member needs.  Sooner or later that will change.  It was nice to get the Altuve my son did not have.

I am doing better with 2024 Stadium Club.  I wish Topps picked out a better photo to use for Scott.  He had a couple of nice catches up against the wall, or numerous times he would slide hands first into a base.  This one just look awkward.  

JD Drew card #374 in my collection finished the 18 card 2005 Donruss Champions team set.  I knew Drew had a lot of cards, but did not realize I had that many.  
  

Start of the Holiday Season

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.  I did not intend to post today, but for some reason Blogger was not working for me yesterday afternoon.  No big deal, as I am up early surfing the internet for some deals.  

Despite what Wal-Mart and other retailers say, today is the start of the holiday season in my book.  I am not one to put up our Christmas tree before December.  It just feels too soon.  I did however get a small head start to the winter season with a recent box break of 2024 Topps Holiday.  I paid $5 for the Cardinals spot in a break for 5 mega boxes.

I received 6 of the 7 base cards in the team set.  Only missing the Sonny Gray card.

I did well in the silver metallic parallels, getting 3 of them.  This design is not bad, although I prefer the blue metallic from this year or the snowflake metallic from previous years.

Topps collation had not been great across many products this year.  These are the duplicates I received along with another Nolan Arenado that did not fit in the scan.  I do realize this is from 5 boxes, but some of the duplicates came in the same box.  A box with 100 cards should not contain duplicates.

Have a great day everyone.  May you enjoy eating, watching football, and most of all the company of family and friends.  

TCDB 2 for Tuesday #97

I made a Tuesday post every week in November, including today. The combination of colder weather, less daylight, and no high school games to attend makes it a lot easier to work out trades.  This should last hopefully until mid-March.  I have set a goal to reclaim the #1 Cardinals spot on TCDB by then.  I am in second place, about 400 cards behind the leader.  A lot of ground to make up, but it should be fun trying.  

Today's first trade package came from member RParsons17.  

I remember all the Zeile hype around 1990.  He was going to be the best Cardinals catcher since Ted Simmons.  Although he did not live up to the hype, he did have a solid 16-year career.  This 1990 Score Rookie Dream Team card was part of a 10-card set in hobby factory sets.

2001 Topps cards do not scan well, regardless of what parallel they are.  This Home Team Advantage is no exception.  The names are almost impossible to read.  

I have never seen these 2007 Topps cards before.  This set of five cards was included with factory sets released in the St. Louis area.  Now I can say I have a Randy Keisler card in my collection.  

The second trade package came from member Calyanksfan.  

          

These are all base cards of brands I rarely find at card shows.  I am glad there are still some collectors willing to spend the money to bust boxes and trade away the cheaper cards.  

Starting Lineups

When I was younger, I only collected baseball cards. I did not have the extra income for anything else, and even if I did, there were no stores near me that sold Cardinals items like balls, pennants, or posters. When I was 13, my younger brother and I spent the weekend in Springfield, IL, with my older sister.  You can imagine the shock when she took us to KB Toys.  So many different toys that we had only seen on TV.  One of the first things that caught my eye was the end cap full of Starting Lineups.  My brother and I went through every one, hoping to find a Cubs player for him and a Cardinals player for me.  We did not find any Cubs, but I lucked out and found a 1989 Vince Coleman.  At the time, he was my favorite player.  I ripped him out of the package and displayed him on my dresser for many years.  I still have it somewhere, along with the card.  

Up until this summer, I have never bought another Starting Lineup.  In July, I found a local online auction with a small lot of 1988 Starting Lineups. The picture quality was not good, but I could tell the top one was former Cardinals closer Todd Worrell. I won the auction for $16. After picking up the box, I quickly looked through it and put it in a closet.  Yesterday, I finally got around to pulling them all out.

The box contained four Cardinals: the Worrell I mentioned, Ozzie Smith, and two Vince Colemans. The cardboard could be in better condition, but the plastic bubble is in great shape.

The original price tags are on all the packages.  Ozzie was the most expensive at $5.39.  

I don't know if certain retail locations had specific packaging.  The yellow cardboard version on the left came from Children's Place, while the one on the right came from Wal-Mart. 

The lot included 5 other figures, 4 of which are Hall of Famers.  Andre Dawson, Kirby Puckett, Roger Clemens, Tim Raines, and Gary Carter would make a great start to a team.  I am not sure what to do with these.  I would gladly trade/sell them, but shipping would be costly.  I have looked at Cardinal figures on EBAY before, but I refuse to pay the $8-10 shipping.