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.    

     

        

Mailed too Soon

When I propose a trade on TCDB, I try to make the trade as large as possible. I will review the other person's trade list and pick out all the Cardinals I do not have. If I can work out a deal for all of them, great; if not, maybe next time.  My goal is to minimize the cost of shipping by getting the most cards possible at one time.  

Last week, I proposed a trade to member smitha1.  He needed some numbered cards from the EBAY lot while I picked out some Cardinals.  I did not have enough trade material to get all the Cardinals I needed, or so I thought.  2 days after mailing the first batch of cards, the other trader sent me a message stating he would be happy to send me the rest of the Cardinals for a few more of the numbered cards he could use for trade bait. I should have asked him sooner about a larger trade.  No big deal, though, as both of the pwe I mailed him cost less than $1.  I received both of my trade envelopes earlier this week.  

One of my main goals in buying the EBAY numbered lot was to acquire some base cards from premium brands.  These trades brought two Topps Tribute cards along with a Bowman Invicta insert.  

I like the Stadium Club red parallels due to the color match.  

Five different types of refractors from four different brands.  The Aqua Wave Schoendienst is my favorite.

I might try to get this card signed next year, so I will need another copy.  Hence was added to the 40 man roster this week to prevent him from being picked in the Rule 5 draft.  If he can stay healthy, he should make his debut as a reliever at some point this year.

 
        

Exchanging Numbers

Today's trade recap features another batch of cards for which I traded one card from the EBAY numbered lot.  I sent The Bench member Scobes a 2022 Topps Update Gold Bryce Harper card for these five numbered Cardinals.

One gold parallel deserves another.  I have very few from the 2002 Topps set, so this Williams is a most welcome addition.

This is my second numbered rookie from 2000 Omega.  When I filed this one away, I noticed the other one is also numbered 785/999.  Small odds that happened.  

While the 2011 Bowman is numbered lower, I was happier to get the 2010 Triple Threads base card.  The green Carpenter is numbered to 450, while the Triple Threads is numbered to 1350.

This John Gall numbered to 699 finished my 2004 Fleer National Pastime team set.  I have stated it before, but Fleer made it tough on team collectors by short-printing many rookie cards in the early 2000s.  

This trade worked out great for me.  The gold card I traded cost me less than 20 cents.  Even adding the postage of close to $1, I still came out very well.  
  

2 From 1972

It has been a long time since I purchased cards from a Twitter member. Yes, I still call it Twitter; X does not sound right. Every Wednesday evening, there is a vintage sale thread that I follow. It is cluttered with overpriced graded cards, but every now and then, you can find some ungraded gems. Last week, a collector had 2 high-number Cardinals from 1972 Topps that I purchased for $10.   

The Clendenon is in great shape.  It is off center left to right, but not as bad as the scan shows.  The team card has a minor issue on the left border, but for $5, I will not complain.  I need one more high number to complete my team set.  With any luck, I can find it at a show next month in St. Louis.

      

   

TCDB 2 for Tuesday #96

 Both of today's trade recaps involved cards from the EBAY lot I won last month.  First up is a 4 pack of Cardinals from member royals.  Take a wild guess what I traded him. (three numbered Royals)

Getting multiple Topps Gold needs in a trade is always a good thing.  One of them being a Wainwright is icing on the cake.

Base cards from premium brands like this 2013 Triple Threads are just as nice.  

This is the second day in a row I get to show off a Matt Morris card. This one finished my  2003 Standing O team set.

The second trade came from member hiflew.

Two more gold parallels to cross off the wantlist.

I hope Carlson gets regular playing time in Tampa and becomes a solid everyday player.  I have always liked him since watching him play in Peoria.  Silent spoken guy who just needs to stay healthy to show what he can do.

Finishing up with a pair of base cards from 2003 Bowman Heritage and 1998 Pacific Online.  Renteria finished my team set, while Mararrero left me two shy.  I did not realize there were 28 Cardinals in the Online set.  

  

Cut to the Cards

Getting straight to the cards today, as I have to be somewhere shortly.  I have a nice stack of trades to get to this week, so I did not want to miss a post.  These cards came from TCDB member BNWallgren1220.

1994 was the first year I bought a lot of cards.  I was a senior in high school with a full-time job.  Gas was less than a dollar per gallon.  I purchased two boxes of Upper Deck SP looking for the Arod rookie.  I did hit one.  Funny, I do not remember the die-cut cards.  I must have traded them shortly after.

Matt Morris was inducted into the Cardinals Hall of Fame this year.  He was one of my favorite pitchers in his prime.  He had the bulldog mentality of getting the ball and going 7 innings each start before injuries hit.

This is my first card from the 30-card 1999 Upper Deck McGwire Tribute set, which came in a lunch box. This is McGwire #808 in my collection. With all his cards produced from 1998-2000, I would have guessed I had 1,000 by now.  

Larger Bench Trade

My second trade from The Bench website arrived earlier this week.  This time, I traded a few cards from the EBAY lot and some other numbered Giants to member 89Giants.  He sent back a nice stack of various Cardinals.

I received 3 gold parallels, 2 of the numbered variety and one from Upper Deck.  The Pagnozzi would have been a great photo if UD had panned out to show the runner.

The other numbered card came from 2019 Inception.  Ponce had a decent Cardinals career as a reliever until he got into an argument with Yadier Molina in 2021.  He has bounced around the minor leagues ever since.

It is an Andrew Knizner type of trade, including a 2019 Heritage Minors short print.  

This 1992 Score card has eluded me for a long time.  For some reason, TCDB members thought it was worth a fortune and did not want to trade it.  Glad I can finally cross it off my want list.

3 different types of various refractors.  Paul DeJong looks like he is jumping out of a checkerboard.  It was great to see him have some success after the White Sox traded him to Kansas City.  I always root for the nice guys.

Last but not least is a pair of Nolans.  One is a former third baseman for the Cardinals who may return to that spot if the other is traded away this winter.  Maybe Gorman will hit better if he returns to his natural position.  He will have to cut down big time on the strikeouts to earn his spot.      

  

Another Sportlots Order

I placed a second Sportlots order at the end of October after I received the first one a week earlier.  I have decided it is better to spend $15-20 to knock out a chuck of Cardinals wants instead of hoping to find these cards in bargain boxes at shows or buying blaster boxes.  It is less time-consuming and avoids the clutter of unwanted cards.  As the old saying goes, it is better to just buy what you want.

Like the first order, I bought from one dealer to keep the shipping cost down.  This dealer offered 40 cards for $4.25 shipped.  My total was a little over $16.50.  My son grabbed the 2 Altuve cards, so I have 38 different Cardinals to show off.  

Other than the McGriff 1995 Pacific, these cards are all parallels from 1995 and 1996.  I am always a fan of the Pinnacle Museum cards.

I ordered the regular 1996 Select Certified Brian Jordan but received the red parallel instead.  I needed it anyway.  Two more parallels in this lot, this time from Bowman.

Gotta love the black and white cards for Gibson and Musial.  

I was not a fan of the 2003 Ultra Gold Medallion die cuts.  Keep it simple, like the 2002 set.  The 2003 UD 40 Man Cardinals team set consisted of 28 cards.  After getting these 2, I need 3 more.  

Who doesn't love mascot cards?   This Fredbird is actually a sticker.  2004 Gold Medallion die cuts were not quite as bad as 2003.

I can cross off 2012 Topps Pro Debut from my want list.   Nice to get all 5 in one shot.

These 2 Tribute cards and the Museum Holliday were the most expensive cards at 50 cents each.  Still a good buy in my book. 

I also finished the 2016 Topps Pro Debut.  All in all it was a fun batch of cards.

  

  

  

           

First Bench Trade in a Long While

TCDB was not the only site where I listed my numbered EBAY lot cards.  I also listed the cards on The Bench.  It has been close to seven months since I completed a trade there.  I have been able to work out three deals so far.  Not quite as many as I was hoping for, but there are still quite a few cards left.  The first trade arrived on Monday from member B&C Adams.  

I was thrilled to get a 2012 Heritage Minors short print.  I still remember getting his autograph in 2012 when he played in Springfield.  

I was equally excited to get this Musial card.  I still have not completed this 10-card set after 25 years.  I need #6 to finish it.

My son is getting a large stack of Altuve cards on his desk that need to be put in his binders.  This 2023 Archives insert joined the 17 cards he picked up at the card show on Saturday.  That should keep him busy for an hour or so.

  
  
     

TCDB 2 for Tuesday #95

I had no shortage of trade packages to choose from for this week's post.  Two weeks ago, I won an EBAY lot with great trade material for team collectors.  It contained almost 100 numbered cards for less than $0.20 each.  I have made over 10 trades so far from those cards.  Some have already arrived.  One of the first was this package from member bplay24.

I hope to trade for several more Topps Gold needs like this 2022 Matz.

These are my first refractors from 2024 Topps Chrome.  They were hard to scan due to the major curl in the cards.  I wonder if that is typical, as the base cards I have did not have that problem.

This Altuve refractor was not quite as bad as the 2 Cardinals.

Maysn Winn would have been one of the three finalists for Rookie of the Year any other year.  Maybe he will use the snub as motivation for the 2025 season.  With the strong possibility of the Cardinals trading away most of their veterans, I can see him being their All-Star selection next year.

The second trade package came from member frankgifford.

 
My 2024 Update team set only needs one more card for completion.  I should be able to track down Alec Burleson by the end of the month.

Gibson was my first 2024 Allen & Ginter Cardinal.  Not sure how tough the short prints are to pull this year, but I will have to track down Lou Brock and Ozzie Smith to find out.

Mini madness from the 2022 A&G set.  These three all have the regular back.

2024 Topps Holiday hits shelves later this week.  Just like everything else Christmas-related, it appears earlier every year.  I am trying to finish the Metallic set from 2023.  Arenado is only my second out of seven Cardinals in the set.  I like Topps used the silver border to make it easier to spot these.