Affordable is What I Can Afford

Ryan from "O" No!!! has been hosting some "affordable" group breaks of late, which are the best kind if you ask me. I always try to get in on anything in my price range, and last month I was rewarded with some late '90s and early '00s Cardinals cards to augment my Cardinal binders.

As is usually the case, I got a second team at random. This time, it worked out well for me as someone wanted the team I claimed and had the Angels to offer in exchange. (At least, I think that's how this all went down.) The Angels are a good fit for me because Jim Edmonds spent most of the '90s there, and I also know some Angels traders. Of the two Edmonds Angels cards that were pulled, I needed one, which isn't bad.

Darryl Kile is another favorite of mine, and this parallel was one of my favorites of the entire lot.

I'm not sure how the 1999 Topps Stars set works exactly, but it seems like there's some sort of tiered parallel system based on the number of stars. I think this was pretty common at the time. I'll get back to this in a minute.

Mark McGwire has landed a job closer to home instead of remaining with the Cardinals as hitting coach. This would sit just fine with me if it wasn't for the fact that Big Mac wouldn't have a job in MLB at all right now if it wasn't for St. Louis. Oh well. I think I would have been more content if he returned to Oakland or something, but seeing him in Dodger blue will bother the hell out of me.

There's two stars on this card. So while this wouldn't make a great movie grade, a two-star McGwire card is nothing to sneeze at.

Ryan squeezed in a ton of Allen & Ginter cards in the package that came with my group break goods, as we also agreed on a Ginter-for-Ginter deal. He hit a bunch of cards from all sorts of years, and I picked a few to scan here. This one is about some sort of internet-based Pi hoax in Alabama. Does anyone remember this happening? I don't.

There used to be this Scottish shop by me that could have easily inspired the old "All Things Scottish" recurring skit with Mike Myers on SNL from back in the day. From that skit, to So I Married An Axe Murderer, to Austin Powers and... I don't know, Shrek? He really milked that accent or variations on it, didn't he?

Adam Wainwright. His second (and final) short print for my collections. In the bag.

5 cards left from this set. 5! I know there are better ways to put together sets than sitting around and crossing your fingers hoping that someone from some corner of the world will send you that precious Yunel Escobar card that you needed, but this way is a lot more fun than what I remember set building to be as a kid. Seriously.