Another Project: Randall Update?!

Somehow in the span of a week, we have another Randall Cunningham 2021 Topps Allen & Ginter update. 

 

Thanks to another TCDB trade, I am able to check one more card off of the list. It's a tad bit more boring than last week's, although the Chrome minis look pretty nice as they're all refractors by default.

I've been extremely passive in this effort since my initial excitement over seeing the cards on the checklists, but I think it's probably time I hit eBay and maybe initiate some trades on my own.

Randall Cunningham #277 - FULL CHECKLIST: (bold means I own it)

• Base
• Silver Foil (Hot Box)
• Glossy (1/1)
• Mini Base
• Mini A&G Back
• Mini Black Border
• Mini No Number (print run: 50)
• Mini Brooklyn Back (/25)
• Mini Wood (1/1)
• Mini Glossy (1/1)
• Mini Framed Printing Plate(s) (1/1)
• X Base
• X Mini Black
• X Mini Red (/5)
• X Mini Silver (1/1)
• Chrome
• Chrome Refractor
• Chrome Blue Refractor (/150)
• Chrome Gold Refractor (/50)
• Chrome Green Refractor (/99)
• Chrome Orange Refractor (/25)
• Chrome Red Refractor (/5)
• Chrome Superfractor (/1)
• Chrome X-Fractor
• Chrome Mini
• Chrome Mini Gold Refractor (/50)
• Chrome Mini Orange Refractor (/25)
• Chrome Mini Red Refractor (/5)
• Chrome Mini Superfractor (/1)

Randall Cunningham - AUTOGRAPH CHECKLIST: (bold means I own it)

• Dual Autographs (w/ Vashti Cunningham) DA-CC
• Framed Mini Non-Baseball Autographs FMA-RC
• Framed Mini Non-Baseball Autographs Red Ink FMA-RC
• Framed Mini Non-Baseball Autographs Black Frame (/25) FMA-RC
• X Silver Frame Black Mini Non-Baseball Autographs FMA-RC
• X Silver Frame Black Mini Non-Baseball Autographs Black Frame Black FMA-RC (/10)
• X Silver Frame Black Mini Non-Baseball Autographs Silver Frame Gold Ink FMA-RC (/5)

Temporary Title (or is it?)

 

A huge variety pack of Cardinals cards and card-like things. 

Coming up with a blog post title is not typically the easiest thing to do, and I often end up throwing a temporary title in while I work on the other aspects of the post, like the images and the words and what have you. For whatever reason, nothing was really speaking to me today even though this collection of Cardinals cards I received from Tracy's Box Breaks several months back was outstanding.

This Old Judge-inspired card from the 2005 Upper Deck Origins set is a really nice way to kick things off here. This is reminding me once again that I really need to get my hands on some real vintage cards sooner or later.

Cast aside by the Cardinals in the midst of last season when he couldn't hit his way out of a wet paper bag, Edmundo Sosa caught fire with the Phillies and ended up facing his old team in the abbreviated playoff series. This "orange ice" parallel is numbered to 299.

I know that a lot of people are down on vintage buyback cards, but I kind of dig them. I don't know that I would pay more than a buck for any particular one of these, but I enjoy getting them in the mail from time to time.

The Stadium Club would have never had me as a member back in the day, but I am glad to enjoy the perks of its membership from time to time.

Somewhat stunningly, this is actually the second copy I own of this Troy Glaus gold parallel from 2008. (There's only 75 copies in existence, supposedly.)

Panini's Cooperstown sets were a fun idea, and I wish they had stuck around longer. Mostly, I just want more round cards.

This is from one of those Topps online exclusive sets. Blake Jamieson designed this set and presumably drew the portraits of each player, modeled after the 1951 Topps sets, of course.

This is a "Fractal Materials" parallel. That makes it sound like there should be a lot more going on with this card other than it being super shiny/glossy.

Tracy included a couple of these metallic looking things that were modeled after the 1986 Topps set, still in their respective wrappers. I'm not sure of the story behind these, but they will settle nicely into my box of curios that don't easily fit into card binders.

Panini probably has a different name for these parallels besides "green ice", but that's what I'm going to call them for now. Now that the beleaguered card company has no active license with the MLB players association, I wonder what it would take to see Cooperstown make a comeback in the future?

Project: Randall (August 2023 Update!)

 

The latest update on my quest to own all of the Randall Cunningham cards from 2021 Topps Allen & Ginter. 

 

It's been quite awhile since the last update, but thanks to the magic of TCDB, I have acquired a pretty big one. Behold - the mini gold Chrome refractor!

I really need to get to work on this.

Randall Cunningham #277 - FULL CHECKLIST: (bold means I own it)

• Base
• Silver Foil (Hot Box)
• Glossy (1/1)
• Mini Base
• Mini A&G Back
• Mini Black Border
• Mini No Number (print run: 50)
• Mini Brooklyn Back (/25)
• Mini Wood (1/1)
• Mini Glossy (1/1)
• Mini Framed Printing Plate(s) (1/1)
• X Base
• X Mini Black
• X Mini Red (/5)
• X Mini Silver (1/1)
• Chrome
• Chrome Refractor
• Chrome Blue Refractor (/150)
• Chrome Gold Refractor (/50)
• Chrome Green Refractor (/99)
• Chrome Orange Refractor (/25)
• Chrome Red Refractor (/5)
• Chrome Superfractor (/1)
• Chrome X-Fractor
• Chrome Mini (in transit)
• Chrome Mini Gold Refractor (/50)
• Chrome Mini Orange Refractor (/25)
• Chrome Mini Red Refractor (/5)
• Chrome Mini Superfractor (/1)

Randall Cunningham - AUTOGRAPH CHECKLIST: (bold means I own it)

• Dual Autographs (w/ Vashti Cunningham) DA-CC
• Framed Mini Non-Baseball Autographs FMA-RC
• Framed Mini Non-Baseball Autographs Red Ink FMA-RC
• Framed Mini Non-Baseball Autographs Black Frame (/25) FMA-RC
• X Silver Frame Black Mini Non-Baseball Autographs FMA-RC
• X Silver Frame Black Mini Non-Baseball Autographs Black Frame Black FMA-RC (/10)
• X Silver Frame Black Mini Non-Baseball Autographs Silver Frame Gold Ink FMA-RC (/5)

Sports!

We've got baseball players! Football players! Basketball players! 

 

In all likelihood, this is the last blog post here at Cards on Cards that will be auto-posted to my Twitter feed. I'm gearing up, mentally at least, to leave behind the most popular and most obnoxious social media platform, even though there's a huge card collecting community over there. You can always contact me via TCDB, Bluesky, e-mail and, of course, through the blog here itself. I don't know what the future holds in terms of my participation in social media, but I'm long overdue to make some changes for the sake of my own sanity.

With that out of the way, let's check out my end of another stellar trade exchange between buckstorecards and myself.

If I was into the NFL enough to be a set collector, the 2005 Topps set would probably be at the top of my list. I remember these packs having the same promotion as the 2006 Topps baseball set, where they would insert some old "vintage" cards in each (rack?) pack. This Reuben Droughns card is from the 1st Edition version of the set, though. Those packs probably didn't have any old cards in them.

This card had me stumped, and it wasn't just because of Mr. Nunez's signature. I'd actually just never heard of him. I'm not sure what prompted Panini to get signed cards of an A-ball non-prospect pitcher into one of its premium sets, but I'm certainly not complaining. I love the obscure corners of my team collection, and I'm glad that this card made me do a quick Google search on its subject.

On the decidedly less obscure side is this Jordan Walker card from last year's Topps Heritage Minors set. The Springfield logo very much looks like it was Photoshopped. The photo was most likely from the previous season, where he was in A ball.

I can almost always count on a CFL card or two in buckstorecards mailers, and my first ever Boseko Lokombo did not disappoint. It makes me wish I followed the former Ducks players pro careers in other leagues besides the NFL a little more closely.

More CFL goodness here with a throwback to an '80s Duck who played before I went to school there.

"Rolls Royce" is a far more contemporary Duck. This is a really nice patch on his Rookie Threads Donruss Optic card. It's numbered to just 50, most likely because they included one of the more interesting parts of the jersey he might have worn at one point.

Royce is here again with another entry into the lackluster signature department.

I'm sure I've said this quite a few times over the years, but part of the reason that younger players tend to have such skimpy signatures is that there's just no real life practical use for signing things anymore -- besides silly sports cards, that is. It's rare to find someone these days with a good looking auto because, well, why would they practice that?

 

Ducks hoops was well represented as well, with a four-pack of Chris Duarte RC logo adorned cards from Panini Chronicles. The lower left one is a silver Prizm parallel.

Last but certainly not least is this trio of dudes from the Philadelphia Eagles. Pretty much all of my pro sports teams fell on rough times in the past year or two, but not the Eagles. They're soaring!

Prizm Lives, For Now

 

A new year of Panini Prizm cards from a @CrackinWax break. 

 

Panini continues to soldier on with a limited baseball release calendar and a couple of lawsuits on the docket. As with their earlier Donruss offering, I wasn't even sure what a Prizm baseball release would look like in 2023. It turns out that the checklist is pretty similar to what they did with Donruss, but there are some strange names popping up. As much as I thought it was interesting that Panini lucked out with some of their prospects (like Jordan Walker) actually debuting in MLB at the start of the season, there are some big names in Prizm who debuted in 2022! What is Bobby Witt Jr. doing on this checklist? What about Hunter Brown? These guys aren't minor leaguers by any stretch. I'm curious to know what the MLBPA thinks of these unlicensed cards, although I'm sure they have more pressing matters.

I bought into a Prizm box break from Crackin' Wax recently, which has turned into a full-blown marketplace powered by the iso platform. Yours truly even has some cards listed for sale up there. Let's check out some of the Cardinals from the set, as I like to do.

Along with familiar retired faces like Ozzie and Vince, we get cards from some of the team's top prospects like Masyn Winn. It's looking like Winn may get to make his big league debut before the season is out. What do the Cardinals have to lose at this point? Not much, as it turns out.

Jordan Walker pops up again.

Whitey Herzog cards in 2023? This is a welcome site indeed.

Unlike Donruss, the entire base checklist uses the same design. It's weird seeing no real distinction between retired legends and youngsters like Tink here.

Well, you do get the occasional black and white photo. That's a big clue.

Jimmy Edmonds' inclusion means there's a whole new rainbow for me to chase.

Lou Brock is rocking the powder blues on this one. With Brock turning away from the camera a bit, there wasn't a ton of Photoshop needed on this one.

I only snagged a couple of inserts. Panini came up with something different here (Future Supers) since these inserts primarily deal with prospects.

I haven't been participating in as many box breaks lately, so it's been awhile since I've pulled an autograph for my team collection. Gordon Graceffo remains one of the team's top prospects, but his numbers at AAA this year haven't been thrilling. Hopefully he's just working on some stuff, as they say.

Free Stuff: Vintage-y Edition

Cards from the '60s and '70s on offer. 

 

I am decommissioning a small binder full of random cards that I've been hanging on to. These are basically cards from pre-1980 which don't fit into any of my collections, but had been hoarding because it was fun to keep a few example of cards from each set over those years. I decided it was time to finally add these to my trading coffers, but before I throw them all up on TCDB, I thought I'd offer them up here, "Free Stuff Friday" style. (Of course, it's not actually Friday.)

The cards are in various conditions -- some have creases and wonky corners. Some don't. Some might be good for your set build, while others might just be a stopgap placeholder. If you want to know any details about any specific card's condition, just let me know. Click the image to enlarge, as usual.

Simple rules:

1. Claim what you want, but if you claim something, I would ask that you at least look at my want lists either on the blog or on TCDB. If you can't find a card that I could need (I definitely have a lot of holes pre-1979), that's fine. Just think about me next time around.

2. I will assign each image a number. Claim in the comments by saying the image number followed by the player name (or more if it's ambiguous.)

The first image is #1. Avila and Chrisley have white backs.

(CLAIMED: Avila, Umbricht, Klippstein, Chrisley, Clevenger, Maas) 

I'll give this a few days until I start putting these up on TCDB.

#2 (CLAIMED: Staley, Howser, Taylor, Raymond, Nicholson, Hunt, Pena)

#3 - (CLAIMED: Bright)

Much more after the jump break!