Ginter Goodies from The Collective Mind

Want lists: reduced! 

Back in September, GCA from The Collective Mind set me a ton of Allen & Ginter extras to knock down some of my want lists a few notches. I am still working on putting together another stack of cards to send back for this one, but in the meantime I thought I'd show off some of the goods.

It was quite a sad shock to hear about the passing of Roy Halladay. It seems like there's been a lot of lives taken way too young when it comes to MLB lately. Halladay was one of my favorite players not connected to the Cardinals, and I still have vivid memories of his pitcher's duel with Chris Carpenter in the 2011 playoffs. And that's not to mention the day I heard about the no-hitter Doc had going in the playoffs the season before, which prompted me to pop into a sports bar out in the suburbs to see it through to the end.

The early days of the Allen & Ginter revival featured a lot of smiling posed shots like this.

Cap Anson, the original hipster.

I'm not sure I'd consider the Astrodome a field, exactly, but I do really like this insert set dedicated to defunct stadiums.

A tip o' the cap to Carlos Beltran, who is hanging it up after a long, tremendous career.

A tip o' the cap to Gandhi... okay, sometimes these things just don't transition well. Beltran was a fantastic player, but Gandhi was a little bit more important in the grand scheme of things.

The Pastime's Pastimes inserts were so jarring at the time because they used an all black background in a set that traditionally favors lots of white. I guess this was just the precursor to the interesting looking but wholly unnecessary Allen & Ginter X product.

Klosterman is a writer who lives in Portland now. Have you moved to Portland yet?

This tree looks like a giant mushroom.

Apparently someone tried to create a machine to play chess a la Deep Blue, only more than 200 years earlier. Of course, the whole thing was a scam, but the actual story that was passed down seems highly dubious as well.

Thanks again to GCA! You can check out my Ginter and other set want lists here.

Completion and Irritation

I spent the evening at the arcade like any good thirtysomething should do, and arrived home late tonight to discover a package I recently ordered from COMC. I had some extra PayPal bucks due to a card-related thing that didn't quite get off the ground, and in a fit of fury I decided to try to finish off as many sets as I could with the credit I had. I am in the set collecting game for the fun of it, so I don't often like to buy single cards as trading is so much more fun. However, some of these sets have been sitting around since the early days of my blog, which if you've been following the news about my big giveaway you'll know that's a good chunk of time. In short, I completed three Allen & Ginter sets. I was beginning to wonder if I'd ever see this great (doctored) card of the Human Highlight Reel. The only thing keeping me from finishing off a fourth Ginter base set collection was the fact that COMC did not have a single base card of some long bearded freak whose name I don't recall. He still haunts my want list.

I've only started purchasing from COMC this year, but I've been happy with them so far. What I've managed to do with every order is sneak in at least one indulgence for both Erin and myself. (Erin, obviously, ended up with a pretty blue Yadi card.) My indulgence led me to irritation, but I suppose stopped short of disgust. I am a huge fan of the Turkey Red brand and am normally interested in all things related. I scoffed a bit at this year's online-only ultra limited set, but I clearly need one of each of the Cardinals cards from it. I decided to slap down a cool $1.39 for this Matt Holliday card, and while it won't look bad in my binder, it's an embarrassment to the Turkey Red name. The design is weird, but what bugs me the most is that there's essentially no difference between this card, a 2013 Gypsy Queen card, a 2013 Allen & Ginter card (only guessing as it's not out yet) or, sadly, a 2013 Heritage card. Topps is now using the same cardstock for the majority of its brands, losing any sense of uniqueness that these products might have previously attained. Basically, you can throw a slap of the same "cardboard" through a cutting machine and print whatever the computer decides needs to be on these things. They're all the same now.

Part of me should feel even more justified and self-righteous in my decision not to collect this year's Turkey Red, but I am not feeling anything but disappointed right now.

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.

Trading with Jon from Community Gum

I can always appreciate a trader with a well-organized want list. I completed a trade with Jon from Community Gum, one of the best sports cards blogs in the business, and suggest that you go on over there and check out said want list. I'm quite certain that I will be making a return trip.

For my part, I got a bunch of needs from sets I've been working on. I thought collecting all of the Black retail inserts from 2011 Heritage would be nearly impossible considering how quickly the jumbo packs disappeared from the big box store racks. However, I'm slowly coming to the conclusion that no one likes these cards but me.

I seem to be a huge sucker for anything that is Sportflics-esque these days. Maybe someday when I feel better about the progress I've made on other more serious efforts I'll go back and take a look at collecting actual Sportflics.

This is still my favorite Heritage set and Topps design. When you throw the High Numbers and variations on the pile, it also becomes the daunting. I will be working on this until I reach the grave.

I'm no down to needing just 8 base cards, 8 sketch cards and the Albert Pujols National Pride card to bring my 2009 Allen & Ginter experience to a close. Well, that's not to say it will be a complete close. After all, there are the endless amounts of minis to look forward to.

I usually like posting these sketch cards to make fun of how they look, but I've seen worse than this. I'm not sure I can vouch for the whereabouts of Randy's right arm, however.

It seems like Sheff retired 10 years ago to me for some reason. This 2009 Heritage high numbered short print seems to say otherwise.

As is often the case around here, a good group of Cardinals made their way into the deal. What is this "Big League Challenge" that is being commemorated here? Was someone too cheap to own the rights to the name Home Run Derby? Come on, Donruss, fess up... er... I guess there is no Donruss anymore.

Minis are always appreciated. Cardinals minis, doubly so.

Collation Assistance

I'm not quite sure who initiated what, but I got a chance to exchange baseball cards with Hand Collated, which is always a worthy effort. I've been known to do some collation of my own. In fact, the set that really brought me back to the idea of collecting a set or two was probably the 2008 Allen & Ginter set. I love the 2008 Heritage set and its original design and still do, but let's face it: the set is very intimidating. I'm still collecting it for what it's worth, along with many other sets, but I think at this point it's probably best to focus on finishing something... anything... before the next Allen & Ginter set hits the streets in mere weeks.

Oh, hello, it's my old friend Ryan Rowland-Smith.

So here's the story. I'm down to needing just 6 cards (all SPs) from the base 2008 A&G set, 12 cards (not all SPs) from the base 2009 A&G set and 6 cards (only one SP) from the base 2010 A&G set. I would like to finish them all ASAP. If anyone can knock any of those 24 cards off of my want lists, please contact me. If I can get them in my grubby mitts before I have to look at the hoards of 2011 A&G posts, that will be worth a ton to me and I will make sure to figure out a way to reward you several times over for it. Any inserts sent my way will be a welcome bonus, of course, but my goal is to knock out the 1-through-350s first.

We now take you back to your regularly scheduled trade post - already in progress.

Here is personal fantasy hero Gaby Sanchez. After a very strong rookie season, Sanchez is among the NL batting leaders and is on pace to improve upon his HR and RBI totals from last season.

Sure, I collect other things besides Allen & Ginter, which is what got me into this mess in the first place. I've been picking up a pack or two of 2011 Heritage when I can, but like every year before it, it's such an unending mess. A lovable mess, mind you.

I can't believe some people don't like 1985 Fleer. I really can't. This is the ultimate color-coded set for me. I really need to buy a rack pack of this stuff one of these days just for kicks. I found some on eBay recently, but I let them slip through my fingers.

The Contest Winner Gets His Post

I held a little impromptu contest the other night to see if anyone was paying attention, and the winner in a manner of minutes was Smed's Baseball Card Blog. Yes, this is the same guy who has almost single-handedly kept the Airbrushed Fridays posts alive. Meanwhile, boxes keep showing up at my dwelling with his return address on them. No matter how many times I tell the mailman to keep those blasted kiddie bubble gum cards away from my yard, they keep finding their way indoors. I'll delve into another one of those here. By the way... Garrett Stephenson? Who knew he was so memorably crappy?

Here's a very moody, if not downright sullen Colby Rasmus on his short printed 2009 Topps Heritage High Series card. I actually managed to get ahold of the Chrome version of this card before the regular one, and now I need one more to actually put toward the set. I really hope Rasmus works out for this team. He has shown a ton of talent along with plenty of head-scratching moments. I still think he's on the right path.

While not exactly The Big Pull that I somehow managed yesterday, a couple of serial-numbered Pujols cards here aren't too shabby.

I have to say that I'm used to Topps Cardinals parallels that are more of the middle infielder variety than the big star.

This is another much needed addition to the Ozzie Smith collection. I've been slowing down on adding Ozzie cards of late, which is not helped by the fact that I still haven't managed to put a proper list together and post it on the internet somewhere.

I'm collecting the 2008 50th Anniversary All-Rookie team insert set, but not the Chrome versions. However, I do collect Matt Holliday, another player whose cards I need to actually log somewhere. I don't have many of his, though, so it shouldn't take nearly as much time.

In addition to Cardinals and player collection needs, there was a healthy stack of stuff from the sets I torture myself with. In the interest of brevity, I chose just two cards to represent that particular stack, and here's one of them. CC's got a really tiny head on him here.

Cole Hamels, in 2010 Topps Heritage Short Print All-Star form, looks like he's about 15. At least it isn't as annoying as that commercial he was in where his "dad" walks to the pitcher's mound.

And finally, what great trade package would be complete without the proverbial hit? There were several actually, but I've chosen to highlight an expected and a very unexpected one here. I was given a heads-up about this Joe Mather autograph. Give Topps a lot of credit with at least doing something right and putting out an on-card autograph with Stadium Club. They did a lot wrong with 2008 Stadium Club, however, as many collectors have realized.

And finally... wow! Here's a piece of history. Not everyone is into the stadium relic concept, most likely because they don't seem to feature a player or specific event, but I think this is a pretty cool snapshot of history nonetheless. That being said, someone could probably pry it off my hands given the right set of circumstances. (By the way, how do you return the favor to someone who seems to have all but completely rejected the notion of all things non-base card? Maybe I need to figure out how to print my own cards.)

Impact Trade from Nachos Grande

Finally, I've arrived to packages received this year. I try to do the trade post thing in the order that I've received stuff from people. Unfortunately, even after I finally got to this package that Chris from Nachos Grande sent me a month ago, I still have 10 packages left to write about. (Thanks to everyone who's been sending me stuff lately and always. Don't stop sending the friendly manila envelopes.) Chris is one of the biggest traders out there and posts about as frequently as anyone that I make a habit of reading. Here are some Cardinals and other wantlist needs that he sent over.

I'm not sure why, but I kind of like these Impact cards. I admit to knowing absolutely nothing about this stuff, but my guess would be that it was a fairly low end product in its day. It looks similar to Pacific, but not as lousy and was made by Fleer/Skybox in the early '00s.

I picked up a few more needs for the 2009 Heritage set. The more binder slots I can fill through your kind packages, the better. I don't understand what the story is with guys named "Mat" all of a sudden. What's next - Bil? Jefrey (with one f?)

There were a few Allen & Ginter cards as well, which is equally as nice. Oddly enough, this is my first Yadier Molina National Pride card which means it's staying on my want list and going straight into my team binders.

Scott Rolen looks super serious here. I wouldn't mess with him. It'll be interesting to see what kind of year he has with Cincinnati, the official team of Nachos Grande. Hopefully the Cardinals can keep the Reds at bay for another season.