Animals, Materials and Humans

Baseball cards are weird. 

Red Cardboard had some extras to unload on the card collecting world recently, and I was quick enough to snap up some goodies. Along with a few random set needs, I also put my name in the hat for some Allen & Ginter minis -- the best kind of minis in my opinion.

Erin decided to collect the omnipresent 2012 Panini Triple Play set back in, well, 2012. She's mostly taken a less than passive interest in cards since then (we have too much stuff and not enough space at the moment), but I have continued to try and help her complete this set quest. The last few cards have been difficult to nail down even though packs of this stuff have been in repacks for years. It probably doesn't help that the cards are short printed as you get close to the end of the set, or that there are these weird memorabilia cards that belong to unspecified players from an unspecified league. (There is an MLBPA logo, at least.) Furthermore, some of the memorabilia cards are scarcer than others, with the jersey and bat cards being the most common, naturally. (I have a number of extras of those.) We're down to needing three Hall of Fame cards, a pants (yikes!) card, and a batting glove card. And then, I will never speak of this set again.

MOOSE!

I wonder what the mayor of Miami thinks about the whole Marlins situation. I don't know why people are all that surprised about their fire sale. This is a franchise that has always gone through cycles of overspending and then burning it all down. The only thing that's really changed is that there's a different ownership group.

A fair share of the mini extras (or extra minis?) were of the Cincinnati Reds variety. You're bound to accumulate these things when you're a Reds blogger, after all. Here's former Cardinals star Scott Rolen late in his Cincinnati days.

Speaking of Cardinals, I also was able to acquire my first Topps Fire cards of the year. This set doesn't appeal to me in the slightest, but that's never going to stop me from adding more Cardinals cards to my collection. Oh had a rough second season with the Cardinals, but I would still expect him to catch on somewhere with a major league deal sooner than later.

It was a big surprise to see Edgar Renteria in the checklist (and as a member of the Cardinals), so maybe this set isn't all bad. After all, it is one of the sets that sees the 2017 return of Jim Edmonds to the checklists after a nearly 6 year absence. (Still need to track down that 2017 Topps Archives Fan Favorites auto of his...)

Waiting 'til Next Year (For This Trade Post)

It's Brian Barber Approved!

Most of the sets I'm trying to build are collecting a fair amount of dust, but I was able to chip away at Erin's long lost (but not forgotten) 2012 Triple Play set thanks to P-Town Tom. The Cubs fan was kind enough to toss some Cardinals into the mix, so I thought I'd take a look at a few of those.

Lance Lynn had a perfect W-L record in the month of April until his last start, which was a frustrating one. Tonight was another frustrating one. I didn't have a great feeling about the Cardinals' prospects this season before the games began in earnest and I certainly don't right now. I'm sure no one anywhere is losing any sleep over this, considering how the team has been lionized in the media in recent years.

This card is some sort of crazy jumble of Pujols parts and limbs. It would seem to be from a set called Fleer 3D, but I don't know a thing about it. This is my favorite kind of thing to get in a blind trade.

It's a box bottom! Scanners seem to be very friendly towards cards with wobbly edges, which is basically the reverse of how they treat some of my pristine cards. Also, having a cropping tool and a free image editor helps.

Finally, here's one of those pesky Triple Play cards. We still need a couple dozen of these cards. Give it a look if you're bored or something.

Hey Hey, Who Needs Some Triple Play?

Erin bought another box of 2012 Triple Play last weekend on the cheap and found it frustrating, as most set collectors do, that the vast majority of cards in the box were ones that she already had. I've gone ahead and updated her Triple Play want list and included all of the doubles, triples and sextuples in the list as is standard. I'd really like to get rid of some of these cards - I have another "Reel Feel" bat card up for grabs (the third one that she has pulled) - and wouldn't mind knocking a few more cards off her list if that can be managed. If not, that's cool, too.

College basketball is in full effect. Don't forget about the March Radness contest, with the deadline coming up in less than one week!

Clear Cut Heritage Trade

Cards on Cards is going on vacation. Tomorrow is my last working day until after New Year's Day, so new posts may be nonexistent or at the very least, somewhat sporadic and unpredictable for the remainder of the year. For most people, not having to go to work means more free time and, by extension, more time for the blog. Apparently, I don't seem to work that way. Every time I have time off I find that I neglect everything I normally keep up with and go off and do things that I don't always get a chance to get to do.

I thought I'd sneak in one last trade post before 2013... assuming I don't free up all of this time to get caught up on the rest of my trades and trade posts. This little swap was for a few 2012 Heritage cards from Clear Cut Cards. My end of the deal is sadly lagging behind, but that matter should be taken care of very soon.

Along with some needed base cards and the Walmart blue parallel of Mr. Collmenter (who sounds like a vice principal of the disciplinarian kind) came this Kyle Seager short print. Seager was one of the best of a less than mediocre bunch of hitters in Seattle's lineup last year. With Kendrys Morales joining the fold for 2013 and the Safeco Field fences moving in, it will be interesting to see if Seattle can find some semblance of an offense. As much as we like Chone "Figgy" Figgins in this household, it will likely be addition by subtraction to have him out of the picture. I hope he catches on somewhere else and is able to rebuild his career.

A couple of Cardinal Triple Play cards found their way into the mix. These are headed for my Cardinals binders as Erin already has them. She's working on this set and just busted her way through a box. Look for an updated wants/haves list soon, if you're working on this set or have any extras.

I caught an interview with Lance Berkman this morning on MLB Network's Hot Stove, which is a regular part of my morning routine these days. Berkman didn't sound as dismissive about playing again as some of the things I've read in the media lately, and the fact that he was willing to go on TV and talk for awhile to me suggests that he's putting himself out there for an opportunity next season. Good for him. I never thought I'd become a Lance Berkman fan, but he's a good guy and a hell of a player.

2012 Triple Play

Erin is collecting the 2012 Triple Play set. Send me an email if you have any to spare.

Want List:

281 Al Kaline Hall of Fame
297 Real Feel Pants
299 Real Feel Batting Glove


[updated 8/18/23]