The Beast, Unleashed

Retro Cardinals and Topps Heritage set filler. 

Way back around Christmastime, GCA of The Collective Mind sent along a really nice grouping of older Cardinals cards and older Topps Heritage needs. I love cards from before I was born, because they really feel like an artifact of time that I feel like I want to study. I'm not sure today's cards will make that kind of an imprint, but considering the continued love for all things '80s, maybe society will eventually feel nostalgic for... I don't know... 2010?

These two "rookie stars" are just waiting for their call. Just look at them!

1970 Topps is this current year's Heritage focus. After seeing a few of these cards lately, it's easy to see how the 2019 set is just a bunch of guys posing for no apparent reason. There were a lot more close-up head shots like this in 1970, though.

There was a healthy amount of 1975 minis, including this adorably mis-cut Claude Osteen. Just because it's a mini doesn't make the airbrushed monstrosity on Claude's head any less prominent.

It looks like someone told Ron Willis a joke that he doesn't quite get.

What a collection of players we have here! Even if this is water damaged, it's still a great card in my book. Joe Torre might not even deserve to hang out with these guys, but this goes in the Torre section of my binder just the same.

As mentioned above, a good portion of this package was devoted to 2005 Topps Heritage cards that I didn't have already. As time continues to pass, I am growing more and more appreciative of the sets I collect from the days before I thoughtlessly walked back into this crazy hobby. I need more of these! It's possible that time really does heal all wounds, as I don't even mind posting a scan of Barry Bonds and his enormous head here on the blog anymore.

Speaking of heads, the tuberous head of Placido Polanco graces Cards on Cards for the first time in awhile. I always really liked Polanco as a player, though his trade from St. Louis to Philadelphia was instrumental in the Cardinals (eventually!) winning a World Series.

The beast, as GCA stated, was unleashed. It's way past time for me to feed it.

5 on the 5: 2005 Topps Heritage (II)

I was lucky enough to grab another handful of discounted retail 2005 Topps Heritage packs. I posted a 5-pack break awhile back, so let's see how this horizontal bunch compares to the last bunch.

Pack 1:

386 - Adam LaRoche

354 - Paul Quantrill

359 - Doug Davis

246 - Rob Bell (Who? 2005 seems like such a long time ago all of a sudden.)

345 - Jose Cruz Jr.

280 - Bobby Higginson

62 - Chris Woodward

352 - Kevin Millwood (Millwood is looking to make it Year 15 with Boston. Well, that was a pretty lousy pack. Hopefully I got something for my want list.)

Pack 2:

132 - John Buck

219 - Octavio Dotel

131 - Roberto Alomar (In 2005? How long did this guy play again?)

104 - Armando Benitez

205 - Keith Foulke

154 - Orlando Hernandez (El Duque)

136 - Nate Robertson

236 - Oakland Athletics (I do love the old-timey team cards. This makes me want a giant bowling ball to see how many A's I can knock over.)

Pack 3:

57 - Adam Dunn (Rough season for Dunn so far, but this may be a sign that these packs are turning around.)

339 - Gary Sheffield (Polarizing player.)

40 - Garret Anderson

312 - Lance Berkman (Berkman continues to crush baseballs for St. Louis. I didn't see it coming. Did anyone?)

118 - Magglio Ordonez

153 - Frank Thomas (The Big Hurt. I think I have this. Am I mistaken, or has he been doing some color analyst work for ESPN's college coverage?)

THC56 - Greg Maddux Chrome 1488/1956 (That's more like it! This is a pretty good pack despite of its lack of Cardinals. I'm willing to trade this on a first come, first served type of thing.)

167 - Franklin Gutierrez

Pack 4:

250 - Cliff Lee (Clifton Phifer Lee is what his parents call him.)

349 - Trevor Hoffman

337 - Terrmel Sledge (A favorite of mine from his Portland Beavers days.)

380 - Rich Harden

253 - R.A. Dickey (Dickey is quite a story, as he seems to finally have gotten his MLB career going at age 36.)

320 - LaTroy Hawkins

THC67 - Brian Stavisky Chrome 0124/1956 (I still don't know who this guy is or any A's fans who would take this off my hands.)

9 - Gavin Floyd

Pack 5:

304 - Rafael Furcal

397 - Ramon Ortiz

256 - Pedro Feliz (A rough reminder of last season's Cardinal failures. His position is listed as first base here, which seems strange.)

165 - Tony Womack (A reminder of past glory - namely, the great 2004 season. Mark Grudzielanek would take over in 2005. I just wanted to type Grudzielanek. There, I did it again.)

37 - Billy Wagner

297 - Milton Bradley (It seems unlikely Bradley will ever get another shot at the majors, but who knows.)

296 - Johan Santana (This one is a short print variation, as Johan is wearing the Senators cap here.)

100 - Baltimore Orioles

Interested in contributing to the cause? I don't collect the Chromes (unless they are Cardinals), so those and any other dupes I ended up with here will be up for grabs as well.

Karma is a...

With the curtains drawn on the 2010 season for the Cincinnati Reds, we can also officially close the book for good on another Cardinals season as their chief competitors managed to break a record for playoff futility, managing just eleven hits in their series - two fewer than the record and also two fewer than they tallied off of one Roy Halladay start alone earlier this season. While I will certainly try not to let the grudge carry over until next season and beyond, I also can't say I'll be rooting for Brandon Phillips or Johnny Cueto anytime soon. With well-respected ex-GM Walt Jocketty at the helm and a number of ex-Cards dotting the lineup, this team had a chance to be my NL team of choice this year with St. Louis out of the picture. They were one of the only teams in the division that I didn't have a problem with (Dusty Baker aside.) In the end, the 2006 Cardinals stand as the last NL Central team to actually win a playoff series.

Meanwhile, on quite the opposite spectrum lies Night Owl Cards. I received at least the 32nd package from his neck of the woods back east recently and, as usual, it contained an assortment of Things I Tend to Collect. (You can see what is among those Things I Tend to Collect by checking out the sidebar on this very blog. You know, it's the thing... on the side... over there.) Should Night Owl read this post, he'll likely be quite confused about how my first paragraph relates to this trade package and, quite frankly, I am too. I think I just wanted to passively and aggressively complain about the Reds tonight because I (sort of) kept it classy during the season.

Speaking of complaining (see... I'm trying!), Adam Kennedy basically became a metaphor for a couple of lost non-playoff season that the Cards suffered through after the 2006 title. Kennedy was one of the few Cardinal role-player signees that failed to live up to his projections as an adequate player and do anything at all that endeared himself to fans. He talked his way out of town by his second season as much with his mouth as he did with his bat... um, with the uh... hitting instead of talking. Right? Right.

Great card. But is Gibby pitching... in a dream? Where are his teammates? Where is the opposition? Is he pitching in a biosphere? Where's Pauly Shore and the Baldwin guy?

Ahh, I love minis! I love it when people send me minis. I don't ever expect to complete any sort of set of minis, but I will continue to list them and love them when they're sent to me. At some point, maybe their novelty will wear off with people and I'll be around to scoop up the unwanted remains.

Finally, because I like to keep it short these days at 5 cards per trade post (also not coincidentally the maximum number of images Blogger will let you upload in one spell), I'll give Night Owl's team some love because it's the offseason and he sent lots of cards from Heritage and A&G sets that I collect without really buying packs or boxes. Thanks!

Oh, are you hungry for more?

That'll do it.

Even More Card Show Goodies

After taking June's show off, I returned to the monthly card show this past Saturday and ended up spending the majority of my time digging through bargain boxes. No one should be surprised at that, of course, but I am always glued to a table when there are large quantities of cards at a nickel a piece (or less). In this case, I found one guy who had some cards for a penny and another guy who had an entire table full of boxes at 2 cents a card.

Before I got to the cheapies, however, I picked up half a dozen or so 2009 Heritage High SPs for only $1 each. Unfortunately, I already had a couple of them since this was one want list I forgot to print out and take with me. I have those cards available to trade now, however, so it's not all bad.

I also managed to get ahold of both of the Pujols inserts from the same set for just 50 cents a piece.

Unfortunately, these two cards will stay on my list because I need two copies of each Cardinal in sets that I am working on.

Here's an example of one of the amazing bargains I snagged from the 2 cent bins. This it the short-printed variation of this card that I wrote about awhile back. I also got a Pudge Rodriguez SP from the same set and a Mike Mussina SP from 2006 Bowman Heritage.

These minis weren't a penny, but I believe they were only a quarter. It brings me two more dinosaur cards closer to Total Dinosaur Supremacy.

And, of course, there were the Cardinals cards. I tried to restrain myself and just choose a few from the bargain bins. I actually ended up filling up an entire 800 ct. box (and then some) when all was said and done, snagging a lot of 2 cent cards for people I trade with in the process.

Aside from the refractors that were in the 2 cent boxes (seriously), I was actually a bit more surprised to see mid-'80s traded set cards in mint condition. I ended up with a few cards from the '83, '84 and '85 sets including this elusive Vince Coleman rookie card that I have coveted for years.

This card is no "Fleet Feet", but it's one I didn't own before. There are a ton of Cardinals in the tiny 1985 Donruss Highlights boxed set.

Finally, I usually try to reward myself with at least one autographed or game-used purchase, especially when I'm searching for those sorts of things for others. This completed a 3 for $10 purchase and is a really nice looking card with an on-card autograph that everyone can enjoy.

Trading with Clear Cut Cards

Oh the trades, they just keep on comin'. This one is from the man known around these parts as TheBrooklynMet. He runs an outfit called Clear Cut Cards and is interested in, well, you guessed it... the Mets! He also took second place in the contest, which reminded me that I was long overdue in getting this thing posted. Let's check it out.

I received a healthy stack of Cardinals cards including this 2003 Garrett Stephenson. I don't have many Stephenson cards (maybe one or two others?) He is a frequent topic of discussion in 3 Nights in August (go read it, even if you hate the Cardinals... how could you??) as an example of a pitcher who was pressed into starting duty more or less because every team seems to need 5 starters these days.

I also received a couple of Darryl Kile cards for the collection including this interesting vertically positioned 1995 Select card. Score should have just stuck with Select as its flagship brand.

Also in the package were a handful of 2005 Topps Heritage cards. I am really enjoying my slow but steady accumulation of Heritage cards from the earlier sets from others that I've traded with. It takes a lot of the pressure off of me trying to track down packs and boxes of this stuff which can get rather expensive since these sets seem to more or less retain their value unlike a lot of other stuff. I have no idea who Brian Stavisky is, but what is going on with his cap? That logo is terrible. I really hope that's not some sort of mutant Oakland cap. Does anyone know?

One more down and about 145 left to go in the 2010 Turkey Red collection. I am really glad Topps revived this line last year even though they did it in a fairly expensive and difficult way.

Finally, here's a great looking Matt Holliday jersey card with a perfect looking Rockies purple pinstripe. And with this card, my Holliday collection officially begins in earnest.

Thanks again to TheBrooklynMet!

5 on the 5: 2005 Topps Heritage

First off, I have to say congratulations to the Saints for beating the boring and overall unlikeable Colts in the latest installment of the Super Big Game. I didn't do a Super Bowl post today because I actually couldn't find a Saints card except for Joe Horn, and I don't think he's on the team anymore. I probably have about 35 Dalton Hilliard Pro Set cards, actually, but I don't think that would have worked either.

I picked up 5 packs for the low, low price of $2 each at the January card show. These packs had sugarless gum in them? 2005 sure must have been a weird time to live in! This month's card show was actually yesterday (that is, the day before the Super Bowl and probably not the day before you are reading this) but I didn't attend this time. I'm planning on making it to next month's deal, however, so hopefully the Retail Guy will have more stuff like this.

Pack 1:

204 - Kyle Farnsworth

98 - Woody Williams

238 - Ryan Drese

144 - Dustan Mohr

201 - Jeff DaVanon

173 - Jeff Weaver (Pictured with the Dodgers... and he's coming back. I bet Dodgers fans are happy.)

THC14 - Vladimir Guerrero Chrome 1550 / 1956 (This isn't bad for a chrome card, considering I could have easily got Jeff DaVanon or something. Any Vlad/Angels fans out there?)

73 - Jeremy Reed

Pack 2:

286 - Hank Blalock (There are lots of variations in this set. This is the more common version of Blalock's card.)

287 - B.J. Upton

115 - Russ Ortiz

283 - Jeremy West (You can't really distinguish between the rookies and non-rookies except for the stats on the back and the fact that you probably haven't heard of the rookies.)

269 - Sidney Ponson

35 - Jay Gibbons

169 - Mark Teixeira

72 - Philadelphia Phillies (The Phillies clearly aren't sitting where they are supposed to appear to be sitting. Wow, look at some of the names on their roster. They've certainly come a long ways from 2005.)

Pack 3:

304 - Rafael Furcal

397 - Ramon Ortiz

256 - Pedro Feliz

165 - Tony Womack (Womack is pictured with the Yankees, coming off the year in which he was picked off the scrap heap to hit .307 as the Cardinals full-time 2B. He eventually came back down to Miguel Cairo levels.)

37 - Billy Wagner

297 - Milton Bradley (There's a joke here, but...)

207 - Austin Kearns

251 - New York Yankees (I spared the Yankees haters and didn't scan this.)

Pack 4:

107 - Adrian Beltre (Beltre is pictured with the Mariners and coming off his 48 HR / 121 RBI season with the Dodgers which he'd never approach again.)

50 - Jim Thome

82 - Torii Hunter (Here's another common version of a card with a variation. The short printed version pictured Hunter wearing Washington gear.)

198 - Jose Vidro

125 - Nomar Garciaparra (Looks like Nomar is retiring. I wonder what would have happened if he had stayed with Boston his entire career.)

7 - Ichiro Suzuki (Yet another Ichiro card for me.)

F-FR - Frank Robinson Flashbacks (This looks nice. It just looks like they used an old newspaper clipping for the photo instead of some colorized junk. These came in at 1:12 odds.)

213 - Detroit Tigers

Pack 5:

267 - Todd Hollandsworth

22 - Brad Ausmus (Ausmus will be 41 this year and is back for another year.)

67 - Erik Bedard (Bedard could end up being a steal for Seattle this season, but I suppose it's more likely that his arm falls off. Still, he can't be worse than Yusmeiro Petit, whom they released to bring Bedard back.)

202 - Paul Byrd

48 - Zach Day

84 - Scott Podsednik

5 - Todd Helton (Here's my only short printed card of the lot. They didn't print odds on the wrappers for short printed cards, so I have no idea if I got shorted or not. This is just a plain old SP and not a variation.)

121 - Pittsburgh Pirates

It's time to update my want list. I think I had maybe 10 cards from this set before this.