This is What Led to Y2K

Yes, the image above is really a strangely shaped CD with an Upper Deck logo and a baseball player on it. In a meeting of technology and sports collectibles, some CDs were produced as inserts to a set Upper Deck liked to call PowerDeck. You can read more about this set at where these cards originated from, which was a really fun all-Upper Deck group break hosted by Community Gum. I ended up with four "digital cards", which along with their own custom sleeves fit snugly in a top loader. I am thankful for that. There's no way this is going in one of my binders.

The classic 2004 Timeless Teams set was part of the break, which is great because I love the design. This Lou Brock card is part of a Memorable Moments subset that includes the original photo in all of its non-colorized glory.

Oh Lefty, the Cardinals barely knew ye. Well, I didn't know ye at all, until long after ye became a Phillie.

Wait... what's this, Topps? No, Topps cards did not sneak into the break. I just wanted to casually mention that Jon at Community Break was kind enough to throw me a bone and toss some Heritage cards my way as I had sent him some cards out of the blue awhile back. People are nice like that.

Upper Deck Victory was, I think, another attempt at making a game out of a trading card set. Or maybe it was a trading card set out of a game? In any case, there's practically every color of the rainbow involved here and it was nice to get a Jim Edmonds color that I didn't already have.

Upper Deck Retro has been making the rounds. I had this product in another group break recently if I recall. I did a lot better this time around, pulling this incredibly busy J.D. Drew serial numbered (0240/1000) insert and several others that I didn't previously have.

And what might Upper Deck be "throwing back" to here? Hmmm... 1959 Topps? Sneaky. (Also, isn't that link the best?)

Ozzie had only been out of baseball for a few years at this point.

Next up, we had some 2006 Upper Deck First Pitch. This was a value-priced precursor to the three year run of Upper Deck First Edition, only the design didn't mirror the base set. And that's really too bad, because I actually really liked the 2006 Upper Deck set. This is the type of thing you get in repacks sometimes, but I still ended up with some cards I didn't own. This is a Scott Rolen insert of some sort.

The idea of an Upper Deck "40 Man" set sounds great to me on paper. But not, like, the paper the cards are manufactured on. I love the idea of getting cards of players from my team who don't usually have cards, but Topps executed this much better with the highly lamented Topps Total. Curse you, Topps. These 40 Man cards all look the same, mostly awkward posed shots of players you know and don't know.

Finally, here's one of the nicest cards I've ever received in a group break. It also fills a spot in my as yet uncharted quest to get a certified autograph of every player on the Cardinals World Series winning 2006 and 2011 teams. This Elements set is fun and I wouldn't mind someday getting a hold of a box.

Up For Grabs: Grammy Nominated Bernie

All-Star. World Series Champion. Gold Glove Winner. Grammy nominated recording artist? Bernie Williams is the latest to get the boot from my binders. He was never a highly sought after player but is one of my non-Cardinal favorites. As always, the full list of cards available is at the end of this post.

These don't scan well. This is one of the inserts from the Donruss Super Estrellas set.

The 2002 Upper Deck base design suits the Yankees perfectly.

Is anyone excited about the World Baseball Classic starting up again in a few months? I looked forward to it the first two times, only to find myself not really watching it once the games were on.

It's amazing that this card was released the same year as his Major League rookie cards, because he looks so much younger and tinier here.

Bernie didn't make his debut during the 1990 season, but he had rookie cards in all of the major sets except for Upper Deck if I recall.

Why... it's a Golden Rainbow!

Just evoking the Bazooka brand name brings back the exact taste of one of those tiny little rock hard individually wrapped gum pieces to my memory. I think they were like 3 cents a piece when I was a kid, if not a nickel. I didn't quite grow up in the era of "penny candy" but I do remember forking over small change for individual candy pieces like Smarties and Jolly Ranchers.

If I make it out to the monthly card show this weekend, I think I am going to look for a cheap box of Bowman. Who knows? Those things are really hit and miss with unopened product.

The list:

1996 Bazooka #7
2002 Donruss Super Estrellas #55
2002 Donruss Super Estrellas Nacion de Origen
2002 Upper Deck #629
2009 Topps World Baseball Classic #BCS20 [2 available]
1990 Topps #701
1990 Score #619 [4 available]
1997 Score (Goin' Yard) #503
1994 Topps Stadium Club #573 [4 3 available]
1994 Topps Stadium Club Golden Rainbow #573
1992 Score #401
1996 Topps Stadium Club #289
1999 Bowman #41
1990 Best #26 [2 available]
1992 Fleer #247

[updated 12/16/12]

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.

A Repack Meant For Me (and More Trade Bait)

Never try to seek out baseball cards at Toys 'R Us. I learned that lesson yesterday while out on a spontaneous shopping trip. Topps base blasters for $25.99? $13.99 for one of those mini boxes that contains a guaranteed code card and really not much else? Dusty old repack packages for $24.99? Seriously? Of course, this made me schedule an unplanned trip to Target where I picked up a $7.99 Fairfield repack and some Topps Update looseys.

These repacks are a bit more for the budget conscious like myself, promising 4 unopened packs (2 showing) and a "bonus box" of 50 random cards. The four packs didn't contain anything noteworthy, although I got a needed code parallel from the 2011 Ginter set. It was the bonus box that contained the true goodies, like the orange refractor Yadier Molina card. Erin's Yadi collection is finally up to date and Zistle-ified, so you can click the link now and see exactly which cards she has. (No Zistle account required.) I plan on getting all of my player collections as well as Erin's up to date in the relatively near future.

Aside from the Yadi card, everything in this post is very much up for grabs. Are there any Jose Canseco collectors out there? Do people collect him ironically? (Does anyone collect any player's stuff as an amusement tactic?)

It's always nice to find an oddball card or two in these things.

There were a bunch of 1987 Topps cards in the box, to no great surprise, but also included were a handful of the All-Star glossy inserts. I remember the All-Star glossy sets being impossible to put together because people would hoard unopened packs showing so-called star players on the front, as if they were going to be worth a fortune.

I wonder what Rickey is up to these days.

This card missed the Nolan Ryan extravaganza post that I put together awhile back. I still have a number of Ryan cards left if anyone needs them.

I don't even know what this monstrosity is. I doubt I would be allowed in a government building with this on my person, considering that it's all metal... and thick.

This is just a nice early photo of Sheff.

As mentioned, I also picked up 5 more packs of Topps Update. I have been on a Royals spree lately.

These golden whatever parallels just get worse with age.

I didn't know that Albert Belle had joined the select group of retired players that Topps seems to grind out cards of these days.

Pudge is another reminder of the Marlins free-spending-just-kidding ways, as he came in for the team's title season in 2003 and was gone before the next season started.

Topps should really have a wide panel of card collectors approve their insert designs before they print and release these things to the masses.

I'm not sure what to say about Justin Morneau. He's on a baseball card. And it's up for grabs.

For some reason, the Baseball Times doesn't deliver to my house.

Since winning the World Series, Whiteside has already been waived twice by two different teams. He now calls Toronto his home. Maybe.

This Way to the Want Lists

Things are happening! I'm still (mostly) managing to put together trades and reduce my outrageous want lists. This may still be a bit like throwing pebbles into the ocean, but I am ridding myself of things I don't care about and taking in things I care slightly more about, so that has to be good. Right?

This latest "achievement" comes courtesy of Mark Kaz of This Way to the Clubhouse. He was all over the 2012 Heritage trading thing before the 2012 Heritage trading thing was cool, and I thank him for that. And also for the cards.

Speaking of trades, it hit me with a bit of a shock that Tommy Hanson is no longer a prospect darling and more like a hopefully salvageable piece of a trade for a young reliever. Didn't see that coming. I guess it goes to show how little I pay attention to teams outside of the NL Central since it seems like with the unbalanced schedule at least 100 of the Cardinals games are played inside their own division.

Jordan Walden was the other side of the Tommy Hanson trade. Walden was a (replacement) All-Star closer in 2011 who found himself booted out of the role before the end of the first month of play this past season. Booted, I tell ya!

One down, twelve more to go! And uh, a bunch of short prints, inserts and variations. But we won't talk about those. Especially not the stupid variations.