Meet up with Johnny’s Trading Spot

 My oh my, where do I start?  A few Saturdays ago, I met up with John from Johnny’s Trading Spot, and had the chance to dig though his trade boxes. It was neat getting to finally see in person where he stores all of his collection right now (I was expecting a huge warehouse), and hearing him talk about his plan to put up a shed and place some bookshelves. 

Before I started with the digging for gold, John presented me with my prize for getting a question right in his 2022 Finest Flashbacks post. 

A Rays lamp!  Actually 2 of them. Turns out he knows the other Rays fan in the world and got the 2 lamps and now I have a lamp to put in Kylers room and one to put in my man cave eventually when I get a room for it. 

As for the cards, John was right in his post the other day, I went home with around 4,000 cards, mostly my known weaknesses, Rays, Tigers, favorite players, and highlight cards. I also tried to get Topps cards from sets that I knew I haven’t completed and that I knew weren’t doubles. Trying to complete every Topps set means I have a ton of needs now and that I was able to take a decent amount of stuff off of John’s hands (don’t worry. There is plenty left over).  

I don’t know how to even start, so I figured I would post just the Tigers, favorite players, highlight cards, a few rookies, and some parallels, as it gives a pretty good sample view of what I was able to find. 

While not actual 1953 Topps cards, these reprints will serve as 1953 cards in my Topps quest. There were a number of these cards for each team, and serve as an inexpensive alternative to getting a real 1953 Topps set. 

While a 1987 Donruss Highlights card, a 1987 Fleer card, and a mini Alan Trammell  snuck in, the main highlight of this photo are the Fleer Box set cards. I got 5 different sets, 3 from 1987, 1 from 1988 and 1989. 

The best part?  All of the sets came with team logo stickers!  

A number of sections of the boxes contained cards that got me close to finishing some sets. There were a few 1992 ToppsGold cards, some 1995 Collectors Choice cards, and 1997 Coklectirs Choice cards. I know someone who is collecting ‘97 Collectors Choice, and I was able to almost knock their wantlist down to single digits. 

These cards spoke to my heart. I had many of these cards and got them signed at spring training games over the years, but lost them after selling my signed cards 10 years ago. Now I got them back. I remember getting the Cody Ross card, the Bobby Higginson, and the Chad Petty signed pretty vividly. Ross was always recognizable because of his shaved head. I had a game used bat card of Higginson, and got it signed along with the Bowman as he was walking to his car after a game. Petty was involved in one of the best pitching matchups I’ve ever seen. Petty and the Lakeland Tigers faced Matt Smith, a lefty, and the Tampa Yankees. Petty pitched 6 no-hit innings, while Smith pitched 7. I think the Yankees won it, but I got Petty to sign his Bowman card, and Smith to sign a foul ball that I caught during the game (you would be lucky if 300 people showed up to Lakeland Tigers games back then, so the chance at catching a ball was pretty good). 

The 2015 Topps cards were a highlight of the boxes for me. I stuck a Buck Farmer Prism card in just because it looked so cool. There were a number of regular, Gold, Purple, and Opening Day Blue cards in the boxes. I think what I am going to do with the 2015 Topps set (and any other one with parallels) is take any version of a card that I need (whether I have it in base, parallel, Chrome, or even Opening Day version), and use it for the set of I have it. Sort of like a frankenset, or to use another bloggers idea, what Gavin from Baseball Card Breakdown is doing with the 2011 Topps parallel set. 

A number of favorite players were represented, from more recognizable beamed like Corey Kluber and Dee Gordon to lesser know guys like Rolando Arrojo and John Axford. A recent addition to my collection is Daron Kirkreit. My friend Jim lives about a mile away from my house and collects St. Louis Cardinals cards and is a big autograph collector. He is trying to get an autographed card of every St. Louis Cardinal possible and is only missing like 5% of them. He was getting his knee rehab after having an operation, and the therapist was none other than Mr. Kirkreit. Jim got a few cards signed by Daron, and let me know about him, so I made a custom 1994 Topps Draft Pick card, and gave it to Jim, as well as the minor league card of Daron that I had. Daron signed the cards for us, and was really impressed with the customs I made. I might try to see if he’s still working in Daytona and make him a few more. 

Pat Neshek is a favorite of mine just because of how fan friendly and happy to sign autographs he is. Kind of the opposite of Zack Greinke. I found a cool 13 cards of homer machine Richie Sexson, and a nice first year Bowman Platinum of Jamison Taillon, a guy from my hometown, Lakeland,FL. 

Onto some of the rookie and shiny/special cards, I originally picked up the Astros rookies card because I know I needed it, but if I’m not mistaken, I believe it is the rookie card of potential Hall of Fame manager and new Rangers skipper Bruce Bochy. The ‘93 ToppsGold Tim Wakefield rookie would’ve been so hot in 1993, as the Matt Harvey rookie debut would’ve been in 2012-13. I’ve always liked Trevor Story, so I was happy to find a 2016 rookie of him, and although I’m not a fan of the White Sox or bat flippers, you can’t deny the greatness of Tim Anderson. 

I found a low numbered Ryan Howard, a Bowman Ice Chris Davis, and a Topps Gold Tim Beckham. I found a few refractors, including a sweet ‘98 Finest (the 2nd best Finest set besides 1994) one of John Burkett, 2014 Purple ones of Mets Wilmer Flores and Curtis Granderson, a 2015 Sepia one of Troy Tulowitzki, and a 2018 one of Lewis Brinson. Last was a Gallery parallel of Sean Doolittle. 

Last up are a spattering of highlights cards. 

John also sent me these for winning one of the daily contests a few days ago. I would’ve been floored by that ‘72 League Leaders card and the ‘74 Kaline, but check out that 3rd card. Yep. That’s a ‘78 Topps Lou Whitaker rookie!  How amazing is that?  If you don’t follow John’s blog by now, definitely do so. He is a great guy who tells interesting stories and always has a huge selection of cards to show off and has one of the biggest card collections I’ve ever seen. Thank you so much John for letting me dig through some of your cards and for the prizes you’ve hooked me up with. I can’t wait to come over to your place again. 

Before I finish, just had to show a bad choice I made the other day. Walmart had 2023 Topps blasters and 2022 Topps Chrome blasters. Guess which one I chose. Guess who didn’t get an Aaron Judge or Nolan Arrenado. Guess who didn’t get a Wander Franco. 4 boxes and nothing. I need to just pay the 5-10 bucks for the Franco and be done with it. I did pull a few Tigers and a Javier Baez refractor, but this is what I get for not getting the 2023 Topps that my gut told me to get. I got a few rookies and a few sunset cards, but I was a tad disappointed with the box. Most of these are up for trade if you like anything. 

I did get 1 other Sepia refractor, and I thought it gave me a shot at a rainbow, but unfortunately, it was a dupe. 

Along with the other inserts I pulled, check out my 2023 Topps Chrome Jarren Duran collection. 1 base, 2 Sepia refractors, and 1 Blue Wave refractor. The extra Sepia Duran is up for trade as well. 

Thanks for checking out my latest post. 

-Jeremy

I’m gonna need some more pages

 If things keep shaping up the way they have lately, I’m probably going to need a bunch of more pages. 

First off, thanks John from Johnny’s Trading Spot for letting me come over and dig through some of your trade boxes this past Friday. While I haven’t taken pictures yet (and plan to do a full post), I came back home with 5 800 ct boxes full of cards and still haven’t finished sorting them into teams. What I went through wasn’t even a 10th of what he had there, so I imagine a number of trips to Ocala are in my future. 

We all know that 2023 Topps is out, and after I got off work today, I was able to get my hands on some. I stopped by Target to look for some, and while the card aisle was packed to the brim, it was just mostly basketball and football. Only worthwhile thing I found was a hanging pack of Chronicles that I snagged. An associate later told me some idiot came there first thing and snagged like 50 packs of 2023 Topps that day while I was slaving away at work. I hope that a$$hole gets a flat tire. I got some groceries we needed while at Target, then called the card shop in between there and home and they said it was coming on the truck within the hour, so I went there next. I dig through some loose cards they had, got a pack of 2021 Heritage Minors, and a jumbo pack of 2023 Topps. I probably overpaid for everything, but I got the 2023 set and a few cool cards. Let’s take a look at everything. 

These came from the loose cards in the shop. Yeah, the ‘75 is miscut, but it is a ‘75 card, and has Mantle on it, so why not get a need for an almost 50 year old set. The Balkovec card would’ve been a good candidate to get placed in my highlights binder, but it doesn’t have a date on the top. Still, it’s a cool card of a barrier breaker and a potential card to get signed ttm. 

Who was my first 2023 Topps card, you ask? Josh Naylor. Never been an Indians Guardians fan as they are an AL Central team competing against my Tigers, but at least it wasn’t a Yankee. 

Those are some of the sunsets as well as a view of the back. I wish the team cards didn’t say ‘Team card’ on it. Maybe pic of the NL logo, or have ‘Arizona’ or ‘Diamondbacks’ spelled out like it is on the uniform. They could’ve also put 2022 in the home plate instead of AZ.  The League Leaders card is ok. They are really throwing the angles and slashes at us this year. The backs are ok with me. Glad they have career stats. While I’m not sure if the regular SPs are marked, I am very happy that SSPs are marked right there by the card number, but in order to do that, it kind of makes the regular cards that don’t need to be marked seem like the space is wasted. 

I pulled a ton of rookies in the packs I got, and I figured I would just show the hot guys and the one ‘88 redux card I got. Don’t know if the Vaughn Grissom card will be the hot card of 2023, but there’s a shot. The Rodriguez card was a good pull. 

I got a few parallels from the packs. They are shown with 2 highlights cards I got from the shop, an insert from the ‘23 pack,and a mascot I got from the shop. Don’t ask me to tell you what the Chronicles parallels are called. I got 2 Luis’s from the ‘23 Topps pack, a gold Robert, and a rainbow Garcia. 

I got 2 favorite players from the Topps pack, Jacob deGrom, and Kenkey Jansen. The Todd Greene card looks pretty cool in hand. I may already have the same Ortiz card, but I’m pretty sure it’s a rookie, and it’s numbered, and if I already have it, I’ll just put it in my Twins binder. The Expos card just is a tribute to me for the 1994 team. Had the ‘94 strike not happened, this card would’ve been redeemable for a 1995 Stadium Club complete set with a special logo, depending on if the Expos made the playoffs, won the Division Series, NLCS, or World Series. When the strike happened, the Super Team cards applied to the 1995 season and 1996 Stadium Club set. I have a feeling that the Expos Super Team card would’ve got me at least as far as the Division Series winner prize had the strike not happened. 

The Tigers and Rays were represented pretty well. I only pulled the Franco and Kiermaier from the Topps pack, but got 2 Wander Franco’s from the Chronicles ones. All of the other cards I got from the card shop. 

That about does it for the cards I got today. 

I almost forgot that I got some cards for Valentines Day yesterday. Karen got me a blaster of ‘22 Heritage High Number, a hanging pack of ‘22 Optic, and a pack of ‘22 Studio (?) football that I think she must’ve thought was baseball. I opened the football pack and knew I should’ve just left it. Out of like 12 cards, I pulled 2 Bammers and no Auburn guys. Add in criminals Ray Lewis (annoying loudmouth) and Jaemis Winston (crook who should’ve been behind bars and not allowed to play against Auburn in the 2013 National Championship game), and this pack was almost worse than a kick in the groin. If not for a guy from the University of Michigan (which will be headed to Dennis at Too Many Verlanders), this could’ve gone down as the worst pack ever. It still was great because Karen thought of me, though. 

Now the baseball packs were where they really shined. Of course I forgot to take pictures and I put them in my loose card box so you’ll have to take my word. The Optic pack made Kylers day as it had a Green Ohtani (who he likes), and a Matt Olson Splash insert (he thought it was funny that the card said splash). I opened the Optic pack while waiting in line to pick him of from school, and the Heritage packs at 4:15 AM at the parking lot at work while waiting for 4:30 to get there so I could clock in. Karen had the packs by my lunchbox so I took them to work hoping I could open them before work and finish off any remaining at lunch, but I got a phone call at lunch, so I got the Optic pack in the pick up line. I wasn’t able to see the Heritage cards that well and look at the backs until later but I still knew I had some good stuff by pack #3 of the Heritage ones. The first pack had a Wander Franco/Brandon Lowe combo insert and a Purple refractor. The 2nd pack had a Julio Rodriguez and a Purple refractor. The 3rd pack had a Corey Kluber and a Purple refractor. At this point, I figured maybe they had ‘hot boxes’ or something and figured the next 5 packs would contain Purple refractors, and they did. The best one was probably a McKenzie Gore rookie. I pulled 1 or 2 SPs, a regular Chrome, and a Kevin Cash Award Winner insert if memory serves me correctly. Probably pulled another Ray or 2 as well. With the Kevin Cash card (and a Terry Francona insert I pulled in 2018 or so), it leads me to believe that Topps can indeed make cards of managers if they wanted to, they just don’t because they don’t sell cards. I would love to see Manager cards in 2023 Heritage, but I’m not counting on it. I would also love to see a 2023 Topps Opening Day set (where else am I going to find mascot cards?), but with no mention of it online, I don’t know if we’re getting one or not. With 2023 Topps getting a design picture released on September 5, nothing until the sell sheets went live mid January, and then the set coming out surprisingly on schedule on February 15 (early for Topps), these lack of details on new sets might not be anything to worry about. Anyone heard anything about 2023 Bowman?  Heritage?  I guess we’ll know in. a few weeks if Heritage and Opening Day will be out at the normal times.  Even if they don’t come out at the normal times (or at all), I think I’ll have enough cards to last for a while. I may even need more pages. 

Thanks for checking out my latest post. 

-Jeremy

I got that Tork power

 It’s not often that us collectors pull cards of our favorite team or players nowdays, unless you are a Yankee$ or Padre$ fan. It's even rarer when you kind of go on a good streak of having a run of like 3 or 4 blasters or packs where your favorite team ends up being one of the ones with the most cards. When something like that happens, it's only natural to want to brag post about it, so that's what I'm gonna do.

A few weeks ago, I got a value box of 2022 Topps Chrome. I took a picture of the reciept, the box, and e-mailed everything to Topps in order to get in the drawing for the Silver Pack. A week or so later, I got a package from Topps containing a 2022 Topps Chrome Spencer Torkelson refractor. A nice card of a guy on my favorite team who I hope will turn into a stud. 

A week or so after that, my wife got me a blaster of 2022 Topps Heritage High Number, and I pulled a few Tigers, including another Torkelson card. With the Rays and Tigers being tied as my favorite teams, I was pretty stoked. 

Then this past weekend, while at Target, my wife got me another blaster of Heritage and a hanging pack of 2022 Donruss Optic. I got a couple of Tigers in the Heritage box, including another Torkelson, and the Optic pack contained not only the Torkelson rookie from that set, but a Green parallel of the hobby golden boy of the present, Julio Rodriguez.  

Needless to say, I have been pretty stoked with the past 2-3 times I've opened cards (I also got a few Rays in each!), and I almost don't want to open any 2023 products and jinx my luck. 

While I'm not actively collecting Torkelson, I have acquired a bunch of his cards just being a Tigers fan, and I figured I would get them out and post them for the heck of it. 

His Bowman rookie was from a COMC purchase a while back.  I got the Leaf one from one of the card shops near me. The 2020 Topps is a custom that I made and printed out shortly after the Tigers drafted him. The jersey card is from the same COMC order. The Topps ones are a little confusing. The first one only comes in the complete set. The second base card is from Topps Update, and the last one is of course, the Rookie Debut card. Lastly are the Refractor that Topps sent me, and the 2 Heritage High Numbers (one will be going off to Ben, a Tigers fan I've been working on building a trade stack for). 

I finished putting my Phillies Topps cards into TCDB today. I was really hoping to have a few more teams done by now, but I ended up taking our Christmas tree down finally yesterday afternoon, and today I could've probably done another team (next up is the Pirates), but I think I nodded off once or twice, and had MLB Network on and got distracted a little. Maybe I'll get the Pirates in tomorrow after work. Just have the Pirates, Cardinals, Padre$, Giants, and Nationals to log, and the NL Topps cards will be entered into the site. I still haven't come across the missing 1993 Topps Traded cards, but I think after everything is entered, I will go through the 700 ct boxes I have in a few different areas of my card space and just make sure they didn't slip through the cracks and land amongst any doubles in them. 

We've been planning our vacation this year, and after driving across the US the last few years (and seeing Wrigley Field, Comerica Park, and Minute Maid Park), we decided to maybe do a cruise this year. We still might get to see a game, as we'll either go in March during Spring Training and could see a game in one of the southern cities on the way down, or we would go in the summer and could probably hit up a Marlins game if we picked the right week. If not, we'll still have the Opening Day Rays game (where I might get to see Torkelson) and that should be a great experience. I'd just like to cross another park off of our list, and Miami would do it. 

Lastly, I've been working on customs a little bit, just to kind of have something to post of customs since that has been a driving force of this blog (and will continue to be). I am close to finishing all of the missing Rockies cards from the 1996 Topps set, and once I finish them, I'll probably post them and write a little bit about the 1995 team that played the Braves in the playoffs. 

Thanks for checking out my latest post.

-Jeremy

How do you store you cards with multiple players?

 I'm working on a big project of inputting all of my Topps cards into TCDB so I can get wantlists for each set, as I attempt to get every Topps/Topps Traded base card from 1951 to the present. This has presented some unforseen extra tasks for me to accomplish along the way.

I purchased a number of Topps complete sets from the '90's to help me out with that decade, and I have come across a number of multi-player cards while sorting them. Many of them are duplicates. This isn't a problem, as I can put them with the team of a different player. The trouble is, many times, I don't exactly remember which team I put the original card with. Here’s an example. 

I have at least 1 copy of the 1997 Topps Derrek Lee/Paul Konerko/Ron Wright card. I thought I may have stored the card with the Padres and showcased Derrek Lee on the card. While inputting the Dodgers Topps cards into TCDB, I found the card with the Dodgers, highlighting Konerko. There are many other multi-player cards where I just can't remember which team they are stored with, so that led me to the idea of just pulling out every multi-player cards with more than 1 team represented as I put all of my Topps cards into TCDB, and then seeing which cards I have doubles of, and finally putting each card with the player/team I want it with, and then putting all of my loose cards into my binders. Sounds like a pain, but I think in the end, it will be worth it. 

That led me to wonder how my readers store their multi-player/multi-team cards. I have a few ways I figure it out for my collection. 

For a card like this one, it's just 2 guys who never amounted to anything. They didn't hurt any of my favorite teams, and I have nothing against them. I tend to look at the back, and whichever player did the most in the Majors, they get the card. For this one, Savage wins by 3.1 Innings. 

Next up, it's probably the easiest card to store. Mann never amounted to much, and Hansen set some pinch-hitting records. It goes to Hansen and the Dodgers. 

This one if you really split hairs, you could make a case for Delgado, but for me, it easily goes with Piazza. If I happened to get a double (which I have), I would put it with Delgado, then Fordyce if I had a triple, and finally with Leshnock if I happened to have 4 of this card. If I have 5, into the doubles box to maybe trade.

League Leader cards are somewhat easy. I generally put them with the player who led the league in whatever stat. This one goes to Beltre and the Dodgers, although I would be tempted to put it with the Cardinals and Pujols just because he was such a great player. Many times with if I have a multi-player card with Ken Griffey, Jr., it automatically goes to Griffey.

This card, although you might think it would go to Greinke, it would not. Greinke has always came off as a jerk to me, acting all moody with fans and refusing to autograph a card for Pat Neshek. I would avoid putting it with Grienke at all costs, and it would go to Kershaw (cause he's a great guy), and then Arrieta if I got doubles. I also avoid putting cards in my Yankee$ binder at all costs as well. A number of recent Gerrit Cole league leader cards are stored with the other players on it. Also, guys I just don't care for (Jeter, Yadier Molina, Fernando Tatis, Jr., Manny Machado, Justin Turner, Pete Rose, etc.) usually don't get any of their cards unless it's a last resort. 

How do you do it? Do you just put them with the first guy on the card? Do you put them in a special binder? Do you just throw them out and line your birdcage with them? 

I have also been picking out reprint cards with the original backs on them to use in place of older, more expensive cards. I've found a handfull in my Dodgers binder, and hopefully can get a good pile of them in order to save money on older cards. 

For anyone who wants to make trades, be patient. I will have all of these cards uploaded towards the last half of the year, and then it will be time to get crankin. I have a feeling I will be able to find cards for sets a lot easier once everything is logged into TCDB. That was a big problem for me previously. If someone wanted to see all of my 1995 Score cards, I could go through my 30 team binders and take a few hours, but if I have them all logged into the database, it will take minutes. I'll still have to pull them from the binders, but at least I will know which ones to look in. For anyone wanting to add me on TCDB, here is my profile. I am still learning on the site, but it is getting easier, so thanks to everyone who has helped me and given me advice. 

I'm off to put in the Brewers in TCDB. Thanks for checking out my latest post.

-Jeremy

Have we not learned anything, Topps?

 I recently got a blaster of 2022 Topps Heritage High Number cards. Nothing earth shattering, but I did get a Bobby Witt, Jr. rookie and a card I was more excited about since it was a Tiger, the Spencer Torkelson rookie. Among other cards I got from the pack was an Eduardo Escobar card. I figured as a Free-Agent signing, he didn't make it into earlier 2022 sets, kind of like Freddie Freeman, Kris Bryant, or just about all of the 2021 Free Agent class. 

I was filing the card away in my huge 5,000 ct box (actually 2, now) of cards to put in binders in the future, and when I came to the 2022 Topps Heritage section of the Mets, I found another 2022 Topps Heritage Escobar. 

I would've bet my paycheck that it was a dupe, but this was the first I had opened of the product, and I couldn't recall getting one sent to me in a trade recently. I studied the photo, position, and everything on the front, and it was exactly the same. When I flipped over the back, everything was the same except for the card number. Well, the legal mumbo jumbo on the bottom may have been different. I just didn't feel like looking (which would've involved purchasing a telescope). 

I thought the guys at Topps had been getting better about 'Tuckering' in the past few years (only 1 or 2 in 2021, and only Gerardo Parra in 2022 Series 1 & 2), but I guess not. I'm not a Heritage junkie, so I wouldn't have even noticed this had I not pulled both cards, but if some scrub for the Mets got 2 cards, who knows how many times it happened in the set this year. Not only that, but the same photo on the front, same stats, write up, and comic on the back. How lazy!  I was hoping Fanatics would put a stop to that. Judging by the real 2023 Topps sell sheets (and not the ones I tried to pass off as real), they aren't going to be much different than the guys running the company pre-2023 (Rainbow-Gold parallels??!!). 

Topps did something like this before, but all the way back in 2007, 16 years ago. Remember that Gary Sheffield Tigers card you pulled in Series 1 and Series 2?  

Yeah, that one? The one with the same photo on the front for BOTH cards? The one with the same bio and stats on the back? The one with only a different number?  Topps, we have to learn from this. This is going to be a rich persons hobby if you keep treating base cards like that and have some 18-year old just out of his first year of Santa Monica Community College start proofreading the checklist. They probably have the Topps checklist on one side of the screen with Tik-Tok videos open on the other while their phone is open to Instagram. Heck, I actually proofread Topps checklists as one of the main parts of this blog with the creating missing cards, and I still mess up. Not this blatantly, but in just about every checklist, I've missed a guy or had to take a name out that shouldn't have been there. Just put in a little time or have a serious fan do the job. I'd do it for free (or for a few blasters). It's things like this that make me want to get a Twitter account just so I can blast Topps. While I'm not doing anything drastic like that, I urge you if you have a Twitter, are friends(?) with Topps, and feel like doing so to please share this post or just call them out on having basically 2 of the same card in the same brand. 

In other news, I have finished inputting the Marlins and Astros Topps cards into my TCDB account. With all I've talked crap about with Topps, you should find it fonny that I've also set a pretty lofty goal that I may not even finish in my lifetime, but it might be fun. I would love to complete every Topps/Topps Traded set.  Every base and Traded card from 1951-the current year.  'How are you going to acquire the '52 Mantle when you are just a baker?', you might ask. 'How are you going to complete some of these sets when commons from even 30 bucks are running a dollar a pop?'. Well, I never said it was going to be easy. I have a few things that might make this goal get achieved a little easier. First off, I don't really care about the condition a card is in. As long as you can see the picture on the front and most of the back, I'm fine. If I could get a whole 1952 Topps set that had backs like Nick's Andy Pafko, I'd be happy. I'm sure I can find some '70's commons in dime boxes, and maybe even some '60's cards in cruddy condition, and I'll scoop up them all. I also think I am going to let reprints count in my quest. As long as they have the original backs. I think older sets like 1952 Topps, 1953 Topps, and 1954 Topps will get finished quicker if I let the reprints take the place of some of the real cards. It will also save me lots of money on expensive rookies, as many of the key rookies have reprint cards and I have a ton of them as well. 

When I remember my teenage years collecting, I remember wanting some of the older cards but not even knowing what the backs looked like as the internet was just coming out when I was finishing up high school. In 2001, I was 18, and Topps Archives came out. It reprinted many of the key rookies in Topps sets, and I purchased probably 2 boxes worth of packs of the set, and finally got so many of the cards I envied, and finally saw what the back to a '56 Topps card (and so many others) looked like. So for many of these sets, the '01 Archives cards will suffice, and I'll just store them with whatever set they go in. 

As you've probably read in some of the comments of previous posts, I also plan to head over to Ocala with my master list and see what goodies I can dig from John's doubles boxes. With that and probably some trades on TCDB and here, who knows, maybe I'll get close. I am happy to accept any donations, whether stars or commons, 50's or '90's cards. If you don't want to donate to the project, I'd be happy to trade. With 8 out of 30 teams finished, and a few specialized binders left, I estimate I am about 15-20% done with entering Topps cards into TCDB. After that, I'll make paper lists of what I need from each set, and then perhaps put them in a folder or binder to take with me to shows and stuff. I'll probably make pages for each set on my Wantlist, but this will be a ways down the road. I guess for starters, I have a pretty good chunk of the 1986, 1987 (3 cards missing), 1988, 1989, 1991, 1993, and 2001 Topps sets done, hardly have anything from 2012-2014 and pre-1986, and I have completed the 1990, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2018-2022 Topps sets. I am doing Traded sets as well, and have the 1985-1992, 1994, 1995, 1999, and 2018-2022 Traded/Update sets completed. I had ordered a complete 1993 Topps set, but I am somehow missing 3-4 cards from it already. I don't know if it got put into a box somewhere or what, but I'm going to re-check some doubles boxes just to make sure. 

I kind of want to be known as the 'Topps guy' for my collection as well as the customs I've done. Rest assured as soon as these cards are entered, lists made, and some new trades started, that I will be back making customs again. Thanks if you decide to help me with my quest to get every Topps base card from 1951- the present. 

Thanks for taking the time to read my latest post.

-Jeremy

Making progress

 After deciding to input all of my cards into TCDB a month or so ago, I've found some ways to make the process easier. I've decided to just input my Topps cards from each team in so I can see what I need from each set. It's been a love and hate situation so far, finding that I need just a few cards from sets like 1991 Topps, but other sets like 2012-2014 Topps I am missing a good handfull of cards (or in some cases, a whole entire series) from some of the teams. Other sets, like 1986, 1988, 1989, 1993, and 2001 Topps are missing a few more than I should because I got a number of cards from those sets autographed after having complete sets of them, so I need to re-acquire the missing ones. Inputting all of my Topps cards will help me get a master list of missing cards from each set. I'll then probably list the cards from each set on a piece of paper in numerical order and try to put team names with most of them. Then I'll take the list with me if I am at a card shop and see if I can knock off any commons I can and get some of these sets completed so I can have a nice run of Topps cards. 

If you are wondering, with the stuff I've gotten from eBay in the last few months and what I have in my collection currently, I have:

1985 Topps Traded

1986 Topps (partial)  

1986 Topps Traded

1987 Topps (missing like 4 cards)

1987 Topps Traded

1988 Topps (partial)

1988 Topps Traded

1989 Topps (partial)

1989 Topps Traded

1990 Topps

1990 Topps Traded

1991 Topps (I think I'm probably 50-100 cards short)

1991 Topps Traded

1992 Topps

1992 Topps Traded

1993 Topps (partial)

1993 Topps Traded

1994 Topps (missing Juan Gonzalez All-Star)

1994 Topps Traded

1995 Topps

1995 Topps Traded

1996 Topps (partial)

1997 Topps

1998 Topps (Inaugural Rays version, and I'm counting it as complete)

1999 Topps

1999 Topps Traded

2000 Topps

2001 Topps (partial)

If I can somehow fill in the gaps of those, as well as everything from 2002-2018, I'll have a complete Topps run from 1986-2022. Then it will maybe be time to look at 1983 (my birth year) through 1985, and after that, just looking for cheap and damaged cards for any earlier sets. I'll probably input all my non-Topps cards into TCDB after every Topps card is logged and see what trade interest any of those draw up. After I feel like I've gotten prettymuch every card I can reasonably get, then I'll go through the process of putting all of the loose ones in binders. Maybe by then we'll also have decent credit and a new house with a little more room (and if I'm lucky, a little further away from parents and in-laws) where I can have a few decent bookshelves in my mancave. 

I'm really excited for the Inaugural Rays 1998 Topps set. Should arrive to the house today. I went to about 5 Rays games in 1998, and close to 50 games in my lifetime. I've been through the bad and the good with that team, and I'm just sad that I was living in Alabama in 2008 when they made the World Series and that Covid wouldn't allow me a chance to go to a Rays World Series game in 2020. That '98 set just brings back memories of being a teenager, chasing autographs, and finally having a MLB team close to me and watching the team suck but also seeing some players who could've been decent if not for injuries (Tony Saunders, Quinton McCracken). 

I'm so excited for the Rays 25th anniversary season in 2023. I convinced Karen to splurge and get us some tickets to the Opening Day Rays game this year. Just like 25 years ago, their opponent will be the Detroit Tigers. Don't quite know who to root for, but it's just going to be great to (hopefully) see a number of former Rays players back at the ballpark, and see some 25th anniversary events for Opening Day. I'm going to be sure to bring my 1998 Topps Rays Inaugural Season Rays cards to the game, as well as any noteable former Rays and the current roster in hopes of getting autographs. Our seats are right by the Rays bullpen and near the Rays dugout, so hopefully it will give us a chance to get a few. It will be fun to see how Kyler does with trying to get some autographs now that he is a little older. 

I have 4 teams input into TCDB so far, the Diamondbacks, Braves, Cubs, and Reds. I can get a team put into the site in about half a day, so maybe by April or May with a few days off I can get the NL and AL teams finished. Then, it will be onto my other special notebooks, like favorite players, Rays, Tigers, Highlights, rookie cards, and sunset cards. I can't wait to see the totals and finally see how close I am to completing some of these sets. Just wish I hadn't waiting until after COVID, cause I could've probably got some of the common cards I'll need for .10 cents instead of a dollar. Die, you card-flipping profit hungry brahs!!!!!!

*Update* The set arrived and aside from some cards sticking, I’m happy. Some of the highlights. 

Set number 326 of 5,000 (the cards themselves aren’t serial numbered). 

The stack on the left are NL teams. Center are AL teams. Right are favorite players, Tigers, Rays, highlights, rookies, and sunset cards. Compared to other sets, I did considerably well with the stack on the right. Yep, guess that means I’m a ‘90’s boy. 

Some of my favorite cards are the David Ortiz rookie. This card also contains 3 favorite players of mine (Ortiz, Richie Sexson, and Daryle Ward). I also like the Kerry Wood rookie because this was one of his hot cards in 1998, and I could never pull it. I got 2 Quinton McCrackens to add to my favorite player binder. The Tony Saunders is a double (just need his Inaugural Diamondbacks version of this card), so it will go in the Rays binder. Big Mac was great for the sport in 1998. People blame him for steroids, but it is Selig’s fault for letting them in and not testing. The last card on the page is Darren Daulton’s sunset card. 

Can’t wait for the last 2 sets I ordered to come in (1995 Topps & Topps Traded). After sorting them it will be back to login cards into TCDB. Only 26 more teams (about 3 binders each) and about 10 special binders left!

Thanks for checking out my latest post. 

-Jeremy

2023 Collecting Goals

 I don’t believe I set collecting goals for last year, but with some of the blogging community doing so, I figured I might. I’ll set some big ones and small ones and see what happens. 

BIG GOALS

1. Complete a run of base Topps Detroit Tigers cards from 1980-2023 (including Update/Traded sets)

This one should prove to be difficult just because of 2 Verlanders in the 2005 set. There may be 1 or 2 other big rookies as well, but Verlander might cost more than most of the commons combined. 

2. Get a complete set run of Topps sets (including Update/Traded)  from 1986-2001 or so. 

This one might be difficult because of the 2000 Miguel Cabrera rookie. Carlos Beltran’s 1995 card might be difficult, but at least it’s nearer to my price range. I have the Jeter from 1993, and the Pujols and Ichiro from 2001. I have several complete sets in the run already (1990-1992, 1994, 1997, 1999-2000) , and several partial sets, but finding old commons in my price range might be difficult as well. 

3. Log all of my cards into TCDB

If I can do this, it will help me get a good inventory of what I need for the last goal, and perhaps help me make trades to reach it as well. 

SMALLER GOALS

1. Get the 2023 Topps Rays set

Easy, if I get the 2023 Topps complete set

2. Finish the 2023 Topps set

I know, the mock ups make it look scoreboardy and the head coming out of the logo is weird, but I have a run of complete Topps sets from 2019-2022, and it’s going to be so much fun going through my team and highlights binders in 20 years with Kyler (and perhaps his kids) and relive some of the seasons. 

3. Get the complete 1995 and 1998 Topps sets. 

This one should be pretty easy. I had a 1995 Topps one secured from eBay, but it turns out it was a Series 1 set, and I am in the painful process of returning it and getting my money back. I’ll probably try to get a set when the price is right and I have a little extra cash. 

That’s it for collecting goals. As far as other ones, I would love to get my boss promoted/fired/transferred/or just have him step down. I want to attend the Rays opening day game as it will be the teams 25th anniversary. It’s my 40th birthday this year, so hopefully do something memorable then. I’d also love to travel to a new state with my vacation time this year and perhaps see a new ballpark, but we might be leaning more to going on a cruise this year, which will be fun. I just need to have a decent amount of alone time with Karen and I hope to drink a good amount of alcohol as well. I would love for Karens head issues to go away, but that’s not under my control, neither is us having another baby or not. Perhaps we will move forward with adopting. We’ll see. The year is still young and full of possibilities. I hope to mature as a man, be less angry and depressed, be able to play lots of music this year, and grow closer to my family, and if I could do all of that, it will be a good year

I recently ordered the 1997 Topps set (2 separate orders with each series coming from different sellers), the 1999 Topps set, and 1999 Topps Traded set. The 1997 Series 2 and 1999 Topps regular sets have come in yet, and Kyler has helped me sort them into teams. 1997 Series 1 is on the way, and no eta on the 1999 Traded set. I have my eye on a 1998 Topps set. The set looks like it was opened, but from the outside of the box, it appears that it is the Inaugural Rays set. The seller is out of town and says it is his dads stuff, but will confirm with me if it is the Rays set. If it is, I will consider the ‘98 set off of my list. As a Rays fan, I would love to get this set, so hopefully it is, and I can get it before it goes. Then I just need to look for a decent priced ‘95 set. 

I have 2 full days off next Monday and Tuesday. I might just spend them in the garage with my laptop inputting my Topps cards from 1986-2001 or so from all of my binders and see what I am missing. Then, in the next month or so, perhaps drive up to Ocala with my dupes box and some stuff for John and see what I can find in his dupes. Whatever is missing I’ll try to swing trades for and maybe get some of these goals completed. 

I wish everyone a happy new year and hope they can accomplish all of their personal and card goals this year. 

Thanks for checking out my latest post. 

-Jeremy