Cards, cards, and more cards.

 Lately, I had made a number of purchases on eBay of random grouped stuff. It has varied from Rays team sets, Topps box bottoms, favorite player relic/auto cards, some preview cards, and some Traded/Update sets. Sometimes it feels like between cards coming in the mail, getting packs at a store, and the occastional stop to a card shop, that it's nothing but cards, cards, cards in the house. 

The Traded/Update card sets included 1991 Fleer Ultra, 1988 Score Rookie Traded, 1992 Score Traded, 1993 Fleer Update, 1994 Fleer Update and 1995 Fleer Ultra. With everything except for the last set, I figured they were for what I figured was a decent price, they had a handful of good rookies, and I already had 90% of the base set, so why not get the Update version?  

I was randomly looking at some box bottom cards, and I kind of wanted to finish the 1989 Topps version, as it had a card of Don Sutton and Tommy Lasorda. Sutton didn't get a card in the base set, and this could've been his sunset card. The Lasorda was just cool because it was different than original version. I ended up finishing up that set (along with a double of a full sheet and some loose ones). The same lot had some 1990 cards (I wanted the Fred Lynn Tigers card), a few from the '90 Fleer set including a Blue Jays team logo, and some from Baseball Card Magazine. Those were fun because they contained cards of Billy Ashley and Brady Anderson, who are guys I collect. 

Speaking of guys I collect, I have added a number of new guys in the last month or so. Mainly just Dutch guys who I didn't realize were on the team. They are:

Druw Jones- Dutch National Team member

Cedane Rafaela- Dutch National Team member

Ozzie Albies- Dutch National Team memnber

Chadwick Tromp- Dutch National Team member

Bruce Maxwell- Guy who stood up for what he believes in

Austin Martin- Guy who was born in DeLand

Sean Whiteside- Detroit Tiger who lived in Lakeland

Jurrangelo Cijntje- Dutch National Team member

Ky Bush- Kyler collection

Kyler Meccage- Kyler collection

I purchased a jersey card of Jones, Rafaela, Albies, Martin, Cijntje, and autos of Tromp, Maxwell, Martin, Bush, and Meccage. Most were from eBay, but a few are from my Sportlots order. More on that later.

I came across a few preview cards that I thought were interesting. There was a 1992 Topps Gold preview of Tommy Lasorda. The front of the card looked basically the same except for the 'manager' postion bar was missing. The back was way different. Much like a regular card, it had a bio and no stats, and the picture of the stadium was a good deal bigger. 
There was also a 1995 Topps preview of Travis Fryman. I can't remember which set contained the previews, but they had a 10-card 1995 Topps preview pack. There were 9 of the regular previews, and 1 Spectra Light/Cyberstats parallel. They have the Spectra Light texture on the front, and the back were normal instead of black and blue colored. They almost look like normal cards, and an untrained eye would easily mistake them for normal cards. There was a Griffey Spectra Light preview on there that was pretty cheap if you want to get a Junior card for under value. 

The Rays team sets were where the real damage was done. The 1998 Topps Rays set is the 2nd year that the Rays appeared on a Topps set. 1997 was really nothing. Just a few team prospect combos and I can't remember if they had a Draft Pick card or not, but no parallels or Chrome cards to chase after. The 1998 Topps set was a cruel siren. There was the base set. There were versions of the complete set with both the inaugural Rays and Diamondback logos stamped on them. Those are tough to find, but I perservered and found complete sets at good prices and got those ones checked off for the team set. The regular set had a parallel found 1 in every 8 packs called 'Minted in Cooperstown'. Each Minted in Cooperstown card featured a bronze stamp that was added to the card in Cooperstown, NY. I came across a team set and jumped on it. That is a semi-tough set, but the Rays part is now finished. 

The 1998 Topps set also had a Chrome version. Since they use the same design, I feel like I need to finish not only the Chrome versions, but the tough Refractor parallels. I'll list my needs below. The Chrome version is probably just a few eBay purchases from being finished, but the Refractors are a little tricky. I've picked up a few on eBay that are getting me closer, but a number of them like Bobby Smith, Miguel Cairo, Roberto Hernandez, and Quinton McCracken are priced kind of high. I feel like most guys who are commons (even stars really) should be priced from 3-5 dollars. Most of the ones I need are 7-10 bucks. The biggest problem will be Fred McGriff. There are only 4 or so on eBay, and they go from like 25-60. There have to be a number of collectors of the Crime Dog, so I'm sure if a good deal pops up online that I might jump on it. 

Here are the lists of Chrome needs:

251 Pablo Ortega/James Manias

344 Wilson Alvarez

404 Terrell Wade

468 Rich Butler

472 Brooks Kieschnick

500 Dutin Carr/Luis Cruz

REFRACTORS:

349 Fred McGriff

404 Terrell Wade

430 Roberto Hernandez

462 Quinton McCracken

464 Miguel Cairo

466 Bobby Smith

Just 12 card away from having a true 'Master Set' of 1998 Topps Rays. Base, Inaugural Diamondbacks, Inaugural Rays, Minted in Cooperstown, Chrome, and Chrome Refractors. Maybe by the end of the year.

I just got the last items for my Sportlots box to come in, so I requested shipping. Once it arrives, I will have a ton of cards to put in my binders, and it should complete my Topps run from 1980 to 2026. I believe there are 1 or 2 missing ones, but I'm pretty confident that I will be able to hunt them down. 

I got some cards that I just never had access to pack of. A few Triple Play stadium cards, some mascots, some 1993-1995 Bowman singles, some 1993 and 1994 Finest singles, a number of cards of favorite players, a few of the Netherlands flag, and a few Stetson Hatter guys. 

On Tuesday, the 3 of us went to Melching Field and saw Stetson take on USF in baseball. USF has former big leaguer Daniel Schlereth as a coach, so I had to try to get his autograph. His 2009 Topps Update checklist card features a picture of him and his father together. His dad Mark, is holding a piece of paper and a plastic bag. I have always wondered what was in it, so I finally had the opportunity to ask him. He signed my 2 cards, and confirmed that the photo was from before his MLB debut, but couldn't remember what was in the bag. Mystery solved. Well, kind of. 

Earlier on Tuesday, I was on lunch at work, and I decided to check out the USF roster. My friend Jim, who collects autographs, let me know before the season that Schlereth was on USF and aside from their manager who is on a 1991 Line Drive AAA card that I didn't have, there were no other guys with cards. When I checked the roster on my break, I found out that Dave Eiland was a coach at USF. I let Jim know, and we met up at the game and looked out for our autograph targets. Sure enough, Dave was there, and he signed our cards, and we reminisced about the 1998 Rays and all of the HRs that Esteban Yan, Dennis Springer, and Tanyon Sturtze gave up. A fun time was had by all, and we had a nice surprise by getting Eiland. 

Earlier in the week, Jim let me know that a friend of his is going to a 'Bannana Ball' game, and will be going to a meet and greet for the teams. Some players there will be 50 HR club member Ryan Howard, Jackie Bradley, Jr., Nico Hulsizer, and a few minor leaguers I had nothing of. I gave Jim a few cards, and hopefully in a few weeks, I'll have a few more guys in my autograph collection. That's what cards are all about. Helping each other out. We will have a few more opportunities to help eachother in May, as there are 2 more dates that Stetson will be giving away their baseball card set. So far, Jim, Kyler, and I are perfect, getting the first 10-card set autographed by everyone. We are missing a guy, Angel Gomez, from last year's set. From what I've researched, I believe he is a redshirt at Stetson (not sure if he is on campus or what), and will be transfering next semester. 

I have been doing some trades online, and mailed out a few care packages recently. I'm in the process of getting some stuff ready for Nick of Dime Boxes, just need a current address for him. 

I was lucky enough to come in 3rd place in the Cards on Cards annual March Madness tournament. Kerry sent me a pack of '25 Stadium Club, and there were some good cards sitting in it. My favorites were the Cade Horton rookie, and the Nick Kurtz rookie. Thanks, Kerry, for the contest and the cards!

I was also a recipient of a care package from Rod of Padrographs. I got number of Marlins and Rays, AND a card of a DeJong guy in Paul DeJong. Some of my favorites are the Encarnacion autograph, the Aranda refractor, and  Basabe Archives black border. Thanks, Rod, for the cards!

That's really all that we have going on and coming up. There will be a vacation coming at some point, but we are just focusing on a few doctor appointments and raising a puppy. 

I will plunge into the deep dark deaths of  '50's, '60's, and '70's Topps cards when my Sportlots stuff comes in. It will be a long time sorting, putting into TCDB, and figuring out if there are any gremlins and what to do for them. I hope that a few months after that, I can have all of the loose cards into binders, and just keep buying new stuff so all I have to do is put the newer cards at the back and I won't have to disturb 3-4 albums. I just have to convince Karen to buy a ton of plastic sheets, binders, and probably a bookshelf or two. All in all, life is good right now and looking up for the first time in a long time. 

Thanks for checking out my latest post.

-Jeremy 

Random things I have found on Cards Part 3

 I have done not one, but two posts like this, and both have gotten surprisingly great response, so why not do a 3rd version of Random things I have found on Cards?  

As is the case with the previous two posts, if it is an object on a card, I will attempt to find the card with the first mention or use of the object. 

FALSE TEETH: 1994 Topps #23 Mark Lemke (back)

1994 and 1995 Topps are littered with great info on the backs of the cards. Mark Lemke's 1994 Topps card mentions a game in 1987 where Mark got into a collision and his false teeth popped out and got stuck in an umpire's mask. While that would be wacky enough as it is, I ask myself: If the card is correct, and Lemke was born in 1965, that would make him 22 when he played that game. How many 22 year olds do you know with false teeth?  Even weirder than that, isn't there a Braves team issue card or something where Mark is pictured with a whole orange in his mouth? 

How the heck is he doing that, or does he just not have his teeth in, creating more area in his mouth to fit the orange into?  Do any Braves fans have more info on this? 

YAWN: 1996 Topps Gallery #49 Pete Schourek

I just recently purchased a 1996 Gallery complete set, and had I not done so, I wouldn't have known about this card. I have gotten up at 3AM enough to know what a yawn looks like, and I'm pretty sure that this card of Pete Schourek is the first one to picture a player yawning. 

SODA CAN: 1988 Topps #212 Greg Brock

If you look behind Greg's left ear, you can spot a can of Pepsi. As a Pepsi brand connoisseur, I can say I totally agree with Greg's (or the Brewer's) drink choices. 

TATTOO: 1993 Topps #745 Eric Davis

While I might be wrong on this one, this is one of the first cards that I have noticed a tattoo on a player. While we are talking about Davis, I don't think he is remembered enough in baseball circles. I feel like everybody whines (or whined) about Gil Hodges, Ted Simmons, Vada Pinson, Ron Santo, Dale Murphy, etc. needing to be in the Hall of Fame, and they don't look back at Eric's career. He had a monster 1987 season, almost going 40/40, led the Reds to a title in 1990, beat cancer, had some decent seasons for the Reds, Cardinals, and Orioles after that, but nobody talks about him. 

KEYCHAIN/STEVE URKEL: 1995/1996 Collector's Choice #114 Anthony Bowie (back)

I'm going to switch to basketball really quick. I collected basketball cards from about 1996-1998, as I played middle school hoops during those years. Unfortunately for me, I didn't pull any Kobe Bryant rookies. I did, however, pull this Anthony Bowie, with him pictured holding a keychain (I think) of Steve Urkel (I think). It may also be a pen, as he has some paper next to him. Need to find someone who knows Anthony so they can ask him. 

BALLOON HAT: 1996/1997 Collector's Choice #112 Dennis Scott (back)

On the back of 3D's '96/'97 Collector's Choice issue, he is pictured giving an interview with a balloon hat on. I loved watching Dennis hit 3's for the Magic in the late '90's. That lineup of him, Shaq, Penny Hardaway, Nick Anderson, and Horace Grant was scary, and they should've won a NBA Finals, especially with Jordan basically retired for 2 years. There was no way that Rockets team was better than them in 1995/1996. 

EARRING: 1984 Donruss #288 Dave Parker

There may be an earlier occurrance, but I belive this 1984 Donruss Dave Parker is the first card picturing a player with an earring. I think it became more common a few years later when Bonds debuted. 

CHEESE HEAD: 1996/1997 Collector's Choice #28 Bulls Victory Tour

In this subset, Upper Deck chronicles the Chicago Bulls race to 70 wins in 1995/1996. On the back of this card, Dennis Rodman is pictured wearing a cheesehead that became popular in football in the '90's with the rise of the Green Bay Packers. Not sure why a Chicago player wouldn't be supporting the Bears, but Rodman is special, and probably didn't care. 

PLASTIC BAG: 2009 Topps Update #320 Mark/Daniel Schlereth

This one features Daniel Schlereth, with his Dad Mark, who played football in the NFL. It also has Mark holding a piece of paper and a plastic bag with something in it. I may be able to find out the answer, as Daniel is the pitching coach for USF, and will be coming to DeLand to take on Stetson University in a few weeks. I will definitely try to ask Daniel, and maybe tell him about this post. 

RING: 2003 Upper Deck #326 Carl Everett

I love me some Carl Everett. He speaks what is on his mind, and has some flashy cards. I got his autograph when he was with the Montreal/Washington, and he was a class act. On his 2003 UD card, Carl is pictured wearing a big ring. Carl has some cool photos on cards, including a bat hug, one showing muscles, a HR celebration, pointing at the camera, and a teammate giving him moose horns. Check out some of his late '90's and early '00's cards on TCDB. You will be glad you did. 

WATER BOTTLE: 1992 Upper Deck #255 Cecil Fielder

This card is great just because it has The Famous Chicken on it. It also has a folding beach chair (probably another first), and a water bottle. So much fun on one card. 

HOSE: 1992 Upper Deck #484 Roger McDowell

Roger is another one with crazy photos on cards. On his 1992 UD issue, Roger is giving the bleacher fans at Wrigley Field a shower with a hose that he got ahold of. I think the guy on the left with no shirt probably needs one. 

STREET SIGN: 1992 Upper Deck #51 Mark Newfield/Rondell White checklist

While is is a fake street sign, this is the first card to feature one on it. It's kind of funny that Newfield ended up playing just a season or two for Seattle before getting traded to the Padres. White spent a decent amount of time with the Expos, but I remember him being the first big free agent signing for Detroit after they were rebuilding in the early '00's. Between him, Troy Percival, Fernando Vina, Dmitri Young, Kenny Rogers, Carlos Guillen, and Ivan Rodriguez, those signings gave Detroit its' core to build around with young rookies, and they should've won the 2006 World Series with that crew over an obviously weaker Cardinals team. 

VILLAGE: 1992 Topps Stadium Club #387 Ruben Sierra

I have no idea where this was taken (probably Ruben's offseason home), but this has to be the first card with a balcony, front door, curb, street light, and most anything that you can spot in the card. Kind of makes me want to hunt one down. 

SOME TYPE OF SKI HAT: 1998 Score #107 Doug Drabek

Doug lives in Texas, so it's not surprising that he is cold. This photo was probably taken in Chicago, and the long sleeves suggest it is a cold spring day. I wear a beanie just about 100% of the time when I am not at work, so I could totally relate with Doug wanting to stay warm. 

MALLET: 1993 Triple Play #129 Equipment

This card shows Curt Schilling beating his glove with a mallet, I guess trying to break it in. The back might have a first, as it shows Kenny Lofton with some tape trying to tape a bat. 

DOG: 1993 Triple Play #164 Mascots

This card (which features the Pirate Parrot on the front) talks about the current team mascots in 1992. The Reds had owner Marge Schott's dog Schotzie pictured on the back with Bip Roberts. I know there are some Bip Roberts super collectors out there, and make sure you don't miss out on this one that sometimes slips through the cracks.#

PLAYER WITH ANOTHER TEAM'S HAT: 2003 Upper Deck 40 Man #278 Doug Mientkiewicz

I have always wanted to know the story behind this card. Doug has an Oakland A's helmet. Not sure if it has ear flaps, but it is definitely some player's hat, and I want to know how he got it.

3-TEAM TRIFECTA: 2008 Upper Deck First Pitch #469 Brad Wilkerson

I rediscovered this card a few weeks ago when we saw Stetson University play the University of North Florida, where Brad is a coach. I went through his cards and picked a few to try to get autographed. Should've done this one, but maybe next year or earlier if they come to Stetson for the ASUN tournament. 
This card features a player that is mentioned with 3 teams in the same year on the same card. He played for the Rangers in 2007, signed to play with Mariners during the 2007 offseason, played with them for a little while in 2008, then was traded to Toronto in midseason of 2008. It would've been even worse had he got traded in 2007, then it could've been possibly 4 teams. It is just a little confusing where you have a card with a player in a Mariners uniform on the front that says he plays for the Blue Jays on the same photo, and has his stats for the Rangers the previous year on the back. Which team do you put the card with when you are organizing? I feel like this is the type of card Nick from Dime Boxes would collect, and I am going to be on the lookout for more. 

COFFEE MACHINE/COFFEE CUP/TONS OF OTHER STUFF: 2026 Topps #302 Bronx Buddies

The fun doesn't stop in 2026. I've mentioned this card before, but it has some great stuff on it. A coffee/drink machine, a desk, a coffee cup, some artwork, perhaps a light switch, just tons of stuff and a photo that you would think would make it an SP. While it does have the evil empire, I think all of the fun things on it can make me overlook that. 

Things have been nonstop but good here at my place. I have a SportLots order that is about 5 sellers away from being filled. Once it is, I will have it shipped, and barring any gremlins, it will complete my 1980-2025 Topps complete set run. It also has fun cards of guys I collect and a few Stetson guys to hopefully get autographed before the season is finished. 

One reason it has been nonstop is that we got a new puppy. Our last dog passed late last year, and while enjoying no dogs, Karen has been asking me to get one, and we went to a pet store to look at fish, and one thing led to another, and somehow we ended up with a 4 week old boxer/pit mix named Finn. He is a handful, likes to chew things, and barks a lot, but we love him. 

I also finally got an autographed CD from one of my top 3 favorite bands, PfR. They were a popular Christian rock band in the '90's, and this CD was actually released in 2001, and I think I had the original at some point. They recently did a Kickstarter project to get this CD remastered, and on the first day, I signed up to get an autographed copy. I have never seen them live, and I really hope they decide to tour again, because I love their chord progressions and sick guitar solos. 

Work will be crazy this week, but with the boss gone for 2 days, and a day off on Wednesday, I really will just have Thursday, Friday, and Saturday filled with chaos, and then get to take out my frustration on the piano at our Easter service at church. Monday will be a little hairy, but then just a smooth schedule for a while and a nice routine. I'll probably post again when I get the SportLots box. It might take a week or two to get logged into TCDB and organized, but it will be a fun week. Stay tuned.

Thanks for checking out my latest post.

-Jeremy

Recent additions

 It’s been a bit since I’ve posted last, and I have a pile of photos of cards I need to post. Incoming cards have come from trades, eBay, and good old packs. 

Fuji, from The Chronicles of Fuji, sent an envelope in the early part of 2026. It included a 2013 Topps Chrome Orange Refracror of my one of my favorite players, Ben Zobrist. There was a 2011 Bowman International parallel of Jeremy Hellickson, a 2019 Bowman Chrome John Doxakis autograph, and a 2025 Topps Holiday parallel of Shane McClanahan. Some nice additions to my Rays binder, and it is always great to add a new favorite player card, an autograph you don’t have, and some parallels. Thanks, Fuji!

Around the same time, I got a nice package of Rays and Marlins from Rod of Padrographs. There were a few team bags filled with cards. I expected some new stuff, but also got some stuff from the past 10 years with some big power. Starting with the older end of the package, Rod gets off with a bang with. 2011 Bowman Gold Blake Snell rookie. I always figured Snell was drafted in 2014 or 2015, as I opened a ton of ‘11 Bowman trying to pull a Bryce Harper rookie (never did), and never pulled a Snell. Next up are 2 autographed cards of Snell. It’s not very often when you get gifted 2 autographs of a 2 time Cy Young winner. I was really wanting a Snell auto a while back, and ended getting one off of eBay, so now I have 3. Moving on to newer stuff, Rod included a 2021 Topps Montgomery Club parallel of Snell. Some 2025 Bowman are next, and are really cool in my book. A Red RC logo parallel of Jake Mangum. I really wished the Rays wouldn’t have thrown him away and given him a starting OF spot instead of signing Cedric Mullins. We will see how that pans out, but I’m stating for the record that Mullins will regress, Caminero will be the lone all-star, and the Rays will go 70-92. Speaking of Caminero, Rod pulled a Green Mojo 2025 Bowman of Junior and passed it along to me. I swear most of my low numbered parallels of Caminero have been sent to me by Rod. The last card I picked to show off is a 2025 Topps Chrome Logofractor of Pete Fairbanks, another Ray who was one of the best guys on the team that they just dumped. If the Tigers don’t extend Skubal, I’m accepting applications to be fans for other teams. At any rate, I got some really cool cards from Rod, and I’m happy for that even if none of my teams attempt to compete. Thanks for the great cards, Rod!

The last card from bloggers was a 2023 Leaf Vivid Andruw Jones card from Kevin of The Diamond King. He held a giveaway, and I nabbed the Jones card. I loved watching Jones play defense in the ‘90’s and ‘00’s, and I’ve been collecting anyone on the Dutch national team, since both sets of my grandparents came from the Netherlands. I was happy to see Jones finally get elected into the Hall of Fame and join Bert Blyleven as the only Dutch guys to get into the Hall. Thanks, Kevin, for the great card of one of the newest Hall of Famers!

While not all of my eBay purchases, these are 2 of my favorites. I collect guys who have played baseball for Stetson University, and while I have a few autographs of Stetson alum Logan Gilbert, I don’t have a jersey card. I found a cheap Heritage one, and snagged it. I was wanting to find an autograph of future Rays starter Carson Williams, and found a cheap one. There was also a Bowman Chrome rookie that was for a good price, and I jumped on it. 

My friend Jim, who has season tickets to Stetson (like we now do), attended an Opening Day baseball banquet for Stetson, and was able to meet special guests Doc Gooden, Darryl Strawberry, and Jeremy Pena. He got autographs from them all, and since he already had a Gooden, he gave me the one he got at the banquet. I’ve given him a few nice cards, but nothing like a Gooden autograph. I’ll probably go to a Stetson game in the next week or two and thank Jim in person and give him a stack of cards I’ve been gathering for him. 

About a month ago, I made a trade with a collector on a set collectors group on Facebook. I got rid of about a 500 count box of Topps doubles, and got back a similar box with Topps needs, Rays and Tigers. After the trade, I got an envelope with some more Rays and Tigers. It was the first time I got a bonus envelope a few weeks after a trade from a collector on a Facebook group. He collects Phillies, so I have some set aside to send back. The second envelope contained some cool ‘90’s cards, including 2 of Cecil Fielder, one of my all time favorite Detroit Tigers. I opened about a box worth of 1996 Upper Deck packs, but never pulled a Power Driven insert. I now have one of Big Daddy. I’ve only opened 1 pack of Pinnacle Aficionado, and if I remember correctly, it had a Roger Cedeno, Edgardo Alfonso, Andy Benes, and an Albert Belle checklist. It is a heck of a nice looking set, and Panini needs to bring it back. I’m happy I got the Cecil from the set. 

As far as packs, I’ve opened a few from 2026 Topps. 

The first 2026 Topps card I pulled was some Padre rookie I have never heard of from a jumbo pack. 

That pack also produced a James Wood jersey card. 

I did get a few cool parallels from packs lately. The Nolan Schanuel was from 2025 Archives and is numbered to 50. From 2026 Topps, I pulled a Holiday Ohtani and a Purple Logan Webb. 

There were also some rookie parallels that I was proud to pull. I actually pulled 2 Black parallels of Nick Kurtz from 2025 Archives. I pulled a Raywave Refractor of Marcelo Mayer from 2025 Topps Chrome Update. There were 4 parallels from 2026 Topps that I thought were nice ones. 2 different Holiday parallels of Cam Schlitter. If he does well, it will be good cause the value of them will go up, and if he bombs, I’m ok with that too, since he’s a Yankee. After looking at the back of the Holo Owen Caissie card, I think he has the potential to be a 30-40 HR guy. The Marlins have some nice hitters they’ve been collecting, and with the Cubs getting Cabrera for him, they are looking like a decent team in the NL. I think Roman Anthony is one of the key cards to pull from 2026 Topps, and I pulled a Pink and Green parallel. 

I’ve ordered a few other cards from eBay. A few guys who are coaches that will be at Stetson games, and some guys to finish Topps sets off. I actually have a Sportlots order that will probably be over 1,000 cards when it is filled, but as long as there aren’t any accounting errors by myself, it will give me a run of complete Topps and Topps Traded/Update sets from 1980-2025. A word of advice: if there is a guy who has the potential to make the Hall of Fame and they change teams, get their first card of them in that new uniform as soon as possible. Between the 2003 Topps Traded Rickey Henderson (Dodgers), 2003 Topps Traded David Ortiz (Red Sox), and 2004 Topps Traded Terry Francona (Red Sox), I think the cheapest one anywhere was 15 bucks. Cards that should be 20 cents to a dollar. Card prices and the reason some cards are priced what they are is insane. The 2014 Topps complete set which only has a 2nd year Machado, 4th  year Trout, and only has rookies of Jose Ramirez and Marcus Semien, the cheapest I can find one anywhere is around 150 bucks, with most being around the 200 dollar range. I feel like it should be closer to 100. I didn’t have to spend that much by finishing it from Sportlots, but I still think prices need to really reflect the card. In any Topps set, a major star should be 3-5 bucks, commons should be 10 cents or so, and stars should be .50 to $1. Rookies should reflect who they are and how long it has been since they played. Wishful thinking. 

On the 10th Karen has a broncoscophy at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville. I’ll have 4 days in a row off work because of that. Might fool with some custom cards then. The scope should show how much space her airway has gained since the operation in December. On the 12th, Stetson has a game, and former Pirate Shane Youman is a coach for their opponent. I have 2 cards of his, so we’ll try to get them signed, and a few days later, an opposing coach is Daniel Schlereth, a former Diamondback and Tiger. Schlereth has a 2009 Topps Update card that pictures him and his Dad, former NFL player Mark Schlereth. 

This card is going to appear in a future blog post. The card shows Mark holding a plastic bag. I hope at the Stetson game to ask Daniel what is in the bag. Besides what’s in the bag, I think this one is the first card picturing a plastic bag on it. I plan to do a 3rd post of ‘strange things I’ve found on cards’. A few I plan to highlight include the ‘88 Topps Greg Brock (Pepsi cup), ‘88 Topps Tom Lasorda (golf cart), ‘03 UD 40 Man Doug Mientkiewicz (wearing opposing team helmet), the Schlereth card, and whatever else I can find. I also plan to highlight a few of the backs, including one that mentions dentures. If you have opened any 2026 Topps, be sure to check out card #302, Bronx Buddies. 

I see some ceramic coffee cups, perhaps a Kuerig machine, and some picture frames, all firsts if I am correct. Stay tuned for that post, and feel free to send me some ideas. 

Thanks for checking out my latest post.  

-Jeremy

Last post of 2025

 It’s been a long December, but we finally got back to Florida a few days ago. Thanks to everyone who has sent me well wishes and for everyone who has kept me in their thoughts.  The doctors were happy with how the surgery went, and Karen has seen some improvements with breathing, but the site where she had the chest tube got an infection, so we are trying our best to take care of that so it heals. She should start seeing the full effects in 6-9 months, so for now, it’s just taking it easy, making sure she doesn’t lift more than 5 pounds, and hopefully getting better every day. 

I had an unexpected bonus check from work, so before we left, I ordered some sets, and had a ton of boxes waiting for me when we got back. The sets included 1996 Bowman, 1997 Bowman, 1998 Bowman, 1998 Topps Gallery, 2010 Topps, and a 1998 Topps Finest no-protector series 1 set. With the 1997 Bowman’s Best, 1998 Bowman’s Best, 1996 Collector’s Choice, 1998 Collector’s Choice, and 1998 Upper Deck sets I purchased a few months ago, I had a nice representation of favorite players, Tigers, and Rays in my boxes of cards that need to go into binders. 

I almost got a 95% complete 2014 Topps set, but that started going south pretty quick. It was priced under 100 bucks, which is what I think it should be, as really the only rookies are Marcus Semien and Jose Ramirez. Most ones online are priced at 200-300 bucks, and I have no clue why. Any thoughts?  After seeing the price, I asked the seller on eBay if it included the Jose Ramirez rookie. He responded that it had a bunch of cards and sounded like he really didn’t want to dig through them. That was fine. I asked once more if he could look through them, and got no response. I saw a few decent priced Ramirez rookies if it didn’t have them, so I went ahead and purchased the set. A few days went by, and it still hadn’t shipped. I messaged him, and he claimed he was moving and they would be out soon. A week went by and he said he was almost done and it would be shipped soon. Another week, and I asked how it was going, and he said it would be soon again. Then last week, I get an email that I’m getting a refund. I just really wanted the set as it was a great price. Makes me wonder if he really had the set at all or if he is going to relist it for a higher price. I guess it doesn’t matter. I’ve never been one to list negative feedback, but I felt like I had no other choice just because of the bad communication and radio silence when I asked about the Ramirez and at first when I asked about shipping. Again, thoughts?  One day I’ll complete the 2014 Topps set, even if I have to purchase every missing one from SportLots. 

In addition to the sets, I had a huge box of rookies that Kevin from The Diamond King sent me. I forgot about it, and let me tell you, that box was huge!!!

Just a huge box stuffed to the brim with rookies!

Don’t let the 2 pictures I am going to show fool you, because this box was filled to the brim with GOOD stuff!  I would’ve had another picture, but there were just so many cards that another pile I had got misplaced. I had many more Tigers, and 3-4 more Logan Gilbert’s. But just some great stuff. Torkelson rookies, Riley Greene rookies, just about any hot Tigers prospect like Max Clark and Kevin McGonigle. Gilbert and Big Papi’s son were the only guys I collect that were represented, but I didn’t watch much baseball this year, and that’s not to say that guys like Caminero, Skenes, and others won’t become favorites that I collect in the future. I got a nice Black Ice parallel of Brayan Bello, and I just highlighted some of the ‘big name’ guys in the box. 

I don’t really follow milb too much, although I know most of the Tigers and Rays top minor leaguers, but many of these guys are guys I’ve heard of from Top 100 prospect lists and from their picture being on packs of Bowman. While I would love to get cards of these guys, I just don’t have the money to buy tons of Bowman, and if I have to spend 5 bucks on a single, I would rather it being a Topps card I need or a Ray or Tiger. Now I have rookies of many of these uber prospect guys. Not just any card, but 1st Bowman or 1st Bowman Chrome cards, as you can see with the Travis Bazzana, Charlie Condon, and Dylan Crews. 

Kevin included a ton of Elly De La Cruz, there was a photo variation of Jarren Duran’s 2022 Heritage rookie, and rookies of Walker Jenkins and Jesus Made. The River Ryan was a red rookie logo variation, and it took forever for me to find it on TCDB. I got rookies of the Dodger duo of Sasaki and Yamamoto, a ton of new Paul Skenes cards, Cam Smith rookies, Spencer Strider rookies, and rookies of JJ Wetherholt and James Woods. Just some incredible rookies of some guys who could be big names in the future. Thanks so much, Kevin for the giveaway! I will have hours of fun putting these into albums. 

I didn’t get shut out of cards while in NJ either. I may have picked up a few blasters of things like Holiday, Allen & Ginter, Archives, Donruss, and Chrome Update. 

The Donruss blaster got me a green & red Sparky parallel. The Archives ones hit great with the Tigers, as I am just a Ty Cobb away from finishing the team set. I also pulled a few Tork parallels. Not very many Rays, but I pulled a Donruss star parallel of Junior numbered to 250, and a blue parallel of McClanahan from Holiday. The base McClanahan is actually one of about 10 cards I need to finish the Holiday set. 

The rookies and parallels were some great finds. I pulled a Black parallel of Nick Kurtz from Archives, a Santa Hat SP of Jacob Wilson from Holiday, but the best was probably a Pink refractor of Spencer Schellenbeck from Chrome Update numbered to 299. I got a Chrome Refractor of Ozzie from A/G. There was a nice Optic parallel I pulled of Roger Clemens, I just don’t know what it is called. Archives gave me me a green parallel of George Brett numbered to 99. I pulled an Ohtani parallel from Holiday, as well as one of Bryce Harper. 

I go back to work tomorrow. I really hope muscle memory does me well, as I haven’t thought about work since I hit ‘end shift’ almost a month ago. I’ll probably do a post with collecting goals in the next week or so, and I’ll definitely be on the lookout for 2026 Topps sneak peeks. 

Everyone have a happy new year. I hope it goes better than 2025 and that lots of cards you can use are in your future. Thanks for checking out my latest post. 

-Jeremy