The Tigers were a nice addition to the package. I have the 2023 complete set, but all of the rookies will go in my rookie binder, and now I can put the dual card with both players. After all of the packs of ‘23 Chrome Update that I got, I figured I would’ve already had the Tyler Alexander, but it is actually new to me. I almost want to fast forward a few weeks because then there is a decent chance that all of my cards will be uploaded to TCDB, and at that point I can start putting cards into binders, including all of the ones from this package from Night Owl. Thanks, Greg, for the nice package and for looking at my wantlist and crossing off some needs.
Saturday, March 16, 2024
Package from Night Owl
The Tigers were a nice addition to the package. I have the 2023 complete set, but all of the rookies will go in my rookie binder, and now I can put the dual card with both players. After all of the packs of ‘23 Chrome Update that I got, I figured I would’ve already had the Tyler Alexander, but it is actually new to me. I almost want to fast forward a few weeks because then there is a decent chance that all of my cards will be uploaded to TCDB, and at that point I can start putting cards into binders, including all of the ones from this package from Night Owl. Thanks, Greg, for the nice package and for looking at my wantlist and crossing off some needs.
Wednesday, March 13, 2024
2023 Heritage blaster
I just took pictures of non-dupes. I got a total of 4 Chicago Cubs cards. The Rays play the Cubs at the Trop a day before my birthday in June, and Karen was telling me she might get some tickets, so the Cubs will come in handy for autograph chances. Logan Gilbert is a Stetson University product who I collect but I have one for the pc, so this one goes in the Mariners binder eventually.
Friday, March 8, 2024
End of a crazy week
Sunday, March 3, 2024
Some surprise 2024s
I’ve heard of some of the rookies, but looking from the stats on the back of most of them, I think they were some solid ones. I also pulled a Blue Holofoil of Michael Massey. With packs that I wasn’t expecting, I would’ve been happy with a few base cards that weren’t doubles, but getting 5 Rays, 3 Tigers, 2 guys I collect, a number of nice rookies, and a parallel numbered to 999, I must have the cardboard gods smiling on me. I guess I’ll keep the Mother-in-Law for a while.
Friday, February 23, 2024
2024 Topps Blaster
I like the Stars of MLB insert design, just as I did last year, but the Griffey inserts didn’t do it for me with the weird fonts. They could’ve done it many different ways. Perhaps writing Jr.’s name at the top like the Future Stars design and have the team name like normal. They could’ve just put the insert name on a stamp or something. I’m also confused with the backs. No bio and just career stats. Are they all like that? What’s the point of getting a card with no write up that is part of a player themed insert?
I think I’ve pulled the Trout Stars of MLB card for the past 3 years. I’ll be doing my Angels binders when I finish logging the Royals into TCDB (I’ll be starting on the ‘98 sets the next time I have a chance to work on them), and I’m interested in how many Trouts I have and if the values are crazy. I have a few in the rookie binder and parallel binder, but the final number won’t be more than 10 cards off.
I had some nice ‘keeper cards’ from the blaster. Nick Fortes is from DeLand, and we saw him play in Washington and got an autograph from him last June. I was hoping the Rays would trade for him since we need a decent catcher. Kenley Jansen is the other guy I collect who got pulled. Josh Lowe represents the Rays, and I got 2 Tigers, including an Easter Egg parallel of Brendan White. Not a fan of the Holdiay parallels, but what can you do? I got the De La Cruz rookie, so with the Henry David and Jasson Dominguez cards I got from the Jumbo pack, I believe I’ve pulled most of the big name rookies. Another option for the Rays to trade for at Catcher would be either Taylor Soderstrom or Shea Langliers. Both of them can’t be Oakland’s starter, and if we trade them a minor leaguer with upside we could get Shea, or maybe as much as I would hate to trade Harold Ramirez, trade him for Shea and a reliever.
I got a Purple Shimmer parallel of Edwin Diaz, a Rainbow of former Florida Gator Brady Singer. The Soto is a Royal Blue parallel. How many Rays with that get me? The last 3 are ‘Holiday’ parallels. Not sure what the design is supposed to be. Looks like it could be a flower or a moth or something. They are shiny, though. A coworker of mine knows Austin Hays through his mother, so I might bring that one to work for him. I wonder if he would take any other Rat-Bird cards off of my hands? I still haven’t pulled the Yandy Diaz Batting Average leaders card, but I got a few of the other leader cards. I appreciate them putting stats on the front. I wish that on the back of the team cards they would put the stats along with team leaders name and the category instead of just putting that Zach Eflin led the Rays in Wins and not telling me how many. Just something I think would be useful.
I made good progress on TCDB today, finishing Cleveland and getting up to 1998 with KC. That leaves me with the Angels, Twins, A’s, Mariners, Rangers, Jays, Yankee$, rookies, relics, and parallel/special card binders left. It’s slowly coming along, and I would say I’m between 35 and 40 binders to go before it’s done. Bonds and Miguel Cabrera are tied right now for most cards with 230, I believe. Bonds should pass him as I have 2 jerseys of him and only 1 of Cabrera. When I’m finished, I’ll do a post with all of my stats.
I hope you enjoyed the 2024 Topps blaster. Thanks for checking out my latest post.
-Jeremy
Wednesday, February 21, 2024
Trade and question about ‘80’s players
Most of the cards were commons or semi stars, but there were some cool cards in as well. Some stars, a few All-Stars, a Joe Morgan ‘85 record breaker, some checklists, 3 guys I collect, a few League Leader cards, and 6 from the ‘85 Father Son sunset.
I think at one point, I had the Schofield, Stenhouse, and Law versions of those cards signed by both. I’ll have fun adding the whole stack to my boxes and eventually into binders.
Mike Ramsey hit around .250, had zero power (and from the looks of it, not much speed), yet he gets into over 100 games for the ‘82 Cardinals World Championship team. Maybe he was a slick fielding defensive replacement? Maybe he was the best they had in AAA?
Doug Gwosdz played 4 years for the Padres despite hitting in the .100’s in the Majors and around .260 in the minors. He had a little pop, but with those batting averages, he had better have a little defense to back that up. The Padres had Terry Kennedy and Bruce Bochy. How did Gwosdz keep getting called up? I am glad that he got to the Majors, as we would’ve probably never have heard his nickname. Teammates called him ‘Eye Chart’ because of the combination of letters in his last name.
For most of his career, Steve Nicosia hit in the low .200’s. I’m guessing he was a good defensive catcher.
I’ve always wondered not only how Flynn got playing time, but how he got into so many card sets. He consistently hit below .250, had no power, and no speed. He must’ve been Robbie Alomar when it came to the glove work. Still, I don’t recall him winning any gold gloves.
Wednesday, February 14, 2024
2024 Topps
The back of it. I guess I'll start with the negative stuff first so I can end on a positive. I feel like the back has too much white. Maybe a picture could've made it better. Feels like the back of a '97 or '98 Score card. the fonts are way too small in some areas. I can read his name, barely read the team name, the position is about at my breaking point, and the Height/Weight/etc. is unreadable unless I bring it close to my eyes or take my contacts out. The stats are at that unreadable font size, but it's not the case with all players. The bio underneath the stats is perfect. If they would've left that font size for everything, it would've been perfect. The last issue I have is the color bar that has the stats on it. For many teams with a lighter color, the color bar makes the stats unreadable. For teams with a dark color, you can easily see the white color of the stats. With a few changes, this could be a great back, like some of the Big League backs in recent years.
Theres a comparison of a light colored stat bar with a darker one. See the difference?
I was hoping to pull the Rays League Leader cards, especially the one comemmorating Yandy Diaz's batting title.
The last insert I pulled must've been a rainbow foil card of Pirates rookie Carmen Mlodzinski. TCDB doesn't have the main checklist or parallel ones up yet, so I wasn't able to log anything in. I was hoping they would have picture of some of the rainbow parallels up, because I really thought the card was a gold parallel because of the border color. It doesn't have a serial number, so I would have to assume it is a rainbow. I got 2 Tigers, Spencer Torkelson and Riley Greene, 2 guys I hope play 162 games and rake in 2024. I'm happy with pulling the Rays team card, as it features an awesome shot of Randy Arozarena and the team. The no-hit Valdez card was a nice surprise, and will go in my highlight binder. I pulled some of the key rookies with Henry Davis and Jasson Dominguez. As much as I can't stand Yankee$, at least if Dominguez is as good as they hype him up to be, this card might be worth a little. I believe DeLuca was one of the guys the Rays got in the Glasnow fleecing. Hopefully him and Pepiot make the trade worth it. At least they got rid of no-hit/decent field Manuel Margot.