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.
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