Taking some time for the 'custom'ers

 Originally when I started this blog, it was where I could post images of my custom cards. I never dreamed that it would lead to me making entire complete checklists of missing players from Topps sets, let alone finishing any off. Well, that happened, and I decided to post about my real cards along the way. That has led to many trades, and a (basically) complete run of Topps sets from 1980-2002. I do many more posts about my card collection and very rarely make custom posts anymore, but I still make them. 

Recently, an opportunity came up where I could print some basically for free, so I figured it would be as good a time as ever to finish off some Topps Rays team sets. I've already posted about the 1998 Topps Rays set, so I'll start off with the 1999 Topps set. These include the Traded sets as well. Currently, I have the 1998-2003 sets finished, and the only thing that is keeping me from starting on the 2004 set is just figuring out how to get that outline of the photo that is in the box on the lower left hand corner of the design. I think I may have figured out a way, though. Without further interruption, here is your 1999 Topps and Topps Traded set of missing Rays players and coaches. (Note:The Traded sets start after the managers and coaches in the set)

Any of the photos with the numbers on the bottom corners were some of my first works, done about 10 or 11 years ago. The number on the bottom matches to the number in the set, and the one on the right is the number as it relates to the customs I've done if the first one started with the number one. 

Some of these first works have errors like player names being done in a too light or too dark color, which made them tough to see, or things like incorrect font types. As my laptops, photo editing programs, and skill got better, the errors were fewer and further in between, and some cards that I had to add logos to or blend colors together in order to get rid of watermarks are done so well, that you might not be able to tell. 

This Riddoch one appeared on HaughtCorner.com in an interview with Larry Rothschild. 

Starting with these ones, the fonts are correct and more detail is paid to how the actual set had things. They were probably made within the past year. 

(except for this one). I believe another person made it, and I had to change the font with the name and it came out outlined in white for some reason. 

Rookie of Jim Morris, the guy the movie 'The Rookie' with Dennis Quaid was based off of. 

Really the only good photo of Sparks I could use came from a 2000 Bowman card. It will appear in the next few sets. 

2000 Topps/Topps Traded

Sparks card #2 with the same photo

R.I.P., Tropicana Field

Really wish the Highlights cards in 2000 and 2001 would say what the highlight was. This one is for hitting a HR in his 35th different park. 

I believe I had to remove an autograph from this one, as it was the only photo of Enders I could find.

This one was worse. Only photo of Fiore as a Ray, and it had watermarks completely over the photo. The beard and neck look a little airbrushed, but other than that, I'm happy. 

Did anyone remember Doc Gooden as a Ray?

(The 2nd Guthrie card should have the name as Travis Harper. This is an uncorrected error so far)

Had to take a photo of Taylor as a Rockie and make it into a Rays one. The hat almost looks real. 

2001 Topps/Topps Traded

The 3rd and last Sparks card with the same photo. 

The new logo for the Rays (see photo on next card) debuted in 2001. Morris last pitched for Tampa in 2000, but in the movie, they showed him pitching in the 2001 new Rays uniforms. I called that out the minute I saw that in the theatre, and I wish more people would have noticed that other than me. 

Rolls is one of my favorite Rays. He couldn't hit, and played on some of those miserable early '00's Rays teams, but he hit 2 HRs off of Roger Clemens of the Yankees on my birthday in 2003, and kept Roger from getting win 300. 

Another highlight card with no caption. This was Fred’s 400th HR. 

This design is a variation of the 3-player top prospects subset in 2001 Topps, and was actually used as a 1-player design in a Cubs Wrigley Field stadium giveaway set (good luck finding one, Dime Box Nick!). 

I wouldn't mind if Topps had a 'rookie card' emblem like that again. 

Best I could do with Mike Judd was a Dodgers hat. 

Prieto was easier with a hatless photo and a Tigers uni. Just had to airbrush out the 'D' logo on his undershirt. 

Rose had a minor league card for the Rockies that was my only option. I sent him an e-mail care of his baseball school asking if he had any Rays photos of himself, but no response so far. 

The guy who got us Scott Kazmir and did nothing for the Mets. 

I went to a decent amount of Rays games in the early '00's, and I must've missed Daulton as a Rays coach, because I was away at college in Mobile, Alabama in starting in the fall of 2001, and although I went to one of the games in Cal Ripken, Jr.'s last series that year, I just don't remember Daulton being there, because I would've brought along one of his cards to get signed. I believe I could've looked up the roster online back in 2001. Showing my age. 

2002 Topps/Topps Traded 

This set was a doozy with the curved nameplate, but I figured it out by just rotating the name by 11 degrees either way. The worst part was actually making the template, as well as getting the lettering on the side right, because I had to outline it pixel by pixel not only around the letter, but inside it as well. 

Rusty was a class act. Saw him 2 times in 1996 Spring Training when the Royals came to Lakeland and played the Tigers. He signed autographs for everyone in the bullpen, and him, Jason Jacome, Sal Fasano, Mike Sweeney, and Mike Magnante were great. Not sure who was the person who started it, but once, I had a baseball, the first player signed it, then passed it to the rest of the bullpen, and I had a ball with 10 signatures by the time it got back to me. I’ll have to grab a picture of it sometime. That whole team was great with autographs. Tom Goodwin, Bob Boone, Johnny Damon, Mendy Lopez, and Jeff Grotewold were all great signers at Spring Training that year. 

Boggs sunset card

Daulton sunset card if anyone cares. 

I found a better pic of May, so I might have to re-do this one later. 

I'm pretty sure this is a photo of McCarty. I tried to find it again when I made the 2003 card of him, and it was gone. 

A card that really should’ve made the Traded set. CC was a great player during his prime. Had the cheap Rays re-signed him, he could be a retired number. 

2003 Topps/Topps Traded

Wilson Alvarez sunset card 

Lee told me he grew his goatee for his 2001 Royal  Rookies card, almost like he knew he was going to get on a card so he wanted to look good. 

Sturtze almost gave up as many HRs as Esteban Yan and Dennis Springer 

This was the McCarty I had to do since I couldn't find the first photo. One of him with the Giants, and the small photo with the Red Sox. 

Ther wasn’t a manager card for the Rays in the 2003 Topps set. McRae finally gets his due

For some guys, like Carlos Reyes, they only had 1 photo as a Ray, so I had to repeat it for the smaller one.

Rocker is a d-bag, but was always nice signing autographs for fans. 

Another missed chance for Topps. 

Absolutely nothing in a Rays uni for Adam Piatt. 

That wraps it up for the Rays customs. I’ve tried to outline a photo in GIMP earlier today, and it got halfway right, but I’m not all the way there. Perhaps I will see if a YouTube tutorial can help. Depending on what happens, I’ll start the 2004 set, or just go on to the 2005 set. 

I’m off on Friday, so I’ll be hitting customs and perhaps putting some cards in binders. 

Thanks for checking out my latest post. 

-Jeremy

2025 Topps jumbo

 I managed to have a little time inbetween finishing work and picking up the kiddo, which was good, because I was hoping to go to the post office and go back to the LCS to get a jumbo pack of 2025 Topps just so I could get my hands on some. 

I needed to go to the post office to mail a package and figure out how to ship to Israel and Japan. I saw on SportsCollectors.net that Masanori Murakami, the first Japanese player, had signed ttm from an address in Japan. The people at the post office were very knowledgeable and informed me that the return envelope going back to me needed postage that had to be purchased in Japan because of exchange rates and such. Good to know, so maybe I’ll just slip a 10 spot in the envelope for postage and see if that does the trick. 

The other international piece of mail that I needed to ship came out because of TCDB. Probably my fault for not clicking the ‘only trade in the US’ box, but TCDB really needs to have a feature to let you know that a member is outside of the US before accepting a trade. I accepted a trade, and THEN the address appears, and I realize I have to go to the post office and figure out how to ship to Israel. Not that big of a deal, but an inconvenience, and something that could prove to be an issue if I were going out of town or not able to make it to the post office for a while. Again, the staff was great, and I ended up getting my end of the deal mailed out. 

The card shop in Orange City had 2025 Topps, and I got a jumbo and headed home. 

My first 2025 Topps card is Will Benson. Glad it wasn’t a Yankee. 

Just like last year, I am VERY impressed with the printing technology used. It was the same effect as 2024, I believe. I think by using it in more areas, especially with the last name, it does make the overall use of it  not as good as it could be. Some of the foilboard or whatever they use isn’t all the way removed from the letters, and that makes the name hard to read, especially in the wrong lighting. But, still, a great looking design, and I’m on the record as loving the printing technology. 

Some of the base cards. 

My one complaint is the horizontal cards. On the Twins ones, they abbreviate the team name as ‘MIN’ on horizontal ones when they could’ve just written ‘TWINS’ and had plenty of room. Then on an Oakland horizontal one, they write out ‘ATHLETICS’ in a squished font. Fanatics being Fanatics. 

I pulled Logan Gilbert, a favorite player. It was funny that he led the AL in WHIP, but had a losing record. I bet many of those losses came in that losing streak where they gave up the West title to the Astros. I feel like the Mariners should have more success in the playoffs than they have. The Rays hit hard in this pack. A Misner rookie, a combo, and a Green parallel. The green parallel is numbered to like 99, I believe, and goes great with those City Connect unis. I can’t stand some of those City Connect jerseys, especially San Diego, but the Rays with that bridge/Ray logo and the colors are amazing. I don’t understand the hoops reference in the combo card, but whatever. It’s another Rays card for me. I really want a ‘Plakata’ Carlos Pena insert. Anyone have an idea of the odds on those?  

That Judge insert snuck behind a card in the last photo, so I put it in this last one. Nobody really noteable with the rookies, but I did get a Charlie Blackmon sunset card. 

Overall, I am very happy with the 2025 Topps design. The backs have the stat titles in a white font which is hard to read against some of the team colored backgrounds. Everything else is fine. I can’t wait to have the whole set in my binders. 

Thanks for checking out my latest post. 

-Jeremy 

No 2025 Topps, but I didn’t come home empty handed

 I went out to the Premiere Sports Cards in Orange City today after work in hopes of finding some 2025 Topps cards. Apparently the idiot flippers have been buying the crap out of the set, and the owners shipment hadn’t arrived yet. I had to be out in about an hour, so I dug through their loose boxes of unmarked cards and hoped that they would come in while I was there. 

Unfortunately, they didn’t come, but I found some nice cards, and I’ll probably have time to stop by tomorrow. 

I never know what the cards in the boxes are going to be because they are never marked. The boxes I dug through felt like .50 cent cards, with some more .25 cent ones, and some closer to a dollar. 

Somebody must’ve just dumped some more valuable cards in the boxes, because it was littered with some Hall of Fame cards from the ‘70’s, and some basketball rookies. 

The Seaver card was a nice find. Robinson and Reggie Jackson made the box even sweeter, but the best card of the bunch was a 2nd year Topps George Brett. McCovey, Yaz, and Bench round out the big Hall of Fame cards, as I don’t feel like a ‘79 Rollie Fingers is that big of a card. Still, it’s always nice to knock some Hall of Fame cards off of sets. 

I’m not a huge basketball guy, but I followed it enough in the late ‘90’s and early ‘00’s to know that Paul Pierce and Dirk Nowitzki are big names. There were a handful of their Topps rookie cards in the box. I might try to find them again tomorrow if people say they are worth getting more copies of. I have a feeling if I get them that the owner will remember and they might be priced higher, but we’ll see. 

The rest of the box cards were just the usual Rays, Tigers, and favorite players, along with 10 or 15 I found for trades. I can’t believe I payed money for a card of that steroid usin, cheating jerk Nelson Cruz. Look it up. The guy got busted for steroids,  went on a power binge twice in the playoffs to oust Detroit and Tampa, and nobody mentions the steroid test he failed or that he may have taken them during the playoffs. They tell how he is such a great ambassador for the game and how he should be in the Hall. He got busted for steroids. Remember that!  

I also got packs of 2021 Heritage Minors and 2022 Pro Debut. Nothing really big. I was hoping to pick up some Rays in the packs, and I did with the Pie card, but it was a double, of course. 

The owner saw the ‘70’s cards and questioned where I got them. I showed him, and he said he didn’t know what to price them at, and to make an offer. I figured the Brett would be 10, maybe 10 for the other HOF guys, and 5 for the others, so I offered 25. Maybe I am spoiled with the guys at K & T, because he countered with 40. I think it may have been a fair deal for everyone, as the prices when I entered them in TCDB were 1-10 bucks for most of the Topps cards. The packs were 5 each, so it came to 50 bucks. Im happy with what I paid, especially with the Brett and a few ‘60’s and ‘70’s Hall of Famers. The parallels and such were icing on the cake. 

I probably will just stick with a jumbo 2025 Topps pack tomorrow. Let’s just hope they aren’t sold out. 

Let me know if you think I got a good deal with the cards and if I should get those Pierce and Nowitzki rookies again. 

Thanks for checking out my latest post. 

-Jeremy

Incoming cards and my first Sportlots order

This is going to be a pretty long post, but bear with me. I want to start off and say RIP, Fay Vincent. I really wasn't following baseball when he was the head of the game, as I started really watching games in 1993 and 1994, but I wished I could've watched the sport when he ruled over it. A true baseball fan, he called out Selig, Manfred, and others, and truly wanted to see labor peace in the sport, and for all teams to be competitive. 

I was reading up on the collusion that happened in the late '80's, and came upon Peter Ueberroth's wikipedia page. It mentioned how he said owners were 'damned fools' to lose money in order to win a World Series title. It was guys like him who have screwed this game and prodded owners to not spend money on payroll (I'm talking about you, $tu $ternberg!!!). Vincent came in after Giamatti passed away (another true baseball fan), and banned $teinbrenner, made the decision to suspend the World Series after the earthquake in 1989, then picked the correct time to resume it. He stopped the league from going on strike in the 1990 preseason, banned Steve Howe, and had some good plans for realignment before he was ousted by the owners. While I don't agree with his thoughts about banning the DH, I agree with just about everything else he did or was planning to do. I knew I had to add his card to my SportLots box. It arrived just a day or two before Mr. Vincent's death, and I was really bummed, because I was going to try to mail it to him and ask for an autograph. Perhaps I'll add the certified autograph version to my collection soon. RIP, Mr. Vincent. 

I recently got 2 packages from Rod of the Padrographs blog.  Many bloggers have been posting about Rod lately, as he opened a bunch of blasters during the holiday season and distributed the non-keepers to team/player collectors around the blogosphere. I was lucky enough to get the Rays and Marlins. 

I decided to highlight a portion of the cards. Here is the stack of what wasn't highlighted. 

The Marlins part starts out with a John Lynch baseball card. The NFL Hall of Famer played in the minors for the Marlins during the early '90's. I actually got him to sign a minor league card after a Monday Night football game against the Rams in either 1999 or 2000. It was a hell of a game, as the Bucs came from behind to win. There was a lateral during the comeback drive to win. My youth pastor hooked me up with the tickets, and we had club seats. We sat near Mike Alstott's mom (more on him later), and she would blow a train horn every time he ran the ball, as his nickname was 'A-Train'. The Eury Perez green parallel is a cool looking card. I hope he can salvage his career. I got a few more Junior Caminero's, with the Bowman's at the bottom. 

I'm really stoked about the Space Mountain Heritage card. That card just shows how tuned in Rod is to other collectors. I live 45 minutes from Disney World and have been on Space Mountain a few times. While I know generally where some bloggers that I've traded with live, I don't think I've included cards like that Heritage one. Makes me want to dig through some of my oddball cards and see what I can come up with. A few more Caminero's with the Big League and Stars of MLB one. Also got a few parallels with the Rainbow Raley and the SP Chisholm Big League. 

A week or so later, I got another package from Rod with more Rays and Marlins. 

A number of cards I needed, as I haven't purchased any Bowman other than a pack or two, and absolutely no Bowman Draft from this year. Same with Chrome Sonic and Donruss (save a blaster). Hopefully the Rays rookies from Bowman Draft pan out. 

Here's where it gets good. More Juniors. A '24 Topps insert, and not one, but TWO '24 Topps Update parallels!!  Blue shimmer and gold! The '24 Archives Morel is the first Rays card of him that I got. One last Junior with the Trading Card Day card. 

One last photo with some refractors, and random cards. The bottom card is a film cell card, my first of that kind I've ever got. Very cool. Also got another DeJong card with the '24 Topps Paul DeJong, my first White Sox card of him. Thanks, Rod, for the awesome cards!

Coming back to Mike Alstott, I collect him, and have a few cards and a bobblehead. I did a trade on TCDB, where I got rid of 4 Heritage Yankee$, including some Jeters, and practically stole 20 or so '70' Topps cards from another member, including a few Hall of Famers. Any time I can dump Yankee$ on someone and get cards I need is a big win for me. I got my batch of the trade, and when I opened it up, there was a ticket with Alstott on it included in the package. When I looked at the ticket closer, I realized it was a ticket from the first game at Raymond James Stadium. What a cool pickup!!

A few weeks ago, Tom from The Angels in Order held a giveaway. I chose a 2014 Topps green parallel of fellow Type 1 diabetic Mark Lowe, a '63 Topps Tony Gonzalez that I needed, and a 2000 Fleer Gamers Jose Canseco that finished that Rays set. Thanks for the cool cards, Tom. I hope to get settled and back in a routine in a few weeks and maybe get some cards in a pile for a giveaway. Stay tuned. 

So that Sportlots order came in, and I didn't know what I was in for. I assumed it would be in a box, and I would just pick the cards out of it. I didn't know that it was just a package that had probably a hundred envelopes, small packages, and bubble mailers. I had to open each one, work around the tape, take the cards out of toploaders, and after about 2 hours of doing that, I could finally organize and catalogue 900 or so cards. I kind of feel like you should get a little bit of a discount for doing all of that work. 

The bulk of the order was singles to finish my 1980 Topps, 1981 Topps Traded, 1995 Topps SpectraLight/CyberStats, 2001 Topps, 2001 Topps Traded, 2002 Topps, 2002 Topps Traded, 2003 Topps, 2005 Topps, 2007 Topps, 2007 Topps Update, 2008 Topps, and 2016 Topps Update sets. While i thought I finished each of those sets, I still came up missing a few from some sets. Probably because my paper list must've somehow got off from my TCDB wantlist. Anyways, what I am missing is:

1980 Topps 

63 Bob Stanley

221 Joe Cannon

710 Graig Nettles

2001 Topps 

93 Brian Buchanan

169 Pete Harnisch

594 Troy O'Leary

2001 Topps Traded

124 Willie Randolph '76 Traded reprint

2002 Topps 

566 Shane Reynolds

2002 Topps Traded 

8 Brian L. Hunter SP (willing to take a Chrome version that isn't an SP)

188 Eric Cyr

2016 Topps Update

254 David Ortiz All-Star

I have a credit from Sportlots, so perhaps I'll try to finish off everything with that.

The favorite players were highlighted by a number of my newest favorite, Dan Boone. I got a good bunch of Nick Fortes cards, including some parallels of his 2024 Topps card. 

Including the Sportlots cards, I have the base, All-Star, Aqua, Easter Bunny, Rainbow, Silver Ice, and Yellow? 2024 Topps Nick Fortes cards. 

We have 2 Type 1 diabetics next to each other with Joe Jiannetti and Jason Johnson. The card of Johnson is the first one I know of to show an insulin pump on it (the black thing on his belt). The Patrick Mazeika is the first jersey card of him that I own. The Tony Saunders '98 Topps card is a big one. I had every version of his 1998 Topps card besides that one. Rainbow completed.

Base version (with a TTM autograph), Inaugual Devil Rays, Inaugural Diamondbacks, Minted in Cooperstown, Chrome, and Chrome Refractor. 

I decided to pick up some 1998 rays parallels and higher end sets. More Inaugural Diamondbacks and Minted in Cooperstown cards. '98 Topps Chrome and '98 Gallery as well. I picked up a few parallels of my favorite ballpark, Tropicana Field. I hope to attend a game there again. I added a few Randy Arozarena rookies. It sucks pulling cards of him as a Mariner. I don't collect him officially, but I have a ton of rookies, including these '20 Update versions. 

Base, gold with IP autograph, rainbow, Chrome, and UK version. Maybe someday I'll pick up a Chrome refractor of some kind. 

The 2 newest Raymond cards, and a 2024 Topps Chrome X-Fractor of Caminero. A few key rookies from my setbuilds were the '81 Traded Raines, '01 Traded Justin Morneau, and '03 Cole Hamels. An interesting sunset card is the 2001 Topps Traded Roberto Kelly. He finished his final season in 2000, and although he signed with Colorado and hoped to make the majors in 2001, he never did, making this a rare Traded sunset card that is also a zero year card. Better grab this one, Nick!! The United We Stand card was cool for me, as I was so close to finishing the subset, but never seen a picture of this card until now. I picked up a '99 Upper Deck checklist of Travis Lee because it highlights the first Arizona Diamondbacks Home Run. The 2003 Topps and 2005 Topps postseason highlights cards are some highlights as well, as they basically show teams sending the Yankee$ home. 

Overall, it was a fun time going through that Sportlots box. Now that I know how it works, I will be able to make better decisions on the site. Hopefully I can finish the list above and get a complete Topps run from 1980 to 2002. 

New Jersey came and went. The doctor wants her to do a stent trial in Jacksonville at Mayo Clinic. He said basically that he can't help the top of Karen's trachea because it is too narrow, but he might be able to help the bottom. The stent trial will have them place a custom made stent in the bottom of the trachea, and if it helps her breathing after 2 weeks or so, they will be confident that the mesh surgery will be successful. If that is the case, we'll probably go back to NJ a few weeks later to have the stent taken out and the mesh put in. 

We were kind of tired on the day we wanted to go to NYC, so we just hung out at the hotel. We ate at a pizza place, a local bar, a diner, and were able to go to an escape room (got about halfway through). Maybe we'll visit NYC this spring if the stent trial is successful. We're expecting to hear from Mayo any time, and I figure a few weeks and we'll have the stent trial. A little disappointing for me, as I was hoping he would go straight to the mesh surgery, but just got to keep my head up and know that it's just maybe 2 surgeries away, and then maybe Karen's breathing will get back to normal, I won't have to take on so much, her mom will feel like she's not needed and will start seriously looking for other living options, and I can have the life I dreamed of (or just a normal one with the wife, kid, house, and minimal health problems). 

I'm almost done putting new cards into binders for the National League teams. I got a few binders, so perhaps it will be enough to finish the AL. I have so many projects going on right now, and I want to do something with all of them, but it might be more productive to just devote time to one. 

My brother-in-law and I have a comedy band called 'The Younger Griffin'. We've been recording some music using A1 programs to put music to the vocals and lyrics. There are a few songs we could put out with that band. We do some serious songs under the band name 'Resiliency from Obscurity'. I have 10 or 12 songs that I could contribute to this band, and they are good. Good to where I've just played parts of them on the piano at church before the service starts, and people have said they were the perfect feeling, and have asked me what song I was playing a few different times. I really want to record the piano parts to the songs, sing the basic melody, and send a copy of the piano music, and one of the piano music and vocals to my Resiliency partner. He can record his (better) vocals on them, add the AI additional instruments to them, and we can release them to the world, and these songs that have been in my head for the past 20 or 25 years can finally get out there and maybe make a difference in someone's life. 

Besides that, I need to get those AL binders done so I can just get my cards organized. I realize that is a neverending battle, but if I can just get my loose cards down to 1 or 2 monster boxes, it will just help me be more organized, and I can just add newer 2025 cards to the back of the binders and keep the cards going into the monster boxes to a minimum. 

I have custom cards I want to make. I want to finish the Rays Topps run (currently have 1998, 1999, and 2000 finished). I have someone wanting me to try to do some 1975 Topps customs, and I need to finish making missing player checklist for a few sets (2023 and 2024 for sure, maybe 2022 and 2021). 

Just a lot of projects/hobbies that I want to do, but not much time. I could also add my oddball Allen/Ginter cards and my duplicate cards to TCDB and try to trade like crazy. I feel like the music and AL binders should take priority, with the music needing to be #1, but I think the binders will end up being what I work on until it's finished. I think UltraPro will be my best friend for a while. 

Tons of cards and stuff happening. Story of my life. Glad I'm getting such cool cards. 

Thanks for taking the time to check out my latest post.

-Jeremy

Latest mail pickups

 Things have been busy here at Topps Cards that Never Were HQ. Kyler is in a kickball league that plays every Tuesday and Thursday. They are basically teaching the kids the rules, and the teams swap out every week. When he’s not distracted, he’s been doing pretty well. This past Thursday, they played 2 games, and he went 5-5 with a run and an RBI. He’s been playing near shortstop in the field, and doesn’t really get too many balls kicked near him. 

Ive had 2 shelves from a bigger bookcase that we got rid of, and I’ve been wanting to trim them so they would fit my binder bookshelves. I finally got a hand saw and hacked them down to size and got a little more real estate to work with, and was able to move my trade box inside and get a little more organized. 

I’ve always been an aquarium guy. From the time I was like 10, I was always trying to catch minnows and I would put them in a bowl, aquarium, or whatever I had and watched them swim. I’ve had a 55 gallon tank and one point, and had live plants and guppies in it. The last time I had fish was before I got married. I’ve thought about getting a tank a few times, but life happened, and I just worry about having time to devote to it. Well, Karen has been getting the itch, and now lo and behold we have a 35 gallon tank. She really wants colorful fish, and I am dead set on live plants, guppies, and ghost shrimp. We compromised, and she got some colorful fake plants and decor. I got a few live plants, and I’ll get some guppies and ghost shrimp. Kyler will pick some fish tomorrow when I get off work, and I’ll get the shrimp, an algae eater, and maybe some snails. Some friends of ours have tons of guppies, so we’ll get them the next time we see them. Here is our tank right now without the fish. 

I got a new phone, as mine couldn’t hold a charge, and the difference is amazing. This is going to help me in a week. More on that later. 

The mailbox has been good to me the last week or so. Tom from The Angels in Order posted about a 1995 Collectors Choice trade card that he got in a trade. I mentioned that I had a Marquis Grissom from that set if he needed it, and he reached out to me on TCDB, and we hammered out a trade. 

I got some guys I collect in Shairon Martis, Jayson Nix, and Jordan Hicks, a Tiger in Bonderman, some 2011 Topps needs, and 2 ‘70’s Angels cards that Tom threw in for free. It’s always a pleasure trading with Tom. Hope you enjoy your end of the deal, Tom, and thanks for the great trade!

Next up is a pwe that I got from The Diamond King. Kevin had a giveaway with a few Paul Skenes cards and an Aaron Judge. I was able to claim a 2024 Bowman Chrome Skenes, and Kevin showed how great of a guy he is with the freebies he sent with it. 

Most guys will just send a card, but I can tell that Kevin went the extra mile and looked in my wantlist, because not only did he send cards of 2 guys I collect, but he sent 2 cards that I need as well. Thanks, Kevin, for the Skenes, and the 2 extras you sent!

My Skenes collection is getting pretty good for a guy who really just opens packs and goes to card shops maybe once every 2 or 3 months. I have his 2024 Bowman, Bowman Chrome, all of his 2024 Topps/Update cards, a 2024 Donruss Unleashed insert, and a couple of his 2024 Topps Holiday cards. I hope that he stays healthy not only because it will make his cards worth more, but because he is just fun to watch. It kind of feels like the kind of hype that Mark Fidrych had where people would see if he was starting before getting a ticket. 

I decided to save the coolest envelope for last. Back in 2017, I sent out a ttm autograph request to Dan Boone. He pitched in the Majors in 1981, 1982, and 1990. Boone had a cool career and SABR has a nice article on his baseball journey. Along with the request, I sent 2 customs I made, a 1983 Topps one, and a 1991 Topps one. I put a note at the end of my letter telling him to let me know if he wanted additional copies of the customs and included my phone number and address. 

Years went by and no response. I figured it was lost, or he quit signing. A little before Christmas, I get a text saying ‘Hi Jeremy. Are you still at this number? - Dan Boone’. It took me a while to figure out who it was, but I texted him back, and he let me know he had my letter and cards and that they had gotten misplaced. We’ve been texting a little bit and I’ve made all of his missing Topps cards and will be getting him some copies of those in the near future. He sent me back the cards as well as a nice autographed photo.

Definitely one of the coolest things I’ve got in the mail in a while. 

Karen ended up having the video appointment with Dr. Lazzaro on the 9th, and he wants Karen to come up to his hospital in New Jersey, and he is going to do a broncoscophy on her. He hopes it will give him a good picture of what he is dealing with when he will do the mesh surgery. Depending on what he finds, there are a few options. The mesh surgery in about 10 years old, and he is finding that patients take 6 months or so to recover because their lungs need to be strong and it takes a while for patients to breathe the right way with all of the incisions. Dr. Lazzaro will do the bronch, and he may opt to have Karen do 6 months of lung physical therapy and then do the mesh surgery. He may think she can do the mesh surgery without doing the PT before. He may think that the stent trial with the custom stent could work and elect to try that before the mesh surgery. Or, he could think that the mesh surgery just couldn’t be done with what he sees, and I guess we’ll get other options. We’re hoping for some version of the mesh surgery to be the outcome, but this is all old hat for us, so we’ll roll with whatever happens. 

So next Saturday, we will be flying into Trenton, and I believe the bronch is Monday, and we’ll meet with the Dr. on Tuesday. Depending on how both of us feel, we might drive 1 1/2 hours to New York City and see some of the landmarks. While I am disappointed that Kyler won’t be coming, I am over the moon that I will be getting to take my girl to New York City. I’ve been there in 2008, and it will be cool going back. We’ll probably see snow at some point, and while it probably won’t be the coldest temp I have felt in my life, it will definitely be the coldest I will remember. I’m going to bundle up even more than I normally do, that’s for sure. I don’t know if there are any card shops nearby, but I’ll be bringing my want list just in case. If not, I will be doing my best to save my money for 2025 Topps packs and not blow it on 2024 Archives, Prizm, and whatever else happens to be out by then. Hopefully I will come home and all of the fish will still be alive. 

With all of the stuff coming in the mail, it goes without saying that stuff needs to go out as well. I have a trade going on with Stuart from SR 75 Cards. He got some set cards that I sent, and I have some Rays and Tigers coming in. I sent 2 PWE’s to some bloggers, I have a bubble mailer ready to go out to another, and depending on what cards I find from packs or my binders in the next couple days, I might have some more stuff going out. I think Friday will be the best option to go to the post office, as my other day off is Monday, but it just happens to be a school holiday, so post office is closed, and I’ll be on kid duty. It will be a good day to finish off my Giants binders and get that much closer to having my NL binders (mostly) up to date.  I just have 4 more cards waiting to get in my SportsLots box, and I’ll have that sent. I’ve accounted for the SL box with a few of the latest team binders I’ve worked on, but some of the first ones are going to need to have cards from my SL order added to them, as well as cards I’ve acquired since organizing them. 

That’s about it. Perhaps I’ll post more about the aquarium as we add to it. 

Thanks for taking the time to read my latest post. 

-Jeremy

2025 Topps design is out!!

 It looks as if the 2025 Topps design is out. 

Here is a link to the write up and more photos. 

I guess I struck out big time with my guess. 

The design is nice. It kind of feels like the big thing with the team name on it is going to weigh the left side of the card down and make it topple over. I like how it is the team color. The field is nice, although I would’ve liked to see the position written out. I wonder what they will do on Ohtani’s card (or all DH’s for that matter). 

The big problem is the last name. On some photos in the link, there is a white glare (?) across the silver bar, and some of the teams have the last name in white. It makes it very difficult to read. 

Other than that, a solid design, as was 2024. I’ll work on making fun of Manfraud with a card of him in the new design either this afternoon or tomorrow. Happy 2025. 

Thanks for checking out my latest post. 

-Jeremy

2025 Collecting Goals and trip to K n T Sportscards

 Last year, I posted some collecting goals. I figure now would be a good time to see how I did. I’m going to try to do this quick. 

Little goals accomplished:

Complete a 1990’s Topps run- I did when I acquired a 1996 Topps John Mabry in a trade. 

Finish my 2002 Topps set- This is technically complete, but some of the cards are in my SportsLots box. 

Finish my 2021 Topps Update set- As I guessed in the goals post last year, the last card I needed was indeed sitting in a Phillies team box. 

Big goals accomplished:

Complete an ‘80’s Topps run- Another one technically completed and just needing to have SportsLots cards shipped

Put all of my cards into TCDB- All of my baseball cards are in. Random non-baseball cards in baseball sets like Allen & Ginter ones, random sets like Topps American Heritage, and stuff like that aren’t, although if I have some free time and need trade bait, it could be worthwhile. 

Big goal not accomplished- Put all of my cards into binders. This was not possible due to the sheer number of complete sets I’ve purchased towards the end of the year, but I have put most of my newer cards in all of my binders besides the Padres, Giants, Expos/Nationals, and most of the AL teams. Not bad, just considering the enormous task it was. 

I even accomplished a life goal of having some of my music published on a CD and out on iTunes, although it wasn’t quite how I envisioned it. In the fall, the comedy band my brother in law and I started called ‘The Younger Griffin’ released our first CD, a collections of songs with our collective original lyrics and music done by AI. While I really wanted my original music published to the song, ‘Liberate the Penguins’ is written entirely by myself, with other songs ‘Credit Misery’, ‘Soccer is Death’, and ‘Megan still doesn’t answer her Phone’ having some lyrics by me. Still, not too shabby. I also got a pineapple to bloom, the Bankee$ lost the World Series, and the Criminal Tide just got their 4th lost of the year today!!!  

Goals for this year are just going to be listed as Card Goals and Personal ones. 

Card Goals

Complete a set from the 1970’s. 

Get my Topps runs of 1980-2002 and 2019-2025 closer to being connected by finishing a set like 2003 and 2018. 

Complete a Rays parallel set.

Personal Goals

Get the mesh surgery with Karen done and have it work. This will open up so many doors in my life. She won’t have to worry about having to breathe doing mundane tasks. No worries about having to cancel plans. Less responsibility for me around the house. Hopefully not having to rely on her mom for things. This will help me out tremendously with number two. 

Get her Mom to move out or have our credit improve so we can  move out ourselves. I don’t care. Just something to separate us so she’s not constantly in my personal bubble, trying to make conversation, or creating mess. 9 months are damn long enough. 

Get going to some doctors again. My therapist ended up quitting, and I haven’t got around to making another appointment. I also missed one with my endocrinologist when Karen had her last surgery, and I just haven’t got around to making another one. I’m hoping with the holidays being done that I can just settle into a routine and get better at mundane things like calling people to schedule appointments. 

I feel like if Karen can get her health better and cut the cord with her mom that everything else will settle into place. We can probably take a good vacation and not worry about having to make it short in case of breathing problems, and a vacation means a good chance at a ballgame, perhaps a new stadium. There’s a chance I could record some music this year, and that big custom card project is finished, just waiting for final word on the product it goes with. 2025 has the potential for some great things. Might even be enough for me to not really even care if my boss stays another year. We’ll see. 

Before 2024 ends, I was able to get some new cards. I managed to go up to Ormond Beach after work yesterday and stopped by K n T Sportscards. I had left my wantlist folder there a couple weeks ago, and John from Johnny’s Trading Spot was going to pick it up when he was scheduled to swing by. He ended up not making it down there, but called the shop, and let me know that they had it. They had it when I got there. 

My plan was to spend an hour or so going through dime boxes, but some teenaged flipper brah’s were hogging the area. One of them had a briefcase, and I wondered why they would even be in the area. The place was busy, and a variety of people were there. Some guy who had apparently driven from St. Louis was there loading dollar boxes into his van. He had a buddy who must’ve recognized him but was from a different area talking to him. There was also a family there who flew into town from Soutb Africa. They were there for baseball cards, and said that most people from South Africa follow soccer. 

I ended up looking through the dollar team boxes until the brah’s left. They had a few good cards, not much different selection from the last time I was there. I found a few cards to go into some blogger care packages hopefully this month. I went through 1 or 2 dime boxes, picking up most Tigers, Rays, and players I collect that I saw, since I figured they would be basically free. I spent a few minutes going through the 2-5 dollar boxes, and found 2 Rays autos for 2 bucks. I think I had about 30 bucks of cards plus the dime ones, and I paid 20. I got home, and we ended up going to Wal-Mart, and while there, I picked up another Topps Holiday ball thing. 

The Holiday ball had some nice cards. Out of 2 Holiday balls and a blaster, I managed to pull 3 Skenes cards, 2 De La Cruz cards and 1 blue parallel, and a Merrill base and metallic. If I didn’t have so many doubles, I’d be tempted to get more. 

The rest of the basic team cards. 

I found a number of guys I collect at K n T’s. A number of Lakeland guys in fact, with Sale, Taillon, and Yarbrough. I almost complete the 2022 Bowman Platinum Prospects Ice parallel Rays set, and am only missing the guy on the bottom left, Kyle Manzardo. The Zunino Chrome Platinum auto was one of the 2 dollar autographs I got. I’m a Wily Adames autograph away from having most of the autographs of key guys from the 2020 AL Champion team.  

The Rays were nice ones. A few refractors, an Xavier Isaac rookie (people on Rays boards are always high on him and Caminero. I hope they’re right), and a Heritage SP of Mejia. I found a Torkelson rookie for the Tigers, and both Riley Greene Chrome rookies. 

The rookies hit hard in the Holiday ball. Another Junior, the Skenes and De La Cruz from earlier, and the Merrill metallic one. Also had a Henderson Santa hat SP. Not shown is an AJ Smith-Shawver Blue metallic card I had set aside for John. 

We’ll see if I can accomplish my collecting and life goals for 2025. I’m going to bed, and am going to have a great first day of 2025, as I will be working on the slowest day of the year, and might go on a date with Karen that night, which could lead to a Target run with more cards, and who knows what else. We’re both off the next day, so 2025 should start off nice. 

Happy 2025, and thanks for taking the time to check out my latest post. 

-Jeremy