Hey Now! Hey Now! Hey Now!

IT’S A WALK-OFF! THE MARINERS ARE GOING TO THE PLAYOFFS! pic.twitter.com/VNGkrpDgXZ

— ROOT SPORTS™ | NW (@ROOTSPORTS_NW) October 1, 2022

It feels like ages ago that Mariners broadcaster Dave Sims unleashed his signature catchphrase "Hey Now!" after Cal Raleigh rocketed the Mariners to the playoffs for the first time in 21 years.  The Mariners' limping start to the 2023 season hasn't instilled confidence in the fanbase that we'll see another playoff run.  Deep breath. It's still early.  

2016 Topps Now - #281 Ken Griffey Jr.

I've been a supporter of Topps Now since the beginning in a literal sense and figurative sense.  I believe my first Topps Now purchase was of Griffey's induction to the Hall of Fame in 2016.  Before Topps Now, would we have ever had a card like this in a main set? Perhaps.  But unlikely.  In 2016, I went on to purchase other cards capturing moments like Felix Hernandez becoming the Mariners all-time win leader, Hunter Renfro hitting a ball onto the roof of the Western Metal Building at Petco Park, and former Mariner Mike Montgomery throwing the final pitch of the Cubs' historic World Series victory.

I put my money where my mouth is so here is a list of my Topps Now purchases to show my support for the idea:

Year	Cards Purchased
2016	9
2017	21
2018	38
2019	54
2020	19
2021	10
2022	16
2023	2

It's easy to forget the highlights of a 162-game season so Topps Now helps memorialize those moments.  Some Topps Now moments can feel pointless at the time and even more so when looking back on them.  I like looking at a Topps Now card and remembering, "oh yeah, this happened."  

2022 Topps Now - #899 Julio Rodriguez

Last year, at the only Mariners game I attended, Julio Rodriguez achieved a rookie milestone.  The next day, Topps released a card of that moment.  The memory of that game probably would have been lost in the cavern of my mind but now I have something that can anchor me to that time.  Although I captured my own moment of Julio's achievement, it's nice to have a card to go along with it. 

At some point in the past few years, Topps added random parallels to Topps Now orders.  Topps likely added this chase element because the pre-sale market on eBay was significant.  Why pay $10 on Topps' website for a card when I could get the same thing for $5 on eBay?  Now with the parallels, buyers are incentivized to buy directly from Topps for a chance to hit a parallel.  I'll admit that I am now more likely to buy from Topps.  I don't do it especially when I know a card is going to have a high print run, thus decreasing my odds.

As I was going through some of my Topps Now purchases from last year, I realized I hit two parallels across my half-dozen or so orders.  Even though no typical baseball collector would be excited about hitting a Luis Torrens parallel, when you buy Topps Now for fun it makes the parallels that much sweeter.  

Blue Parallel - #/49

Red Parallel - #/10

The Topps Now program has evolved through the years and the number of cards each year is dizzying.  I'll continuing buying cards that make me remember the Mariners' successes and other fun moments throughout the season.  Without feeling like I need to buy every card, even of the Mariners, I'll enjoy the ride.  

Spring Training Autograph Returns

With the book on Spring Training long closed, and the window for receiving back cards effectively shut, it's time to look at how I fared for my first spring TTMing.  

I've never submitted cards during Spring Training.  After winning the Mariners for a 2018 Topps Series 1 case break, I wanted to put those doubles (and triples) to good use.  I sent a card to every Mariner featured in Series 1, outside of Robinson Cano and Nelson Cruz, for a total of 7 TTM requests.

When Tweeting about my plans I remarked that I would be happy with even just one return.  

thanks! I'll be happy with even 1

— The Cardboard Flame (@RTCF_Blog) February 14, 2018

So how did I do?

I received exactly one return.

Taylor Motter signed his card with Cano.  He was even kind enough to sign it on his side of the card.  Would I love to get Cano to sign his side? Absolutely.  Will that ever happen? Probably not.

I also took the time to send out some requests to Mr. Automatic Pat Neshek.  Neshek regularly tweets out his current address for TTM requests and I had been meaning to get some cards out to him.

My favorite set of the new millennium is 2008 Topps.  This card was a must send to Neshek.  

2015 Topps is another one of my recent favorites and this presented an opportunity for my first horizontal TTM return.  

Not the most plentiful Spring Training for me but some solid additions nonetheless.  If I do this next year I'll do some better advance planning and increase my TTM request range.  

Ever Evolving Organization

As collectors in a hobby that spawns thousands upon thousands of items to somehow store, we all no doubt struggle to find ways to keep our collections in check.  Whenever I pull cards whether it is for a trade or to simply look at them, I spend far too long pulling monster boxes to find the card.  Completed sets and player collection cards are located in binders so those are easier to find.  It's all the miscellaneous singles, sorted by set, that elude me.

The bulk of my collection is stored in 12 two-row monster boxes.  Initially, things were simple.  Baseball, basketball, and football all fit neatly into boxes in a logical manner.  This made it easy to write on the outside of the boxes what was contained inside.

As boxes began to fill up, this required me to start shifting cards around.  All of a sudden, the box that said "2016 Topps..." wasn't so accurate anymore.  Football is mixed with baseball.  Old sets are mixed with new sets.  It's a headache.

I've recently begun using a master Excel spreadsheet to track various card related items.  I decided to utilize Excel as a tool to track where sets are located.  This way whenever I am looking for a card I can simply search the spreadsheet to find which box contains the set.

Simple yet effective

All it takes is four simple columns.  One for the box number and three for the three different sports I collect.  Hockey, miscellaneous sports, and non-sport are such a minor part of my collection that they do not warrant this treatment--at least not yet.  Those cards are stashed away in 600 count boxes. 

So long as I remember to keep the spreadsheet updated as I add new sets and move old sets around, this method should require minimal.  It feels a little ridiculous that my collection now requires this but c'est la vie.

All this work has also produced another tangible result: a clean desk! For the first time in months, my desk doesn't have any unsorted cards lying around.  It's nice to have the space back.  Plus, I can clear cards off quicker. 

A post isn't a post without cards I'll show off some of my semi-recent 2018 Topps Flagship and Heritage pickups.

These are short printed photo variations.  They are uninteresting photos but at least they weren't too expensive.

I amassed a small handful of the Home Run Challenge cards as I find it to be a neat idea.  Pick a day and if the player hits a home run, you win a parallel card.  I've yet to see the design of the parallel cards so I'm not sure how hard I want to try to win. 

  

The black bordered Gamel autograph is out of 99.  It actually cost me the same as a base autograph.  On the right is the Topps Salute autograph version featuring Gamel in his Father's Day uniform.  The powder blue uniforms always appeal to me. 

With Heritage I beefed up my Padres collection a bit.  I believe the black bordered cards have a print run of 50.  Despite the low print run, this card cost me a whopping 99 cents.  I guess that's the benefit of being a Padres collector.  

 Although not in his new Padres uniform, I felt like picking up this refractor as it is numbered 999 out of 999.  That just seemed like a cool number.

Finally, to balance out the Padres, I purchased a game-used Felix jersey swatch.  For being one of my favorite players, I'm light on Felix relics. 

That wraps it up for my baseball purchases.  I've actually shifted a bit towards a football product (a rarity for me) that I plan to cover in a different post.

Thanks for reading!

Santa's Bangin' Batch of Baseball Bits

This is my second year participating in Secret Santa organized by Matt over at Bob Walk the Plank.  Last year was a lot of fun and this year turned out to be no exception.

Who was my secret Santa this year? Let's find out!

Ah ha! It's Matt from Bubba's Bangin' Batch of Baseball Bits.  Admittedly I'm not too familiar with Matt's blog as it somehow escaped my radar.  I've rectified that error however as he is now part of my blog reading roll.  After looking around his blog for a bit I realized I did remember reading one of his posts where he bought a case of 2016 Allen and Ginter X for cheap as the seller had pulled all the autos.  Hidden among the packs though was a redemption for a Kenta Maeda autograph. How cool!  I look forward to reading more of his blog.

What did Matt send me?  As he noted, I don't really have a solid want list posted on the blog.  That's something I hope to add in 2018.  I started with a Top 5 list on the right sidebar.

Matt threw a bunch of Mariners cards my way, which is greatly appreciated! I haven't cataloged any of the cards yet but I can say with 99.9% confidence that these are all cards I do not have. Nicely done Matt!

A smorgasbord of cards from the 80s and 90s.  A lot of notable names like Harold Reynolds, Alex Rodriguez, Edgar Martinez, and Jay Buhner.

Two silver buybacks.  I forget the "rarity" tier but I think silver was somewhere around mid-tier. 

Team sets from the last three issues of Allen and Ginter X.  Very cool! I didn't have any Ginter X cards before this.

More modern cards including two rad die-cut cards.

Another first.  My first Topps Gold Label card.  Mitch Haniger too, who is my favorite Mariner newcomer.

A jersey card of none other than The King.  Solid!

It wasn't all baseball.  Matt suck in this die-cut of Rich Sherman.  I'm not really collecting football like I used to but this card will fit happily into my collection.

Thanks for all the wonderful cards Matt!

Showing Signs of Life at the Card Show

You may or may not have noticed my absence from blogging over the past few weeks.  It has all been for a very good reason.  On October 10, my wife gave birth to a healthy baby boy named Theodore.  Since then my life has been occupied with 3AM feedings, daytime naps, poopy diapers, and the occasional videogame to de-stress (Super Mario Odyssey is awesome btw).  I haven't even had time to keep up with reading blogs.

Newborn Theo

Newborns are supposed to feed at least every 3 hours so I figured I would have time in between those feedings to do card related stuff.  Nope. In between taking care of myself, my recovering wife, and making sure household chores don't pile up, time goes by quickly.

Now at the almost 1 month mark, things are normalizing somewhat.  My wife was even gracious enough to let me attend my local bi-annual card show.

The largest purchase of the day (literally) was a complete set of 2008 Upper Deck First Edition.  The big draw here was the price: $5.  The design is decent enough but the real kicker was the inclusion of a relic card.

It's not a card show without picking up a few additions for my Felix Hernandez collection.  I love picking up Topps Museum cards on the cheap ($1) considering these are from a high-end set. 

The playing window on Felix is closing soon.  He deserves the respect of being an opening day starter but next year he might be pushed back to #2.  That will be a sad day.

These cards are from this year's Topps flagship set.  Gimmicky as they are, I enjoy seeing players in their holiday/special event jerseys.  When I get several more cards of these alternate jerseys I'll have to branch them out into their own PC.

 

With the birth of my son, I've added a few players to my collection roster.  I'm collecting players who share a birthday with my son.  I plan to expand upon this idea in a separate post to come later.  Andrew McCutchen is a great player and I'm excited to start collecting him.  I don't know if this 2005 Topps Update card counts as his first rookie card but either way, it's a nice looking card.

The card on the right is from Panini's 2016 Father's Day promo set.  It is the thick stock parallel numbered to 50.  For only $1 it was an easy pick up.

Troy Tulowitzki is another player who shares a birthday with my son.  Tulowitzki had a down year last year with the Blue Jays, which hopefully will help soften the price on some of his cards.  

Typically I stay away from collecting Griffey in a Reds uniform.  I'm not upset or anything that he left Seattle, it's just that with so many Griffey cards I need some focus.  I made an exception for these cards since they feature the 2001 All-Star Game logo when it was held in Seattle.  As a bonus, this is a two-card oddball set from Ritz/Oreo.

The 2016 Panini Diamond Kings Rookie Signatures Silver is the only relic (and auto) set I plan to complete.  I have over half the set and was surprised to see a set need show up at the show.  

Retail relics from 2008 Topps. I love 2008 Topps. 

At the last card show I found a WSU Cougars Smokey set.  As luck would have it, I found another set at this show.  Since the cards are unnumbered I wasn't sure if I found the complete set or not.  Unfortunately, after checking the Trading Card Database, I discovered I am one card short: Drew Bledsoe.

It will be difficult to find that card available as a single so I might have to purchase a complete set.  Bummer.

That wraps up my card show for this year.  It was a nice feeling to get back into cards! Thanks for reading!

Color Coordinated

Two recent purchases have made me appreciate the art that is a color coordinated parallel.  Occasionally a card's colored parallel will match up well with the player's photo/team colors.  

Here are two such examples that I can think of off the top of my head:

2005-06 Upper Deck Rookie Debut - Gold

I'm loathed to actively seek out a Los Angeles Lakers card.  The 2008 and 2010 NBA Championship Finals with the Boston Celtics and the Lakers are the primary cause behind my dislike for the Lakers.  The Celtics should have captured their second title with the "Big Three" (or four if you counted Rondo). 

Anyway, I'm a Gonzaga basketball fan, which is the primary reason I was drawn to this card.  The other reason being that I think the set design is top notch.  With the photo of Turiaf in his college uniform I consider this part of my Gonzaga PC.  Even though it is properly listed as a Lakers card. 

As much as hate to admit it, the card matches the Lakers' purple and gold colors very well.  As a bonus, this card is low-numbered out of 50. 

2017 Topps Chrome - Green

Whereas the previous card look nice due to the design elements coming together, here the photo matches up with the parallel color.  The Mariners' "Northwest Green" uniforms debuted in the 90s and hung around for a couple years.  After some sporadic appearances in the 2000s, these jerseys became a regular fixture in the Mariners' uniform rotation in 2011.

The greens don't match up perfectly (side note: at one time my wife legitimately thought I was color blind) but I think they match up enough to consider this a color coordinated parallel.

Do you have any favorite color coordinated parallels?  

Crackin' That Chrome

I've bought into a total of four group breaks.  Group breaks are antithetical to my idea of collecting.  I like collecting my team cards but I also like to complete sets.  I could easily use that money towards blasters, singles, or even buying a complete set outright.  The allure of landing a big PC hit is temping so I can understand the draw.

Two of my group breaks have come at the hands of Crackin' Wax. The husband and wife team are entertaining on the stream, have a passion for the product, and treat the cards well.  For whatever reason I decided to buy into their 2017 Topps Chrome, half-case break.

I strongly dislike this year's Topps design but Chrome cards typically look nice, even if the base design isn't savoy.

I have't yet to hit a nice card in my group breaks so did I have any luck this time?

As expected, I hit all of the base cards with some extras to boot.

The lone insert of the bunch.  I don't recall if this exact card was in Topps Flagship.  I know this insert set was included previously.  I will admit these are a fun look at at a player's Bowman cards.

Unfortunately, no Chrome color this time around.  The colored parallels are really what make Chrome exciting and pop.  While disappointed, getting a total of 4 base parallels felt like a surprise.

Enough teasing with the boring cards, you came to see some hits!  It turns out the very first hit of the break was for ME! I could not wait to see that beauty in person.  And wouldn't you know, I had another hit on the way!

When my spoils arrived at my house I checked and double checked but did not see the two autograph cards! After e-mailing Crackin' Wax, they quickly said they would track down what happened.  A day later, the mix-up was solved and the cards would be on their way to me shortly.  100% professional service and in no way nefarious.

My two cards literally came to me from the Tampa Bay Rays.  After trading us back Erasimo Ramirez (who admittedly has performed adequately since coming over to the Mariners), I couldn't believe that I had been fleeced by the Rays, again.  All was well, though!

There we go.  A purple parallel of Dan Vogelbach! I would have much rather preferred Mitch Haniger, as Vogelbach is going to languish down in AAA for who knows how long.  An auto numbered to 250 is still a solid hit.  The base auto was a nice little bonus.

I'm not one to buy into group breaks regularly but I can confidently say that Crackin' Wax has done well by me.