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.  

Celebrating National Baseball Card Day

My wife gave me the go ahead to participate in National Baseball Card Day on Saturday so long as I took the baby with me.  Seeing the deal as a no brainer, off we went to the first of two stops.

The first shop was the shop I typically go to when I'm buying new boxes.  It's never been my favorite place mainly because I feel my interactions are always just transactional.  I've never really stopped to talk with the owners or opened any packs with them.  Partly it's because I'm usually dealing with the wife owner who I get the sense is not that into cards.  She's nice and everything but like I said, our interactions are just transactional.  The other part is that my personality is not the type to hang around and just strike up conversations.

Although I will say today that when I brought my son in to the shop she took interest in him so we talked about him for a minute or two.  That was pleasant. 

When I entered the shop I asked the husband owner if they were giving away free packs.  He asked me if I had a redemption ticket and I replied that I didn't think we had to have a redemption ticket.  He said it was no problem and gave me a pack anyway.  

I looked at the pack and they appeared to be standard 2018 Topps cards; not special NBCD cards.  I didn't say anything because I thought maybe I was confused as to which packs were being given out today.  He's usually on top of promotions so I don't know what happened.  He also mentioned that if I spent $10 on Topps products, I'd get a free Aaron Judge card.  So clearly he knew at least somewhat about the NBCD promotion.

The free pack of cards was as I suspected just base 2018 Topps.

Hey at least I got a Hoskins rookie out of it.

I did not want to leave without buying something new so against my better judgment I bought one box of 2018 Topps Clearly Authentic.

For $50, I would get exactly one autographed card.  This could have turned out really poorly or really well.

Turns out, it fell about somewhere in the middle.

On first impression: not the best autograph I would hope to get but a far cry from the worst.  On the plus side, I do not have a Jose Canseco autograph so this card will fit nicely into the collection.

I looked up comps on eBay and Canseco signatures from this product are actually going for more the price of the box.  That helps vindicate my purchase knowing that in theory I got full value out of the box.  

Looking at the checklist on Cardboard Connections it appears that these reprint autographs are a case hit! Double score!

Despite the mix-up with the free pack of cards, the trip worked out nicely.

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The second stop was a place I've never been to before--Diamond in the Mall  It's actually even closer to my house than the other shop.  Upon entering I quickly got a sense of the shop.  It's main focus is selling singles.  The wall of wax was rather spare and contained mostly Topps flagship products.  That's perfectly fine.  It must be pricey to keep up with all the differing releases.

I asked the shop owner if he had the free packs and then he pulled out the box of correct packs and let me pick out which one I wanted.  He then saw my son in the stroller and said since there was two of us I'd get another pack.  I'm liking this shop already! 

The collation on my two packs was hot garbage.  Out of 5 cards, four were duplicates.  I've already turned the Posey duplicate into an Ozzie Albies card so at least the duplicates are coming in handy.

Here are the two cards that were not duplicates.

After looking at the display cases, I settled on four hobby packs of 2018 Topps Chrome.  During this time I was chatting with the owner and got the sense that he truly enjoyed cards.  After paying for my packs I told him I might as well open up the packs in the shop.  He indicated he was interested and even offered to sleeve any good cards! That's the kind of experience I've always wanted from an LCS. 

I opened my three packs and as you'll see below, I didn't really hit anything noteworthy for a hobby box.  While I was opening the packs we continued to talk and even ventured into topics outside of cards such as raising kids and the changes going on in the area.  He was a great guy to talk to. My son was getting pretty fussy so I had to bail.  Otherwise I probably would have stayed a little while longer. 

No numbered parallels; only one notable rookie; no autographs. 

After I left he flagged me down to call me back into the shop. He told me he forgot to give me the bonus cards since I bought Topps products.  He then pulled out a stack of the Judge cards and a stack of the Hoskins cards.  The owner said since I spent $20 I could take one of each.  Hoskins isn't supposed to come out until a couple weeks later but I'll take it!

It sounds like the promotion isn't being well explained to shop owners.  Oh well, I still had fun.

Even though the new shop I visited doesn't keep up too much with new products, I'll still try to visit semi-frequently if just to buy a couple singles here and there.  The shop owner is a cool guy and even if his store isn't the flashiest, it feels like an old school shop.

Chasing the Next Big Thing

Today marks the release of 2018 Bowman and for many collectors, the chase of Shohei Ohtani in a mainline Topps product.

That means there is only one thing to do!

And that is not open any 2018 Bowman.  With hobby boxes going for over $150 and jumbo hobby boxes going for over $350 I have no interest in spending that kind of money on this product.  Sure I'll buy some retail because I do enjoy opening Bowman and trying to finish off the base set.  But hobby prices are just insane.

I don't want the next MLB prospects, I want the next, next level of prospects.  That's why for today, I opened a blaster box of 2018 Panini Stars and Stripes USA Baseball.

This is the kind of product you open up then stash away for a few years to see if any if your notable cards turned into major prospects.  I don't think these cards have significant long-term value even if a player does make it to the majors but it's fun nonetheless.

Ok so it turns out there are some current MLB prospects in this set.  He's not Shohei Ohtani but he wants to be like him some day. 

The base cards are average.  The front has a lot of shine and the back has a small write up on the player's USA Baseball career. 

The only notable thing about this product is the hits so I'm going to get right to it.

My first hit is an autograph of high schooler Ethan Hearn.  It's weird to get an autograph of someone still in high school.  At least it's not one of the 15-under players.  

Hearn is committed to playing baseball at Mississippi State in 2019.  Mississippi State appears to have a good baseball program, which should be a good sign for the value of his autograph.  

The last promised hit is a nice jumbo swatch of UConn pitcher Tim Cate.  Cate looks to be a Top 50 pick in the upcoming June MLB Draft.  

I'd say that this is another decent hit.

Well what do you know, a bonus hit! I think the USA Baseball products have a tendency to have bonus hits so I'm not too surprised.  

Jon Olsen, a pitch with UCLA, is one tough SOB.  Earlier this year he fractured his face after taking a line drive to the cheek.  Less than a month later, he returned to action.  Bravo.  

As to his skill?  He's currently rocking a 2.20 ERA with batters hitting only .200 against.  He also has a nice 28:8 K:BB ratio.  Last year he did just as well with a 2.86 ERA with batters hitting .201 against him.  He also had 80 strikeouts to 31 walks.  He should be one to watch.

Overall, outside of the hits, the product is rather "meh."  I look forward to keeping track of where Cate and Olsen end up as they appear to be decent pitchers.  

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!

Cardboard Kindness

I have a couple mail days from bloggers that I need to post.  One that's old and sorely needs a post.  The other is a fresh package.

Let's start with a package from Nachos Grande as part of his "Season of Giving."  He sent over a flat rate box full of Mariners cards.  There were so many cards, many of which I have never seen.  I'll highlight a few of my favorites.

1999 UD Choice

It's always nice to add more Griffey cards to the collection.  I haven't heard of Choice before but I'm guessing it's an offspring of Collector's Choice.  

1997 Collector's Choice

Normally I'd be loathe to highlight a card with Alex Rodriguez.   Although given my recent Padres fandom I'm happy to see Tony Gwynn.  I like this League Leaders card as it features the AL and NL player side-by-side.  Back before interleague play it always seemed like such a big deal to see AL and NL players together.

2003 Fleer Box Score

Another new set for me.  This set features a notable box score on the back for each player.  Edgar's box score was from the 1990 season when he had a two home run game.  From a historical perspective this could be a fun set to put together.

I don't understand this card.  The Mariners are listed as the team.  Yet, Johnson is pictured in an Astros uniform.  He was traded to the Astros *after* playing for the Mariners so why wouldn't Upper Deck list the Astros as the team if they are going to feature him in an Astros uniform?  

2012 Bowman

For whatever reason, I've enjoyed putting together the base Bowman set more than I have Flagship.  Maybe it's because prospects are sprinkled into the insert sets.  Plus, the colored parallels have looked a lot better than the Flagship design the past couple years.

1994 Bowman's Best

I'm highlighting this card just for the fact of seeing Johnny Damon as a skinny, clean faced kid in a Royals uniform.  That's not the image I have of him in my mind.  He just looks so funny.

Thank you again Nachos Grande!

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Next up is a recent trade package from P-town Tom of Waiting 'til Next Year...

Here are the cards I was expecting too get, 2013 Panini USA Champions. This puts me under 10 left on the base set. I opened up a box last year chasing a Kris Bryant auto on the cheap (no such luck) and ended about a dozen cards short of the set.  I can't leave a set unfinished when I am so close. 

Tom, being the stand up guy that he is, also sent along quite a few more cards. Thanks Tom! He said that he didnt know how the junk wax cards slipped into the package but as you'll see there was certainly some non junker cards!

2017 Panini Chronicles

A purple rookie parallel of Guillermo Heredia from the weirdly overpriced Chronicles. A blaster box contained a whopping 20 cards. I feel like Panini is always providing terrible value in their retail products. I don't care about hits but give me more cards damnit! These are not $1 cards.

2017 Topps Gallery

I looked down upon Gallery as I thought a lot of the drawings were bad. This Seager card looks alright though. I only wish the cards were printed on canvas stock. That would have piqued my interest a little more.

2016 Topps High Tek

If Mitch Haniger had not had his face busted open last season requiring plastic surgery, he could have been the Mariners' best player behind Cruz. Given the Mariners injury luck he will probably go down to an injury at some point this season.

I believe this is my first look at High Tek in hand.  These cards are kinda neat with the crazy background and translucent card stock.  I'll have to keep my eye out for more.  

2015 Bowman's Best

This card is thick.  Unnecessarily thick.  It's 138 pt.  There is probably some backstory here I don't understand.

1970 Topps

Vintage! Wow! It's of the short lived Seattle Pilots.  I did not previously have any cards from 1970 Topps so this is an excellent addition.

Thank you again Tom! I am blown away by your generosity.  And believe it not I even appreciate the junk wax you sent along. 

That wraps this post for today.  A lot of cards to sort through that will keep me busy!  Thanks for tuning in.

Feeling A Wave of Excitement with A 2018 Topps Jumbo Box

After all but ignoring 2017 Topps, I was completely on board with 2018 Topps.  Admittedly, the design won't .  However, it is serviceable and after my dislike towards last year perhaps I was just eager to like a Topps design again.  I knew I wanted to hand collate this set so that meant buying a hobby box.

I bought a jumbo box for several reasons.  First, I know if I bought I hobby box I would end up with a standard relic.  At least with a jumbo box I get an autograph and manufactured relic in addition.  Second, buying a jumbo box usually guarantees pulling one full set.  I didn't want to buy a hobby box to then have to chase down the rest of the base set.  Finally, getting two silver packs instead of one was an extra incentive to spring for the jumbo.

I'm starting with the silver packs as they were the first things I opened.  Here are the highlights from the two packs I opened.  They are all base, with a nice Devers rookie.  It's hard to feel disappointed with getting only base as these are essentially free cards.

I'm not familiar with the 1983 Topps design but these have a nice modern look.  I hope it's something continues to do for Flagship each year.

Here is a small sampling of the vertical and horizontal base cards.  The design won't win any awards but it is miles ahead of last year's design that felt sloppy.  Though, I could do without the disintegrating name and team plates.

The photos have some nice variety as well.  The picture quality is crisp and bright.  Last year everything looked dull.  I do miss borders but the full-bleed photos are nice.  The design doesn't get in the way of the photos like 2016 and 2017 Topps designs.

I think I can tolerate staring at this design for a whole year.

I have a couple problems with the backs.  Why is there a black box around the social media handles? Why are the social media handles the biggest thing on the back of the cards?  They are weirdly emphasized over everything else.  Get rid of them or make them smaller.  Preferably delete them.

The write-ups should be centered or justified.  Otherwise there is this weird blank space on the right.

Lastly, I still cannot support the elimination of full stats.  I will never be okay with this.  Thankfully they are not going the Panini route and eliminating all but one year of stats.  Topps has shown some restraint.

Parallels are underwhelming without borders.  They are also easy to miss.  Here's a side by side of a gold with the base.  They don't pop like they should.

Rainbow Foil / Black

The rainbow foil parallels are always easy to spot.  The black parallel took me a few seconds of studying to realize it was a parallel.  I hate to say it but the Yankee uniform looks rather nice against the black background.  I always enjoy it when a color parallel compliments the photo on the card.

I don't know if this was the case last year but for inserts Topps has forsaken breadth for depth.  I pulled a grand total of four different inserts.  If you like putting together insert sets, the checklist depth for them will make it very difficult to put together without spending a lot of time trading or shelling out money. 

The non-chrome 1983 cards still look fantastic.  If the insert set wasn't ONE HUNDRED FREAKING CARDS, I could see myself consider putting it together.  Since it is so big, I'll collect whatever Mariners/Padres are in the set and call it good.

Topps Salute

Topps Salute is back again as a mishmash insert.  Here is an idea to improve Topps Salute.  Remove all rookies.  Remove all legends.  Keep only the special jerseys.

The promised manufactured relic of the box.  The Spring Training logos have looked cool the past couple years and this year is no exception.  I'm curious to hear what happens with MLB's investigation into Sano's alleged sexual assault.  This is already shaping up to be a poor choice of a card.  

The second promised relic of the box.  I have a feeling that the jersey piece isn't from an Astros jersey but a Tigers jersey.  I bet Topps had some left Tiger jerseys of Verlander after he was traded.  Either way, he's a World Series winner so it's a nice hit.

I like the base relic design, unlike last year's that looked like it was designed at the last second.  It's a basic design but I think it looks nice.  I'm happy with the hit.  

Lastly, we have the 1 promised autograph.  Verdugo ranked as the 33th best prospect.  He's only 21 and already made an appearance in the MLB.  In 21 at bats he had only four hits but that's a small sample size.  In AAA he hit .314 with a .389 OBP.  He probably won't make the 25-man team coming out of Spring Training but is waiting in the wings should the Dodgers need some help.

The autograph is on-card so that's a plus.  The 1983 design makes for a great autograph.  It's a base auto but much like the relic, the card looks great so I'm not complaining.  

The last "hit" of the box was this Kershaw short print.  Short prints aren't as plentiful like they were in 2017 Update.  That makes this is a nice pull, especially of such a quality player.

Overall, I had a great time with this break.  The silver packs added a lot of value and look to be back for Series 2.  That means I'll be back for Series 2 as well.