2015 Gypsy Queen - I Shall Build Thee

It dawned on me the other day that I was much more passionate about new release cards back in 2011. Inspired by the pending arrival of my son that July, I had just gotten back into our glorious hobby after nearly two decades of complete cardboard nothingness. Essentially, I collecting like a chicken with his head cut off those first few months back in the fray. I was buying a little of this and a little of that but buying some of everything that came out. Unfortunately, this didn't last long enough to include 2011 Topps Update (TROUT!), but that's another discussion.

To show for my economic contributions, I am very proud to have a complete, hand-collated "birth year" set of 2011 flagship and Archives for my son to flip through one day and enjoy (or trade for a video game, or sell for beer money, whatever path he takes). I am also darn near close to completing the Heritage and Gypsy Queen sets from that year - with one and twelve cards remaining, respectively. Check out my NEEDS list and see if we can help each other! Not too bad though, overall.

But as you can divulge from my posts over the years since, my personal collecting habits have begun to steer away from modern releases. There's a myriad of reasons - some quite empirical while others are a bit more philosophical. It can be expensive to complete sets, pack by blaster by pack. Especially when you can just drop a little over $20 and bring entire Series home with no collating fuss and shipping included. The sellers usually even throw in a nice box. It's quite the inner conflict for this Collector, I assure you.

Because I still like to open packs of baseball cards!

There's still that rush to be had and, truth be told, there are still some pretty cool cards being made from a design perspective. The return on investment has become awfully risky, but there's no doubting the quality of photography and overall card construction for most sets...for the most part.

Enter son #2.

My family welcomed our third child into the world back in March, It's been a glorious, chaotic and beautiful circus ever since as we figure out life as a family of 5. I wouldn't trade it for the world! And since I'm a fair and just father (or at least strive to be), I can't help but look upon those great hand-collated sets from 2011 in my Card Cave. And then I look at what I'm doing for my youngest...and then I feel the itch to right the wrong....

And then I find myself in the card aisle at Target with a blaster of 2015 Gypsy Queen in my hand!

Yep. I'm at it again - officially, I'm announcing that I will be pursuing the complete base set of 2015 GQ for my kid. I have a long way to go after only (6?) or so rack-packs, but I figure that I have some time. I'm not sure if I'll chase all of the SP's like I did in 2011. I can't afford to make the rookie mistake again of buying all GQ blasters in the state, as much as I'd like to...and that's okay. I think everyone will understand.

In the meantime, it was a lot of fun to rip some packs and explore the latest edition of a set that is very sentimental to me. Here's a quick glance at some of my favorites:

The Shelby Miller represents what is probably my biggest "hit" of the rack packs, being a #'d /199 mini parallel. I'm a Braves fan, so this was a nice little bonus and the GQ mini's have slowly earned my appreciation over the years. I wish I could go back to 2011 when I amassed a considerable portion of a complete set of mini's. I didn't really understand what they were or how special it would have been to gather the whole run, so I ended up trading many away. That's okay - all part of the process.

BOOM! The next best thing to pulling a Brave is pulling THE Brave that managed to elude the Atlanta front-office rebuilding cyclone last off season and one of my top Player Collections - Freddie Freeman! This mini is a great addition and I can't wait to "binderize" the Freeman stack that sits atop the Card Cave table of chaos. Here's a look at the back of these cards, because I really love the GQ backs, despite their stat-less existence:

I thought this was a pretty cool insert as well:

Undoubtedly a vintage, throw-back insert set that I need to go research on Cardboard Connection, I enjoy the simplistic old-time feel of this art card. It's also a mini parallel, so unless I decide to go all out for mini completion, I might end up swapping this one out for regular sized cards that I need for my set-building efforts. Here's the back, so that we can all learn about "Crowding the plate":

Moving on from the smaller cards, here is a regular-sized insert card of Robbie Cano entitled, "Pillars of the Community". What a great concept for a baseball card! We're often inundated with only the very worst news and stories regarding our diamond heroes but Topps has decided to swim upstream and provide an encouraging look at some charitable efforts being made by ball players in their teams' communities.

Concept aside, this is a beautiful card. The image of Seattle is really sharp and means a little bit more to me as a former resident. I wonder if there was a discussion about working SAFECO Field into the background? In the end, I believe the Space Needle works better as the most iconic landmark for the Emerald City. At least they didn't go with the original Starbucks, am I right?

Here's the back of the "Pillars" Cano card:

I first noticed "celebration" and "walk-off" cards in the Opening Day and flagship sets a couple of years ago and I was immediately a fan. I think these types of cards capture the best parts of baseball - teamwork, family, competition, achieving your goal, having fun, etc. I think the concept works well in the Gypsy Queen format and this Royals card is a great example. Like the Pillars card above, I can't wait to see other cards from this insert set. Enjoy:

As I've mentioned before, I enjoy cards that pay tribute to a specific game or event and take care to match relevant images with relevant card-back write-ups. This GQ Walk-Off Winners card delivers on both accounts when I flipped this card over:

Part of the marketing effort by Topps includes the "bonus" pack of white-bordered parallel cards that accompany each rack pack. Sometimes these annoy me - other times, they look really nice and end up serving as excellent TTM material. I admit, the crisp white borders do look pretty nice - and are always welcome when they surround a new Mike Trout card:

Here's another white parallel that I thought looked awfully sharp:

In addition to the Freddie shown above, I had another great pack-ripping moment when I pulled an Anthony Rizzo base card! Yes, I am old and still get excited about base cards of my favorite players - no shame in my collecting game. Of course, now I need another one if I am going to "finish the race" and set this one aside for my son's set. Good thing I love the little guy :)

Here's the back - are the GQ card-back write-ups getting shorter? I know they were always succinct by design, but this one seems fairly random (which I do appreciate) and sparse at only four lines with additional blank space to be had towards the bottom. Thoughts?

Okay, so I have some work ahead of me to get my 2015 GQ NEEDS List posted, but hopefully I can stay the course and make a best effort to pull together some nice birth year sets for my youngest boy. Feel free to drop me a note if you think we can work out a swap. Long live set-building!

Thanks for reading -

Ryan

 

Night Owl Made A Pass At My Woman!

Nah.

Night Owl is a righteous dude with tremendous cardboard and Dodger knowledge surpassed only by his own incredible talent for writing. I just couldn't resist the gratuitous post title inspired by The Lost Collector's recent interview of [99.9%] retired blogger, Napkin Doon. It had me laughing out loud and wishing once more for a "Cleve's" of South Carolina....but alas, no such luck. The interview can be enjoyed here.

NO, it was I that was seduced by this glorious plethora of cardboard from our community's winged friend of the night. Completely unexpected but surely treasured, I must now hatch plans for a counterstrike.

Thank you very much, Night Owl!

Here we go - 

Yankees and Braves dominated this well-crafted package. I had never seen these tri-fold Upper Deck "BAT" cards before.....but I LOVE them. How do I store them?

We sure miss Robbie in New York but it's always a pleasure to see him knock one out of Safeco from time to time. I think I caught an update recently that he left a game with some pain...I hope he's okay. This "blue-sparkle" parallel from 2013 is a beautiful card and I have quickly become a fan of the Opening Day logo. Man, that follow-through.......one of the finest swings in baseball right now, folks.

What Mo can I say? Rivera cards will always be accepted around here. A simple baseball card with a winning smile from baseball's greatest closer is fantastic!

PC alert!!!!! A Donnie-Braves sandwich served up with my first look at the A&G insert set, "Across the Years". I can dig. The Braves colors and that OD logo (again) look great on the Freddie and Kimbrel cards. Great additions to my collections!

Here's a look at the back of the BAT card. See what I mean? They are REALLY nice and offer up some great baseball knowledge in an attractive, unique design. How were these cards distributed?

A giant Donruss Righetti!!!!! How giant?

THIS giant! Thank you for the perspective, Chippah (also included).

I'm a bit unsure as to how I'm going to store/display this bad boy....but I'll find a way to let Rags breathe safely in the Card Cave. In the end, a wonderful problem to have, right?

Thanks again, Night Owl and thanks for reading -

Ryan

Freddie Friday!

Yeah, let's have some Freddie time, shall we?

This one comes from my Freddie Freeman collection and, if my memory serves me correctly, MAY very well be the first Freddie card I ever procured.

Pack pulled, of course!   This would have been back in the first few months of my return to our hobby.   So very exciting, confusing and wondrous.....but it was cards like this that gave me a sense of familiarity and a connection to the hobby I had taken a hiatus from over twenty years ago.

Fab-Fivin' Freeman

Simple, direct and with a little bit of patriotic flair - this 2011 Topps Lineage "glossy rookie insert" set was a tribute to the versions of similar design that graced the top of every rack pack I bought as a kid back in the day.   And I had the same reaction with this card that I did back then.

This is a Freddie Freeman card.   It is a rookie card....and it is good.

Yeah, so this doesn't quite fit into the modern, strict definition of "rookie card" as I would come to learn over the past couple of years.....but it works for me!   Here's the back:

Again, very basic - probably thought to be quite boring by most modern collectors.   But I love it!   Heck, it's commemorative, don't you know!?

My Freddie collection has come a long way since that fateful day but this card will always have a special place in my Freddie Freeman collection.  

Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!

2013 Prospect Parade Continues - Zack Wheeler

The combination of my fantasy baseball research and improved dedication to simply following the game we love has allowed me to follow the wealth of prospect debuts this season.

The Year of Shelby Miller, The Rise of Oso Blanco for the Braves, The Wonder of Wacha, The Legend of Puig, The Colossal of Cole and the......Zest o' Zunino?

:)

They've been a lot of fun to follow and, no matter what uniform they wear, it's easy to cheer for a player as they realize a dream they've worked so hard for, for so long.

The prospect parade continues today with the major league debut of the much anticipated, potential ace for the New York Mets, Zack Wheeler.   I have been very closely following Zack's progression since I have him on the staff of my dynasty fantasy baseball team.   He'll take the bump in game 2 of the doubleheader today at Turner Field in Atlanta.

And there's a problem right there - he's playing the Braves!   Oh, the agony......how about 8 innings of no-hit ball with ANOTHER (did you see Freddie last night?!) Freeman walk-off in the 9th inning for the no-decision?   Is that too much to ask?

In all honesty - good luck, kid.   And congratulations.

I've been lucky enough to pull a couple of Wheeler's cards over the past couple of years.   Here's the first one I pulled - his 2012 Bowman Platinum Prospect card:

Shiny. Is this a ___fractor?

Pretty standard, shiny card.   I didn't think much of it when I pulled it from Platinum last year.   I was undoubtedly hoping for autographs and such.....but now, this card has some cool meaning.   Cardboard appreciation!   I'm not sure if I'll hang on to it permanently.   Here's the back:

The "Platinum Report" makes me chuckle.   Sounds like a Gentleman's Club newsletter!   Good news, Mr. Wheeler.....you compare to Phil Hughes.   WHAT?   I didn't know he came to New York from the Giants?  Was it the Beltran deal?   Quick google check.....yep.   The Beltran deal.   Winner TBD.

Here's the other card of Wheeler that I've pulled from a pack - his 2013 Bowman Cream of the Crop Mini (subset of Yasiel Puig fame).   It's a sharp looking little card but, again, pretty standard:

And here's the back....let's see if it mentions Phil Hughes:

Awful lighting.....but I can vouch that there is no mention of Mr. Hughes.   Perhaps the stars are aligning for Mr. Wheeler after all?!

First pitch in about 6 hours.   Good luck, Zack!   Just not today.   You'll have plenty of time for your first career win next week.

Thanks for reading!

My Rizzo Collection - First Ink, Part One

Yeah, totally a shout-out to those fantastic Rambo movies of my youth with that title.

Happy Friday!   On to baseball cards.....

My last post announced my latest Player Collection (PC), Anthony Rizzo.   A bold move for me as Anthony doesn't play for the Yankees or Braves, my two favorite teams.   Have I betrayed myself?   Some may think so, but that's the great part about our hobby - collect what you like.

And I think Rizzo is pretty damn cool.   So, off I go.....

The collection started with one.

And, then a mini made two.

The next obvious move?   How about some ink on that third card?

YES!

Home Run

From 2013 Gypsy Queen, here's a sharp on-card autograph from the Cubbies' first baseman.   I am not the biggest fan of GQ this year though the 2011 inaugural version is a big part of how my tentative return to the hobby shifted into fifth gear.   Therefore, I still feel some set loyalty.

Rizzo's signature isn't winning any awards from me (I can see Killebrew shaking his head) but it is what it is.   What I DO love about this card is the way the blue ink works with the blue in the Cubs uniform.   It contrasts nicely with the sadly forlorn gray of the '13 GQ border.   AND, IT'S A RIZZO AUTOGRAPH!   For about half the price of a blaster, I was more than happy to scoop it up (30YOC nod).   Here's the back, just for kicks:

Thanks, Topps.

Love it!

Welcome to the collection.

Interesting Note:   Out of all of my official PC's (Mattingly, Freeman, Kimbrel, David Robertson, Rizzo), I lack autographs for the two I've had the longest - Freeman and Mattingly.   For Donnie Baseball, we're talking about 28, 29 years or so.   And while I have autographed cards for both Robertson and Rizzo, this Rizzo is the only CERTIFIED signature.

Funny how that happens.   Hopefully I'll be fortunate enough to remedy the voids soon enough.

But for now, I'm really excited to have a cornerstone for the Rizzo PC.

Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!

Fortune and Glory

My last post encouraged me to conduct some additional collection forensics.

You see, I have to admit - while I have most of my cards corralled into storage tubs, there is still a tremendous amount of organization, separation and minimization that needs to occur for me to reach a point where my OCD tendencies will be satisfied.

But that takes time and, as most of you would probably agree - time is precious and all too scarce.

But the fight wages on.

In the meantime, I like to ignore my own self-imposed mandate to organize by shuffling through the binders and boxes for the sole purpose of enjoyment.   Imagine that?!

During my latest excavation, I was focused on trying to ascertain whether or not I had any hidden (forgotten?   Lost?   See personal mandate....) or recently transitioned "gems" that I could roll out on some red carpet to share with my readers.   No, not necessarily  in value, but in actual player accomplishments or notoriety, too.

Did I find anything?

Yes I did.

"I call it luck..."

And, oddly enough, this second verse goes about the same as the first.   I acquired this card a bit differently than Mr. Sandoval's '11 GQ autograph card (pack-pull).   Believe it or not, this card was part of my haul from a card-break-draft over at the recently retired blog, Crinkly Wrappers.  In fact, if you follow the link, my friend Ted's final post - a very well written baseball card blog obituary - still remains.   He was a great and generous guy and I hope he's doing well.   You can probably even go back through his post archives and find the very post where I "drafted" this card somewhere during the 2nd half of the 2011 MLB regular season.

Talk about dumb luck.

I wasn't crazy about it but my particular order for that portion of the draft left me in a "best available" type of situation.   Freese was playing pretty well at that point and he held a large advantage over MOST of the other available players for that round - he was a regular player.   So, I staked my claim.

It wasn't a card of a player I was a big fan of or even a team that I cheered for.   In fact, this team ultimately displaced the Atlanta Braves (one of my personal faves) from the '11 playoffs thanks to the Bravos' now infamous September collapse.  Lots of drama.   Lots of great history there.   And a lot of that is now represented in this card, and for this player who, as that team's improbable and now historic post season run unfolded.......materialized as a true October baseball legend and hometown hero.

Amazing.   I even almost traded this card away to another Crinkly Wrapper reader after they expressed interest from the card-draft bleachers.   At the time, I wasn't stoked about this card.   But I had elected this particular player because I was impressed by the "upward trending" contribution he was making to the Cardinals as their season began to take shape.   I believe a Freddy Freeman GQ mini card was a part of the discussion.   I DID want the Freeman mini......and I ALWAYS want to try and make a proposed trade work out.......but sometimes you just can't make the pieces fit.   Negotiations proved tough and, as sometimes happens, our trade talks ended unsuccessfully.

Sometimes this can be a bit fortuitous, I guess.

I'm glad I hung onto this David Freese card.   He may never escape the pesky injuries that pop up for him from time to time and thus, he may never achieve the kind of career-long success that lands him in the Hall of Fame or rosters of "all-time" baseball greats.   But he will have the Fall of 2011 on his resume and I will have the personal stories of watching his AMAZING walk-off theatrics for his team, the destiny-infused 2011 World Champion Cardinals, to pass on to my kids or any other poor soul caught in a basebal conversation with me (evil laugh).

And as I always say - I love it when a card has/triggers a great story.   And when that card has a little bit of extra "oomph" to accompany that 2011 NLCS and World Series MVP story, it's even sweeter.   It looks like lightning has indeed struck twice in the Indiana Jones warehouse that IS my collection.   I wonder what else is in there?

"Top Men..."

What have been your favorite "discoveries" in your collection over the years?

Hang in there, Night Owl......some 'blue' coming soon......


Thanks for reading!