CC: Last of the Lineage

Nick from "Dime Boxes: The Low-End Baseball Card Collector's Journey" came through in a big way a couple of weeks ago.

He quickly RSVP's to my S.O.S. for CC.

Yeah.....I'm proud of that one.   Anyways, as I was saying, Nick really answered the call from my post a few weeks back describing how I was one card away from completing the 2011 Lineage offering from Topps.   He quickly found the Sabathia I needed:

           



















Done and.....DONE!   This is the 2nd set I've completed this year, both of which are a part of my son's birth year "sampling" that will be waiting for him if and when he begins his own love affair with cardboard.  

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Lineage was a tidy little set that consisted of current stars and rookies along with legends of the game.   I liked the front design alright but the back could use some improvement.   The picture selection, particularly for the retired stars, was pretty good - all in color.   The inserts were a lot of fun (pop-ups, 3-D, cloth stickers, etc.).   I'm not sure the price-point matched up with the end result for me, though.   We'll see how it goes this year!

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Nick wasn't done there, though.   He also knew that I needed some help with my 2012 Series 1 NEEDS List so he sent over some base cards that I needed.

Did I say "some"?   Try DOUBLE STACK:

Oh, sorry......it's almost lunch time.   I meant this DOUBLE STACK:

Way too generous, Nick, THANK YOU!   It wasn't just a bunch of commons, either.   You may have heard of a couple of these guys:

Finally allowed to play at his friends' houses

All Hail to the High Socks!

                                  

                                                                                                                                                                     

Can Matt keep it going this year?


Thanks for the great package, Nick.   I would also encourage everyone to take a stroll over to Nick's blog.   It's always, ALWAYS a great read and he recently had a tremendous, what I like to call 'vicarious collecting' post series on a recent card show he attended.   He does a great job of walking you through his day at the tables where, as you might guess from his blog name, he searches (and FINDS!) the lower-priced boxes for cardboard treasure.

Thanks for reading!

Crinkly Wrappers and 2011 Topps - Wrapping It Up

Bravo, Ted.

I can now answer my own question from a few posts ago -

"What is better, the anticipation of a last card or the completion of a set?"

Duh.

Completion of a set all the way and Ted from Crinkly Wrappers deserves a round of applause for completing my first set in 2012, the 2011 Topps Base Set (Series 1 and 2).   And he did so in great style with poetic symmetry:

• it was card #100 
• it features one of the greatest hitters in baseball
• this was the player's final year for the pictured team AND their World Series title year

Yep.   El Hombre.

Pardon the glare from the set-completion fireworks

100 - as in, 100%!!!!!!!!!!!

*I know - no Update.   There's no rain on this parade, though!

El Hombre at Crinkly Wrappers will have some 2012 parallels headed his way shortly for card #100 and the 2011 Heritage base cards he was able to scrounge up.

I can now seal up the box and place it with the cards I am saving for my son.   I am proud of the effort to piece this one together, bit by bit.   Yes, he has a factory-sealed set, too (damn you, Walmart sale price and shiny Mantle retro-card marketing ploy).   But now he can thumb through the whole set one day and look at each card if he wants to - knowing that his old man painstakingly chased down each one.   And so what if all the Yankees and Braves come in penny-sleeves.....isn't that the norm?

A Set Builder's Moment

Several of you fellow bloggers had a large part in this - so thank you to all who helped me along!   It feels good to finish one and it sets the tone for 2012.

Best of luck in your own pursuits and please let me know if I can help.   Thanks again, Ted, and...

Thanks for reading!

And Then There Was One

What's more exciting - the anticipation of a final card or the completion of the set?

Reader Adam has brought my 2011 Lineage NEEDS list to its knees by sending a great package of four of the final five cards from my checklist.   Adam is a Giants fan and I was able to piece together a few odds and ends from my collection.   My favorite from the four Lineage he sent?   Probably Mr. Cy Young:

 

Not only does Cy appear to utilize the same workout routine that I do but he also played for the Cleveland Spiders - and that's just cool.   Oh yes, according to the back of his Uno card (#106 from the set), he also holds the record for complete games at 749.

749 COMPLETE games.  

That's 6,741 innings in tidy little nine-inning bursts.   As Lee Corso would say in the fall, "Yo!"

Ear-Muffs, Kids!

Only one card remains - #175.  

I hadn't looked until now, let's see who it is!   Let's pause for a quick Bing search...........

Oh my....

It's one of my Yankees - CC Sabathia!   Ironically, he could probably work out with me and Cy.

Where 'ya at, CC?!

Thanks for the great trade, Adam, and thanks for reading!