2024 Blake Snell Autograph Count: 2

We are four days into 2024 and I am already on my second Blake Snell autograph of the new year. I set a goal of reaching 100 Blake Snell autographs this year, and at this rate, I might hit that goal pretty soon.  

Here is a look at my newest Snell signature, which comes from the 2023 Topps Museum Collection product.    

The front of the card is a little busy, but I like the two jersey swatches and signature on the front. Nice action photo as well. It just seems like the design elements and framing around the autograph and jersey pieces is a bit much. 

I also like that the jersey swatches are from two different Padres jerseys. The white and brown pinstriped swatch on the left is obviously from a home jersey. Not sure about the light brown jersey. I feel like the Padres brown jerseys were a darker shade of brown. 

Back of the card.  

CONGRATULATIONS!!!! 

Also a bunch of small print.  

2019 Blake Snell Autograph Count: 14

This is a sticker autograph from Museum Collection.  I am glad that I do not open packs of this product.  They are expensive and I am fairly certain that I have half a dozen autographs from this set, and have not spent more than $5 on any of them.  You've got two jersey swatches and an autographed sticker, on a generic looking card. 

I did not set a goal at the beginning of the year with the number of Snell autographs I wanted to find, just started making these posts.  There are four and a half months last in 2019, so 20 seems like the obvious answer. 

Here is the back of the card. 

I guess I am not sure how many more Snell autographs Topps is going to throw into their products, and how many more chances I am going to have to add some of the high end/low serial number cards that I am missing.  I would love to put down a higher number.

Pretty standard autograph.  I feel like I already own several of cards almost just like this....

Under The Radar

Blake Snell has to be the most under appreciated player in the game. 

I have been on a roll lately with Anthony Banda cards, but I took a little break to seek out a few Blake Snells.  It's not like it really costs much to collect either player, but I am roughly paying the same price for each of their cards.  Banda is a hard throwing pitching prospect who is out for the season after Tommy John.  Snell is having the best year of his career and is easily one of the better starting pitchers in the American League. 

Top 5, not even joking, completely serious.

Former Rays pitcher Chris Archer, that hurt to type, went on a campaign of sorts after the All-Star team rosters were announced in early July.  He had a video and an Instagram post, possibly a few interviews too.  They all gave the same message......

See my point above, top 5 pitcher in the league and the numbers support it, and the players around the league are completely missing out too.  Snell is completely under the radar.  

Snell has been on the disabled list since the All-Star break, but is coming off for a start tomorrow afternoon.  You do not even have to watch the whole game, just a few minutes.  You will not be disappointed.  

Two cards.  

I love the looks of the Inception set.  Not sure why Topps made this set chalk full of sticker autographs.  The original set had a design that was in the same neighborhood as this card, but no stickers.  They were nice.  Considering these cards are less than $10 shipped, I am willing to live with whatever minor flaws are present here.  

Last one for tonight.  How much is a box of Topps Museum Collection?  This came out of a $200 box of cards, but it costs me slightly less than $10.  There is so much to like about this card.  Decent two colored jersey swatch.  It's autographed.  I did not pay $200 to pull it out of a box of cards.  I think the last one might be the best one.  

Archers!!

It's always nice to have a few friends who are looking out for your collecting needs.  I use my Facebook page to pick up cards in different groups, but there are so many different pages and posts that it can be difficult to keep track of all of the cards floating around out there.  Last weekend I got a Twitter message from one of my best Twitter follows who gave me the heads up on a lot of Archer cards that were up for sale on one of the Facebook pages.  The post slipped right past me.

After a couple of messages I was the proud owner of four new Chris Archer cards.  Pretty sweet lot, here's a look at the new cards......

At some point I had this card and I flipped it around to a fellow Rays fan to fill in a hole in a trade.  Not a difficult find, nor an expensive card, but I still love looking at it.  We've got an on card autograph and a cool picture showing some good grit from Archer making a pitch.  Again, sharp card, and if there was one downside to this lot, it's that this card is the only on card signature in the group.  

Archer autographs from Topps Supreme?  I have a few, but they are all from the 2013 release which was actually only released in Asian markets.  Why haven't I picked up any from the 2014 release?  It was actually released in the US which made the challenge of finding and buying the cards a lot easier, but for some reason it did not happen.  Looking back over my posts on this product, it seems like I spent a lot of time and money focusing on the Cardinals.  Sorry Archer collection, I hope this is the first of many cool Supreme autographs I pick up from last year.......

Here is a card that I already own.  If you cheat, scroll down, the next card is very similar too.  So what's the deal with wanting more copies of this card?  It's nice to own Archer autographs, but I swear that Topps did not make one of these cards with an identical patch.  It's like there was a giant pile of mismatched Archer patches sitting somewhere at Topps production facility and they used every last inch.  There are a few hundred copies of these cards and I have not found two patch pieces that are the same.  

It's true that duplicate cards kind of stink to own, but not when they have al sorts of cool and interesting patches.  Really happy with this new lot of Archer cards.   

Four Rays From Twitter

I had the chance to pick up a couple of great looking Rays cards last weekend from a collector on Twitter.  I started out looking at a card and ended up taking home several.  Here's a look at the cards.....

This is the card that started the whole transaction.  I already own a copy of this card, but Mike Montgomery is kind of a favorite, I did see him throw that no-hitter last year, so I had to inquire.  The price was right so I pulled the trigger.  However, while I was there I spotted another Rays card of catching prospect Nick Ciuffo.

The Rays took Ciuffo in the first round of the 2013 MLB Draft, but I have not done a lot with his cards.  I believe he has some autographs in one of the Bowman products, but this looked really nice, so this seemed like a good card to pick up.  So, there are two cards.  I figured after landing two Rays cards I should go back and got one more that I had tried to trade for/buy a month or two ago, but could not close the deal......

This is obviously a really cool card.  I have seen the metal framed autographs that Topps put out last year, they are similar to the gold framed Gold Label inserts they put in Topps Series 2 last year, but I did not own one of these signatures.  Cobb is a former Durham Bull and I love the look of the silver signature on the black background.  Throw in the fact that there are only 15 copies and this card is a great add to my collection.  The collector who sold me these cards also threw in a really nice card to make this an even better mail day.....

This is from last year's Topps Chrome set and is the Cracked Ice parallel of Alex Cobb.  Again, I have seen one of these, but I do not actually own one.  Cool looking parallel card if you ask me and serial numbered out of just ten copies on the back of the card.

Museum Millers

I recently found a pretty cool seller on Ebay who lists things in pairs.  I am not sure how this person has two copies of so many cards, but I am not complaining since they often sell for the price of one of the item.  I bought two different pairs of Cardinals cards off of him during the past week.  First of the cards to arrive was a pair of Shelby Miller autographs from this year's Topps Museum Collection.

Both cards are serial numbered out of /399 and feature a really nice signature of the Cardinals hard throwing right handed pitcher.  In my opinion, Miller has a really nice autograph and he is always very consistent with his signature.  Little difference between the two cards, just the loop in the y.  

Allen "Torty" Craig Autograph

The Cardinals have an on-field mascot at Busch Stadium, but also have a mascot floating around in their locker room too.  Outfielder/First Baseman Allen Craig owns a pet turtle which is the unofficial mascot of the Cardinals.  Many Cardinals fans have missed the exploits of Torty this year, who is usually hanging around on Twitter spinning stories about Adam Wainwright and Jon Jay dancing around to Kenny Loggins classic Footloose, or talk about "Master Allen" and his love of sprinkle doughnuts.  Pictures of the doughnuts are included.  Torty last appeared to tell the story of Carlos Beltran's departure to the Yankees.

 Torty first came to prominence during the Cardinals 2011 World Series run where his "Master Allen" had a strong showing including the go ahead home run in the seventh game. 

While Allen Craig is off to a bit of a slow start during the 2014 season, Cardinals collectors are still have a good time tracking down his cards.  Craig is featured prominently in the 2014 Museum Collection release and I decided to track down a nice signature card of the Cardinals right fielder.  

I loved this card when I saw it and was quick to pick up a copy of this card.  Craig also has an autographed jersey card in the Museum set, but the signature is on a sticker and several of the autographs have the last loop at the end of Craig's autograph cut off.  This card is also a pretty affordable pick up.  These cards have been come off of Ebay for right around ten dollars shipped.  Really cool card for the price.  Free Torty. 

Jumbo Axman

John Axford has been on the Cardinals for a little more than a month and I think I might have already conquered his two best non-plate cards.  I picked up a copy of his Topps Tribute autograph when he was traded to the Cardinals on August 31st, but managed to pick up a copy of his lone jumbo relic cards last week.  I was a little disappointed that his only certified autograph features the Axman pitching for the Canadian National team, his token jumbo relic out on the market features the reliever as a Brewer.  Nothing against Canadians, the World Baseball Classic is stale, but the Brewers card makes me a little bit happier.

2013 Topps Museum Collection John Axford Jumbo Jersey

The card also features a cool picture of Axford with his trademark high socks and awesome mustache.  This card is limited to a print run of just 35 cards and features a large swatch of Axford's road grey uniform.

The Brewers traded Axford after he had fallen out of the closer role with the team and seemingly out of favor with a lot of Brewers fans.  In 62 games this season Axford had sported an ERA over 4 and had surrendered 10 home runs in a set up role for the club.  Since being traded to the Cardinals Axford has seemed to settle back into his old self.  In one months work he has an ERA of 1.74, more than a strikeout per inning, and an ERA+ of 217.  Not too shabby.

Here's a look at Axford in a Cardinals uniform:

2013 Topps Museum Collection Jon Jay Jumbo Bat

I've picked up a few nice pieces from Museum Collection this year, but had not picked up any of the jumbo pieces from the set until this week.  The prices for the jumbo pieces often come with a premium and deservedly so given that the print runs of the jumbo pieces are often out of 25 and 10 versus the 100, 50, and 25 of the regular jersey and bat pieces.  I looked at adding several Cardinals and Rays pieces to my collection from the jumbo line, but the pricing was rather difficult on several of the pieces.

While willing to pay a premium price for a premium card, I am still not going to pay an outrageous amount for a card of a player like Jon Jay.  While Jay is a nice player it's hard to justify spending $40 dollars or more for one of his cards.  Even for something like a 1/1 printing plate of the Cardinals outfielder, I have seen the prices much lower than that.  So, when this years version of Museum Collection dropped the prices on the Cardinals jumbo pieces were a bit backwards.  The Adam Wainwright jumbo jersey card, for example, hovered in the teens.  Meanwhile, collectors fought tooth and nail for the jumbo version of Jon Jay.

Finally, the copies of the cards started drying up and one or two final copies floated up on Ebay.  I waited patiently for copy to end and was able to secure this copy of the Jay card for less than $10.

2013 Museum Collection Jon Jay Jumbo Bat Card

While it was pointed out to me by a fellow collector, during my pursuit of this Jay card, that the pricing premium was probably caused by the fact that this is the only Jay jumbo relic on the market, it also reiterates the fact that collectors need to set their budget where they value the card.  If you are honest with yourself about where the price should land, chances are that the secondary market will eventually correct itself, and you will find your card for the price you want it for.

2013 Topps Museum Collection Matt Holliday Quad Jersey

Matt Holliday is having one of his worst seasons as a professional baseball player.  Currently, he's about 40 points off of his career batting average, 30 points off of his on-base percentage, and most alarmingly 90 points off of his career slugging percentage.  His home run total is still on-pace for around 25 home runs and almost 90 RBIs.  Does not sound bad, but the Cardinals pay their left fielder $16 million dollars to be an offensive force.

The decline in Holliday's performance has also lead to a decline in the price of his cards.  The most notable drop can be seen in Holliday's autographed cards where the prices have dropped from the $20 to $30 neighborhood to the $10 to $20 neighborhood.  The decline in prices can be seen with some of Holliday's other cards too, but you have to be a little bit selective to take advantage of the discount.  Take this card for example:

2013 Topps Museum Collection Matt Holliday Quad Jersey 

 

When the Museum Collection set dropped in late May the Holliday quad jersey cards were selling for around $20.  The patch version was selling for $30.  The further the release date of Museum Collection gets in the rear view mirror, the lower the price gets on this card.  Currently, the price of this card is south of $10.  Isolated incident?  I also picked up another nice Holliday card that followed the same pricing trend as this Museum Collection card.

2013 Topps Archives Gold Matt Holliday 

I loved the new Topps Archives cards this year and was excited to see the 1985 design.  Even happier to see Matt Holliday on one of these cards.  I immediately kept my eyes open for the gold version of this card.  The card prices started out between $5 and $10 on this card, but can now be had for $1 to $2.

I know that some people can find this trend with other cards and often attribute the drop in price to settling in the secondary market or a decrease in the popularity of the set and singles after the sets initial release.  However, Cardinals fans and collectors tend to be pretty loyal and many of the established players on the team tend to have stable prices.  The same can be said of other well established players on teams like the Yankees, Red Sox, and Braves.  For example, the gold parallel of the Yadier Molina card from the Topps Archives set has consistently hovered around $5 for the past month.

2013 Topps Museum Tim Raines Autograph

I am getting close to pulling the plug on my Topps Museum Collection cards for the year, but I had one major target left to pick this past week.  I have had my eyes on picking up a Tim Raines autograph the last few months, I had one specifically in mind, but I was happy to see a really nice on-card autograph of the former Major League All-Star in the Museum Collection set.  Raines has a really nice autograph and has signed plenty of on-card autographs since he has retired from baseball.  While I would prefer an Expos autograph, Raines still looks mighty nice in this White Sox jersey.

2013 Topps Museum Collection Tim Raines Autograph

If you have not added a Tim Raines card to your collection, I believe he is one of the more undervalued players from the 80s and early 90s.  I'd go as far as saying that Raines should receive consideration from Hall of Fame voters and if I had my way I would go ahead and put "The Rock" in Cooperstown.  Let's get this out the way first:  The biggest fault of Tim Raines is that he played his great years in Montreal in front of tiny crowds.  There are not a ton of baseball fans who would put Raines on a list of great players from the 80s and the matter is further complicated by the fact that the organization has moved to Washington D.C. and the Nationals do little to recognize their history north of the border.

The Nationals do have a Ring of Honor where Raines, Dawson, Gary Carter, and Rusty Staub are all recognized, but I do not think the Nationals would (or do) campaign for their players the way the Cubs did for years with third baseman Ron Santo.  The case for Raines is pretty simple: He started his career by leading the National League in stolen bases four consecutive years and stole more than seventy each of his first five seasons.  He scored more than 100 runs in three of his first five seasons leading the league twice during his career.  Raines also won a batting title in 1986.  I realize that a great five or six years of baseball is not enough for the Hall of Fame, but Raines did a lot more than just steal bases and win a batting crown.

One of the best parts of Raines career numbers is his On Base Percentage.  Raines was great at drawing walks and would frequently draw 80 to 90 walks in a year.  He had several seasons where he owned a OBP over .400 and ended with a career mark of .385.  He also ranks 5th all-time in steals, is near 3,000 hits, and also ranks in the top 100 (63rd) in Offensive Wins Above Replacement Average.  His JAWS Score (A measure used to measure Hall of Fame worthiness) ranks him seventh all-time as a left-fielder behind names like Bonds, Ted Williams, Rickey Henderson, and Yaz.  He also ranks higher than Manny Ramirez, Billy Williams, and Ralph Kiner.  $10 for an autograph of a great player?  Steal.  

2013 Topps Museum Collection Yoenis Cespedes Autograph

I have waiting to add a Yoenis Cespedes autograph to my collection for awhile, but the prices of his rookie cards were pretty high last year given the fact that he is an older "rookie".  Meaning that his performance last year .292/.356/.505 with 23 home runs is going to be about the level he performs at going forward with his career in Oakland.  Last year his cards were generally treated in the same category as some of the elite prospects in baseball.  For example, last year I was once offered a Cespedes autograph card for the same price as a Taveras card.  I am happy with my decision to wait it out for this card.

2013 Topps Museum Collection Yoenis Cespedes Autograph 

While the price of a Cespedes card has fallen from north of $50 to the $20 range, it's still a pretty good card to pick up at it's current price.  Before even playing a game in the Majors, Cespedes was hyped as a superstar in waiting and fans of numerous teams hoped that their team would get involved in signing the Cuban baseball star.  Of course, there was this awesome workout video too showing Cespedes putting up 1300 pounds on a leg press machine while working out with former Packers running back Ahman Green.

Cespedes is likely to always have some sort of following as many international players often do which will mean that his cards will never be total bargains.  A quick look at a player like Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez will provide a good reference point.  El Duque was an older rookie whose cards initially had a good deal of value, but cooled after a few years in the Majors.  Despite the fact that he was basically a middle of the rotation starter, his cards still sell and often do so above El Duque's actual on the field performance.  

2013 Topps Museum Collection Prince Fielder Quad Jersey

I picked up another great pair of Topps Museum cards for my collection yesterday by adding a quad jersey card of Tigers first baseman Prince Fielder and an autograph of former Durham Bull Alex Cobb.  First the Fielder.  The quad jersey cards are a staple of Museum Collection sets and they come in a couple different forms.  My card is the most basic form of the quad jersey cards with just four pieces of plain jersey and no signature.  Still a much nicer card than a basic jersey card.

2013 Topps Museum Collection Prince Fielder Quad Jersey 

I know that many people pay attention to what Miguel Cabrera is doing, but Prince Fielder is having a great year so far too with a line of .276/.408/.506.  Add in the fact that he's on pace for another 30 home run season and also over 120 RBIs and Prince could have a pretty special season.  I picked up a few Prince Fielder cards last year during his first year in Detroit and might have to add a few more to my collection this year.  

2013 Topps Museum Collection Alex Cobb Patch/Jersey Autograph

My second Museum card belongs to former Durham Bulls, and current Rays starter, Alex Cobb.  While Cobb is not a top of the rotation starter he's a solid Major League starting pitcher.  In fact, this season he's had a pretty good year posting a 5-2 record with 54 strikeouts in 9 starts.  This card was really inexpensive for a hit card from a high end product and I like the patch piece of the left.  I believe that the blue stitching on the bottom of the window is the mountain on the Majestic logo meaning that the patch piece above is the bottom of the ray patch.

2013 Topps Museum Collection Matt Kemp Jumbo Bat Card

I posted my first two Museum Collection cards of the year to my blog last night and have another great card to share this evening.  It might be too far to say that I collect Matt Kemp cards, but he is certainly a player that I enjoy watching and I have taken more than a passing interest in his cards over the years.  Last year his cards really took off at the beginning of the year before cooling off after a series of injuries limited the playing time of the Dodgers outfielder.

Kemp was a visible part of several different Topps set last year and this year has been no different.  I had not added any new blog-worthy 2013 Kemp cards to this point in the calendar year, so I was happy to land a really cool and unique card from the Museum Collection as my first.

2013 Topps Museum Collection Matt Kemp Jumbo Bat Card

Surprisingly I do not own many jumbo bat, or bat barrel cards in my collection.  I was surprised that this card was available as cheaply as I found it, so it was a no-brainer to pick it up.  The jumbo bat cards in this year's Museum Collection set have actually sold very well.  I've really been on the look out for a Jon Jay edition, but ended up with a few others in the process.  The bidding on these cards on Ebay has been heavy and trading for these cards has also demanded a steep price.  For example, I tried to trade for a Jon Jay jumbo bat this weekend as was asked for a little more than $50 for the card.  I also tried buying a card on Ebay, but the bidding went over $40.

For my time and money, this Kemp card was had for half the going rate of the Jon Jay cards I have been pursuing and I have added a much better card to my collection.  I actually really like looking at the larger pieces of the bat relics and might lean towards giving the jumbo bat cards the nod as my favorite cards in this year's Museum Collection release.  Maybe I will pick up a few more.

2013 Topps Museum Bruce Sutter Triple Relic Autograph

In case you missed the beginnings of my blog last year, I have a rule about not opening high end wax products.  Terrible luck in the past, plus the ability to control my product hits through trades and purchases has led me done the path of letting others risk most of the danger.  I still get an itch once in awhile and will drop good money and a high end pack, but that is pretty rare.  My rule still does not mean that I will not dabble in the product once the cards have reached the secondary market.

Last year I really enjoyed the first release of the Topps Museum Collection and was excited to get my hands on a few cards this year.  Last week the product hit the shelves and I overcame the temptation of ripping a box or pack to wait out a few cards in trades and auctions.  My first pair of cards came in the mail this afternoon.  Big one first.

2013 Topps Museum Collection Bruce Sutter

Sutter was the last Cardinals player elected to the Hall of Fame and also had his jersey retired at the beginning of last season.  Sutter was one of the dominate relievers of his area and he was also noted for being one of the pioneers of the split finger fastball.  Sutter is a pretty easy autograph to find on the secondary market, but is mainly in a Cubs or Braves jersey on most of the cards.  While I do not like sticker autographs, especially on a high end product, this card was a little too nice to pass by.  Especially since it is my first Sutter autograph in a Cardinals uniform.  The red patch piece on the left-hand side of this card makes it a little bit sweeter.

2013 Topps Museum Collection Jaime Garcia

And I also picked up this jumbo Jaime Garcia jersey card.  It's been a bad day for Jaime, as it was just announced he is out for the season, so I will simply say that this is a pretty cool jumbo piece of his jersey.

The Problem with Triple Threads

Yesterday, I posted a write up about the Topps Triple Threads releases starting with the original issue in 2006, all the way through this year's release.  I cited the positives of the set, but today I here to discuss some of the weaknesses of the set and also offer up my usual alternative piece about a set (in another post).  Let's start by finishing the argument on the Triple Threads set.  I see two major problems with this set that prevent it from being a slam dunk every year that force me to rank my favorite annual release in the bottom half of important card sets over the last 30 years.  

Stickers are stupid, single jerseys are lame
If you are going to have a high end product then why not get the players to sign on card autographs?  It's well established that the Triple threads product is going to sell for Topps regardless of whether or not the boxes cost collectors $150, $170, or $200.  I would pay a little bit more to get a card with a players signature on the piece of cardboard and not on a sticker.  I know a lot of other collectors who feel the same way.  Further, if you are going to have players sign stickers than spare me the single jersey pieces.  I recently picked up the jersey card below:

2012 Topps Triple Threads Lance Berkman

This is a pretty nice card and as sure as the sun is going to rise tomorrow morning I was going to end up with a copy of a Lance Berkman Triple Threads jersey card this year.  Topps made one, he's on the Cardinals.  I am sold.  Wait a second, this is a high end product.  Why am I getting one piece of jersey in the shape of a home plate?  Lame.  Lame. Lame.  Jersey pieces must cost card companies the same amount of money as a snack pack of Fritos.  Seriously, how many little squares can they cut out of one jersey?  I am not sure where the blogger is who makes his own custom cards, I see it on my Blogger role and they are cool, but I want something cooler.  All Lance Berkman Triple Threads cards should say "PUMA" or "FAT ELVIS" or something better.  I am pretty sure such a card would not break the bank.  It's clear after collecting this set for seven years that the bottom line for Topps is the bottom line.  I know I am not stating anything revolutionary, but nowhere is it clearer than with the production of this set.  

Donruss, Leaf, Pinnacle, New Pinnalce, Score, and the rest of our friends

I remember in 1998 the overabundance of cards issued by Donruss.  They single handedly put out my cardboard than most companies put out in a decade.  Seriously, they put out like 30 sets.  Worse than putting out 30 sets they were all the same thing with different designs.  Same price points, similar inserts.  It was like they were competing against themselves.  

Here we are fourteen years later and we have one card company that makes the same silly mistakes that card companies made over a decade ago.  Seriously, Topps Heritage, Allen & Ginter, Gypsy Queen, and T206 are really similar.  Many years they are all released and have similar autographs, relics, etc.  Topps does it with all their products though.  Look at this year's calendar.  You've got Tier One, Museum Collection, and now Five Star.  They are all really similar products and not very far away from Triple Threads when you look closely.  For example, in Triple Threads you get several pieces of jersey that spell something out.  In Museum Collection you get a big piece of jersey.

2012 Topps Triple Threads Evan Longoria 7 Piece Relic

2012 Topps Museum Collection Evan Longoria Jumbo Jersey

They're the same thing basically, but by releasing two similar products Topps is really just competing against itself in one argument, or worse they are dressing the same thing up and selling it to collectors twice.  Personally, I like the DIRTBAG card better, but if I just had to settle for a huge chunk of Longoria's jersey I'd be cool.  Anyway, it would be nice of Topps to stop issuing some of the extra sets, like Museum Collection, which just last for a year or two and disappear.  

 

Trade with Dodger Bobble

Three weeks left in the school year and I just completed my last hard week.  Really happy with my students and I have some time to catch up on my blogging and trading.  I completed another trade last weekend with fellow blogger Dodger Bobble.  He's got a great page and would strongly encourage everyone to check out his cards and bobbles.  Dodger Bobble also has a Facebook page.  I traded a handful of Dodgers autographs and a Matt Kemp Topps Marquee Jersey Card for three autographs and three jersey cards.  My cards included:

2012 Topps Marquee Carl Crawford Jumbo Jersey

2012 Topps Marquee Zack Greinke Jumbo Jersey

2012 Topps Museum Jaime Garcia Autograph

2009 Topps Tribute Andre Dawson Autograph

2012 Topps Museum Ian Kinsler Quad Jersey/Patch

2011 Topps Gypsy Queen Johnny Cueto Autograph

2012 Topps Museum Collection Ian Kinsler

I picked up this card in a local trade over the weekend.  This card is an Ian Kinsler quad relic card from the Topps Museum Collection release.  The card features three very dark blue swatches which are simply identified as Game Used Memorabilia, but the color is a little dark to be the blue from the Rangers alternate jersey.  Curious as to where it came from, but it also has a nice patch piece with a red and blue stripe.

2012 Topps Museum Collection Ian Kinsler

New Gypsy Queen Cards

I've been working on putting together a set of Gypsy Queen, but I actually didn't buy a box.  I've been trading for lots and I've opened some retail packs, but those routes generally don't land you any autographs or materials cards from the set.  Since I am putting together the set through trades, I have had my eyes open for some cool autographs or materials cards to put together with the set.  Busting open wax is always fun, but it is also nice to have some control over what extra inserts, materials, and autographs.  I got my two primary autograph targets from the set in a trade last week.  I received a Jon Jay and Allen Craig autograph.  I particularly like the Craig autograph since the picture is from the last out of the 2011 World Series.  Craig caught the last out in left field.  I also picked up a Jeremy Hellickson jersey card from Gypsy Queen and a 2012 Museum Collection Longoria jumbo jersey card.  I have a few more cool Gypsy Queen materials cards coming later this week.

2012 Topps Gypsy Queen Allen Craig Autograph 

2012 Topps Gypsy Queen Jon Jay Autograph

2012 Topps Gypsy Queen Jeremy Hellickson Jersey Card

2012 Topps Museum Evan Longoria Jumbo Jersey

2012 Topps Museum Collection Jeremy Hellickson

Just added another Topps Musuem collection card this week of Ray's pitcher Jeremy Hellickson.  I have a few other cards from this set which I have picked up this spring.  At first glance this card seems like the typical quad jersey card from the set with a single patch piece in the top corner.  However, the patch really caught my eye when I was first offered this card in a trade.

2011 Topps Museum Collection Jeremy Hellickson Quad Jersey

The patch piece on this card is actually red instead a color that would normally be associated with the Rays.  Which led me to look up variations on the Rays uniforms since Hellickson's debut with the Rays.  Hellickson first appeared with the Rays at the end of the 2010 season, but the team did not wear any throwback jerseys during the time that Hellickson was with the team that season.  During the 2011 season the Rays did have a throwback jersey game where they wore red jerseys.  In fact, the jerseys were a bit controversial because they initially featured a cigar.  I thought it was pretty cool to actually be able to track the jersey/patch pieces back to a specific game on a card and I will definitely enjoy adding this Hellickson card to my collection.