Two Terrific Tajs

The Taj Bradley collection has crossed into double digits, but the blogger posts are still not numbered. At least, not for the moment. At what point should I start numbering them? I think I am getting close. Anyway, I picked up two more terrific Taj Bradley autographs for the collection during the past week.  

First up, an autograph out of the $425 per box Topps Museum Collection. Cost of this card was north of $10 making it one of the more expensive Taj Bradley cards in my collection. I appreciate all the people who open up boxes, so very much.  

I couldn't do it without you.  

I was somewhat hopeful that the orange patches were connected to the Durham Bulls when I first bid on this card, but after doing a little research, it appears this is likely from Bradly's appearance at the Futures Game a few year's back at Dodger Stadium. The orange seems slightly muted compared to photographs from the game, but there are patch cards that match this jersey.  

 

What I would do to get a Durham Bulls patch card......

One day. 

Last card for a quick post.......

Bradley signed for the 2024 Topps product, but was a short-printed autograph with just /199 serial numbered copies.  Seems like a player who would not be on the short-print list, but here we are.  The serial number is on the back of the card and this is a quick post, so you can imagine it's there.  It says "087/199". 

This is one of the first autographed cards I have purchased out of 2024 Topps, and while I have not been rah-rah about the product this year, this is a really well-blended sticker autograph. You can barely tell on the scan.  

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.  

Set Appreciation Post #16 - 1998 Metal Universe

We went through a dinosaur phase in my house when my son was in preschool and early elementary school. He's now in fifth grade, so we are past the phase, but the kid is a sponge and can still repeat back all kinds of information about all the dinosaurs. 

The dinosaurs phase included trips to museums to see dinosaurs. My personal favorite was the Easter Egg Hunt at the Life and Science Museum in Durham when he spent an hour looking at dinosaur models. Note, he is not holding an Easter Egg in this picture. 

Did he pick any up?  

He did the follow year, because the museum used inflatable dinosaurs that were not realistic and did not hold his attention.  

Beyond going to museums, he also had tons of dinosaur books. They had their own section in his well-stocked bookcase. Every night, we would end up reading a dinosaur book before he went to bed.  Most of the books were fine, but one that I always remember was one titled, "Dinosaurs On My Street" 

It's widely available, if you feel inclined to purchase.  

The cover says it all.  

It is this bizarre mashup of prehistoric dinosaurs on modern streets. You parked your red Mercedes on the street, you should have paid extra for the parking garage, because this T-Rex is going to total it out for you. Good luck explaining that to your insurance agent.  

It goes on from there.  

A lot of cars get smashed up by dinosaurs, which probably has a lot of appeal to a preschool aged boy.  

In many ways, the Dinosaurs On My Street book has always had some strong parallels with the 1990s Metal Universe cards in my mind. They essentially have the same formula. Take something popular, in this case baseball, and mash it up with some really odd backgrounds.

As a guy in his 40s, this is a really cool set. 

It was a cool set when I was in my 20s and in college.  

Before I get into the baseball cards, I wanted to note that I did not use a scanner, because they are terrible with these cards. See Jose Cruz Jr. below.  

The background just looks like a complete blur. It is not supposed to be, so all the cards posted here were taken as photographs.  

Here you can see the background much better. 

A little chipping along the edges. My son really likes looking at these cards, so that has contributed a little to wear and tear on a few of these cards. However, they are printed on fairly thin card stock and feel a little flimsy.  

I am not sure why there is a mountain in the background behind Jose Cruz Jr. 

Are there mountains in Toronto? 

Does Jose Cruz Jr. have some sort of nickname that involves mountains? 

No and I think no.  

This is just the first card in the set. I am letting you see the basic design and in no way is this post going negative on Metal Universe. This is a true 1990s masterpiece.  

Here is the back of the card, which I am not going to post beyond this Jose Cruz card.  

I like the pink, green, and purples hues on the right side of the card. You could have easily seen all three of those colors on some clothing in an episode of the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air back in 1998. Will Smith had moved into his alien move phase by the late 1990s, but I am sure the show was still on WGN or TBS.  

I bet Jose Cruz Jr. had that same shirt in his closet.  

Rather than doing my usual breakdown of Cardinals, Durham Bulls, and insert cards, I am just going to stick with the backgrounds in the base set. Let me run through some of my favorite cards from this set.  

There are three basic types of backgrounds on the 1998 Metal Universe cards.  

First, there are pictures with landmarks from the city or area.  

Randy Johnson in front of the Space Needle.  

Scott Rolen in Love Park.  

Last, but not least, Ray Lankford in front of the Old Court House with the Arch in the background.  

These remind me a bit of the card backs of the mid-1990s Leaf cards. Same company, so it's a bit of a borrowed look, but these still look really sharp. If the whole set had been made using the city landmarks, it would have been a great looking set.  

Although, I would have liked to see some city sites that were more personal to the players. 

For example, Jeff Kent in front of a street car seems like a good idea.  

What do you think of when you hear the name Jeff Kent?

Me?

I think of trucks and carwashes.  

What about a background with a truck going through a carwash?  

If you know, then you know.  

Next background.  

Animals.  

If you know this set, the best animal card is at the end of the post. 

We've got Chuck Finley in front of some giraffes. 

Chuck is tall. 

Giraffes are tall.  

Tony Clark in front of a tiger.

Tony played on the Detroit Tigers.  

See what they did there?

There are also all sorts of cards with a space background. 

Here is Russ Johnson on the moon, or this Mars?  

Earth is too big for Mars, but I don't think the Moon is that red.  

It's the effort that counts.  

Which brings us to the really great Metal Universe cards. The random backgrounds or those with some sort of connection to the player are just simply too incredible to believe. Some of the most unique cards from the 1990s. The best part was the fact that they were often just random players.  

Here are three of my favorites from the 1998 Metal Universe set.  

First, Reds third baseman Willie Greene.  

Anytime I hear mention of Willie Greene, I instantly think of this card. Since nobody talks about Willie Greene anymore, I talk about him and remember this card. Decent player for a time, hit 26 home runs in 1997, so obviously that earned him a cool construction excavator background. 

Name another baseball card with construction excavators in the background? 

You can't. 

The next time you are out and about and see an excavator, think about Willie Greene.  

Next, pinch-hitter extraordinaire, Matt Stairs.  

Yes, he is fielding a ball on a set of stairs and his last name is Stairs.  

Is that the US Capitol?  

Matt Stairs is Canadian.  

This Matt Stairs card is incredible. A true great baseball card of the late 1990s.  

Last card of the post. If you know this set, you know this card.  

It speaks for itself.  

Another great card.  

HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

I have written about 15 other baseball card sets over the past two or three years. Here are my rankings of the previous sets, links to the sets are included.  

15. 2000 Pacific Paramount Update 

14. 2010 Topps USA Baseball  

13. 2000 Topps 

12. Bowman Platinum 

11. 2000 UD Ionix  

10. 2002 Bowman 

9. 1988 Donruss 

8. 1995 Emotion XL 

7. 2017 Topps Heritage Minor League

6. 1998 Topps TEK 

5. 1986 Topps Mini League Leaders 

4. 2001 Fleer EX 

3. 1979 Kellogg's 

2. 2002 Topps Super Teams

1. 1983 Topps 

The 1998 Metal Universe set is a great modern set. I think it's better than the 2001 Fleer EX product, but I am still going to keep the 2002 Topps Super Teams set ahead of it. Super Teams is a much different product than Metal Universe, both great in their own way. 

So, the question comes down to whether or not this is better than the 1979 Kellogg's set. I am going to Metal Universe the nod and slide it into the 3rd spot on my list.  

2020 Blake Snell Autograph Count: 7

I am a little disappointed in the direction that Topps has taken the Triple Threads product over the past few years, but they are still some solid autographs on the checklist, right?  At least there is Blake Snell.  The design on the front of the Triple Threads cards was always enjoyed the cards with the attribute or a phrase describing the player featured on the front of the card.  

For example, this was one of the Snell autographs from the 2018 Triple Threads set.  

I miss this design.  

Low innings pitched?  Like pulled in the 6th inning of a 2 hitter in an elimination game during the World Series? 

It's actually a reference to the fact that Rays limited his innings early in his career.  Not that uncommon.  I saw a few games where they used Dylan Floro, Dodgers World Series winner and non-innings restricted pitcher, piggy back behind Snell on starts in the Minors.  21 wins also seems pretty good.  

Somewhere around here, Topps dropped the number of cards in Triple Threads that had messages on the front of the card.  I am not saying the don't exist, but they used to be the norm rather than the exception.  

Here is my newest Snell autograph.  

Again, I like the card, but it feels a lot like the Museum Collection and Tribute cards.  Topps has sort of merged all these different products together in style and design over the last few years.  The is a huge departure in design from the card up top.  Generic blue jersey swatch, sticker autograph, and a blasé gray background. 

I swear, I like the card, even if the post is coming across as hypercritical.   

Back of the card.  

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!

JUMBO RELIC CARD!!!!!!!!!!

I guess there is only so much you can do with a card back.  

2020 Blake Snell Autograph Count: 5

This is my second draft of this post.  The first one descended into a rant about Game 6 of the World Series.  As a long time fan of Blake Snell, it's going to take awhile to get over him getting pulled in the sixth inning with a two-hit shutout.  

I had the same reaction.  

I picked up my fifth Blake Snell autograph of the year last week.  Last year, at the end of October, I was up to 23 different Blake Snell autographs.  Running slightly behind, and I am perfectly fine with it.  

Here is the new card.  

This is from Tier One.  I feel like this is one of those products that Topps makes, and there are five other baseball card products that look really similar.  Isn't this the same thing as Museum Collection?  Does Topps still make Topps Marquee?  They are all the same thing, right?  

Back of the card.  

The standard "Congratulations!" and blurb.  

2019 Blake Snell Autograph Count: 27

There are three weeks left in 2019.  I have officially done enough with Blake Snell autographs.  There are none left that are affordable, or that really interest me, so we are done after this post.  It's been a good run, never thought I would get all the way to 27 autographs of one player in a year. 

I made sure that the last Snell of the year was something good though.  I ended up picking up one of the cards that I skipped earlier in the summer due to cost.  There are expensive Snell autographs, but it seems that at some point they always come down a bit.  At worst, if you are patient a copy of the card will fly under the radar on an Ebay auction.  I have never set a ceiling on how much I will spend on a Snell autograph, but there are non-starters.  

Most of the Buy It Nows and auctions when this card fist came out were over $30.  That's a non-starter for this card.  I did not pay it, and I ended up saving some money.  

This is from Definitive, which is one of those Topps brands that all blends together in my world with things like Tribute an Museum Collection.  I am sure there are others that I am not thinking about as a truck through a post at 5:30 on a Sunday morning.   The cards are on thicker stock, have some sort of jersey or patch swatch, an have a low print run.  

The backs of the cards are look the same too.  

It's like a generic form letter that Topps attaches to all of the aforementioned card brands.  

It has been a fun year of collecting Snell autographs, but I am definitely ready to move onto something else.  I have started drafting my end of the year post, and I am definitely going to pass over repeating this sort of project again.  

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....

I Like Art Galleries

I am a really big fan of art galleries.  They are relaxing places.  They are quiet.  They are dark.  They are cold.  I usually have a favorite piece of art, or two at each of the museums that I frequent.  Sometimes, it's something that I have seen in an exhibit.  

Some of my favorites........

At the St. Louis Art Museum I like the Thomas Hart Benton painting "Cradling Wheat".  The shapes in his pictures are always interesting, lots of curved lines.  Always a lot of greens and browns.  Plus, he's a Missouri native and his paintings are plenty of other places around the state.  You can't run a history museum in Missouri if you do not have a Benton painting.  Not sure it's a law, but it feels that way.  

The Duke Nasher Art Museum has some Kehinde Wiley paintings.  When I worked in Durham, we used to take our students on field trips to this museum.  My students were convinced that this was supposed to be Big Boi from OutKast.   

Maybe.  

Could be.  

The North Carolina Art Museum is in Raleigh.  There are some nice permanent pieces there and the museum itself is nice to visit, but I really like the exhibits that go through that museum.  My favorite was a group of Monet paintings that came there about ten years ago.  Nice time....

Even if his paintings are repetitive.  Haystacks, water lilies, some rock formation in France.  It's all good.  

Baseball cards have art too.  Some of it is really good, some of it is not so good.  Picked up two new cards from Topps Gallery a week or two ago.  It has taken me a week or so to catch up on scanning new cards.  

In my opinion, this is a pretty nice art card.  

The paintings on the Gallery cards do not necessarily have to be perfect to win my praise, but the right details have to be there.  When I think of Anthony Banda, I think of sport goggles and tattoos.  The artist of the card got the style and brand of the goggles perfect and the tattoos are pretty close.  The tattoos on his glove arm are some combination of stars and maybe clouds?  There are for sure stars.  

I am not sure how many autographs of Banda I have picked up over the past year, but it is probably in double digits at this point.  I like this card without the autograph, I might have to go find a couple of the different colored versions of this one.  

Next, some art work that deserves a little bit of criticism.  Here is the card....

So, let's start off by stating something positive.  The Cardinals hat and uniform are pretty good.  Now, let's talk about Miles Mikolas.  When I think of Miles Mikolas, I think he has a lot of hair, sometimes he has facial hair, and he's a bit of a free spirit.  On this card, I think he looks like Tom Selleck in Mr. Baseball.  

I am almost sure that Miles Mikolas is a lot more of a free spirit than Tom Selleck.  Tom Selleck is well-groomed like that mustache on the Miles Mikolas card.  Wasn't Tom Selleck in the Army?  Precise hair, precise mustache.  Miles Mikolas has free flowing hair.  It would not have a definite stopping point like the picture.  I haven't brushed my hair in twenty years, I know when someone does not brush their hair.  Miles Mikolas does not brush his hair.   Let's look at how Miles Mikolas rolls.....

Miles Mikolas has a mustache?  Not after the game.  Is that a bolo tie?  Philip Rivers is jealous.  The hair is not neat and it's not brushed.  More hair not brushed.....

and finally, more fashion statement.....

Again, bolo tie, belt buckle, sunglasses, unbrushed hair.  

Free Miles.  

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.