2013 Topps Matt Holliday 2011 World Series ManuPatch

I am working on putting together my 2013 Topps set and just added a Manupatch of Cardinals outfielder Matt Holliday.  The first series of the 2013 Topps set has some pretty unique manu-patches, manucards, and manu-trophies.  The patch cards this year seem a little bit lost.

2013 Topps Matt Holliday 2011 World Series Patch

I had actually scouted out the Cardinals and Rays cards in the set that I wanted to pursue when Topps released the checklist for the first series awhile back and had seen some of the items in a few of the preview pictures released.  Last week when the cards hit the shelf I started tracking down cards including a few manupatches, manucards, and manutrophies.  The cards and trophies are pretty cool looking and will have a few of those up in the coming days.  However, when I started scouting out the patches I was a little disappointed.  I know I gave the 2013 Topps set a positive review last week, so I guess this is my negative, or delta, for the first series.

The biggest issue with the patch cards this year is that they seem very random.  Last year, we had a cool set of retired numbers which were cool to track down and find.  The year before that Topps gave us patch cards featuring the different logos that the different MLB teams had used throughout their history.  This year there is no theme.  I had seen Holliday on the checklist and tracked this card almost immediately after the set's release.  Seeing the World Series logo I thought that maybe Topps was going back to the All-Star game and Postseason patches, but that theme doesn't hold true.  There are team logos, stadium logos, all-star games, and several other different designs.  I am happy to have my new Matt Holliday World Series patch, but will probably leave it here as far as picking up manupatches from the 2013 Topps set.

1998 Topps Tek Set Update

Two weeks ago I started working on trying to finish up my 1998 Topps Tek set.  Last week,  I added a Ken Griffey Jr. card to my set brought which brought me to needing a total of 32 more cards to finish off the 32 card set.  This week I did a little bit better.  First, I found cards for trade which meant that I did not add any money to my total amount of money spent on the set.  I am still at $5.  Second,  I was able to add almost a quarter of the cards I need for the set in one week.

Seven more cards were added bringing my total needed down to 25 cards.  I was especially happy to land the Pedro Martinez and Orlando Hernandez card.  One of the hardest parts about assembling a set is tracking down the cards of some of the star players and key rookies.  These two cards definitely fit that description.  I have a few more Topps Tek cards on my radar, so hopefully I will be adding a few more in the next few days.  

Updated list:

2 Kerry Wood, 3 Barry Bonds, 6 Frank Thomas, 7 Bernie Williams, 16 Brady Anderson, 17 Vladimir Guerrero, 18 Dave Justice, 19 Chipper Jones, 21 Roger Clemens, 22 Mark Kotsay, 23 Tony Gwynn, 25 Tino Martinez, 26 Andruw Jones, 29 Gary Sheffield, 32 Curt Schilling, 33 Robin Ventura, 34 Larry Walker, 37 Paul O'Neill, 42 Derek Bell, 45 Kenny Lofton, 51 Cal Ripken, 52 Jason Kendall, 60 Juan Gonzalez, 62 Jose Cruz, 64 Edgar Martinez, 70 Chuck Knoblauch,  76 Derrek Lee, 79 Jeff King, 80 Mike Mussina,  86 Mike Piazza

1998 Donruss Preferred Title Waves Albert Belle

The Donruss Preferred set was a high end product that ran during 1998, 1997 too,  that reminded me a lot of the Fleer Showcase, or Topps Finest,  products of the same era.  High end, glossy cards with several different "tiers" of players that collectors could put together to make a set.  Some of the high end sets from that era focused primarily on the base set and left collectors a little short on the inserts.  However, a few products offered quality beyond the base set, but sometimes at long odds.

1998 Donruss Preferred Title Waves Albert Belle

Odds were never given on the Title Waves cards when the cards were released because the cards are all serial numbered to different amounts.  In the case of my Albert Belle, the card is numbered to 1995 since the card recognizes his American League Home Run title in 1995.  While the exact odds of pulling a Title Waves card was never released, the cards can be in pretty high demand at times depending on the player.  I picked this card up last week in a small trade and have considered adding this insert set as my second set I am trying to complete for the year.  I am currently working on the 1998 Topps Tek set too.  This Albert Belle gives me a total of 23 out of the 30 cards in this set which would leave me with seven to find.  However, after checking a few secondary sites I can only find one of the cards I need to complete the set and it is probably a little bit more than I wish to spend.  I will sleep on it for a few days and consider putting this up to finish.  In the meantime, I am happy to give this sweet Albert Belle card a new home.  

  

  

2000 Skybox and 2001 Topps Fusion Todd Helton Autographs

I've put up several posts in the past few months about cards which I've picked up after seeing the player in college.  After my post a few weeks ago about NC State pitcher Carlos Rodon, a fellow collector began to bend my ear about watching Todd Helton during his time playing for the Tennessee Volunteers.  I have always liked Helton and enjoyed hearing some of the stories about his playing college playing career, so I decided to put a watch out for a nice Helton card.  

2000 Skybox Autographics Todd Helton Autograph

Last week I landed one Todd Helton autograph that I was very happy to add to my collection and quickly landed a second two days later.  The Skybox card is a nice on-card autograph, but the Skybox logo in the background of the card is raised and caused a slight inconsistency in the signature on the left-hand side of the signature.  Compare with the autograph below.

2001 Topps Fusion Todd Helton Autograph

This 2001 Topps Fusion Todd Helton autographed card is also an on-card autograph too, but there are two differences in the signatures.  First, the Topps Fusion card offers a flat clear surface for the signer which allowed Helton to sign a cleaner autograph.  If you look at the ink in the autograph it is consistent throughout.  Second, Helton signed a longer version of his autograph on the Topps Fusion card.  Like many players whom are asked to sign their name often, Todd Helton's signature has changed over time.  

2004 Topps World Series Highlights David Justice Autograph

I am going to go ahead and file this card in my Durham Bulls collection.  Last month I did a non-baseball card blog post about my take on the greatest Durham Bulls players.  I compiled my list based on the players impact in the Major Leagues.  One of my five greatest Durham Bulls on that list was outfielder David Justice.  Justice might be best remembered for being in the book and movie Moneyball (his likeness), or being briefly married to Halle Berry, but he was also a pretty good baseball player.

2004 Topps World Series Highlights David Justice Autographs

Justice appeared in a Durham Bulls uniform in the late 80s when the team was affiliated with the Atlanta Braves as an A ball team.  Justice would go on to win the 1990 National League Rookie of the Year and the 2000 American League League Championship Series MVP while playing for the Braves, Indians, Yankees, and A's.  I was approached about this card awhile ago and it took awhile to wrap up the trade, but was happy to add this card to my collection.  The autograph is an on-card signature which has become a rarity for a Justice signature.  He has several autographed cards in the past few years, but they are all sticker autographs.  The card has a dark background, which is a little bit of a drawback, but Justice signed the card in a light spot in the bottom corner.  

2001 Upper Deck Seventies Baseball Manny Mota Bat Card

 I also picked up a cool Manny Mota bat card in this trade from the 2001 Upper Deck 70s baseball card set.

2013 Topps: A Quick Review

I have started to dip my toe into the pool of 2013 Topps cards and wanted to take a minute to offer my quick two cents on the first new product of the year.  I approve of the 2013 Topps base set.  It also features a few nice inserts and parallels.  There is always room for improvement, but I am actually going to assemble the base set and inserts this year out of enjoyment and not because it's the Topps set and that's what I do.  So, to make this a better and more enjoyable read I am going to pick out three pros for you picking up a few packs or singles out of the 2013 Topps set and one reason to possible set that pack of cards down (probably not).



Pro: The base set cards feature a nice clean design and Topps has switched up some of the parallel cards and they look really nice.  

2013 Topps Daniel Descalso 

I picked this Daniel Descalso card because I could almost picture Ozzie Smith making a move like this to throw out a runner at first base.  Descalso's got the polyester uniform and all.  I think the design is pretty simple this year with the infield design in the bottom left-hand corner and the colored lines extended around the outside of the card.  My favorite since the 2008 Topps with the circles at the top of the cards.

2013 Topps Emerald Tom Layne

Topps also switched up the base card parallels for the 2013 set too.  Topps had been running the usual gold, retail red/blue, black, etc, etc for the better part of a decade.  This year they have added a Desert Camo parallel and an emerald green parallel.  Not sold on the desert camo, but the emerald green cards are really nice.  I am not going to put together a whole set of them, but I will at least do a Cardinals team set.  Maybe a Rays.  

Pro: The 1972 Minis are the best mini set since mini has come back into style.

2013 Topps 1972 Mini Trevor Bauer  

Topps has been into minis the past two years.  I enjoyed the 1987 mini set last year and it brought back some great memories from my childhood.  However, I have always liked the look of the 1972 Topps cards and I was really excited to see that they were been used as the design on the mini set.  Very well done.  

Pro: Topps has become better at using the die cut card.  

2013 Topps Cut To The Chase Andrew McCutchen

I am not bitter about the fact that we are now done to one officially licensed baseball card company, but I do like to reminisce about some of the past set from put out by companies not named Topps.  Pacific used to make a mean die cut card.  Christmas ornaments, crowns.  You name it and Pacific could make a die cut card.  Topps has been much more conservative about die cutting in their cards over the years.  I am not going to post a non-2013 Topps picture, but go search 2009 Ticket To Stardom Die Cut.  Lamest Die Cut ever.  I was actually pretty excited about the Cut To The Chase insert this year and was surprised that they aren't harder to find.  A well done die cut worth owning.  

Con: I have bugged Topps since last October about including Justin Ruggiano in the Topps set this year.  They included Brian Fuentes as a Cardinal, without a 57 jersey airbrushed on, among other players that may not be as worthy as Ruggiano.  

Yes, I collect Justin Ruggiano cards.  First, he's probably the greatest Durham Bull while wearing a Durham Bulls uniform.  He actually owns most of the team's offensive records.  Second, he played well for the Miami Marlins last year and had an OPS of .909 in almost 300 at-bats with 13 home runs.  What's not to love?  

There are several candidates I could throw under the bus for Topps to kick out of the set in favor of a Ruggiano.  I've already pointed out Brian Fuentes, but there are at least a dozen other cards in the set I could live without.  For example:  

  

Just flipping over the back of my Emerald Tom Layne card shows that he went 0-10 last year in the minors, but still got a card in the 2013 Topps set.  Don't even look at the bottom right corner for his WHIP and ERA.  Wow.  Luckily, Topps has placed Justin Ruggiano in the second series of the 2013 Topps set.  

2006 Upper Deck Special F/X Miguel Cabrera Autograph

Last year I started working on adding cards of Miguel Cabrera to my collection.  All was going well last spring and into early summer until Cabrera started chasing the Triple Crown.  The end of last season saw the prices on Cabrera cards spike.  Trading and buying cards of the Tigers third baseman became a lot harder and much more expensive.  Luckily, when a player's card prices spike due to a specific event, they normally slowly return to the normal level.  For example, last April Mariners pitcher Phil Humber threw a perfect game.  Immediately there were collectors looking for his cards in trade groups and all of the $1.99 autographs of him on Ebay were snatched up.  Look today and you will see there are still a few people that are living in last year, but the majority of Phil Humber autographs now sell for less than $10 and many of those are under $5.  Right where they should be.

2006 Upper Deck Special F/X Miguel Cabrera Autograph

When I started trading for Cabrera cards last summer they were very reasonable.  One of my first Cabrera trades was for a Sweet Spot autograph, giving up a Matt Moore autograph.  Reasonable.  This fall I had traders and collectors asking for Aaron, Musial, and Mays autographs for Miggy cards.  I bowed out.  As much as I have enjoyed collecting Cabrera cards, I do not value his cards in the same light as I value a first ballot Hall of Famers.  Although, he might reach that status in the next few years, he is not there yet.  So, for this Cabrera I had to put together a small package of Marlins autographs including a pair Josh Johnson cards and a Matt Dominguez.  For good measure I also picked up this sweet 2001 Fleer Showcase Brandon Inge too. 

2001 Fleer Showcase Brandon Inge Autograph