Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Cards from a Collector

And not just from any old collector... but The Collector, AKA Chris. For anyone who happens to be  unfamiliar with Chris or his blog, you will be doing yourself a big favor by clicking on the link and becoming a follower. Also, if you happen to be the sort that enjoys reading non-card blogs as well, I would highly recommend checking out his other work over at the the pedestrian writer.

Some of the cards shown in this post came from a trade bait post that Chris did a month or so (maybe more) ago, so if you're new to his blog, you should go back and find that post, because there was a lot of really neat unclaimed stuff within that post.

I'm a few weeks late in covering these cards that Chris was kind enough to send my way, so I don't want to waste any more time getting to them. So let's jump right in with a few of the 2013 Topps Chasing History inserts, starting with two from the base version:


     
One Holo-Foil:


                                                                       
And one of the gold Holo-Foils:      
                            



This is my first Orange Matrix parallel from the 2013 Cooperstown set.

2013 Topps Emerald Prince, pictured doing what he always did... swing for the fences!

Chris was fortunate enough to get a couple of boxes of 2017 Heritage, which just happened to contain more than a few buybacks, so of course I had to inquire as to the availability of said buybacks. Thankfully there were a few to be had, including the two Terry's above.

The Rafael Palmeiro rookie adds a little bit of name recognition to the frankenset. The '68 Don Pavletich came from one of the box topper buyback packs, of which I hope to open a few of someday, thus far my attempts at acquiring any via eBay and Sportlots hasn't worked out so well. Don may have spent most of his career as a backup, but from now on, he -- or rather his card -- will be a starter in my set.

Saying that "I saved the best for last" when referring to this Dick Groat Topps Lineage autograph would be a serious understatement, I mean look at, it's just awesome. I have six auto's from this series now, which I don't think is too bad, especially considering I only learned of their existence last year. Here's a question that came to mind after receiving this card: Why is Dick Groat never talked about? He's got a couple of World Series rings, was an eight time all-star, won the 1960 N.L. MVP. And if that wasn't enough, he was a legitimate two-sport star, having been an a two time All-American at Duke and playing in the NBA for the Fort Wayne Pistons during the 1952-53 season. If he wouldn't have had to serve his required two year stint in the military, he probably would have continued playing both baseball and basketball professionally. That's a pretty impressive resume, and yet his name is never mentioned. So what exactly does a fellow have to do to get some recognition?

Thank you again for the cards, Chris. By the by, every time I see your blog title, I think of this song:

                
Thanks for taking a moment to look at my page.

6 comments:

  1. Thanks for plugging my blog(s) - and giving them a new theme song! I never heard this NIN track, though "Every Day Is Exactly The Same" is one of my faves. I dont know if you've noticed my tiny tab icon, but there was an episode of The Simpsons where Comic Book Guy plays a villain called "The Collector" which is what I thought of when naming my blog.

    Anyway, I'm glad you found some stuff you liked on my trading post. Glad I could help with some of your collections. And I agree that Groat is underrated; I've always tried to pick up some of his cards - especially '54 and '56.

    You're most welcome for these; it's still a drop in the bucket compared to all the basketball cards you sent me.

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    1. "With Teeth" is such a great album. Right around the time it was released I was doing a lot of driving, and I can't even imagine trying to guess how many time I must of listened to it. It's been so long since I have watched, or even thought about The Simpsons that I had forgotten all about that episode. Older Simpsons episodes definitely would make for good inspiration when trying to come up with a name for something... well, maybe not so much when it comes to naming a child though.

      I still can't believe that no one else had shown any interest in any of these cards, oh well though, there loss was my gain.

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  2. That Dick Groat is awesome. I always get excited when I find a new card of his. What an athlete!

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    1. It is a really great card, not that I thought you would say otherwise of course.

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  3. When you look at Dick Groat's accomplishments you'd have to say he is under appreciated.

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    1. It's nice to know that a few people share the same sentiment.

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