Pink is the new orange

I'm not sure why October always ends up being so busy for me, but it does, and this year has been no exception. It seems like the days are just go, go, go, then come night time, I'm too tired to get anything done... especially blog posts!

I always have tons of ideas for Halloween related posts, but rarely get around to doing more than 2 or 3 of them, and this year has been no exception! Looking at my draft folders, I see that I've got 6 Halloween themed posts started, but at the rate I'm going, will probably only end up getting to 2 of them, 3 if I'm lucky.

One of the 3 posts that I've managed to finish this month was a 1-card pink themed post to try and help Brian spread the word about his annual Save Second Base event. It was nice to be able to try and spread the word (even though pretty much every one already knows about it), but it wasn't what you'd call a great post (1-card posts rarely are), a fact which I acknowledged in the post, and said that I'd try to do one more for him (and his cause), something with a little more eye candy if you will. Well, I had a spare hour earlier in the week, and found myself possessing the want to look through some cards, more specifically, to look for some 'pink' cards. 

I ended up finding enough for a top ten post, of sorts. It's probably more like "Here's ten pink cards that I own and am showing in no particular order, half of which have already been featured on the blog at some point". It should be noted too that I didn't even need to look through any of my baseball player collections (barely touched the football ones either) to reach my goal of ten cards, so hopefully since it's for a good cause, all of you 'baseball or bust' types will still stick around 'til the end (commenting wouldn't be a bad idea either, especially since each one equals a $1 donation from Brian).

So without further ado, here's ten 'pink' cards that I own, and very much like...

1971-72 Topps #48

The '71 basketball set has a number of notable pink cards in it, especially since it's the background color for both the Lakers and the Pacers (among other teams), so you've got all-time greats like Wilt, West, and Baylor representing pink for the Lakers; and rookies of guys like Roger Brown, Mel Daniels, and Billy Keller on the Pacers side. And yet, my favorite pink card from the set is this Em Bryant. Pink aside, it's one of my favorite cards from the set, period! I'll even take it a step further and say that it's one of the quintessential 1970's basketball cards, at least from an aesthetic standpoint. Disagree? Prove me wrong!

2012 Panini Black Friday - Panini Collection Progressions (magenta)

You had to know that there was going to be a Progressions in here, right? Biz is my favorite of the rainbows that I'm trying to build, I've got 3 of the 4, and no, I can remember which one that I need off the top of my head (it's not like your sitting on one of these anyway).

2018 BBM True Heart autograph

I hate the thought of ranking things that people have sent me over the years, and would never do so, but still, I sometimes find myself reminiscing about the package that RAZ sent me a few years ago, it truly was that good. This Mochi Miyagi (no relation to Mr.) auto was one of the many great items in there.

P.S. RAZ, if you see this post, please come back to us. I know that you're on Twitter, but it isn't the same.. not even close!

2014 Cryptozoic Adventure Time Holiday Foil #HE-01

Did you watch Adventure Time? No? You should, it was a great show. It's not too late either, it still holds up, and will continue to do so for quite some time. These Holiday Foils were exclusive to the retail blister packs a bunch of years back. I couldn't find any of them in stores, so I bought a big lot of packs on eBay, maybe 10-15 packs, and since each blister pack (which contained two retail packs btw) had one of these foils on top of the packs, I ended up with a huge stack of them. For those that don't know, the show was set in a post apocalyptic world, where many traditions have been lost (big surprise, right), including Christmas. This card is from their two-part Christmas episode (Holly Jolly Secrets), in which the back story of one of the main characters is finally revealed, and Christmas is "re-created" (rediscovered ?), albeit in a slightly different manner than most of us are accustomed to. The episode had all kinds of heart, and is still very popular amongst the shows fans. The card has all kinds of heart too, even though it's foil-y goodness has been rendered null-and-void by the scanner.

1969 Topps #34

Other than Shawn Kemp's 1990-91 Fleer RC, I don't think that any other card has been shown on the blog more times than Merlin's Topps RC (not his true RC, but the 'geniuses' over at Beckett don't acknowledge that), so who am I to get in the way of a good cause, and not show it again :)

1957 Topps Hit Stars #80

Cyd Charisse has very few trading cards, don't ask me why though. If I was in charge, she'd have many. I freely admit to having a long standing crush on her, so I may be a bit biased.

See, I couldn't help it! Although, this photo does fit the theme that Brian's October posts tend to follow, so I'm just playing along, nothing else. It would make no sense for me to do so, but I've thought of doing a top 10 most attractive actresses/entertainers post before. If I ever did (I won't), Cyd Charisse would easily make that list.

1972-73 Topps #32

Is this a stretch as far as pink cards go? I probably wouldn't have used this one had I not seen an eBay listing for a copy the other day (during an unrelated search). Rookie cards seem to have gotten big again, and this one appears to have gone up in price a bit since I bought mine 5-6 years ago. Unrelated, can we refer to those as the 'good old days' yet?

2013 Panini Golden Age #DDG

This ones a bit of stretch, as it's more of a red card, but Ellie Mae is wearing a pink shirt, and does have pink ribbons in her hair, so? This is one of my favorite autographs from the Golden Age sets, so anytime I can find an excuse to show it, I'm going to. I watched a couple of episodes of The Beverly Hillbillies this past week, and while it's not my favorite program ever, I do enjoy a few episodes here and there.

1985 Topps WWF Stickers #3

Watch out ladies, Brother Bruti is on the prowl!

I haven't been a wrestling fan for quite some time now, and don't collect anything wrestling related anymore either, but the '85 Topps set, as well as the subsequent '85 O-Pee-Chee series 2 set, were amongst the few things that I held out back when I sold my wrestling collection. As far as wrestling cards go, those were the tops for me, it's been downhill ever since.

1984 Topps MOTU Stickers #20

Masters of the Universe has gotten big again too, and I'm thinking that it's like the tenth time that it's done so now? It's cool that so many people are into the various re-hashings, but I only care about the original. The new stuff just doesn't appeal to me, but of course I could say the same thing about everything from my childhood that's been reimagined in recent years, it all feels second rate, and I choose to have no part of it.

If by chance you haven't seen what Brian has been doing, I would highly encourage you to do so. He's doing lots of  good things, raising lots of money, and bringing awareness to a terrible disease. His dedication to the cause is very admirable, and he deserves all of the accolades that he has been getting.

Thanks for taking a moment to look at my page.

COMC Shuffle #20

Another week, another ten randomly selected cards from last year's COMC hoard!

2012 Panini Black Friday Panini Collection Progressions - Yellow #BM

When it comes to the Progressions, yellow is usually my least favorite of the colors, however, in Biz' case, it's my favorite. To me, it just pops.

2013 Panini Golden Age Historic Signatures #SMC

This is kind of a crossover card for me, as not only was it a needed Golden Age auto, but it also features Sam McDowell, who went 8-0 (with a 1.18 ERA) during his nine-game stint with the Portland Beavers back in 1964.

2015-16 Panini Prizm Red, White, & Blue Prizm #41

I'm not overly fond of this card, but it was a cheap LA that I didn't have, so I got it. This will be one of the few Prizm parallels that I'm collecting THAT I won't need multiples of... unless of course I happen upon a few more in a dime box!

1962 Topps Mars Attacks! #23

Even though it's fairly contemporary, I can't see this card and not think of this:

2018 Panini Classics Timeless Tributes Gold #138

Right after this set came out, a blue optichrome (#'d to /5) Marcus Allen hit eBay, I tried to bid on it, but ended up losing in spectacular fashion... that sure was a pretty card :(

1997-98 Bowman's Best Atomic Refractor #120

I've been trying to cut down on random purchases, but '97-98 atomic refractors are so darn hard to pass up when priced at less than a buck.

1998-99 Upper Deck Ionix Reciprocal #R24

John Starks in a Warriors uni still doesn't look right.

2013 Panini Father's Day Museum Collection Progressions - Magenta #MC-4

I love me some Progressions, but I'm not too keen on this one. Don't ask me why, because I don't really know, I'm just not feeling it. I got a little carried away with the Progressions, and this is one that I probably should've left behind. If I ever get around to trading via the TCDB, this'll be one of the first cards that I make available.

1933 Goudey #171

Charlie Jamieson was a new name for me, as are about half of the Goudey's I get. His last game played was in '32, so it was kind of nice of the Goudey folks to include him in this set. After 18 seasons, Charlie finished with a .303 average and 1990 hits, which wasn't too shabby for someone who started out as a pitcher (went 2-1 in the bigs). Other notable accomplishments include winning a World Series with Cleveland in 1920, and in 1923 his 222 hits were tops in the American League.

2014-15 Panini Prizm Green Prizms #144

An appropriately colored parallel given Wes' new team. Love the guy, and he will forever be one of my favorite Blazers, but I sure do wish that he would've signed with just about anybody other than Milwaukee.


Thanks for taking a moment to look at my page.

COMC Shuffle #13

Another week, another ten randomly selected cards from last year's COMC hoard!


1970 Topps #380 (Error)

No need to adjust your eyeballs, as this card is as off as it looks. When it comes to errors, I usually am only interested in blank backs, but I made an exception for this one. Tony showed up in a batch of Challenges that I was doing, and I immediately fell in like with him (do people still say that?). I added the card to my watch list, and then spent the next month checking in on it every single day, just impatiently waiting for it to be added to the site. Such efforts rarely pay off for me, but in this instance it did, as I logged in one morning to find that it had been added to the site during the previous night -- and not only had it not already been bought, but the price attached was considerably lower than I had expected it to be. When I saw that it was there, and that it was only $0.95, well, as you can probably imagine (especially after that build up), I could not hit that buy it now button fast enough!

2015 Topps High Tek Pattern 1 Grass/Waves Confetti Diffractor #18

I haven't been pursuing it as much as I was last year, but I have the want to fill up a page of these Tim Brown's. I'm no matholigist, but I believe that once the goal is completed I would then own roughly 10% of the to /99 print run. Without looking, I think I'm sitting at seven right now (4 from COMC, 2 from a card show, and 1 from eBay).


2014 Panini Prizm Red, White, & Blue Prizms #12

I got a mention from Trevor a few weeks ago in connection with this card, and now that's it come up in the Shuffle, the least I could do is reciprocate the shoutout :)

Also, I have no idea why that middle card scanned so poorly, but it don't look like that in person.


1952 Bowman #72

This was just one of those "it's too cheap not to get" kind of purchases. It doesn't really fit into any particular collection right now, but I'm hoping that inspiration will strike at some point, and I'll find a use for it.


2009-10 Upper Deck 3D Stars #3D-AR

I don't what the deal is with this set (and I don't really care), but some of the cards have just one player, while other's, like this LaMarcus Aldridge and Brandon Roy, have two. LaMarcus is who you see when the card is at rest, which I'm assuming is just because his last name comes first alphabetically, as Brandon was a much bigger name at the time.


1998-99 Topps Stadium Club Triumvirate - Luminous #T11c

One of my favorite players of all-time, on a card from one of my favorite insert sets of all-time... I believe that's called a "win-win"!


2012 Panini Golden Age Historic Signatures #JO

Fun fact: John went to the same high school (different years though) as Otis Redding and Little Richard. Fun fact #2: Otis Redding and Little Richard went to the same high school!?!?


1968 Topps Game #15 blank back

Here's a bit of a rarity. Not only is this the first blank backed Topps Game that I've ever seen, but it also appears to be the only one that COMC has ever had. For the longest time I was buying blank back lots of say, 1975 Topps baseball, with the goal of trying to get as many from specific sets as I could, but also still picking up the occasional outlier like this. Like everything else card related, my focus has shifted quite a bit, now when it comes to blank backs I'm primarily interested in trying to get just one example from as many sets as I can.


1954 Topps #23

I had never heard of Luke Easter until I read an article about him last year (which I of course can no longer find). He seemed like a really interesting person, and was probably one of the great "what could've been if it hadn't been for injuries" guys. Because of these things, I decided to try and get a few (or all) of his cards. I got this one during last year's Spring Sale, and haven't gotten any more since. I have found that other than his '54 Topps, COMC is not a good place to get his cards, and I just never think to look on eBay, hence the owning of only one card.

2014 Panini Prizm Orange Prizms #105

It looks like Dan wasn't too impressed with today's post. I guess I'll just have to try harder next week then!


Thanks for taking a moment to look at my page.

COMC Shuffle #2

Hey there, and welcome to the second edition of the new series that everyone's been talking about... what? You say that you haven't heard anyone talking about it? Well, it's entirely possible that I may have exaggerated a little, nonetheless, you're here, and I'm here, so let's do this!

On the off chance that you missed last week's inaugural post, and you don't feel like going back to see what's what, the concept is pretty simple, in that I'm just letting my picture program's shuffle feature decide which ten items from last year's COMC horde gets shown per post. See, simple!


1961-62 Fleer #32

A multiple time all-star, and multiple time champion (three with the Celtics), Willie's one of those great players that fans just don't seem to remember anymore, or worse, just don't care enough about to go read up on.

Don't know if anyone's interested, but here's the back anyway.



2014-15 Panini Prizm Yellow and Red Mosaic #64 (x2)

Collecting hall of famers is always fun, but collecting future hall of famers can be just as fun.


2018 Panini Classics Timeless Tributes Gold #133

Of all of the Classics parallels that I own - which really isn't that many - this Paul Hornung ranks up there amongst my favorites... so much yellow!


2012 Panini Black Friday Panini Collection Progressions - Magenta #BM

I'm working on a number of Progressions rainbows right now (I've even finished two), Biz is by far my favorite one that I've got going. I have 3 out of the 4, but the black is proving to be rather elusive, of course when there's only five copies out there, it isn't hard to imagine to why. I don't have a most wanted list or anything, but if I did, that black would be at the very top.


1999-00 Upper Deck HoloGrFX Maximum Jordan #MJ4

I've made my feelings known about MJ on this blog many times over the years (not a fan), but I do like 90's inserts, and HoloGrFX was, and still is, one of my favorite sets, so...

Upper Deck really went bonkers with the MJ insert sets, most of which are terribly uninteresting, but I am working on this one, in fact I now only need one more to complete the six-card set.


2013 Panini Golden Age Historic Signatures #JEH

Only two posts in to this series, and the shuffler already landed on the most expensive card from last year's haul. Whether it's big-time movies like The Bad News Bears or Watchmen (if you haven't seen the director's cut, watch that version), unfairly cancelled television series' like Human Target, or even all but forgotten cartoons like Gravedale High, Jackie Earle Haley never disappoints. Of all of the Bears signatures in the 2013 set, Jackie is the most pricey, not only because of everything else he's done, but also because of all the Bears signers, he signed the least amount of cards. And even though it was a bit higher than I would've liked to pay (or rather, use credit on), I'm still happy to say that I got it for less than the going rate on eBay.


2014-15 Panini Prizm Yellow and Red Mosaic #134

It seems like I've seen multiple discussions on Twitter in recent weeks about whether or not VC is hall worthy. If I was in charge of such things, he wouldn't make it (nothing personal, I just don't think that he's done enough), but I'm not, so he will be elected at some point (I'll put money on that).


2013-14 Panini Prizm Retail Green #235

I didn't used to notice the matching color parallels, but thanks to Chris and his collection of them, I now do - and dare I say, that I've actually gone out of my way a few times to look for them in the last year or two.


2013 Panini National Convention Progressions - Black #7

Without looking at my binder, I think this is my only progression from one of The National sets. I prefer the progressions from the Black Friday sets, but it was just too hard to pass up a Kobe card that has a print run of 5, for less than $5 (in credit).


2011 Topps Lineage Reprint Autographs #RA-CD

Love this autograph set, but like a lot of other things, it's been sort of pushed to a back burner. As for the player depicted, there doesn't seem to be whole hell of a lot of info out there about Chuck Diering, even the SABR people haven't done a piece on him yet - probably should have started working on that before he passed away back in 2012, hmm?

Another decent selection, if I don't say so myself. I can see that me and this shuffler are going to get along just fine :)


Thanks for taking a moment to look at my page.