Cavalcade of Keepers 6

It's been a while, but here once again is a closer look at five cards from the mighty Keeper Box.

This Ripken from Upper Deck kind of makes it look like he was retiring from baseball altogether when in fact he was really just breaking the unbreakable record. I'll never forget watching that game on TV with my Dad. It was strange at the time because we never really watched baseball together all that much. I remember we laughed when they gave him a massive 2,131 lb boulder for his lawn. We thought that was hilarious.

There are a LOT of cards out there heralding Ripken's record, and I thought I was familiar with just about every one until this one popped out of a blind LCS long box. It's from that super fancy Select Certified that was around for a while, and it showcases Cal's photogenicity nicely. The guy's eyes walk the line between "Oh, you have some nice blue eyes," and "Holy Lord how long has that zombie cadaver been smiling at me?"

Anyway, the theme of this Cavalcade is Ripkens in case you were late for the trolley.

Of all those great Ripken tributes that came out in the mid-90's, this is the weirdest. It's a picture of he and Ben McDonald roughhousing while playing what looks to be three flies in. Then it's got the 2000 straight games banner (he wouldn't break the record until the following year) mounted along the side having little or no reference point in the photo. Just a weird selection. Then again, had I worked at the card company that day, I'd have chosen a boring old hero shot like everybody else did. Perhaps this is just another reason Collector's Choice was way, way ahead.

I picked this card up for two dollars (really it was eleven relics cards for $22, some of which were Griffeys). A fellow collector was liquidating, and I got the benefit. Two legend bat relics on one card. Check out how Upper Deck oriented the wood grain identically. Lotta love here.

In case you were wondering why I decided to do a Ripken-themed COK, here's why:

I finally got one! I've been putting it off forever because I keep coming across poor condition versions, and I just wasn't prepared to compromise on my first copy of this card. The one you're looking at I found for around twelve bucks, and the condition is insanely good apart from a little off-centering. Cal looks to have the quiet confidence he's always had even this early in his MLB career. Poor Bonner and Schneider look just happy to be there,

Thanks for reading!

Sing the Praises of the Nachos Grande Group Break!

If you haven't yet gotten around to joining a Nachos Grande group break (and if you're a Mariners fan, sorry I always take 'em), you are missing out. I've done well over a dozen now and love every one.

Even when I don't end up with new Griffeys or monster hits, I still walk away happy because Chris throws in extras from his own collection that make the whole thing worthwhile every time (though I'm certain he must be running out of Mariners extras by now).

Taken Friday in a restaurant in Vancouver

This most recent break was one of the priciest I've joined (ever, not just from NG with boxes from Topps HIGH TEK and 2014 Stadium Club to name a few. The Mariners ended up with very few cards from the main boxes, and yet I came home from a trip to find a flat rate box loaded with sweet Griffey and Mariners goodies! That's about the closest thing to good group break "customer service" as I can imagine.

Griffeys! All dupes, sure, but I'm more than happy to give them a home.

My King Felix hit collection has been growing in thanks to some generous traders. Check out the sweet relic on the top right. Those eye blacks are also a hit of sorts in that they're about as rare a card as I could have expected to pull from Triple Play. I really like these and lament their Griffeylessness.

Claiming the Mariners in a group break always leads to plenty of Ichiros. Check out that lovely Upper Deck Vintage relic. That is one great-looking card. And those Topps painting cards always remind me of "The Kramer."

Is it just me?

I still get excited about A-Rod cards despite the recent unpleasantness. Looks like an autograph shot at the bottom there.

My rarely-mentioned PC of Mr. Dan Wilson got a few new additions, too.

Buhners and Oleruds! John joined the team just after Junior had already left. This saddens me because I'd like to see a card or two featuring the eventual pair of Hall of Famers. Blue Fleer Buhner is one of my favorites from the entire box, but that '97 Collector's Choice base card has a secret, too:

It's a reverse cameo! Or should we call that a card back cameo? I like "reverse" from my coin-collecting days. Anyway, it counts!

While he's not a PC of mine, I have a LOT of Edgar Martinez cards. Anybody know anybody who collects him? I think I might make someone's day in a trade...

Just a bunch of great Mariners cardboard. That John McLaren Ichiro fist-bump is probably my favorite card in the whole box despite the great relics and Griffey cameo. One excellent manager card!

These I posted because a) I love that 2014 SC Cano and b) I wish I wish there was a Griffey with that Safeco Field backdrop. Ah, what could have been...

You've already seen that TP sticker which I absolutely LOVE. I don't know where or when I could rock the M's temp tattoo. Perhaps when they get to the World Series I'll give it a go. In the meantime it's going in the General Mariners cards section of my Griffey binder (yes, there is such a thing).

Finally came these Mariners mini-figs and a King Felix chip. The Chipz have really grown on me. I hope they come back with a few retired players this year.

Great break, Chris, and all the loot is much appreciated. Can't wait for the next one!

Top 30 Best Griffey Acquisitions of 2014 Part 3: The 1%

This is it, guys. This is where it gets real - real expensive. Of the 973 new Griffeys added last year, these are quite literally the 1%. The absolute best ones. They're the bee's knees, the cat's pajamas, and the dog's bollocks all rolled into one. Feel free to compare these to my Top 10 from 2013. I'll admit before we start that it's tough to top a '93 Finest refractor, but I think we did pretty darn well.

Let's boogie:

#10

1999 SP Top Prospects Game Used Minor League Bat Relic #G-JR

I have numerous bat relics for Junior, but this one is unique. The card claims it to be from one of his Minor League bats, and if that’s true a little piece of history it is, indeed. The design is excellent as is the fantastic Griffey-in-the-minors awesome swing shot. And check out the bright red #24 emblazoned on his jersey below blue lettering – if you squint he almost looks like a Dodger.

#9

2001 Stadium Club Play at the Plate Game Used Dirt Relic #PP4

Another relic with few or no peers, this one holds dirt from the batter’s box tread upon in a real game by probably dozens of big-leaguers. Hopefully one of them was the guy on the card. This insert is such a strange premise, and I honestly don’t know how this has never been done again or since, to my knowledge, anyway. The design could use some tweaking, but I think that even non-collectors can appreciate the idea.

#8

2014 Topps All-Rookie Cup Team Rookie Cup
Commemorative Relic #TARC-8

A lot of people don’t like manufactured relics and I get that, but this is a Topps Rookie Cup on a Topps card made by Topps that was pulled from a pack of Topps. Topps made the rookie cup famous in the first place, so their manufactured version is as original an artifact as you can get apart from those impossibly rare little metal cups from the 80’s and 90's. Apparently only eight of the latter were made via Junior’s 1990 Topps card. Lucky for me there were 99 of this one, and I landed #30, his Cincy uniform number. This Ebay 1/1 is better than that other not-all-that-authentic 1/1 from earlier in the countdown, no doubt.

#7

2009 Upper Deck #93 SP

There’s something off about this card. I don’t know if everyone notices it right away, but it sticks out like a sore thumb when I look at it. It’s that facial expression, guys. It’s the posture, the folded hands, the general malaise of this otherwise joyous and awesome moment. The microphone is a million miles away, the chair beside him is empty, and the guy to his left sporting khakis and short sleeves is doing something that involves looking in the other direction. There’s just a lot of upsetting stuff all going on at once, and yet Upper Deck saw fit to slap it on a tough-to-find short print that sells for way more than it should. 

Despite all that, I still love the card. It’s positively dripping with truth and realism. It’s telling a small piece of a larger story from the annals of baseball history that everyone may have expected but couldn’t necessarily show evidence for. It says to the world, “Junior came to Seattle to retire here. He’s not producing like he used to, and everyone knows the end is near with little or no possibility of a World Series ring before it’s done. This truly is the beginning of the end.” And every bit of body language the Kid is giving us here screams that he knows all that. I could see this card upsetting some people, but it's also so personal and humanizing that it's stunningly beautiful. While it may be #7 in this countdown, this really is one of the greatest Griffeys of all time for reasons that reach far beyond the hobby and into the human soul.

THERE's your mother-flippin' card description.

#6

1987 Bellingham Mariners Team Issue #15

This card is great in the way that so many cards from the 60’s through the 80’s are great: it’s simple, it’s colorful, and it’s beautifully imperfect. Check out the authentic baseball background - it’s like a little league photo. It pre-dates Junior's San Bernardino Spirit pre-rookie from the last countdown post, and yet this card appears far superior. You might think the production value of his cards would get better as he got closer to the majors. Definitely not so in this case. Yellow border for life!

#5

2014 Topps All-Rookie Cup Team Rookie Cup Commemorative Relic
#TARC-8 Vintage #/25 (Trophy)

This is the Daddy of manu-relics, my friends. The original Topps All-Star Rookie Trophy (which predates me and both my siblings, by the way) cast in metal, mounted into the thickest card in Christendom, and numbered to only 25 of which I got the very last one. The Rookie Cup is a lot more recognizable to me than the trophy being that I'm a child of the 80’s, but this trophy has history. It’s on my Rusty Staub and Ron Swoboda rookies as well as countless other vintage gems. And again, that trophy is a proprietary Topps thing which makes this just as authentic as any jersey/bat/patch/jock strap relic you may come across. I stand by that.

When I first got this card early in 2014, I considered it the front-runner for the #1 spot on this list. The fact that it got bumped to #5 says a lot about the next few acquisitions.

#4

1989 Topps Traded Tiffany #41T

This guy here was the last major-brand rookie I needed, and I finally landed it when I bit the bullet and picked up a whole sealed set of 1989 Topps Traded Tiffany. While it isn't anything you haven't seen before, it was in the top spot on my want list for so bloody long. It also doesn't hurt that the card itself is glossy and gorgeous. The colors just explode off the surface.

#3

2012 Topps Golden Giveaway Gold Team Coin
Autograph #GTC-KGJ #/30

The only way we were gonna top those last few cards was with some autographs. Here to not surprise anyone at all is that amazing Topps Gold Team Coin I got from card and Army veteran Jason, formerly of Joe Average Card Collector. The money I sent him for this lil' nugget got him tickets to a real MLB game where he got to sit with the Rockies team owner. In exchange I got this low-numbered autographed beauty with a big metal coin in it.  Who got the better end of the deal here depends on where your priorities lie. My priorities have me way ahead.

Thanks again, Jason!

#2

2005 Upper Deck Reflections Dual Signature Autograph #KGKG
(w/ Ken, Sr.) (Slabbed BGS 9/Auto 10)

Were you aware that Griffey's dad also played professional baseball?!? How cool is that? It's a no-brainer for card companies to take advantage of that fact with one of these great dual-signature numbers, and it's even more of a no-brainer that I should have one in the collection. I am, after all, a "Junior" myself.

There are a few different Jr/Sr dual sigs available, but I decided to go with one that shows them both as Reds. Eventually I would like to get my hands on a dual-Mariner version (which I have not yet been able to find and, therefore, may not even exist), or at the very least one showing each Griffey on his respective heritage team. In the meantime this refract-tastic beauty will sit, slab un-cracked, in a place of honor in my safe deposit box with all my other indispensables of Griffeydom.

This is the end, folks: my best Griffey acquisition of 2014. If you keep up with the blog, you can probably guess what it is. If not, feast your eyes:

#1

1994 Upper Deck Griffey/Mantle #KG1 Griffey Autograph /1000

It's indescribably beautiful. They should have sent...a poet.

The print quality of this baby is astounding - you can see every brush-stroke that went into that painting. And the painting itself is just perfect. My favorite part is the left-to-right background fade from Yankee blue to Mariner green. The Kid's signature is right on-point, too. While there are 1000 of these babies floating around, it's so legendary a card that it continues to this day to carry a monster price tag.

No, it's not the dual-signature version, but 2015 is another year. As long as my wife never reads these posts (which is a safe bet), I don't see why I couldn't set enough aside to land the big boy before the year is out. Don't bet on it, but it's not outside the realm of possibility. I mean, I've gotten this far, right?

_________________________________________________________________

Thanks for hanging in there with me. It was a great year on the baseball card front with a ton of amazing bloggers new and old, and trades, and through-the-mail friendships. I really am grateful. Let's keep doing it, m'kay?

In case I haven't made my intentions clear enough...

Top 30 Best Griffey Acquisitions of 2014 Part 2: the Also-Ran

Welcome back. I'm ranking the Top 30 of the 973 Griffeys I added in 2014, and this is the middle ten. These are the ones that, while excellent cards all, just missed out on being in Top 10. It was tough ruling some of these out of the top of the list, but it was such an amazing year for new Griffeys that I feel like I can stand by my picks.

Here we go: 

#20

2000 Just 2K Mystery Gamers Game-Used
Bat Relic #MG.01

One of the most bizarre relic cards I’ve ever come across for any player, this set of cards from Just Minors gives you a relic without telling you whose relic you’ve got. That’s the craziest damn thing I’ve ever heard of from the realm of relics, but it’s also kind of fun. Without photos or nameplates of any kind the card itself is a little boring, but the trivia printed on the card back make it incredibly easy to guess the player. This card will be getting its own post sometime very soon. It’s too weird not to.

#19

1997 Pinnacle New Pinnacle Spellbound #1KG-J

Sure it’s just a silly insert, but I was ecstatic to finally land this puppy. It was the last card I needed to complete Griffey’s part of the insert checklist, and it took forever to track down for some reason. All six cards spelling out JUNIOR look excellent in the binder together, and I even ended up with an extra R. This one in particular is especially great because of the excellent photo and for the fact that it could very well stand alone without the other letters, a quality you just won’t get from the N or the U or, you know, the other three letters in Junior.

#18

1993 Fax Pax #2 (UK)

An oddball of international proportions, this is from Fax Pax, a set of cards made in the United Kingdom that feature players from just about every sport imaginable including football, basketball, golf, tennis, boxing, rugby, and cricket. I’m willing to bet these were fetching high prices stateside before the card bubble popped. I'm suddenly craving a crumpet. I don't even know what that is...

#17

1997 Topps Gallery Peter Max #PM5

I pulled the Frank Thomas from this insert out of a pack when the set first came out, and right away I loved it so much that I’ve been chasing the Griffey ever since. It happens occasionally that I get a wild hair to just pull the trigger already on a long-sought 90’s insert, and this year that happened with this Peter Max. Thick and beautifully-printed with lots of color and character, this card really is a thing of beauty and a major reason why I miss Topps Gallery so much.

#16

2008 Upper Deck Premier Four Jersey Relics #PR4-KG #/50

This is one of the first of these I’ve ever owned for any player, and by “these” I mean multi-relic cards that spell out stuff. Unfortunately there’s only one color cloth here (I’m thinking this is a lot of pants), but the card itself is attractive enough and numbered out of only 50. Plus it heralds Junior’s #3 which he only wore for a short period towards the end of his career in Cincinnati as a tribute to his three kids. There’s a lot to like about this one. Plus it has a hashtag which I believe were called "pound signs" when this was printed. #aheadofitstime #whenwillthisfadend?

#15

1994 Flair Hot Glove #3

This ‘90’s insert used to go for 80 bucks, and despite card values dropping like dead flies this one seems to have held its value better than most comparable inserts due to its extreme die-cutting and popularity when it first debuted 20 years ago. Nowadays they tend to sell in the 15-20 dollar range, but when this one popped up on COMC for a drastically discounted price, I had to bite. Another I’ve been after since adolescence.

#14

2003 Topps Farewell Riverfront Stadium Seat Relic #FR-KG

This seat relic insert from Upper Deck came out following the 2002 demolition of Riverfront Stadium, also known as Cinergy Park. Formerly the home of both the NFL Cincinnati Bengals and the MLB Cincinnati Reds, Junior did not have quite as many memories of this building as did his Dad who helped rock Riverfront as part of the Big Red Machine. A Griffey, Sr. card would be more appropriate holding this relic, but it’s still a very cool and unique card.

#13

2010 Sega Card-Gen

What the hell is this thing? Sega? Like, the video game company? Why are there seven stars plus one empty one? Maybe there’s an explanation on the back….GOOD LORD. It’s all in Japanese. What am I holding? Why does it have rounded corners? Is it a game? Did Griffey play in Japan at some point and I never heard about it? Someone explain it to me!

As many of you know, this card came to me from Zippy Zappy, the blogsphere’s #1 source of Card-Gen. He saw it fit to equip me with my first and only Card-Gen card. Having never seen a checklist for these or even any for sale anywhere ever, I have no idea whether there are more Griffeys available or if this is the only one. It’s a looker, too, as far as baseball gaming cards go. A very exciting piece of trade fodder.

#12

1988 San Bernardino Spirit #34 Blue Jersey Photo Variant

Here is the photo variant for one of Junior’s most popular pre-rookies. It's significantly rarer, but I'm glad it exists because the other version has a super-blurry photo. This one is crisp and exudes the kind of charm that only an amateur photographer can bring to the table. The heavy-handed cropping is about the only thing that kept it out of the top 10. I wanna see what's beneath those palm trees!

#11

1989 Donruss #33 Rated Rookie (sealed in pack)

It is providence that this pack is still sealed with the Griffey in it. Really, it should be loose with the rest of my #33’s, but a moment of inspiration spared it at the last moment. Wanna hear about it?

A few months ago I had grabbed a couple dozen 25-cent packs from a bin at the monthly card show, most of it ’89 Donruss. I began busting them in search of a fresh Griffey, and having already busted two it suddenly hit me that I should start checking them before opening to see if the Griffey was visible through the paper on the back of the pack. Literally the very next pack I grabbed was the one you’re looking at. Had I decided to start checking them three seconds later, this card would be sitting in a 9-pocket page with dozens of other identical #33’s. Instead it resides in a super-thick top loader in the Griffey box. It was meant to be.

Up next: my Top Ten Griffey Acquisitions of 2014. Prepare ye.

Top 30 Best Griffey Acquisitions of 2014 Part 1: The Worst of the Best

I added 973 new unique Griffeys to the collection in 2014. That's a little over 2 1/2 a day. As it is the tendency of people to only focus on the best of things, it's now time to look at my best new Griffey adds from last year.

I started a Top 10 list similar to the one I made last year, and just a few minutes into trying to reign in said list I realized it was hopeless to limit myself to only ten.  So, I decided to up my limit to 20, an idea that lasted, oh, three and a half minutes.  Now here we stand at 30.  We're going to break it up into three posts, too, so take your time and enjoy.

Let's roll:

#30

1990 Fleer #513 Canadian Version

I've been after this poor excuse for a variant since I first heard of its existence.  I was warned that it wasn't worth chasing due to the fact that the only difference is that it says "Printed in Canada" instead of "Printed in USA," but I just had to have it.  It earns a spot on this list simply for the fact that it's been on my want list for so long.  Dreams really do come true...

#29

2014 Rookies ('88 Donruss)

You all know how much I love oddballs.  Well this is a wildly unlicensed but very well-done custom oddball featuring rookie Griffey on a pre-rookie design.  Great picture, great use of the Rated Rookie logo, and great printing quality.  I want a dozen more of these.

#28

2014 Rookies (Future Uniform)

Another custom job from the same company, this oddball seems to be based loosely on the 1971 Topps black border design.  It's noting to write home about apart from the photo which makes this the only card I own featuring Junior in one of those funky future concept uniforms.  That one aspect was enough to earn it a spot on this list.

#27

Future Stock 1/1

Are you spotting a trend yet?  Yeah, I love oddballs.  This number from a company called Future Stock is a 1/1.  It seems, however, that Future Stock makes cards with pre-planned scarcity specifically to sell on eBay.  I fell for it once and landed this otherwise cool card which show Junior in his Team USA WBC uni in a fun paper effect.

#26

1997 Pinnacle Passport to the Majors #2

Look!  A real card.  This one's an insert from 1997 Pinnacle, and one of the coolest concepts for a folding card I've ever come across.  It's on this list because I've wanted this specific card since I was a kid, and now I have one of my own.  A very cool, excellently-designed insert.

#25

1993 Cardtoons #67 Ken Spiffy, Jr.

You will learn quickly that I am bananas about these cartoon cards that came out in the early 90's because there are TWO of them in this countdown. They're the oddballiest. The back of this card is just as much fun as the front:

Mari-nerds! Why don't I see dozens of these on the blogsphere?

#24

2009 Disabled Veterans Limited Edition #22

There’s a lot to like about this oddball, including a great modern design, lots of team color, and an MLB license to boot. Not to mention that it’s one of the most recently-produced licensed oddballs I’ve ever seen let alone that was also a Griffey card. And let’s not forget patriotism.

#23

2014 Upper Deck 25th Anniversary Promo #UD25-KG

Guess what? Upper Deck is still making baseball cards, baby. And some of them are Griffeys. And some of those Griffeys are homages to their first card ever which is also – you guessed it – a Griffey. In fact, Upper Deck made no fewer than six distinctly different Griffeys in 2014, and this one is my favorite.  I just love that it exists. I love the photo, the hat logo, the metal bat. I love the trees and the grass and the Rockwellian farm fence. It's beautiful, and it’s also brand spankin’ new; but it does beckon the question: at what point should we start considering Upper Deck baseball cards oddballs?

#22

1995 Stadium Club Ring Leaders #14

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

#21

1992 Flopps Ken Groovy, Jr.

This ludicrous cartoon card with super high production value made quite a splash when I first posted an image of it a few weeks back. And why shouldn’t it? It’s freakin’ crazy. It’s like the Garbage Pail Kids version of a baseball card. I didn’t even know cards like this even existed until I spotted this one on COMC while perusing the recently-added Griffeys. It was very close to landing in my Top 20, but it got edged out by a few highly-prized relics and 90’s inserts.

Up next, cards 11-20 in the countdown.