I mentioned a few posts back that I’d actually jumped in on three of Brian’s virtual card sales on Twitter last year.* That post covered my “winnings” from the first two, as they came packaged together. Let’s have a look at some of the fun stuff I picked up in the third sale, shall we?
First off, we have a very shiny die-cut of Andrew McCutchen. It doesn’t hurt that he came up as a Pirate, but Cutch has been one of the ballplayers whom I really enjoy, and also by all accounts is an outstanding example. I feel the same about Adam Jones, but he doesn’t have the added sheen of having played for my “backup team,” as it were. At any rate, I keep a small Cutch PC going, so this was a fun addition.
*Don’t worry, the cards are very much real, the virtual aspect refers only to the method of sale.
Speaking of crazy shiny cards, I shelled out a little extra to grab this pair of Oswalt Refractors from 2010 Chrome: one regular refractor, and one lovely orange refractor.
The great thing about dime boxes, virtual or not, is that there are plenty of interesting cards that you’ll chance upon which might not otherwise come into your collecting purview. Such is the case with these fabulous mid-aughts Turkey Red cards of Nolan Ryan and Roy Campanella. Those are downright gorgeous.
I also grabbed a few Aparicio cards. Having read up on him in my younger days, he was one of the guys I came to appreciate through baseball lore.
As was Larry Doby. These two Upper Deck Goudey cards were easy throw-ins to my stack.
The baseball flashbacks in Heritage are typically pretty awesome (although I’m not really sold on the 2019 versions). This Palmer was no different, and I picked it up in order to potentially get it signed.
See what I mean? Nick V. is sure to appreciate these. Heck, I love the Marichal even though it’s about him tossing a No-No against Houston. I may have to send that one off for some ink as well.
Of course, I kept a stealthy eye out for my favorite Pirates, and picked up a new Clemente and Stargell along the way.
And I found another pair of Spahnies!
Here are some rad late-90’s Upper Deck inserts of more recent HOFers (that’s Vlad on the right). The View to a Thrill inserts are just crazy enough and from just the right moment in my collecting heyday that I’m very much considering going for the set.
And speaking of crazy 90’s cards, let’s check out the rest of my Astros pickups. Here’s a pair of Bowman parallels that don’t scan well. That’s an International version of the ’98 Daryle Ward and a Chrome ’99 Alou.
Two HOFer stickers? Well, heck, I think this was maybe a quarter. The checklist on these at TCDB has undergone some changes* so I picked this up unsure of whether I really needed it.
*Folks at the site have figured out the different sticker/back combos and listed them as variants.**
**It still throws me for a loop that the SuperStar cards are considered the “backs” of this set. But I suppose that’s how it was sold, as packs of stickers with bonus cards. It’s just weird to me because the stickers are so much more ephemeral.
1999 Stadium Club! I picked up a handful of these, including the greatest Jose Lima card of all time.
Brian also had plenty of the 1999 Pacific set up for offer – perhaps a result of an abandoned build, or maybe just the leftovers from a box break. At any rate, I was able to nab the Bagwell portrait SP and a needed Biggio.
The Big Unit rounded out my big finds, and I think I was able to come within a card of the team set thanks to this sale.
These are some plain old early-aughts Bowman needs that are no longer needs.
But these two are gold foil parallels! It’s hard to tell, but the signature is in gold on these. I just thought the prospects were all like that, so now I need to double check my dupes around here and make sure of what’s actually on hand.
Now these are undoubtedly parallels. These super sparkly 2011 Diamond Anniversary and “Liquourfractor” Cognac parallels are fuuuuuuun. I especially like the Pence.
I also added some Heritage from my lost days of card collecting. J.R. Towles looks extremely uncertain about Pedro Feliz’s prospects of holding down the hot corner for Houston. Seriously, though – Topps got weird on these Bowman Heritage prospects. Yeah, they’re based off the iconic Red Heart design, but what the hell are you doing painting in the eyes?!? That’s just creepy. Also, Feliz is not worried about the apparent chemical fire in the background, he’s accustomed to it in Houston.
Before we get out of here, I need to show off a couple more Biggio cards I nabbed. That 2000 Topps Gallery is just splendid.
The last cards I nabbed were a pair of my large adult son, George Springer. The Glove Stories insert is one I’ve wanted for a while.
Thanks for the sale, Brian! I’m sure there will be more finds to come in 2019.
That damn open single quote instead of an apostrophe on those Heritage Flashbacks
That's a really nice selection that you ended up with! And it looks like you've got a good start on a Roy Oswalt rainbow 🙂
Haha! I hadn't noticed that, but of course that's the one thing that would irk you about such otherwise fantastic cards.
I've got the base flagship, Chrome, and these two refractors – any others are most welcome!
Turkey Red, Goudey, and Gallery. You're purchased covered a lot of my favorite brands in one shot. Great stuff.