Midsummer COMC pickups

My summer organization project continues, I'm now up to sorting and cataloging my Kirby Puckett cards. All the time spent on this project is the same time I usually use for blogging, and I haven't been to any card shows for some time. I did add some new cards last week, ordering on COMC after trying to fill in some gaps.

After yet another great "Short Term Stops" post on Nick's Dime Boxes Blog, I picked up some cards of a few guys in less than familiar apparel.

Geez, Topps, that's cold. I'm sure Cespedes lives somewhere.

Keeping up as best I can with 2017 releases . . .

A New Kennys Vargas! And one "old" one with a buyback stamp on it! And the most overused design in Topps history gets even more love in 2017 . . . 

Last but not least, there was a very good deal on this Rosario autograph from Topps Finest. I think these look pretty good!

NOW You're Just Being Ridiculous

 I've been tough on Topps NOW - for the price, for the selections made, etc. But I still find cards within the set that I really like. Even though this is totally stupid, I still thought the funeral the Astros held for the glove of Carlos Beltran was hilarious.

I couldn't resist taking home a souvenir of this event. the little signs say things like 3 X Gold Glove, 9 time All Star, AL ROY and so on. Of course, Beltran ended needing to use the glove a few days later, but the team is obvously having a ton of fun. I honestly think this is a good use of Topps Now, especially if they don't reference this in flagship later on.

I really wanted a card to be made for Adrian Beltre's ejection the other night, but I guess Topps would have found it in poor taste? I also think the Rangers should have a "Beltre On Deck Circle" giveaway, and give coasters to the first 10,000 fans or something. My brother suggested it would make for an entertaining bobble head as well.

Keeping up with Twins Topps NOW as well, this one is from June 1st, hoping they can make a few more NOW moments before the year is up.

I added this one to the collection as well - something about father's day uni plus a very rare event (A Walk off hit that completes the cycle) just appealed to me.

gift chrome really liked

Jim of cards as i see them let me know in a comment that he had a Byron Buxton Stadium Club card for me, and the envelope arrive along with a few more great cards!

A trio of Chrome from last season, with Buxton leading off

I feel for Byung-ho, he's a free swinger that wasn't making solid contact in the big leagues, he's still got another year on his contract, but signs haven't been promising that he'll get too many more chances to prove he can hit in the show.

Berrios is still young, I'm curious to see how well he manages the work load down the stretch in his first full season for the Twins. With most rookies, I would be concerned about conditioning, but he might be the best conditioned player on the entire roster.

Here's the great Stadium Club base card that eluded me in the hobby box I bought. Jim set things right!

last but not least, Torii in a weird 2005 Donruss Studio parallel set. I probably have 4 different versions of this card, but this was still a new one to me!

In hindsight, it was easy to see how this card would have been hard to spot in the wild before now.

Christmas in July?!?

John from Johnny's Trading Spot is notorious for generous card bombs, and this one was a sneak attack. A simple, signed note that said nothing more than "Christmas in July!" accompanied this bountiful harvest of cardboard goodness.

Included was a stack of mini-collection cards like Hal Morris at the bat rack. 1995 Score I feel has been forgotten a bit - while it didn't change the game like Upper Deck or Topps Stadium Club, it is an underrated gem of a set.

John hit hard with Twins, like a 1977 "Disco" Dan Ford Cloth Sticker, to a near complete 1987 Opening Day Twins set, to current Twins like the pink refractor of Brian Dozier from Donruss Optic.

Lots of deep cuts from the 90s and early 2000s, hitting some of the sets I haven't spent much time (or money) to build to date.

There was also a small stack of these oversized cards from the late 70s, featuring 1960s Twins like manager Sam Mele, Cesar Tovar,  Don Mincher, and Al Worthington -- to name a few.

Great stuff as always John, I will have to get you back soon!

Sorting Sunday

I have been spending the day sifting through and sorting all my Minnesota Twins "M" players - they are the biggest stack by far, not just because of Joe Mauer.

For example, here's a table full of unique Justin Morneau cards sorted by year. Mauer and Morneau have a ton of cards, but there are tons of Twins like David McCarty, Pat Mahomes, Pat Meares, Joe Mays, Doug Mientkiewicz, Shane Mack - none of them super stars, but so. many. cards.

I am making steady progress, and my goal is still to finish the sorting and cataloging by the end of summer!