2020 Bowman Platinum (Box 2)

As promised, here is the second box I bought a few months ago while I was Christmas shopping. A rare find on the shelves of Wal-Mart. Haven't seen any cards on the shelves since. Even the Pokemon and Magic displays are getting kind of thin.

First up are the base cards.

The cards still are quite shiny although the scan doesn't represent it very well.

A few more base cards and then the prospects start with Deivi Garcia of the Yankees.

Just like before...I have no idea who any of these players are.

The chartreuse parallels are Jesus Luzardo of the A's and Ryan Garcia of the Rangers.

 The auto is Andy Pages of the Dodgers.

I hope you enjoyed this edition of "How To Spend 45 Dollars on 23 Cards Of Mostly People You Don't Know Without The Wife Knowing".

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Hank Aaron (1934-2021)

 

This is one of the first baseball cards I ever got. I'm sure this came from the bottom of a box of Twinkies because I don't remember my mom ever buying us anything else. She also wrote the first letter of my name on the card too. I've had this card for almost 45 years and it's a thing of beauty.

The back is even better.

Rest in peace, Mister Aaron.

2020 Bowman Platinum (Box 1)

Hello everybody...long time no blog. There isn't anything wrong with your computer...this is actually a new post from me.

Like most collectors, I have witnessed empty card aisles at Wal-Mart and Target for pretty much all of 2020. However, recently I happened to find two lonely boxes of 2020 Bowman Platinum sitting on the shelf. I don't normally buy this product but after scanning the area to make sure it wasn't a mirage or a setup, I brought them to the self service register (that doesn't take cash) to purchase. 

They were $44.95 a piece...for 23 cards. Yikes! That's why I don't buy these.

So I brought them home...where they sat unopened for awhile so I could finish opening my box of 2020 Topps Update (another stellar purchase). 

The box proudly states that there are 2 Chartreuse Parallels and 1 autograph card inside! Whoopee!

So let's get the shrink wrap off and take a look inside.

Looks like a package of small expensive Pop-Tarts.

Here's the first card:

Here's the back...not bad. I've always enjoyed reading the backs of cards. Some issues I can't read the back because the print is too small or the color selection leaves something to be desired. 

Here are the rest. There were ten base cards and ten prospect cards.

Here is the back of the prospect cards. Unfortunately the black font on a grey background is unreadable to me unless I have a light shining right on it. I'm sure you would need 20/20 vision in order to read this without a 100 watt bulb over your shoulder. I used to have 20/20 vision...three decades ago.

Here are more of the prospects...which I'm almost embarrassed to admit that I know none of these people.

And the last prospect plus my two charreuse parallels.

And the autograph is...

Ryan Jeffers. 

Like all of the other prospects...no idea.

Does your initials count as your signature? If somebody asked him to "sign here and initial there", would he do the same thing twice? I need to know this.

I would have to say this was pretty underwhelming for 45 bucks. I will take a page from many a YouTube commenter and sarcastically say "I don't see the value."...which loosely translates into "I can't flip this for four or five times what I paid for it." Apparently there seems to be a growing number of people who think that Topps or Panini or whoever are in business to make them money. From someone who bought a lot of 1991 O-Pee-Chee-Premier I can tell you that is definitely not the case (no pun intended).

At the beginning of the post I mentioned I bought two boxes. Next post...the next box!

Is Two Days Too Long Between Posts?

A very quick post as I trudge through the stacks of cards hidden away in the "Bottom Drawer".

The festivities begin with a 2013 Bowman Chrome Austin Maddox. I like to collect any Red Sox player...well actually I like to collect everything (which is impossible), but Red Sox cards are at the forefront.

Austin Maddox spent some time with the Red Sox in 2017, but is currently on the DL with Pawtucket.

Five from 1985-86 Topps, including Chris Chelios...

...and a Peter Zezel rookie.

Five more from 1992 Bowman.

1984-85 O-Pee-Chee All Star Paul Coffey.

And one of the formerly expensive Brien Taylor prospect cards which can now be had for discount prices.

Is Two Months Too Long Between Posts?

Presenting the latest of my "Look what I got a long time ago" posts, we begin with a couple from 1985 Fleer.

Back in the 80's there weren't a lot of National League games broadcast in my area, so I didn't get to see Kevin McReynolds play much. Most of what I knew about players from that league came from the backs of baseball cards.

Seattle's Phil Bradley, known to Red Sox fans as Roger Clemens' 20th and final strikeout on April 29, 1986.

Nine cards from 1992 Bowman. I had no idea until just now that I bought the Juan Gonzalez card twice.

A couple of quarterbacks from the 1994 Collector's Edge Boss Squad insert set. What you see as white at the top of the card is actually clear. These are pretty cool cards.

I picked up more cards from the terrible set known as the 2016 Topps 65th Anniversary Set which was a Walmart exclusive. Very weak player selection plus if you bought more than one box you got a significant amount of dupes. When I bought these nine cards, I didn't know if I needed them all or not, but since I don't see them very often I tried to remember which ones I needed...and we all know how that usually works out for me.

I already have one of these, but for a dime I'll find room for another thank you.

This Darren Turcotte is not from the 89-90 Topps base set, but from the box bottom. This card was to signify that he was a "Rookie Leader" in Games Played, Goals and Power Play Goals.

1982-83 O-Pee-Chee Paul Coffey which I also picked up for a dime, well below what it books for. 

I have no idea why I bought this.

Was it because of Bobby Orr?

Was it because of Eric Lindros?

NO!

It was numbered 4253 out of 10,000! How could I pass that up?

I have the foggiest idea what this card is, but does it really matter?

This is another group of cards to be filed under the "I have no idea what they are" category.

Here are the backs. Don't be shy about speaking up if you know what these are.

A 1988-89 Topps Joe Nieuwendyk rookie for a dime.

Even though I'm not currently collecting this set, it's hard to turn down a dimebox card from the 1974-75 O-Pee-Chee set (where the cards of some coaches can run you $60...granted it's Scotty Bowman and Don Cherry). 

More from the "bottom drawer" in the next post!

The Bottom Drawer

The bottom drawer is where cards I have bought at shows sit and wait for me to post about them. Some cards have been waiting a really long time.

To the left you can vaguely make out some supplies...that's where I keep my protective sleeves and plastic cases. I also have a few partial sets sitting in there as well. 

So let's clean out some of this mess and post about it!

Starting off with a card that you can see in the picture of the bottom drawer. More from 1974 Topps. I'm sure I got this at the same time as the cards I posted about last.

I also grabbed a few cards from the Traded set as well. Enjoy this superb nostril shot of Willie Davis. 

Sometimes I'll see a card and think "Is this the best picture they had of him?" It looks like he's about to leave.

Here are a few more 1977 Topps I picked up at some point. Even though I enjoy the newer sets, I much prefer the sets from this era.

What I'll show last in this post is this 1993 Bazooka set of Team USA. I probably paid a dollar for this. I know I didn't pay $3.50.

For some reason I though Nomar Garciaparra was in this set, but there still are a few good players here. Definitely worth what little I paid for it.

Till next time!