The Joy of a Completed Insert Set - 2019 Topps Series 1 '84 Topps

The next insert set to share from my 2019 Topps Series 1 set build is the tribute to 1984.  This set consists of 100 cards featuring current players and retired stars in the design of the 1984 Topps set.  This is the second year in a row Topps has thrown it back 35 years to celebrate a set after the 1983 tribute last year.  In the 2017 set, they stayed a bit more current going only 30 years back to 1987.  Previews for 2020 have recently showed that a 1985 tribute is in the works next year.

Once again I will share the fronts of all 100 cards and the back of card #1 then let the scans do the talking:

This set does a nice enough job as a tribute to the 1984 set, this set came out at a peak collecting time for me and I enjoy it.  I have never taken the steps to rank card designs but I would have guess this one would fall somewhere in the middle of the 80s for me.

If you are interested in a look back at other sets I have shared from 2019 Topps Series 1 you can link here:

150 Years of Professional Baseball

Just for the "F" of It #16 - 2005 Donruss Signature Series Rick Dempsey Auto

Today's card is a 100% impulse just for the "Fun" of it card.  I was at the local card show thumbing through a few boxes of top loaded autos are relics.  I was primarily looking for some cheap Giants cards that I needed and wanted and ran across a copy of this card and paused.  I thought about adding it to my stack but realized that the card didn't really fit into my collection so I kept going.  A few handfuls later another copy of the same card presented itself so I flipped it over to the back, saw the price and added it to my stack.

I am not really certain what drew me to this card but I am still happy I picked it up.  Some of the things I like about it include the photo in catchers gear with his mask under his arm, despite its simplicity I think this is a nicely designed card and he has a nice, bold and almost readable signature.

Rick Dempsey was never a favorite of mine but I remember him from his days catching the Orioles in the early to mid 1980s.   He wasn't a great player but ended up being the World Series MVP after the Orioles 1983 World Series victory.  I remember him being recognized as a good defensive player and solid leader on the diamond.  For whatever reason those memories results in me adding this card to my collection.

I mentioned the back and the price and suspect the price tag helped me pull the trigger:

For only 3 bucks it seemed like a great deal.  I actually put together a little stack and the dealer gave me about 20% the labeled price.  I guess I can't beat adding a Just for the "F" of it card for about $2.50.

Card Show Haul

There is one local card show that I know of in the KC area and it takes place 5-6 times per year.  It is at a local hotel and has just a few dealers but I try to check it out as often as my schedule permits.

Last Saturday after my daughter's soccer game, I grabbed my 12 year old son and headed to the show, it is less than 15 minutes from my house.  I thought I would share most of my haul here, holding a couple cards back for future posts.

The last couple times I picked up mainly vintage cards and I went a little more modern on this trip. Right when I walked in the door there were several boxes with top loaded hits that I hadn't seen before on this dealer's table and my son and I thumbed through most of the boxes and I found a few cards for my collection.

These first two cards are for one of my player collections.  I would characterize my pursuit of his cards as somewhat passive.  I have done a decent job of picking up Fred Lynn cards from his playing days but need a ton of his modern releases.  Lynn went to USC, my alma mater and I remember him fondly from his All-Star Game grand slam (even though it was against the Giants) and the tales I read about his amazing ROY and MVP rookie season. I was really happy to pick these up.

Next up is a trio of retired Giants.  All 3 guys only played a portion of their careers for the Orange and Black and only Mitchell is probably best remembered for his tenure with the Giants.  Even thought the Lofton features him in a Sox uniform, there is a Giants logo on the card and therefore into my collection it goes.  I was really happy to see the Dunston Auto as a Giant, hadn't seen this card before.  I have a different parallel of this Mitchell and this gold one looks much better than the one I already had.  Interestingly,  I have a pretty extensive checklist but only the Mitchell was on my list of wants. 

The last 2 cards are from this year and I picked them up more for how nice they looked as the player selection isn't great.  Both Shaw and Garcia are fringe major leaguers in my opinion and I doubt these rookie cards will ever soar in value but the green Finest refractor looks cool and I like the patch on the Garcia card.

My next pick ups came from a dime box and I ended up getting them all for $4 which was under a dime a piece:

I picked up this stack of 37 Baseball All-Time Greats.  I have a few cards from this set but I have been on an oddball kick as of late and thought this may be a set to go after one day so this should be a good start.

I also got 6 of these Baseball Immortals - again an oddball set I wouldn't mind pursuing some day.  I love the color on these cards.

There is a dealer who brings tons of hits in each show.  He is a very nice guy and just does some buying and selling on the side and usually has his son with him.  I have combed through his boxes a few times but he had one box that had mostly newer cards and I picked out these 4 autos:

The 3 guys on the Bowman cards are all considered solid prospects in the Giants system but I picked them up as I usually try and get as many of the base autos as I can for my collection.

The final card from this dealer is this Buster Posey relic from 2019 Topps Heritage.  I was pretty sure I had this card but thought it could go to my son if it was a dup.  It ended up being a duplicate but my son has been a butthead to him mom for the last few days so he won't get the card until he has a solid stint of good behavior.

My final pickup of the show was on my way out and my favorite one by far:

I just love this card!  It is a sweet jersey swatch from former Giants manager and HOFer John McGraw from 2016 Panini Flawless - a very high end product.  The jersey piece has a cool pinstripe and I don't think the lack of logos detracts much with the old timer uniform.  I believe this is my first McGraw relic and it is a great add to my collection.

Not an epic card show haul but it was a fun 90 minutes to spend with my son and add some nice cards to my collection.

McCovey Monday #95 - 2019 Topps Tier One

My favorite player of all time is Hall of Famer Willie McCovey.  I have amassed a collection of almost 1400 different  McCovey cards since I started collecting him in the late 1980s.  I will show off one of my favorite cards on select Mondays.  Stretch was one of the most feared hitters of all time and I am excited to show off my collection.

I am posting a little later than I would like today.  I fly out tomorrow to Phoenix for work had hopes of putting together a weeks worth of posts this weekend but it was just too busy.  Had some fun (49ers vs. Chiefs football game), some kid fun (took the kids to the Kidz Bop concert) then filled the rest of the time with laundry and other household chores.  After this post I will try to get some pics uploaded and perhaps I will create some posts from the hotel room while I am gone.

Today I decided to show one of my newest Willie McCovey pickups:

I am happy to score this dual relic out of /25 from 2019 Topps Tier One.  Solid looking card although the pic is a little blurry.  I had bid on several and lost out on them but now this one pairs nicely with the one out of /175 I picked up around release time:

This pick up ends my quest for McCoveys in this set as the only 3 remaining cards I don't have are all 1/1s which I won't spend to acquire.

Last week I shared the start of my Ginter McCovey quest and I picked on one new card since that post:

I know can knock of the mini gold border off the want list, very happy to have this card.  The gold looks better on the scan than in person, a little too dark while in had.

I figured I would share the other card I got with the McCovey:

I also collect cards of Mr. October, another #44 uniform wearing player from my childhood.  There don't seem to be too many Reggie cards in his Angels uniform but I like seeing them as a change up.  His A's uni tops my list but still enjoy Yankee and Angels cards (the few Orioles cards look wrong to me).

Some Funko Fun

I ran across a YouTube video recently that was sharing some new Funko Pops! and there was one that immediately popped out to me as something I needed for my collection.  If you aren't familiar with Funko Pops!, they are collectables of celebrities, pop culture stars, ad icons and movie/TV characters.  Of course my interest was grabbed when they started doing some sports stars.

As I was looking on Amazon for the Funko Pop! I wanted, I realized there were two I needed to pick up.  The list of MLB players released in later 2018 included Giants Catcher Buster Posey.  Not only was there a Buster Posey, there were two!  One in his home uni and one in his road jersey.  I ordered them both and got them in this week.

From the videos I have seen, the way to showcase Funko Pops! is to show all sides of the box.  Just like cards, condition matters when it comes to value.  One of my boxes arrived pretty tweaked but I am not too perturbed as I don't plan to resell it.  As of now I am storing them on a shelf in the boxes but maybe one day I will crack them and display them out of box.

Here is a all sides (minus the bottom) of both Pops!

Anyone out there have any Funko Pops! in their collection?  I have thought about picking up some of the rock stars they have as well.  If you could get a Funko of a non-sports figure, who might you get?

The Joy of a Completed Insert Set - 2019 Topps Series 1 150 Years of Professional Baseball

Back in 2006 I decided that I was going to start collecting the insert sets in addition to the base sets for Topps Flagship and Update products.  I started my collecting career as a set builder and thought this would be a fun way to supplement the base sets.  I have even gone back and created a want list of inserts for Topps starting back in 1992 with the Black Gold inserts up to 2005 and have made some decent progress on filling the gaps.

I allow myself some freedom to deselect certain insert sets for whatever reason I choose (the Bonds and Mantle HR History cards - too many cards, short printed serial number inserts - too tough to track down, etc.) and don't go after insert or relic sets.

For the last few years I was primarily picking up hobby master sets on eBay as either a pre-release or right after a product was put out then picking up any retail only insert sets I wanted on Sportlots or eBay.  This year Topps made me have to change my tactics as they increased the number of insert cards then inserted them at a reduced rate.  Master sets were almost impossible to find and when they were available the price was higher than I wanted to pay at one time.

This year, I went back to the old fashioned way of set building in the internet era.  I bought packs and blasters to build most of my base set and any inserts I pulled then picked up the rest online through purchases and a few trades.

I decided to show off and document the insert sets I have built in a series of posts and I will start with my favorite Series 1 insert set, the 150 card 150 Years of Professional Baseball set.  This set is number to 150 cards but has 3 different groupings of 50 cards, the first being Greatest Moments, the second being Greatest Players and the third being Greatest Season.  I enjoy this set for the history it chronicles and the great photography chosen on the cards.

I am sharing scans of the fronts of all 150 cards along with the back of the 1st card and will let the scans do the talking, enjoy.

I will share the rest of the insert sets I have completed in the coming weeks.  This year I decided to skip the retail player insert sets (30 cards each of Gleyber Torres and Ronald Acuna Jr.) and the Home Run Challenge inserts so you should see the rest in future posts.