Surprise Vintage Auto

Batting Out of Order dropped some hotness in the mail for yours truly recently. This is among the most obscure Reds autos I own now. Fantastic.

cxvv

 

Who is Vern Benson, you may ask. Major League debut in 1943 at age 18 for the A's. Went 0 for 2 and didn't make it back to The Show for 3 years and promptly went 0 for 5. Another 5 year stint in the minors then about 100 at bats for the Cardinals 1951-1953, barely clearing the Mendoza line, and it's onto a coaching career.

 

A few minor league head coaching gigs and several Major League bench coaching gigs that led to precisely one game as the Atlanta Braves manager when the league got angry at Ted Turner for firing manager Dave Bristol and taking over the helm himself. MLB told Teddy he can't manage as an owner. One game with Turner managing (a loss) and then one game managed by Benson (a win) while Bristol was being compelled to return. 

 

Signed is a 1967 Cincinnati Reds Photocard from one of the four years bench coaching the Reds under Bristol. Sweet.

 

Also included was this nonsense I put on my want list, because I'm truly insane.

 

And toss in a couple Salt Lake Bees cards, which have upgraded my Opening Day Nines album. This set was produced by a local radio station in Utah as a promo for the local Minor League squad. Handful of legends for the kids.

 

Thanks, dude. Go Halos.

And Go Redlegs. 

Big Haul Photo Dump - Junk Retail Issue, Junk Parallels, Junk Sets

And I said, "What about Breakfast at Jimmy Dean's?"
She said, "I think I remember those links and
As I recall, I think we both kinda liked it"
And I said, "Well, that's the one card we got"

This is the last post from the big haul. Not everything has been shown, but every set has. Seriously beefed up the Junk Wax binders.

 

Notes:

It will be a sad day when I finally snag every Jimmy Dean card.

I forgot all about those '91 Topps Scratchers. 

Mid-90s Finest continues to resist good scans.

I dread the day when the only '93 Topps Gold I need is the Jeter.

Sadly had been missing any hardware store cards until now. Huzzah. 

Go Redlegs

Big Haul Non-Baseball Photo Dump

I do, I'm standin' in your line
I do, hope you have the time
I do, pick a number too
I do, keep a date with you 

My precious Junk Wax

 

Notes:

Needed a Jerry Jones for the NFL HoF binder. Him with Jimmy will suffice until I find a solo.

The Bengals Topps are all silly variations involving copyright line asterisks or whatever.

Daugherty is a Micky Dees release.

Abdul-Rauf in front of that brick wall is dope. Too bad 94 Finest scans like garbage.

Flair USA bumping up their checklist with like 30 coach cards is a stunning use of resources. 

 

 

Go Redlegs.

Big Haul 90's Inserts Photo Dump

90's junk inserts bay-beeeeeeee. Admire the extreme value to be found from 1991 to 1995.

 Go Redlegs.

650 Card TCDB Haul

Sometimes a trader has hundreds of junk cards from my want list and I only have two or three from theirs. When they propose a two-card trade that ain't even worth the stamp, I come back at em with "give me a price to send me all that 90's garbage". It's either ignored or I'm hit with a dollar amount so baffling, I feel it's some sort of sociological experiment.

Not this time! Big box delivered.

Rundown, top left pile first:

~50 1994 Flair USA Basketball

~225 1993 Donruss (only 3 away from the complete set now)

~80 Junk Wax inserts

~40 Score Gold Rush

~75 CC Silver Sigs under that Frank

~30 Misc junk football

~30 80's Topps Traded

~40 Topps Finest

~25 US Olympics

~25 Puzzle/Sticker cards

~40 retail issue 

 

Very happy to get to sortin'. Y'all know how it is. 

 

Also in the box, the infamous Menendez Brothers Mark Jackson 1990 NBA Hoops.  

 

Iconic.

Go Redlegs. 

 

Manly Firmness

That's a phrase in The Declaration of Independence, if ya didn't know. Here are my most American signed cards, in honor of our manly firmness:

Go Redlegs.

Tremendously Valuable Autograph Booklet Cards

There is a lot of sarcasm in that title.

A few years ago I decided my collection is incomplete without an actual booklet auto. I'm am so far removed from high-end collecting that I'm not even sure 'booklet card' is what these are called. But that must be right.

Turns out, these are pretty pricey. UNLESS you go both unlicensed and deeeeeep into the roster of a fledgling small market team. Huzzah, my wheelhouse. 

 

Alejo Lopez is 2022 Panini Absolute Rookie Whatever /60. Lopez peppered 180 plate appearances for the Reds 2021-2023. He's currently on the Mariners' AAA team.

Tony Santillan is 2022 Panini Absolute Rookie Whatever /99. Big Tony has been a middle reliever for the Reds since 2021. He was impressive in 2024 and 2025 but is strug-gull-ing this year. But aren't we all.

Booklet autos. Check and check.

Go Redlegs.