Bustin' Makes Me Feel Good

Hey let's bust some retail, shall we? Because money is stupid.

With apologies to Ray Parker Jr.

Whatdowegot? A 2018 Donruss blaster. A 2018 Opening Day cheapo blaster. A 20 pack repack.

It looks better like this. The hit from the repack was pretty decent. Future Hall of Famer Edgar Martinez, whose scan somehow vanished. You can see it on the pile though. I'm ignoring the mini-figures and the Topps Big because they don't fit in regular pages and I hate them.

But on to the most important part... NEW REDS.

There are 5 Reds in the 200-card 2018 Opening Day base set and 4 Reds Mascots in the 25-card Mascot insert set. Makes sense to me. The shiny Votto is from the fancypack in the Donruss box. And why was I happy to pull a Reds Rediscover Topps? Because I'm insane.

Here's a bunch from the Donruss box. Pretty good acutally, including a Kluber /49, a Harper /386, and a Goldschmidt /149.

Piled up some Reds dupes and some Reds in the wrong unis.

Two GOLD REDISCOVER TOPPSES. SUPER RARE! I guess. The Berkman/Oswalt might actually fetch a premium.

And a shit-ton of silly inserts, naturally.

Go Reds.

Bat Blog-Around - My Minutia

Or is it blog bat-around? Or bat-around-the-blog? Or is it show-your-specific-flavor-of-insanity-around? Probably that one.

Here are all my stupid projects, in reverse order of how much I care about em.

• Flagship Pages

One from each flagship set, 1951-2018. Superstars are not a requirement, but I will bump cards off of these pages for upgrades without hesitation.

• Shaq/Junior/Big Hurt

I saw Shaq break a backboard at LSU on TV. Hooked for life. Frank Thomas was just always loved. As was Griffery. If there's a stray one of these three in a quarter box, I take it. This is a maximum price.

• 1991 Sets

1991 is when this all started for me. Specifically, '91 Topps. But '91 Score won my heart. If I see a five dollar set at a show that I don't have, I snag it. Baseball, football, and basketball. The nostalgia is real.

• Cincinnati Bengals

One card of every Bengal who has suited up. Simple. Also impossible to get everybody, even more so than baseball.

• Opening Day Binder

The Opening Day starting nine from each year. Nicely arranged by position on the field. I really like this binder. This page is from 2000, fyi.

• Columbus Clippers

One card of every player who played for the Columbus Clippers and made the majors. Why? I live in Columbus and go to about 20 games a year.

• Hall of Fame Binder

One card of everyone in the Hall of Fame. Everyone. Execs, umpires, players, coaches. Preferably a card from their playing days, but that's too pricey. I'm down to only needing a dozen or so, all execs and Negro Leaguers. It's been stalled for so long I'm about to design my own and have them printed on thick stock by some internet service.

• The Frankenpages

A full page of each card number, composed entirely of doubles. I love replacing cards in these with upgrades. I feel less stupid about grabbing doubles when they improve these pages.

• IP Autographs

Many by TTMs. Many from eBay. Many from card shows. I only require one of each player, but sometimes more appear. Still looking for an auto from that 1869 team.

• The Collection

The main monster. Every Red possible. Autos, relics, vintage, modern, parallels, variations, oddballs. It's all good. Quantity over quality always. Could I flip all of my Pacific parallels and O-Pee-Chee sets for a Pete Rose rookie? Maybe. But I haven't, so I must not really want one. I'm currently sitting on 20,294 unique Reds. And that doesn't count the non-official autos. Those are separate. I'm trying to picture myself unloading all these cards in my old age. I can't picture it. You will have to build my coffin out of my binders. YOU HEAR ME? Bury me in cardboard. Line the grave with 9-pocket pages. Put it all in one big-ass screw-down. I will never quit you, Reds cards.

Go Reds.

1909-11 Colgan's Chips Stars of the Diamond Bob Spade

Last bit from the card show. Just one card. But it's worth its own post.

Boom. 1909-11 Colgan's Chips Stars of the Diamond Bob Spade. You might recognize these from a Panini Cooperstown (or Golden Age, or whatever) release a few years ago.

They were released in little tins of gum and mints, it seems. They are a lot smaller than I realized, since I'd only really seen the Panini things. This Spade is less than 2 inches across. No biggie. The super-vintage dude had a stack. There was one Red. Easy decision. Here's the back:

Off-center. Or maybe they are all like this. All the words are there, so I am not phased. I love the hundred-year old slogan. "THE GUM THAT'S ROUND". No need to spruce that up at all. SHIP IT.

Doritos: "THE CHIPS THAT ARE TRIANGLES"
iPhone: "THE PHONE THAT IS A RECTANGLE"
eBay: "THE SITE WITH THE THINGS"

Beware of imitations.

Go Reds.

Card Show Grabs - Part 2

Look! Baseball cards!

Shiny Vottos are good Vottos. Y'all ready for Joey to win MVP this year?

Optic insert Griffey. This thing is hideous.

I 100% need to stop buying Bowman parallels out in the wild, without my spreadsheets handy. I had nearly all of these already. Hopefully they can fill some Frankenset needs.

I got excited finding a 90's refractor with that Gant. Too bad I didn't notice he's a filthy Cardinal in the photo. And an aspect I love about the Donruss Stat Line parallel: Unless it's ERA, the worse you are at something, the rarer your card is. Yorman Rodriguez hit .222 in 27 at bats in his only year in the majors. So he gets only 222 copies of his parallel. Woo doggie.

Base cards I somehow thought I didn't have (except the Senzel, which I wanted more of). I was correct on all of them except the Leake.

Speaking of Senzel, here's some early Senzies. Why 4? Why not, punk?

Shiny Pete Rose. He is not banned from my heart.

Last card today is a generic relic of an okay player. What sums up the current state of things better?

One more card to post from the show. I'm saving it for tomorrow. Try not to become overwhelmed by the anticipation, kids.

Go Reds.

I Go to Card Shows and Buy Cards and Here Are Some of Them

Anything left out of that title? Don't think so. Let's roll.

Many minis with many mini backs. Sadly, I somehow had three of these already. Life is pain.

Oooooh, here we go. Pocket schedules! A shameful hole in my Reds collection. I want them, but I don't want to spend a dollar on them. These were fitty cents, which is precisely what I think they're worth. There exists something I like better though...

MINOR LEAGUE pocket schedules! Louisville Bats (AAA) and Dayton Dragons (A). I should tag these NSFW due to their unapologetic sexiness.

2018 Heritage non-high-numbered-non-short-print team set. Raisel Iglesias chiming in with the BIG RED GLOVE.

The only non-Reds I purchase from shows are stray quarter-box Griffeys and Frank Thomaseses. I went 80% in terms of 'don't have em'. Acceptable.

Closing with two Billy parallels. Has there ever been a more popular player with a lifetime OBP under .300? I say no.

More goods tomorrow.

Go Reds.