RTP #15 - Special Guest Mark from Mark's Ephemera

Welcome back to The Rockie Trading Post.  Tonight's special guest is Mark from the self titled blog Mark's Ephemera.  Mark, if you haven't met him, collects Negro Leaguers and has a diverse player colection including Orel Hershiser, Bill Wade, Earl Wilson, and Carl Erskine.  I didn't ask, but I am curious as to why those four players (hometown maybe?).  I didn't have any of those players, but I did
send him a couple of Negro League inserts and a stack of Diamondbacks for his dad.  In return, he sent a couple of stacks of Rockies.  Here are some of the highlights.

First up is the first Rockie ever.  Ryan Turner never made the major leagues, but he will always be known as the first person to ever sign with the club.  I love how 1992 Upper Deck appears 3-D on scans, much better than in person.  Our Todd Helton card of the day is this thick 2001 Topps HD.  I like these cards, very nice stock and pretty good photography.

Next up is a really cool subset from 1997 Upper Deck which I had never seen before these two came to me.  The background of the card is colored like the flag of the player's home country.  Recently there have been a lot of these types of cards, but in 1997 they were ahead of the times.  There is a third Rockie, Larry Walker, in this set that I would love to get if anyone has one to spare.

Her we have a 2007 Topps Chrome Refractor of Garrett Atkins.  I liked Atkins while he was in Denver and he had a couple of good years, but the bottom fell out very quickly.  I like the 1996 Metal Universe Vinny Castilla.  It has the raised effect on the name like several sets from the mid 90s.  Since I missed that era, I still enjoy most of the mid 90s stuff that many people got sick of.

 

The first is a 2000 Pacific Aurora Mike Lansing.  Aside from the countless parallels in every set, I really do like most of the Pacific cards that I have seen.  This particular card is well designed, except the shades on the cap look, but that is more Lansing's fault.  Next is a 1995 Upper Deck Charlie Hayes with an excellent close up of his face mask.  I am not completely sure but if I remember correctly, Hayes was hit in the face with a pitch and wore the mask for a while afterward. 

Here are a couple of nice looking horizontal cards.  The Eric Young Upper Deck card shows Vinny Castilla just kind of hanging out in the background.  I honestly forgot he played shortstop in 1994, I always think of him as a third baseman.  The Stadium Club was part of a subset called Best Seat in the House.  From what I gather the picture was taken from that particular seat.  How they came to the realization that it was the best I don't know, but still not a bad idea.

My first baseball Collector's Choice silver signature parallel is this Vinny Castilla.  Vinny appears to be the star of this show today, I didn't realize until I began writing.  The 1997 Circa is possibly the ugliest set I have ever seen.  There are so many bad things about this set, starting with the extended quote?!! on the front of all 3 cards I received.  I can't wait until I knock out the team set for this disaster of a product. OK, I need happy thoughts time...kittens playing with a ball of yarn, ...there I'm better now.

Here we have both the front and back of a 1993 Ultra Bryn Smith.  I am showing this card for two reasons.  First, it is my first Bryn Smith as a Rockie cards and second is the beautiful back of this card.  The front isn't bad, but you have seen that pose 1000+ time on cards, but the back with the purple mountain's majesty is gorgeous.

Let's finish up with 4 more new players for my "One of Every Rockie" collection.  Echevarria had (relatively for his short career) a lot of cards as a Rockie, so I was surprised that this was my first.  Kevin Jarvis is kind of cool because I played against him in high school.  Well my team did as I sat on the bench, he was outstanding against us and I was glad to not get the pinch hit call that day.  Well since I was a "good field, no hit" middle infielder I rarely got that call anyway.


Thanks again Mark for the trade and if I happen upon any of your four players I will help you out.  Make sure you check out his blog here it's an interesting read.  Well that just about does it for this episode of The Rockie Trading Post, tune in next time for our very first returning guest with a new stack of Rockies.  Until then, we are officially signed off.