Rockie Trading Post #25 - Special Returning Guest Bo from Baseball Cards Come to Life

Welcome to the landmark 25th episode of The Rockie Trading Post featuring a grand total of 0 Rockies.  Today's special returning guest is Bo from Baseball Cards Come to Life.  As some of you may remember Bo is a big time set builder.  If you don't remember here is the recap of our first trade.  I pretty much wiped Bo out of Rockies last time, so I decided to go into my old set collecting self and make a dent in one of my many uncompleted sets.  I sent him the last 3 cards he needed for 1989 Fleer (bringing my dupe stack from that set down to 9,997) along with a stack of 1990 Score he needed.  In return Bo sent sent me a big chunk of my 1984 Topps needs.  Here are some of my favorites.

This is my favorite card that Bo sent.  It commemorates the 3 no hitters pitched during the 1983 season.  What stood out to me the most is the commentary on the back.  Seriously click the pic and read that.  It looks like it was written by the Geico caveman with the lack of several words.  My new favorite sentence is "He whitewashed Expos 3-0."

Look at all of the Hall of Famers in that group.  I count 5, plus Rogers and Zahn were pretty good pitchers in their day as well.  Tom Seaver is pictured in his second go around with the Mets, before they foolishly lost him again for literally nothing.

I really miss the colorful uniforms of the 70s and 80s.  Sure some of them looked awful, but nowadays just about every team looks the same with rare exceptions.  Back then, you knew that when the Pirates were playing you might lose a retina if you stared at the shirt, but they did look bad ass.  To me nothing says 1980s baseball more than the baby blue road uniforms.  At least half the league had them at some point.

Here we come to a trio of vastly underrated players.  Amos Otis is probably the most underrated of the three.  He was an excellent player as a Royal, but was overshadowed by George Brett.  Tim Raines was overshadowed as a leadoff hitter by Rickey Henderson.  If he had played during any other era, he would already be in the HOF.  Finally we come to Joe Morgan.  It is hard to call a Hall of Famer underrated but he was often overlooked on the Big Red Machine teams and after years of his bad announcing people have forgotten just how a great a player Morgan was.  Of course that picture makes him look like he is either playing with a baby or singing a nice soulful tune.

You might be asking yourself what these three players have in common.  Of course the right answer is these are three people that have never been in my kitchen.  Other than that they are just three random cards I wanted to show.  Porfirio Altamirano is just because of his name.  Bert Campaneris is because of his positions listed (wouldn't IF have been simpler?).  Campy had a bright career in the 1970s with the A's and is best remembered as the first person to play all 9 positions in a single game.  Tom Hume should be collected more, because he looks like a nerd and so do I and many other collectors.

The last two cards I couldn't resist putting together to take a shot at Dodger fans everywhere.  If only there was an Ozzie Smith in the packet as well.  Anyway, (with apologies to Night Owl) I remember Cey as a Cub more than a Dodger because I saw him play as a Cub his last few years on WGN.  I miss Harry Caray.  Ah, Tom Niedenfuer, my favorite Dodger ever.  Growing up I didn't really have a favorite team, but the Cardinals were near the top every year.  For those of you too young to remember, Niedenfuer gave up a home run to the massive power hitter, Ozzie Smith in the 1985 NLCS.  I think it was Ozzie first lefty home run ever, but if not he didn't hit many.


Thanks again Bo for the trade and I'm sure we will doing it again.  Make sure you visit his blog here because he really is one the most observant bloggers out there when it comes to cards.  Well that just about wraps up this edition of The "Rockie" Trading Post.  Tune in next time when I will bring the Rockies back to their rightful place here with a returning Cubs fan.  Until then, we are officially signed off.

Predictions for the 2011 Baseball Season

A couple of other bloggers have put their prognostication skills to the test by predicting the 2011 season.  Since I did so, um well, picking March Madness (Hey I got 1 Final Four team right which is more than most), I decided to put my ideas down for scrutiny as well.  Here we go starting with the Senior Circuit.

NL East
1. Braves
2. Phillies - WC
3. Mets
4. Marlins
5. Nationals

I think what most people who assumed a Phillies/Red Sox World Series after free agency forgot is they have to play the games AND stay healthy.  Philadelphia has been cursed with injuries and Atlanta just seems to be young and hungry again.  It wouldn't surprise me to see the Mets really surprise a lot of people this year either.  The Marlins and Nats are probably just fodder this year, but the Nats do remind me a lot of the 1990s Devil Rays (Rays to you youngsters).  Losing year after year and collecting those high draft picks.

NL Central
1. Brewers
2. Cardinals
3. Reds
4. Cubs
5. Pirates
6. Astros

This is the toughest division to pick by far.  Honestly, other than the Pirates and Astros, I wouldn't be surprised if any of the other four took this division title.  I picked the Brewers simply because this is their last chance for a long time.  They mortgaged their future and will probably be among the worst teams in MLB for the late 2010s.  The wild card is probably not going to come from this division, because they will be beating each other up too much.  Other than Astros fans, can anyone else name 5 Astros off the top of their head and I'll even give you Hunter Pence?

NL West
1. Rockies
2. Dodgers
3. Giants
4. Diamondbacks
5. Padres

I hope this is how it works out.  The Rockies have made the playoffs as the wild card three times in their history, but have NEVER won the division crown.  I want this one, but I think the Rox season will ride on whether new hitting coach Carney Lansford can get Stewart, Iannetta, and Smith to hit like they did in the minors.  I just didn't want to pick the Giants in 2nd even though they will probably still make the playoffs.  The D-Backs suck, next.  The Padres replaced their star Adrian Gonzalez with Rockie castoff Brad Hawpe playing out of position...not exactly a recipe for success.

NL Playoffs

NLDS
Rockies over Phillies
Braves over Brewers

NLCS
Rockies over Braves

NL MVP - Troy Tulowitzki, Rockies
NL Cy Young - Cole Hamels, Phillies
NL ROY - Freddie Freeman, Braves

Yeah a little bit of "homer-ness," but hey these ARE my picks.  Without missing a bunch of games due to injury, Tulo was MVP last year.  This year it will happen, and several idiots will wonder if he only good because of playing in Denver.  I picked Hamels because he will be matched up with #4 starters this year and will probably rack up a lot of wins.  Rookie of the Year predictions are crazy at best, because the winner might be in the minors right now.  Freeman has the best chance at taking it down as of right now.


AL East
1. Red Sox
2. Rays - WC
3. Orioles
4. Yankees
5. Blue Jays

Surprise, the Yankees were the worst team in the AL East from August on last year.  I think is the year that age will FINALLY catch up to them, at least until they spend $800 million on Pujols and other free agents for next year.  The Orioles are on the come and it wouldn't surprise me to see them ahead of the Rays as well.  I don't think anyone has the firepower to take down Boston though.  Toronto will be a candidate for the overall #1 draft pick next year.

AL Central
1. Twins
2. Tigers
3. White Sox
4. Royals
5. Indians

I think this might be the final year for the Twins on top, because the Royals are going to be tough in 2012.  But this is still 2011, and it wouldn't surprise me to see any of the top 3 win this division.  The Indians will probably be competing with the Jays and Astros for the worst record this year.

AL West
1. Rangers
2. Athletics
3. Mariners
4. Angels

This is the Rangers' division to lose.  No one else is that strong although the A's do good young pitching as usual.  The Mariners are a prognosticator's worst nightmare.  When you think they are good, they stink and vice versa.  I am picking them to be around a .500 team.  The Angels won't be a contender this year and I don't think they will be again for at least four years.

AL Playoffs

ALDS
Rangers over Rays
Red Sox over Twins

ALCS
Red Sox over Rangers

AL MVP - Joe Mauer, Twins
AL Cy Young - Jon Lester, Red Sox
AL ROY - Desmond Jennings - Rays Kyle Drabek - Blue Jays


I think Mauer will win this year and at least one more MVP before he retires.  Man I wish he was a Rockie.  Lester I chose basically by default.  It doesn't seem that there are that many great pitchers in the AL this year.  Jennings is taking Carl Crawford left field spot and seems to be relatively the same type of player.  Kyle Drabek could also get consideration for ROY. *UPDATE* Apparently I forgot that the Rays signed Johnny Damon to take Crawford's spot so I will adjust my prediction accordingly.


World Series

Rockies over Red Sox in 6

World Series MVP - Ubaldo Jimenez, Rockies

Yeah it's a homer pick, but it's not all that far-fetched.  I would love to see the rematch of the 2007 season.  I think the NL will win the All Star Game and give home field in the Series to Colorado.

Rockie Trading Post #24 - Special Returning Guest Dennis from Too Many Grandersons

Welcome to the latest episode of The Rockie Trading Post.  Tonight's special returning guest is Dennis from Too Many Grandersons.  Here is the recap of Dennis' first visit to TRTP.  He still collects the Tigers and former Michigan athletes of all sports and has a very enviable rookie card collection that you can see here.  This trade came about from a brilliantly simple idea from Dennis.  He was planning on going to a card show and asked everyone what they would want to trade for, in effect making a shopping list.  I sent him some Tiger autos from my 2008 Tristar Prospects Plus box breaks along with a few other random Lions and Tigers (including a new Granderson for him).  You can see his take on the trade here and you also get some cartoon buttocks free of charge.  You can see my take on the trade starting with the next sentence.

My contribution to Dennis' shopping lis was (surprise) Rockies relics and autos.  First up is my favorite of my three new "hits," a 2004 Cracker Jack Larry Walker jersey.  It is a bit smaller than a normal card, but the jersey piece appears to be normal sized.  If I am not mistaken this is my first horizontal pinstripe and my first gray pinstripe jersey pieces.

The other two "hits" that Dennis picked out were these Rockie pitching prospects autos.  Well, actually Morillo is a former Rockie that is now pitching in Japan, but I think this is my first card of him so it should knock another player off my One of Every Rockie list.  Greg Reynolds was the overall #2 draft pick in 2006 ahead of such players as Evan Longoria (#3), Clayton Kershaw (#7), and Tim Lincecum (#10) among others.  Can I request a do over?  However, he is still with the Rox and was one of the final cuts in Spring Training this year, but man he seems like a bust of Darkoian proportions.

As usual Dennis always throws in some extra cards in his trades.  These two are special because they finished out team sets for me.  The Tulowitzki is my final 2009 Bowman base card need and the Mejia finishes the 1994 Collector's Choice Series 1.  It does appear that Mejia just left a tough 7-10 split though, but he was bowling with a glove on so he gets a pass.

Our Todd Helton card of the day is this 2008 Topps Co Signers base card.  I wonder who he is paired with on the parallels.  The 1999 Skybox E/X Century Derrick Gibson card is great but the scan does not do it justice.  For those of you that haven't seen this set, get one.  They are clear acetate (I believe), everything white in the scan that isn't uniform or name is completely see through.

I am not going to discuss my personal politics here, because we are talking baseball cards and it should be light.  That being said, I do love the 2008 Topps political inserts.  As long as political are limited to every four or eight years I think they can work quite well.  This John McCain gold (bronze?) card leaves me 5 short of the parallel set.  I still need the base insert of McCain as well as Obama to have that complete.

My favorite political insert has to be the 2008 Historical Campaign Matchups (although First Couples is a close second).  Dennis added these four at my request and they feature some of the greatest Americans of all time (and J.Q. Adams).  Six presidents on those four cards.  I love Presidential history and could probably bore all of you for hours with random Presidential trivia, but I won't at least until I run out of post ideas a few months from now.


Thanks again Dennis for the trade and I am sure we will be doing it again.  Don't forget to check out his blog here and give him some Michigan guys, you better hurry before they are out of the league (zing).  Well that just about wraps up this edition of The Rockie Trading Post.  Tune in next time for another returning guest that brought a total of 0 Rockies and yet I am still happy.  Until then, we are officially signed off.

Mailbag notes and finally my MCG cards have arrived

Hey all quick post today.  I owe several of you packages and haven't forgotten them.  The following people have packs that were mailed out today.

Jon from Community Gum
Daniel from It's Like Having my Own Card Shop
Julie from Things are Funner Here
Ryan from This Card is Cool
Ted from Crinkly Wrappers
AJ from The Lost Collector
Bo from Baseball Cards come to Life
Sam from The Daily Dimwit
Kirk from Eutaw Street Cardboard

I figured for being a little late with my mailing a quick link/plug might make up for it.  If anyone else should be getting cards from me, please let me know because other than one relic to Greg Z. my trade box is empty for now.

Onto my loot from the Million Card Giveaway.

I only bought one box of Series 1 from 2010 and originally got six codes, and that was it.  Then I took about six months off from the hobby, due to lack of funds and pretty much forgot about them.  Out of my original six, I didn't really want any of them (at least not for the shipping costs).  So I made 13 trades overall and ended up with two cards that I felt were worth shipping.  Here they are.

This 1968 Topps Tim Cullen is my first ever card from this set and it is in great shape.  I traded a 1969 Topps Tim Cullen straight up for it and was shocked that it got accepted.  The 69 was one of my original 6 code cards and I would've probably had it shipped if I couldn't trade it.  Either way this card is now my earliest Rookie Cup supplanting my 1970 Lou Piniella.

 

This is the card I got from my final trade, which was a trade everything I have left for 1 single Rookie Cup card from the 70s.  I offered the same 6 cards (a 1977 Wayne Garland and 5 from the 1990s and later) for every rookie I didn't have and this was the first to accept.  This is a 1976 Topps Larry Parrish which suffers from a common flaw with 1976 cards being badly off center, but overall much better than nothing.

I loved the MCG site just for the trading.  It was a fun time killer and I will hopefully enjoy the Diamond Giveaway (best card so far a 1977 Luis Tiant) once they get the trade function going on it.

Sunday's Afternoon Blaster - 2009 Upper Deck O Pee Chee

Welcome to this week's Sunday Afternoon Blaster.  After last week breaking my streak of Upper Deck discount blasters, I felt it was time to start a new streak.  This week's offering is one of the final discount baseball blasters at my local Wal Mart that I haven't featured yet.  I am thoroughly confused by this set, not by the appearance or even its reason for being produced.  What confuses me is, do i want to collect it?  Well, as we go through the blaster hopefully I will be able to make my decision.   I have a majority of the base Rockies from this set (11/18), so the goal will be to get 1-2 black borders and hopefully a couple of the Rox I don't have.  Well that and making my decision on collecting it.

Card coloration is it's availability

white = I'm keeping it

green = available for trade

red = already claimed/traded

But wait the wrapper is not all.  One of the best things about this blaster is the return of cards on the box.  How very 80's.  Two base cards (plain white backs) on the side of the blaster for cutting out.  How great is that?

Today's blaster is 2009 Upper Deck O Pee Chee.  15! 6 card packs (1 black border per), nothing guaranteed.

On with the show.

pack one

42 Willy Aybar - Rays

9 John Grabow - Pirates

75 Chase Utley black border - Phillies

NY-23 Ryan Church New York, New York insert - Mets

530 Rangers Team Checklist - Rangers

pack two

21 Cla Meredith - Padres

190 David Wright - Mets

164 Dan Haren black border - Diamondbacks

UD 20th Retro 1146 Jesse “The Body” Ventura - Governor of Minnesota

564 Josh Outman - Athletics

246 Ramon Hernandez - Reds

pack three

473 Dioner Navarro - Rays

FF1 Vladimir Guerrero Face of the Franchise - Angels

324 Chris Coste black border - Phillies

523 Rockies team checklist - Rockies

16 Gary Matthews - Angels

12 Daniel Cabrera - Nationals

pack four

94 Stephen Drew - Diamondbacks

133 Cristian Guzman - Nationals

582 Casey McGehee black border - Brewers

537 AL ERA Leaders - Lee, Halladay, Dice-K

225 Johan Santana - Mets

194 Adam Jones - Orioles

pack five

226 Luke Hochevar - Royals

422 Bengie Molina - Giants

259 Joe Blanton - Phillies

130 Kerry Wood black border - Indians - Jon

579 David Freese - Cardinals

350 Joe Mauer - Twins

pack six

98 Jeremy Sowers - Indians

29 Jamie Moyer - Phillies

1 Melvin Mora - Orioles

25 Chien-Ming Wang black border - Yankees

551 Josh Hamilton/Aubrey Huff combo - Rangers logo only

314 Zach Miner - Tigers

pack seven

421 Peter Moylan - Braves

283 Ryan Shealy - Royals

AW1 Yadier Molina The Award Show - Cardinals

279 Lyle Overbay black border - Blue Jays

596 Dexter Fowler - Rockies

448 Eric Hinske - Pirates

pack eight

290 Carlos Delgado - Mets

197 Juan Rivera - Angels

484 Hunter Pence black border - Astros

516 Marlins team checklist - Marlins

86 Fausto Carmona - Indians

67 Khalil Greene - Cardinals

pack nine

221 Skip Schumaker - Cardinals

321 Manny Parra - Brewers

57 Bobby Crosby black border - Athletics

570 Landon Powell - Athletics

469 Chris Young - Diamondbacks

184 Miguel Montero - Diamondbacks

pack ten

450 Cliff Lee - Indians

490 Vladimir Guerrero - Angels

65 Alexei Ramirez - White Sox

521 Rays team checklist black border - Rays

509 Cardinals team checklist - Cardinals

286 Carlos Ruiz - Phillies

pack eleven

324 Chris Coste - Phillies

171 Carlos Pena - Rays

43 Edgar Gonzalez - Padres

FF2 Roy Oswalt Face of the Franchise - Astros

82 Mark Hendrickson black border - Orioles

558 Michael Young Moments - Rangers

pack twelve

57 Bobby Crosby - Athletics

373 Jesse Litsch - Blue Jays

152 Steven Shell black border - Nationals

541 AL Strikeout Leaders - Burnett, Santana, Halladay

151 Brad Hawpe - Rockies

362 Adam Everett - Tigers

pack thirteen

269 Jose Arredondo - Angels

449 Fred Lewis - Giants

13 Kyle Lohse black border - Cardinals

589 Walter Silva - Padres

409 Wily Mo Pena - Nationals

240 Randy Johnson - Giants

pack fourteen

255 Jeff Samardzija - Cubs

418 Justin Duchscherer black border - Athletics

UD 20th Retro 1151 Detroit Red Wings

506 Blue Jays team checklist - Blue Jays

173 Adrian Beltre - Mariners

116 Mike Jacobs - Royals

pack fifteen

180 Josh Beckett - Red Sox

112 Robinson Cano - Yankees

MM1 Ken Griffey Jr. Midsummer Memories - Mariners - Captain Canuck

269 Jose Arredondo black border - Angels

585 Mike Hinckley - Nationals

376 Kevin Kouzmanoff - Padres

IMPRESSIONS
Design: C+
The design of the set is very simple and yet it somehow works a bit.  It is very reminiscent to me of 1961 Topps (which I don't like) and 1976 Topps (which I do like).  This set fall somewhere in between those two, right about the middle of like and don't like.  I do like the fact that the cards are on cardboard stock, but not the thicker Heritage type cardboard.  More like a slightly thicker overproduction era Topps card.

Inserts / Hits: C+
I got four different inserts (not counting 20th Retro) to check out, along with the black borders.  Let's start with my favorite, The Face of the Franchise.  These cards are very nice and yet simple.  It is kind of odd that both faces of their franchises that I received were gone approximately one year later.  The Midsummer Memories is okay I guess, but I don't like the alternating two color header.  That was my biggest problem with 1960 Topps (and 2009 Heritage).  The Award Show really does nothing for me and has been done better elsewhere.  The New York, New York insert set is absolutely useless to me.  They are about as thick as jersey cards and feature Yankees and Mets players only.  It's nice to see teams that are often overlooked like the Yankees and Mets get their own insert set (Yes, this is sarcasm).

Value: B+
How can you complain about 15 packs of cards from 2009 for $12?  Well I mean, I have complained a bit, but none of it has to do with the price.  This would get an A+ with a guaranteed hit, but still pretty good anyway.



Rox in the Box: 3
Ugh.  No black borders, of which I have one.  And of the 3 Rockies I got, all were dupes.  This is a good time to complain about the coloring of the Rockies.  Why light blue?  I guess this is part of the throwback.  If the Rockies were around in the 1960-1970s, Topps would've probably used light blue or pink or something that had nothing to do with team colors.  Some teams had their colors matched nearly perfect (like the Astros and A's), while the Yanks got green and blue.  Very strange.

Will I Collect This Set: D
Well, after seeing it in person and with all the C+'s, I have decided to not pursue collecting this set.  I like it, but I don't like it enough and you can't collect everything (at least not on my budget).  I will be pursuing the Face of the Franchise insert set though.

Overall: C+
A nice "throwback" set, but overall kind of average.  The best thing about this blaster is the cards on the side of the box.  They really bring back memories of my ten year old self asking the local store clerks if they had any empty card boxes that I could have.  But seeing the damage (before I screwed up cutting it out) to the Pedroia card also made me realize why they may have stopped.  Everything is up for grabs (including the Pedroia/Utley outer card) except the two inserts that I want to keep.  Claim away.

March Group Break Results from Cardboard Collections - Part One: The non-Rockies

One of my favorite blogland activities is the group break.  In March I was involved in 6 different ones (3 have concluded, 1 in progress, 2 yet to begin).  My favorite is always Colbey's breaks over at Cardboard Collections.  For a very reasonable price (perhaps even too reasonable), you can pick up some nice older cards of your favorite team.  I was happy with the price so I picked up another team in addition to my Rockies.  This month based on the boxes being busted, I grabbed the Toronto Blue Jays and came away very happy.  The Jays were one of the most successful teams in the break, since he broke 1994 Fleer, Score, and Collector's Choice boxes and Toronto won their 2nd World Series in a row in 1993.  Let's check out my new "Jay bait."

This John Olerud card is the main reason I chose the Blue Jays as my 2nd team.  I wanted one of the 10 1994 Fleer Pro Visions cards and the Rockies didn't have one.  The box was supposed to contain 3 of these (which it did) out of 10 in the set.  So I had a 30% chance of getting it in my mind.  I beat the odds and picked it up.  I have the full set from 1991 and I always loved those cards.  This one was worth a good portion of the price of the Jays by itself in my mind.

The other main reason for picking the Jays was the chance at rookies of Carlos Delgado when he was a catcher.  Not only did I get the base rookies but I got two parallel rookies of Delgado as well.  The Score Gold Rush is in rough shape due to the mid 90s sticking problem (that was in no way Colbey's fault).  The Collector's Choice Series 1 is the box Colbey replaced the Score with and I "scored" a silver signature parallel of Delgado as well.  Not bad at all (well the pun was bad), but wait there's more.

This Duane Ward is the All Star insert for the 1994 Fleer set.  The American flag was used as a background on all of these cards, but what struck me as odd is that Toronto ISN'T an American city.  Shouldn't they have put the Canadian flag on the Jays (and Expos) All Star cards?   Another big time rookie for the Jays in the 1994 set was Shawn Green.  His "rookie" card was technically his 1st round pick card from the 1992? sets, but I like this card nonetheless.

Funny picture time.  The one thing about being a team collector is you miss out on a lot of the amusing cards from other teams.  This Collector's Choice Pat Borders commemorates his being the first person to give birth at home plate.  That kid could be getting drafted this year.  Oh and some needs to tell Devon White that "follow through" doesn't mean the bat should follow the ball after you hit it.

This trio of Hall of Famer cards should explain exactly why the Blue Jays won back to back titles in 1992-93.  I love the Roberto Alomar with the guest appearance of his brother Sandy and I don't remember ever seeing it before.  I had honestly forgotten that Rickey Henderson was a Blue Jay, but he did play for several teams (Mets, Mariners, Dodgers, Red Sox) at the end of his career.  Paul Molitor was always underrated (and under collected) in my mind.  He was one of the best pure hitters the game has ever seen.

Two other heroes of the Blue Jay's mini dynasty.  Jack Morris was great in 1992, but had a rough year in 1993 going 7-12 with an ERA over 6.00.  He left for one final season with the Indians in 1994.  The second card commemorates one of the most memorable home runs of all time, showing Joe Carter rounding third after his Series ending homer off Mitch Williams.  I remember changing channels to Saturday Night Live expecting a Game 7 that night and during Weekend Update they announced that Toronto had won the game.  Man was I pissed, not at the result but at the fact I missed it live.

Colbey also opened one of the 100 card repack deals that offered a 1 in 4 pack chance at a game used card.  The Cubs got lucky and had a hit, but I got some cool Jays out of it as well.  The Kelly Gruber is from a set that I had never seen, 1992 Topps Kids.  I was 15 for most of 1992 and while I still collected cards; I wouldn't have been caught dead buying a pack of Topps Kids.  it does look like a fun set though.  I also got a 1992 Skybox Pre-Rookie of the first pick of the Marlins in the expansion draft.  David Nied (Colorado's first pick) wasn't great for the Rox, but h did a heck of a lot better in the majors than Wilson.

I also picked up a couple of newer Jays in some of the bonus packs that Colbey added.  I'm sure you recognize both of these players, especially since they were about the only Jays from that year that I could pick out of a line up.

This card also came out of the 100 card repack.  No one had claimed the A's, so I just simply asked Colbey if I could have it and he included it in the package.  I am doing a slow build on several sets from the 1960s and 1970s.  Nothing that I am working that hard on and I really only have about 5 at most of each year, but if one comes my way I am not going to turn it down.  The oddest thing about my 1977 Topps cards is that of the 2 I now have, both are second basemen for Oakland.  The other being Tommy Helms.


Overall for my $5 (second team price) investment in the Blue Jays, I got all these cards plus approximately 100 more (including dupes).  I think I did quite well and that's not even including the Rockies which I will show in Part Two of this break hopefully tomorrow.  All of these cards excluding the Garner and the Olerud Pro Visions are for trade if you are interested.