Spring Fever

Spring Training games have begun and I have redeemed my 1 Spring Fever Card at my LCS, East Coast Connection in Lyndhurst, NJ.  I really like the cards, especially the palm trees and I was happy about pulling a Yankee in Mr. Robinson Cano. Even though I do like the design,  I am willing to part with the other 4 cards. I would like the Mattingly or a HOF if someone wanted to swap Spring Fever cards. Otherwise, I can part with them for some of the 2013 '72 minis that I still need.

Topps 2013 - My Hits

As I mentioned in my two previous posts, I have really enjoyed the 2013 product put out by Topps. While, I didn't have the greatest hits in my HTA Hobby Box, I am still impressed by their quality.

As you can see, I had a Dodger box, with the Dee Gordon Chasing the Dream auto and the Sandy Koufax MVP Award card.  My final hit was the Doc Gooden Chasing History patch.
The Chasing the Dream card has very nice placement of the signature and the design of the Chasing History set makes the patch fit in very nicely.
The MVP Award winner set is easily my favorite looking insert set.  I really like the design and the thickness of the cards. I have already started pursuing some of the other cards and have purchased the Braun and A-Rod cards on ebay. I am still looking for a few more of them especially the Dennis Eckersley, Don Mattingly, and George Brett. If I had the financial means, I would pursue the set, but I think that might not be realistic. The Cy Young Award winner and Silver Slugger Award winner cards are also very sharp and I wouldn't mind getting my hands on a few of those too.
If anyone is interested, all three of these cards are for trade and if anyone has a MVP, Cy Young, or Silver Slugger card that they would be willing to part with, let me know and we can work something out.

Topps 2013: The Inserts

After the great job that Topps did with its base set, I was also very excited to see what this year's inserts would bring. 2013 is all about "the chase" according to Topps and as I opened my jumbo HTA from my LCS, I did see some insert sets that I would chase, but a few whom I don't feel the pursuit is worth my effort.

Chasing the Dream
The idea behind is good. The checklist is full of young stars, but the design is too digital and takes up too much of the card. The back of the card tells a very brief quip from the player about how he made his dream happen. The Jose Altuve card will go into my player collection and I will hang on to the Stanton and Harper that I pulled and I will look to acquire the Josh Reddick and Jarrod Parker, but the others are up for trade for anyone looking to complete their set.

Chasing the Dream? Not me. All these are available.

Chasing History

I am usually a big fan of cards that feature players chasing milestones in their careers. I usually do my best to get cards featuring 500 HR's, 3,000 hits, 300 wins. This set features some of those milestones, but also ones such as 400 XBH, Team HR mark, and NLDS No Hitter. These are impressive marks to chase, but they but I don't think I need a card to commemorate these marks or in some cases the attempt to achieve these milestones. I actually like the horizontal cards better than the vertical because I think they allow for a better photo. I am chasing the Mattingly and Jeter and am holding on to the A-Rod and the Gehrig cards because they are Yankees, but the others are up for trade.

Chasing History inserts are up for trade.

Cut to the Chase

I will admit these cards are very cool looking. The cut of the cards is unique and I love the design on the bottom with the name of the set and the player's name. The backs provide info on how the player reached a milestone or what a player needs to do to achieve one in the future. Despite the coolness factor, I am passing on this insert set as well. I may try to pick up the Jeter, Sandberg, Braun or Molitior cards, if I can, but they are not a priority. I did pull a Ted Williams, which I may hang onto because it is such a nice card, but if I can get something good in return, I will probably deal it. The other two that I pulled, Matt Cain and Pedroia can be had in a trade.

The Greats

The look of these cards is very nice. I really like the thicker card stock and the simple design is classy, especially for the legends and superstars that make up the checklist. The photos are simple, but really capture the players well.  I was lucky to pull Mariano Rivera and Reggie (in his A's uniform) and will probably try and get the A-Rod, Jeter and Yogi. If I can pull a few more from packs or find a few available here and there, I may go for the set, but it is not a priority or a probability right now.

Calling Card

Another insert card with a very classy deign that has a A&G feel to it. The Calling Card insert set photos have a painting look to them or one of those fancy Instagram filters on them, but whatever it is I really like it.

I also like that it tells us about some of the habits, rituals, or other things that a player is known for. I think this set would look good in a binder, so I am going to "chase" it. I pulled five of them from my box, so I am a third of the way there, if you have any and are looking to complete one of the other sets, let's make a deal.

1972 Minis

They are mini. They feature a cool design from 1972. Need I say more? I pulled 10 from my box and bought a lot of 18 of them on ebay for a good price (4 are duplicates, however), so that puts me almost half way there with them. I will be looking to trade for these also.

There are a few more inserts, but I will cover them in my "hits" post. Thanks for reading.

Topps Baseball 2013

The release of the first baseball cards of the year always make me happy. Now that I have had a week to look them over and see what other collectors have pulled from packs, I can honestly say that this year's release is an A+.

Design: The card design is clean with the white border and the team color outlines and the team logo in the corner. It doesn't try to do too much and leaves room for a big photo on the card.

Photography: In past releases, I often found the photography of Series 1 to be lacking, but not this year. There are so many amazing photos on the the cards and a lot of great "in the moment" action shots that really capture why baseball is so great.  I started going through and pulled at least a dozen cards that demonstrate the great photography of this year's set.  Not only are the photos awesome, but the colors on the cards just really pop this year. Usually the Update series is the one full of throwback uniforms, players in their alternate jerseys, but 2013 Topps gives a great selection of photos. I almost can't say enough about how much I enjoy looking at these cards, but I will stop there and let the cards do the talking for themselves.

Exciting celebrations captured on cardboard

Turning Two

Web Gems 

Good looking swings

Sliding Stars

Picture Perfect Pitching

And a few more cards that just caught my eye