2017 Mail Day #3

The family and I were on vacation this past week in Atlanta.  It was a great time, but it was great to come home to an amazing pile of bubble mailers with all the new items that have come in while we were gone.

Since there are so many this time around I am only going to hit on the highlights of the packages.  So some will be left out.  To those of you who are curious what was in the largest one was the 2017 Topps Series 1, two box jumbo break I was in.  I had four teams, including the Reds.  Hit both Tigers relics, but not a single Larkin!  Please let me know if you have any series 1 needs, I have plenty of base to get rid of.

2016 Panini Pantheon Metropolis Monuments Relic /99

I saw this card on Facebook's Baseball Collectors-Keeping it Real page.  It has a bat relic of Barry Larkin and Ted Kluszewski, and a Jersey of Frank Robinson, and Ken Griffey Junior.  The price was really fair and was sitting there for almost two days, so I had to take it before a Jr. fan saw it.  I'm not a huge fan of the jersey cuts, but overall a sweet design!

1997 Pinnacle Inside Dueling Dugouts #11 Barry Larkin/ Derek Jeter

Found this on one of Facebook's card auction pages.  Must have been from a Jeter collector because he had several listings and all of them Jeter.  I always love finding Larkin and Jeter on the same card. I played shortstop when I was little and these were the two guys idolized.  Jeter especially as I got to watch him as a Columbus Clipper in 94 and 95 before being called up to the majors. This card is unique as you can flip through the stats!

1998 Topps Tek #57 Barry Larkin, Paterns 11, 55, and 71

Another successful week for the "Ultimate Want List"!  I found these on eBay on three separate listings under the same seller and was able to strike a deal.  He is constantly buying lots of Topps Tek and will keep me updated if he comes across anymore.  I am also currently working on a deal to get one more through another outlet online.

2017 Topps Series 1 Lot

I would not have made it through this week without going after some 2017 items.  I was able to get the Topps Salute and 87 Tribute base.  I also found a bronze buyback.  This is something I am torn about.  I don't like how the card industry is buying back cards and putting stamps on them.  Why would I want something I already have 50 of in the basement?  The other negative is there does not seem to be any sort of a checklist, so I have no idea how many years Barry Larkin is in (already counted four via ebay).  The only positive is I'm a supercollector and try to get as many as unique cards as I possible can.  In the end I boo the card companies for this.

Stay tuned for my next posting.  On the 15th of each month I am going to post a progress report on my 2017 goals.  So everyone please hold me accountable!

2017 Mail Day #2

This mail day actually should have been #1 but it was so large I just now finished processing it.  About six months ago I created a "Barry Larkin Collectors" page on Facebook.  It is not very large as we have only 6 members in it.

One of our newest members and I compared lists.  He has slightly over 1300 as I am closer 1200 cards.  So we did a massive trade of our duplicates and I got close to 50 cards!  Here are some of the highlights of the massive stack.

It is getting harder and harder to find cards I don't have.  So those rare inserts are always nice to see in a large stack all at once.

My friend Philip did manage to hit a couple of cards on the Ultimate Want List as well.

1998 Topps Tek #57, Patterns 14 and 26

It was nice to knock out two more cards from the set of 90 variations.  This is my first accomplishment on the UWL in 2017.  I think I'm closer to 75 cards remaining in the set.

Some of you are probably wondering if I'm just going to be talking about Larkin on this blog.  The answer is more often than not as it is my main focus.  However, I am excited to be watching my CBJ beating Carolina 4-1 in the second period. 

I am also going to the Midwest Sports Spectacular at the Ohio Expo Center this weekend.  Hoping to knock out a few more on my lists.  Hope to see some of you there!

The Ultimate Want List

As I am in the process making this an active blog I have created a page title the ULTIMATE WANT LIST!  This page is going to contain the parts of the collection I am actively striving to complete.  Yes I have my need list, but this is what I am actively seeking out. 

Keep an eye out for updates!