Three Stars Sportscards... Top Whatever...
A couple of weeks ago, I decided that I needed to shirk responsibility for a little while. Instead of shoveling the driveway, I'm going to drive to a different baseball card store!
Three Stars Sportscards, in Roseville, MN was a card store that I'd only been to once. That was back in 2015, while on vacation from Colorado. I was impressed by their wide selection of Twins singles, since I wasn't used to seeing Twins singles where I was living. Now that I am living in Minnesota again, it was time to find more needed cards for the Twins binders!
It was a Saturday morning. A week after snowy rainstorm laminated the city under ice. I'd been busy dealing with work and a personal situation, so I was unable to clear the driveway as the alternating rain and snow were falling. By the time I got the time, temperatures fell below zero, freezing everything into place. Today, the temperatures were predicted to be not only above zero, but substantially above the freezing point!
We were having a new bed delivered to the house on Monday night, so my mission for the weekend was clear. I needed to get as much ice off the driveway and sidewalk to the front door as possible, so the bed deliverers wouldn't slip and fall and die and sue us while trying to get our new bed inside.
After a quick Google Search I saw the store had just opened up for the day. I double checked the route and set out on my way. It was a nice little drive on roads I don't usually take to get to Roseville, where I don't usually go. And I was only there for 90 minutes, but it was a great positive experience and another big boost to the Twins collection. A refreshing change of pace to how I'd start a day that I was semi-dreading...
Maybe about 200 new singles were acquired to file in with the other Twins, Expos and Rockies that have been picked up since I put my binders together. Writing about some of these cards just screams "Whatever" to me....
Topps has recycled their 1952 card design for at least 52 other sets in the last 20 years, and their horrible "rookies-only" '52 sets of 2006 & 2007 are some of the worst cards I've ever bought. Although to be fair, they did a good job including the fringiest of the fringe. Julio DePaula had a blink-and-you-missed-it Twins career, but thanks to the terrible 2007 Topps '52 set, he has a card!
This was a duplicate that I intentionally bought, because I liked Hunter's cards from his sentimental return to Minnesota for the last season of his career. He likely wont garner any serious Hall of Fame consideration, but Hunter was a very good player for a very long time.
Skybox (owned by Fleer) put out some really cheap and busy looking base cards in the late 1990's/early 2000's. I really haven't been a big fan of these sets, but they are still needs. As long as they can be picked up cheap...
The Pacific Legends set is one I'd like to pick up one of these days. While the design is as basic as you can get, it's full of pictures of Hall of Famers that differ from other card sets depictions of these players. To be fair, this isn't the greatest shot of Killebrew I've seen. But it's one that I hadn't seen! I had a few cards from this set as a kid, but not a lot. They are all gone now, lost over time. May have to find a set online and just buy it...
After the 2010 season, Twins braintrust got together and decided the infield needed a change. Big-Fat-Manager Ron Gardenhire decided that the Twins simply must have more speed in the middle infield than current shortstop J.J. Hardy had to offer. In-Way-Over-His-Head General Manager Bill Smith decided that one great season in the Japanese league will translate to prolonged success in the Major Leagues. Essentially, the Twins traded their "slow" shortstop, J.J. Hardy, who provided solid defense and better than average power for the position to the Baltimore Orioles for a big sack full of nothing. Minnesota then signed Tsuyoshi Nishioka from the Chiba Lotte Marines of the Japan Pacific League, to play shortstop for the 2011 season.
J.J. Hardy hit 72 home runs in his first three seasons with the Orioles, while providing league average defense at a premium position. Something the Twins could have really used during that time...
Nishioka flamed out on every level. Hitting a woeful .215, with a .503 OPS over parts of two seasons, before going back to Japan. He did use his blazing speed to steal two bases!
Another "Blink and You Missed It" career that garnered a few more cards than DePaula got a year earlier. A Piece Of History was a set that I kind of liked, but didn't. The graphics should be well done for an honoring history themed set, this comes off a little cheesy. I would have reduced the frames by a bit more, which would allow the photo to be opened up.
This should rank higher due to the sheer novelty of this paper-thin card. It's a typical cheaply made team issued "Police Card". In this case, it's the Minnesota Crime Prevention Association, who sponsored the cards. This Hector Santiago is the only card I've ever seen from the set. So I don't know if the theme of Bike Safety was for the entire set, or if different players would feature different safety messages.
I find it extra funny that the first card I've seen from this set is of a Twins pitcher who did nothing more than disappoint while collecting a hefty salary for a season and a half. Maybe he knows a lot about Bike Safety?
Nice duplicate from 1982 Donruss. I already had this card, but it was in kinda rough shape. The price of this one, weighed against the notch at the top, plus the percentage of improvement over my existing copy... Still made it a worthy replacement.
This is the first card from the 2009 SP Legendary Cuts set. Something that high end is something I'll never buy a pack of. I'm content to wait until I see a single somewhere and the price is right. I like the design too.
I do NOT like the design of 2006 Upper Deck Pro-Sigs Diamond Collection, but I think I've now completed the Twins team set.
I remember feeling excited when the Twins acquired Nevin from the Chicago Cubs at the August 31st Trade Deadline. Not because he was a great player who was really going to help the Twins win, because he wasn't. Just because it could lead to a former first overall draft pick (in 1992), who had a lengthy career in the major leagues, having cards of him with the Twins. When stuff like this happen to a favorite team, it adds a little extra value to the collection.
Not quite the equivalent of Jose Canseco appearing on a Montreal Expos card in 2002, but it's the same in theory...
Nevin would play in only 16 regular season games with the Twins, batting .190 with 1 home run and 4 RBI (though he drew an impressive 10 walks in those 16 games). In the 2006 American League Division Series against the Oakland A's, Nevin went 0-3 in the only game he played. The Twins lost that series. Phil Nevin never played major league baseball again.
His son Tyler is a top 3rd base prospect for the Colorado Rockies, so there's good reason to follow him.
A duplicate, but the blurry Cleveland Municipal Stadium combined with odd cropping and Topps Pitcher Face made this a cheap must have. Tapani -like Brad Radke after him- is an underrepresented player in the collection. Has something to do with being a steady, yet unspectacular, pitcher for the Minnesota Twins. Who have had very few spectacular ones in their history.
The point of going to Three Stars Sportscards was to see if they had the correct sized Monster Box that I needed. I have five that are wide enough to hold Top Loaders, and I need one more before I can start sorting in the 5000 or so cards designated to go there. The cards that are being kept, but not making it to albums, will sit in penny sleeves and top loaders with the rest of their teams' stars and rookies.
This was one of the first things I checked on as soon as I came in. One of the kids working just happened to be folding up a stack of flat Monster Boxes. We tested it with a Top Loader sitting on the counter and it was a fit! Other than needing thousands of penny sleeves, hundreds of pages and probably close to a dozen 3 ring binders, I wasn't really needing any more supplies today.
Oh cool! They have some singles from the 2010 edition of the Disabled American Veterans card series! I picked up a couple of an earlier series a while back, and found a few from the 2010 edition here. With oddball cards, it's nice to find card of players who didn't star for the team. Hudson put up some very solid seasons with the Blue Jays and Diamondbacks, and some down years as well. The Twins got a relative down year from Hudson in 2010. By 2011, he had no role with Minnesota because Nishioka has that COVERED! Orlando moved on to San Diego, but would never come close to the numbers he put up between 2004 and 2009.
This was a need I thought may have been a had. I like the blurred out Spring Training backdrop here. I never bought a lot of packs of 1994 Stadium Club. The gimmicky label tape was a bit too gimmicky for me, and I felt it didn't fit in against the Stadium Club designs over the first 3 sets. Now looking at just the style of photography on the whole, the 1994 set had a much different feel than Stadium Club 91-93 do. These have "louder" colors! At some point I'd like to pick up the complete 1994 Stadium Club set. Something tells me it would be a fun set to keep in an album.
The foil board used on cards like these always scan so dark. Not a big fan of the design either. But it was a need!
2006 Topps Heritage has always been a favorite that I didn't buy much of. So when I found a card of Minnesota's big 2006 trade acquisition with the Florida Marlins, from the set, I had to grab it. Then I looked it closer. If Luis put his arms down, what would that Twins logo look like? Luckily for Topps, The Marlins and Twins both wore pinstriped home uniforms, so they could get away with a reasonable Photoshoppery. They did a decent job with the hat... But that Twins logo across the chest gets funnier every time I look at it...
Probably some sort of parallel. With it's Chromeyness and purpley Refractorisms. It dropped way down on the Whatever because I can't stand the three-colored Twins cap.
Another duplicate because I wanted a second copy of this card. Upper Deck Masterpieces was fantastic set of oil painting styled photos on a canvas stock. The design elements compliment the layout, while staying out of the way. A lot of space is given to the picture. Only problem with these cards being that I can't tell the difference between the 2007 and 2008 set. Not that it matters. Both sets are art.
I wasn't expecting to add any Expos today, but the Twins boxes at Three Stars Sportscards contained some cards of stars with other teams. The Carl Pavano section included a few of his Twins cards, but also cards of Pavano and a Marlin and Yankee, as well as one card from Pavano's rookie season with the Expos!
Obviously a card I would have wanted regardless, but the player selection on this card leaves a lot to be desired. Nick Gordon makes sense, he's been a top prospect forever. Tyler Jay? Granted he was a (wasted) 6th overall pick in 2015, but that was apparent by 2017. Nice hopeful thinking by Topps, but the Jay pick has been a thorn in Twins fans sides since the second it was announced... Jake Reed? Just wow... I bet the 2018 version (if there was one) would have a LOT more star power.
On top of one of the glass cases, they had a Monster box filled with recent singles, for 25 cents a card. It looked like they stuffed all opened current product in that wouldn't sell for more than a quarter a piece. Not a bad idea...
In addition to all the 2018 Donruss, Bowman, Topps, Chrome and all the stuff you'd expect, there was also probably several boxes worth of 2016 Topps Bunt mixed in. I never bought any Topps Bunt before, so I pulled out this Story, plus the rest of the Colorado Rockies team set.
I'm still on the fence about weather I want to collect the 2018 Stadium Club set. I have a bunch of it, but haven't yet made any sort of list. Just in case I do, I know I need the Mauer...
I find it rather strange that I didn't have any Gibson cards from 2010. The 2009 1st Round Draft Pick didn't impress me, so I wasn't too hot after his cards. He's still not an impressive pitcher, though his 2018 numbers were really good (for him). If the Twins are going to do anything in 2019, they will need Gibson to have another career year.
Look at all those shapes! Donruss liked borders, and they made a lot of similarly looking sets. Just rearrange those shapes, and you have a new set! Throwback Threads was a nice set this year, I like the black & white photo behind the color player image. The design is a little busy, but it works in this case.
Right when I walked into the store, there was a table alongside the front window that was filled with junk wax era complete sets. Likely well over 100 different sized boxed card sets. You can imagine the content, you all know those sets... They were all $5 a piece or 3/$10. Due to personal overthrowing away of cards from that era, I'm left with real gaps in team sets for years that I really should have.
1988 and 1989 Donruss? There's no good excuse for missing any cards from these sets if you ever wanted them. There are still over 750 billion 1988 Donruss cards in the universe, so how I am possibly missing 16 of them for the Expos team set?
The 3/$10 sets I picked up were the 1988 and 1989 Donruss, as well as a set of 1991 Ultra. Six complete team sets (both Twins and Expos) for $10? Plus a bunch of other singles that may or may not be worth keeping? I'll do that...
Funny thing, and very telling for the era, is the $60 price tag on the 1991 Ultra set. A lofty goal that likely was put together around the time 1991 Ultra first hit, and had high value to anyone who refused to cough up the ridiculous cash for 1991 Stadium Club wax.
Unfortunately it's trimmed on the top and bottom, but this little glimpse at the 1991 retail market was worth so much more than anything in the 1991 Ultra Set (even though I needed 9 of the Expos...)
When I presented the multiple stacks of cards to the kid ringing me up, he started going through them, sorting them into smaller piles, then coming up with the price of each stack. He made the comment: "Don't worry, I've adjusted the outdated prices on some of these down for you. Jon Rauch isn't a $1.00 card anymore..."
Call me wacky, but I kind of liked the 2012 Topps Gold Futures insert set. And the Twins retro 1960's uniforms always look great on cards.
Fleer's cross marketing with Sports Illustrated back in 1998 was a hobby pairing that I missed out on upon it's release, but sure wish I'd have gotten in on buying packs of this great product. I don't recall seeing it much at the card shops I visited in 1998. This is another set I'd like to pick up at some point, for how I think it would look in an album.
I never bought any 2005 Ultra. It fell by the wayside as it looked too much like every other set of Ultra since 1997 (which happened to be an Ultra set that I really liked). This is a pretty cool photo, and I liked that all of the outfield wall ads are blocked out. Were they all beer/tobacco ads? Or are they are set of local advertisers filling up a minor league ballpark's boundaries?
It seems like basic Chrome refractors have gotten harder to find over the last few years. I don't know if that's because of all the different parallels of refractors have desensitized the market. Since there isn't a blue or gold or purple or red shade to the refractor, or an autograph scribbled across the front, no one cares. I do! I want cards like this!
Yay! One of the top rarest inserts from 1995 Pinnacle! At a price no one could turn down! I pulled a couple of the Team Pinnacle inserts out of packs back in 1993-1996, and they were always an exciting hit. The 1995 version wasn't the best design, though it looks a lot better in real life compared to this scan.
I never bought any of the Donruss All Stars wax that contained the foldable cardboard "Stand-Ups". There were one for each league's starting All Star Game lineup, as well as 1 of each of the All Star Game managers. Since the Twins won the 1987 World Series, Tom Kelly got to manage the 1988 All Star Game, so he gets a Stand-Up in the 1989 Donruss All Stars set. Kind of an oddball that had eluded my collection until now.
This is my first card of Minnesota's 2017 2nd Round Draft Pick. I wondered what the Elizabethton Twins jerseys looked like. I should start picking up ProDebut when I see packs. Over the years, I've appreciated Topps efforts in presenting the top prospects of the Minor Leagues in each year's baseball set design. I bought a box of it in 2010 and liked it. But I haven't bought anything other than some singles here and there, from any sets since.
Take what I wrote from the Tom Kelly Donruss All Star Stand-Up about the World Series and All Star Game, and apply it here. I liked how Topps used the Rack Pack inserts throughout the 1980's, as a set of glossy All Star cards with the starting line up from the game. And they always had the same design. Which I liked the consistency. I didn't buy too many Rack Packs of 1989 Topps, so this is probably the first time I'd seen the Frank Viola card from the set.
Which makes this seem like the perfect place for Viola's teammate on the 1987 World Series winning team, Kent Hrbek. Upper Deck dusted off the Hrbek photos a few times in the mid-2000's. Including him as one of the featured retired players in the Retrospective themed sets they churned out.
This card dropped way down because it's really ugly. That shade of red just kills the entire card. But a cheap relic I couldn't turn down...
I remember the hysteria brought to the hobby when people started pulling Rookie Sensations out of retail jumbo packs of 1992 Fleer. Led by Frank Thomas (who was a rookie 2 years earlier...) and a pretty decent crop of actual rookies, the set was insanely hot for a time. I saw someone buy the complete 20 card set for $200, at a card show back in 1992. You likely wouldn't have to even pay $20 for the set today. Which is sad... I still have my complete set!
Surprised this scan turned out even this well... Stewart's card kind of a big blob of silver foil with white knock outs in it. It's also the first 2006 Playoff Prestige card I've owned of any insert flavor.
Nice to get a Starting Lineup card for a collection need, without having to free it from the packaging. Though unless I had duplicates (and I don't even have one of these), I probably wouldn't open a Starting Lineup Puckett. Too much good display potential ruined by opening them up. Plus what do you do with the loose figures? I already have have two gallon sized ziplock bags full of loose SLU figures, all stuck together in a suffocating game of Twister. Still a very cool card...
Much like Meyer's career never lived up it's potential due to injuries, the same could be said for Kansas City Royals pitcher Kyle Zimmer. They should have been two undeniable aces of the American League Central for years to come. Instead, five years later, Meyer is still trying to make comebacks with the Angels, while Zimmer is still hanging on with minor league deals with Kansas. Neither have seen much success, and Zimmer hasn't even pitched in the majors.
A great shot of the late 1960's era Tinker Field in Orlando going on here... You can definitely add 2003 Donruss Team Heroes to the list of wax I've never before seen, let alone opened. 2003 was probably the year I bought the least amount of cards, and I've still never seen any of these around. Though something tells me it would be a fun box to break at some point.
In my 2018 National Hobby Store Day post, I talked about this Harmon Killebrew poster that had recently been unearthed as I was putting my stuff away in NewBaseballcardland.
"As I was unpacking a box that hadn't likely seen daylight in 25 years, I found this incredible Amoco Certicare promotional poster, autographed by Harmon Killebrew! He signed it in pencil, which is rather odd. I vaguely remember a card show he was signing at back in the late 1980's, where I got my Minnesota Twins Surf Book signed, my mom got a baseball signed, and we ended up with this poster as well. Not sure the circumstances, I'd forgotten all about it."
Still not knowing the poster's origin, I was surprised to find Three Stars Sportscards had a small collection of cans with the same art as the Killebrew poster. I asked a guy sitting in front of a computer what he knew of them.
As I suspected, Killebrew was tabbed for promotional work for Amoco. They produced a bunch of replica oil cans with the Killebrew art on them. He had no info on the dates they were sold. The poster mentioned his Hall of Fame Induction in 1984, so maybe that's the year?
When I first saw this set in 1998, I thought it was interesting. Adding a website about each player to the front of the cards, where theoretically, you could find all kinds of statistics or whatever else you wanted. Video clips, interviews, stories, etc.. You could have the card unlock stuff online, driving people to buy more packs... The potential to do many interesting things with this concept is right there. But Pacific didn't take advantage of their own great idea...
Now 20 years later, they are severely dated. In order to make the set work, Pacific should have set up their own website, with pages for each player. Instead of printing the URL for bigleaguers.com (which died shortly after the set) and whatever entity was running each professional team's website. The internet wasn't nearly organized enough for this set in it's time, and now it's just kind of unintentionally funny because of it.
You don't want to be on the cutting edge when you don't understand it. Otherwise history looks back on you with mocking tones... "That new fangled internet thing will be great on baseball cards... Errrrr Sassafrass..."
Which is a shame because as just cards, Pacific Online is set with an okay design, but a very deep checklist. Including cards for many player who only got cards for this set in 1998.
I pick on the Twins for the whole Tsuyoshi Nishioka debacle, as well as pretty much everything done under that regime. Four years later they (well, nearly the same group of baseball people) once again misinterpreted foreign baseball statistics and threw a bunch of money at Byung Ho Park of the Korean Professional Baseball Organization. But Kim had no clear role on the team. His best position was Designated Hitter, he was plagued by injuries... But did hit a few MASSIVE home runs along the way.
That same Monster Box full of recent singles (and 2016 Topps Bunt) was sitting so that one of the rows of cards were slumped back, revealing this Guerrero to me from across the room. Before I ever approached that box, I knew I would be buying this card from it.
One of Topps "Manufactured" relics, made to give your a wax box a hit that really isn't a hit. One thing I would not like is to be hit with this card. That chuck of metal with the Rockies CR engraved in it is HEAVY. Even though that heavy metal Topps thingy doesn't mean anything, it's a nice addition to my Nolan Arenado collection.
As is this one... Arenado playing A ball for the Ashville (NC) Tourists in the Rockies minor league system. Before he became the greatest third baseman I've ever seen play.
Slama struck out tons of batters in the minor leagues, and looked like he could be a force for the Twins coming out of the bullpen. But he just never did. He always put up big numbers in the minors, but barely got a shot in the majors. Pitching a grand total of 7 games between the 2010 and 2011 seasons. Giving up 6 hits and 7 walks while striking out 8 batters, in his 7 total innings at the Major League level. Slama hung around pitching in the minors until 2014, but he never had the career many expected he would.
The Killebrew card from the lesser known of the two 1970's classic SSPC sets. The one that doesn't show him in a Kansas City Royals uniform.
It's far cheaper to just buy they good singles from Finest when you find them instead of blowing a bunch of money on packs. As much as I used to enjoy opening Finest wax, it's just not worth what you pay for a box. But I'll gladly buy singles from it when I see stuff like this one sale for a buck or two...
Great Met Stadium shot here, with bonus batting cage included. I'd like to see this picture in color, not that I'm saying the black and white doesn't work here. It completely does.
Weird die-cut serial numbered insert from Donruss. I get what they were going for here. But Molitor won the World Series in 1993 playing for the Toronto Blue Jays. The Twins never played in the World Series with Molitor on the team. Not a bad card, just misleading. And one I'd never seen before.
I'd never heard of this Rockies pitching prospect before finding the Gold Refractor. Which was only $3. I'd strongly consider just about any Gold Refractor for $3, but one of a failed no-name Rockies prospect is a must have. Looking up Kuo's numbers, he just didn't have it. He played with the Rockies system from 2007 through 2011, but never made it above A ball.
Topps Tribute are too rich for my blood. I don't swim in those waters, but like to pick up singles when I find them. This is just a nice looking card.
In my Four Baggers story about 1991 Stadium Club, I wrote the following in regards to having hand collected the set via packs, and the price of those packs back in the fall of 1991:
"But there's one more thing I really want for my collection... That would be an unopened box of 1991 Stadium Club Series 1. The same box that Mike and I didn't buy for $350 at Shinders in October 1991, I really want to own today. Not to open and sell for singles, just to look at and remember. (And retire off of in 20 years!) A quick check on the internets shows that I can have that very box shipped to my home for the low low price of 6 and a half hours at Perkins...."
Three Stars Sportscards had unopened boxes of BOTH 1991 Stadium Club series 1 and 2, for only $12 each! One of my longest desired collection pieces would now be mine, for even less than 6 and a half hours at Perkins! AND that includes Series 2 as well!
These boxes seriously made me happier than any other cards I purchased that day. Just because of how long/much I wanted them. They may be next to worthless to anyone who is not me, but buying them sure made me happy.
I'm pretty sure these came in non-Refractor, non-serial numbered versions as well. But this is the first I'd seen of it, and it's Byron Buxton, so I'll pay extra for that gimmick. And because I still (possibly foolishly) believe that Buxton will eventually become the star player that he has all the potential to be. I wouldn't be shocked if he hit .275 with 30 home runs and 40 stolen bases next year. He has that kind of star potential. Of course he also he shown that he could hit .175 with 200 strikeouts...
I turned down buying this card for a lot more money a few years ago. I had to wait for the "high draft pick" hype to wear down before I'd be willing to drop more than a couple bucks on this card. While Gordon remains a great prospect, he's never likely to approach the lofty numbers I'm forecasting on Buxton. At his greatest, Gordon could also hit .275. And maybe approach 40 stolen bases someday, but he's highly unlikely to hit even 10 home runs in a season. Just doesn't have the body for it.
I had to pay a bit more for the Brendan Rodgers Gold Refractor than I did for the Sheng An Kuo Gold Refractor. But nowhere near what the Rodgers would have set me back in Colorado. You gotta love finding out of market top prospects when they are a market you collect. Is 2019 the season Rodgers makes it to Denver and stars at second base? The path is clear for him to play, and I'm anxious to see what he'll do.
Slowly but surely starting to acquire some of Royce Lewis' more rare cards. This Refractor ranked very high on my want list.
Lewis and Nick Gordon rank #1 and #2 as far as Minnesota's shortstop prospects go, but #3 on that list is clearly Wander Javier. The Twins paid Javier a lot of money as an international free agent signing a couple of years back. While Javier missed the 2018 season due to injury, he projects high in terms of development in hitting, running and fielding. Some believe he could end up being the best fielding shortstop of the three, with enough offensive skills to be a star for Minnesota within the next 3-5 years.
Before today, I didn't have a Max Kepler autograph in my collection. I'd seen several over the years, but none of them jumped out at me as this one did. The real card is course not as linty as the scan, and is quite attractive in person.
I also did not have a Miguel Sano autograph before today, and this autographed buyback fit the bill as something I needed to add to the collection. Fits in nicely alongside the Jose Berrios Topps Archives Signature buyback I picked up a month or so ago.
Hooray for out of market cheap stars! Funny thing is, after all those years in Colorado, I never had a Troy Tulowitzki autographed card. I turned down quite a few at the old Mike's Sports Cards in Englewood, that I probably should have picked up. But none of those were ever close to the great deal this was. Sure, Tulo's star has fallen greatly since 8 years ago, but an autographed Tulo card was still high on my want list. I didn't expect it to show up today and I didn't expect it to be this cheap!
This would be the first Topps Now card I ever bought. It was one that I wanted without ever seeing it. I heard Topps produced one of their special Topps Now cards to commemorate Mauer catching in his final career game. No one knew for sure it was his last game at the time, but it made sense that it would be. And it was a nice moment for Mauer to go out the way he came, catching. So for my first Topps Now card, this seemed like the most appropriate target.
Since I never got the one they made of Bartolo Colon in a Twins uniform in 2017. Which I still want...
Another card I wanted for my collection was a patch card, with a really colorful swatch of jersey patch attached. This card has a nice chunk of Sano's 22, on a classic 1960's throwback home jersey. (You can see a hint of blue pinstripe under the corner of 2.) The autograph was a nice bonus. $10 for this card? Absolutely! Had this been a licensed Topps card, I'm thinking the price would have been even higher.
Very happy with today's purchase. I left Three Stars Sportscards with a bunch of stuff that I'd long been after. I didn't expect to find this much awesomeness today, I just wanted to see what a "new" card shop had to offer. I'd been to a few different card stores that have provided new additions in vintage and junk wax era, but what I found today was more focused on different collection needs. Obscure inserts from the late 1990's and 2000's, plus a few high end autographs that I hadn't necessarily expected to find.
More importantly, I wanted to get away from reality (and driveway) for a while and get lost in my hobby.
It was a rare warm January day, with temperatures in the upper 40's. While I was out shirking responsibility, that sun worked some magic on the impossible driveway. Warming enough of the ice layer that I was able to scrape a bunch of it off the driveway before putting salt down.
I chiseled away again on Sunday, putting another wave of salt down on the sidewalk and scraping even more. By Monday evening, the driveway was in really good shape by the time the bed delivery dudes showed up to deliver the bed.
Three Stars Sportscards, in Roseville, MN was a card store that I'd only been to once. That was back in 2015, while on vacation from Colorado. I was impressed by their wide selection of Twins singles, since I wasn't used to seeing Twins singles where I was living. Now that I am living in Minnesota again, it was time to find more needed cards for the Twins binders!
Plus, I still needed that 6th Monster box wide enough for Top Loaders...
This was my window to clear the driveway!
We were having a new bed delivered to the house on Monday night, so my mission for the weekend was clear. I needed to get as much ice off the driveway and sidewalk to the front door as possible, so the bed deliverers wouldn't slip and fall and die and sue us while trying to get our new bed inside.
But first! I'm going to go look at some cards!
Maybe about 200 new singles were acquired to file in with the other Twins, Expos and Rockies that have been picked up since I put my binders together. Writing about some of these cards just screams "Whatever" to me....
So why not...
The Top 71 Cards Picked Up at Three Stars Sportscards on January 5, 2019!
#71 - 2007 Topps '52 - Julio DePaula
Even if it sucks...
#70 - 2015 Allen & Ginter - Torii Hunter
This was a duplicate that I intentionally bought, because I liked Hunter's cards from his sentimental return to Minnesota for the last season of his career. He likely wont garner any serious Hall of Fame consideration, but Hunter was a very good player for a very long time.
#69 - 2014 Bowman Scouts 100 - Alex Meyer
Meyer has been continually bitten by the injury bug, derailing a career that could have been dominant.
#68 - 2000 Skybox Dominion - Jacque Jones & Mark Redman
Skybox (owned by Fleer) put out some really cheap and busy looking base cards in the late 1990's/early 2000's. I really haven't been a big fan of these sets, but they are still needs. As long as they can be picked up cheap...
Although they could charge a premium for Mark Redman's unibrow....
#67 - 1988 Pacific Legends - Harmon Killebrew
#66 - 2010 Bowman 1992 Anniversary - Denard Span
Another intentionally bought duplicate, just because I love 1992 Bowman so much.
Now there's a set that needs to be Whatevered...
#65 - 2005 Fleer Classic Clippings - Johan Santana
Too much border with too little picture... Me no like!
#64 - 2010 Topps National Chickle - JJ Hardy
J.J. Hardy hit 72 home runs in his first three seasons with the Orioles, while providing league average defense at a premium position. Something the Twins could have really used during that time...
Nishioka flamed out on every level. Hitting a woeful .215, with a .503 OPS over parts of two seasons, before going back to Japan. He did use his blazing speed to steal two bases!
While not an actual trade, this series of transactions really set the team back...
#63 - 2009 Upper Deck A Piece Of History - Jason Pridie
Another "Blink and You Missed It" career that garnered a few more cards than DePaula got a year earlier. A Piece Of History was a set that I kind of liked, but didn't. The graphics should be well done for an honoring history themed set, this comes off a little cheesy. I would have reduced the frames by a bit more, which would allow the photo to be opened up.
#62 - 2017 MCPA Bike Safety - Hector Santiago
This should rank higher due to the sheer novelty of this paper-thin card. It's a typical cheaply made team issued "Police Card". In this case, it's the Minnesota Crime Prevention Association, who sponsored the cards. This Hector Santiago is the only card I've ever seen from the set. So I don't know if the theme of Bike Safety was for the entire set, or if different players would feature different safety messages.
I find it extra funny that the first card I've seen from this set is of a Twins pitcher who did nothing more than disappoint while collecting a hefty salary for a season and a half. Maybe he knows a lot about Bike Safety?
#61 - 1982 Donruss - John Castino
#60 - 2009 SP Legendary Cuts - Justin Morneau
This is the first card from the 2009 SP Legendary Cuts set. Something that high end is something I'll never buy a pack of. I'm content to wait until I see a single somewhere and the price is right. I like the design too.
#59 - 2006 Upper Deck Pro-Sigs Diamond Collection - Johan Santana
I do NOT like the design of 2006 Upper Deck Pro-Sigs Diamond Collection, but I think I've now completed the Twins team set.
#58 - 2006 Topps Heritage - Phil Nevin
Not quite the equivalent of Jose Canseco appearing on a Montreal Expos card in 2002, but it's the same in theory...
Nevin would play in only 16 regular season games with the Twins, batting .190 with 1 home run and 4 RBI (though he drew an impressive 10 walks in those 16 games). In the 2006 American League Division Series against the Oakland A's, Nevin went 0-3 in the only game he played. The Twins lost that series. Phil Nevin never played major league baseball again.
His son Tyler is a top 3rd base prospect for the Colorado Rockies, so there's good reason to follow him.
#57 - 1992 Stadium Club - Kevin Tapani
******
This was one of the first things I checked on as soon as I came in. One of the kids working just happened to be folding up a stack of flat Monster Boxes. We tested it with a Top Loader sitting on the counter and it was a fit! Other than needing thousands of penny sleeves, hundreds of pages and probably close to a dozen 3 ring binders, I wasn't really needing any more supplies today.
Then I found this...
A Shoe Box full of lightly used Top Loaders for $15!
Who doesn't need Top Loaders? Yeah I'm buying this!
Now that I know they fit perfectly inside the new Monster Box!
******
Back to the Whatever!
#56 - 2010 Disabled American Veterans - Orlando Hudson
Oh cool! They have some singles from the 2010 edition of the Disabled American Veterans card series! I picked up a couple of an earlier series a while back, and found a few from the 2010 edition here. With oddball cards, it's nice to find card of players who didn't star for the team. Hudson put up some very solid seasons with the Blue Jays and Diamondbacks, and some down years as well. The Twins got a relative down year from Hudson in 2010. By 2011, he had no role with Minnesota because Nishioka has that COVERED! Orlando moved on to San Diego, but would never come close to the numbers he put up between 2004 and 2009.
#55 - 1994 Stadium Club - Scott Erickson
This was a need I thought may have been a had. I like the blurred out Spring Training backdrop here. I never bought a lot of packs of 1994 Stadium Club. The gimmicky label tape was a bit too gimmicky for me, and I felt it didn't fit in against the Stadium Club designs over the first 3 sets. Now looking at just the style of photography on the whole, the 1994 set had a much different feel than Stadium Club 91-93 do. These have "louder" colors! At some point I'd like to pick up the complete 1994 Stadium Club set. Something tells me it would be a fun set to keep in an album.
#54 - 2005 Upper Deck Reflections - Johan Santana
The foil board used on cards like these always scan so dark. Not a big fan of the design either. But it was a need!
#53 - 2006 Topps Heritage - Luis Castillo
2006 Topps Heritage has always been a favorite that I didn't buy much of. So when I found a card of Minnesota's big 2006 trade acquisition with the Florida Marlins, from the set, I had to grab it. Then I looked it closer. If Luis put his arms down, what would that Twins logo look like? Luckily for Topps, The Marlins and Twins both wore pinstriped home uniforms, so they could get away with a reasonable Photoshoppery. They did a decent job with the hat... But that Twins logo across the chest gets funnier every time I look at it...
#52 - 2002 Upper Deck Ovation - Brad Radke
I think this completes a team set.
#51 - 2013 Bowman Platinum - Alex Meyer
Probably some sort of parallel. With it's Chromeyness and purpley Refractorisms. It dropped way down on the Whatever because I can't stand the three-colored Twins cap.
#50 - 2007 Upper Deck Masterpieces - Joe Mauer
#49 - 1998 SP Authentic - Carl Pavano
I wasn't expecting to add any Expos today, but the Twins boxes at Three Stars Sportscards contained some cards of stars with other teams. The Carl Pavano section included a few of his Twins cards, but also cards of Pavano and a Marlin and Yankee, as well as one card from Pavano's rookie season with the Expos!
#48 - 2017 Bowman Chrome Talent Pipeline - Twins
Obviously a card I would have wanted regardless, but the player selection on this card leaves a lot to be desired. Nick Gordon makes sense, he's been a top prospect forever. Tyler Jay? Granted he was a (wasted) 6th overall pick in 2015, but that was apparent by 2017. Nice hopeful thinking by Topps, but the Jay pick has been a thorn in Twins fans sides since the second it was announced... Jake Reed? Just wow... I bet the 2018 version (if there was one) would have a LOT more star power.
#47 - 2016 Topps Bunt - Trevor Story
On top of one of the glass cases, they had a Monster box filled with recent singles, for 25 cents a card. It looked like they stuffed all opened current product in that wouldn't sell for more than a quarter a piece. Not a bad idea...
In addition to all the 2018 Donruss, Bowman, Topps, Chrome and all the stuff you'd expect, there was also probably several boxes worth of 2016 Topps Bunt mixed in. I never bought any Topps Bunt before, so I pulled out this Story, plus the rest of the Colorado Rockies team set.
#46 - 2018 Stadium Club - Joe Mauer
#45 - 2004 Playoff Honors - Jason Kubel
I still really like the base cards from the 2004 Playoff Honors set.
#44 - 2005 Topps Heritage - Brad Radke
Unlike Castillo, Radke gets a normal Twins across the chest of his jersey.
#43 - 2010 Bowman Chrome - Kyle Gibson
#42 - 2004 Donruss Throwback Threads - Corey Koskie
Look at all those shapes! Donruss liked borders, and they made a lot of similarly looking sets. Just rearrange those shapes, and you have a new set! Throwback Threads was a nice set this year, I like the black & white photo behind the color player image. The design is a little busy, but it works in this case.
******
A buffet of Junk Wax Sets
Right when I walked into the store, there was a table alongside the front window that was filled with junk wax era complete sets. Likely well over 100 different sized boxed card sets. You can imagine the content, you all know those sets... They were all $5 a piece or 3/$10. Due to personal overthrowing away of cards from that era, I'm left with real gaps in team sets for years that I really should have.
1988 and 1989 Donruss? There's no good excuse for missing any cards from these sets if you ever wanted them. There are still over 750 billion 1988 Donruss cards in the universe, so how I am possibly missing 16 of them for the Expos team set?
The 3/$10 sets I picked up were the 1988 and 1989 Donruss, as well as a set of 1991 Ultra. Six complete team sets (both Twins and Expos) for $10? Plus a bunch of other singles that may or may not be worth keeping? I'll do that...
Funny thing, and very telling for the era, is the $60 price tag on the 1991 Ultra set. A lofty goal that likely was put together around the time 1991 Ultra first hit, and had high value to anyone who refused to cough up the ridiculous cash for 1991 Stadium Club wax.
Even better indication of this hand collated set's history was the packing material in the box...
A Targets ad from September 15, 1991!
If you look closely, you can see Richard Simmons Sweatin' to the Oldies on VHS!
I should have scanned the whole ad...
******
#41 - 2010 DAV - Jon Rauch
When I presented the multiple stacks of cards to the kid ringing me up, he started going through them, sorting them into smaller piles, then coming up with the price of each stack. He made the comment: "Don't worry, I've adjusted the outdated prices on some of these down for you. Jon Rauch isn't a $1.00 card anymore..."
I laughed and said: "It's hard to imagine there ever being a $1.00 Jon Rauch card..."
Well, he is a former Montreal Expo...
#40 - 2012 Topps Gold Futures - Liam Hendricks
Call me wacky, but I kind of liked the 2012 Topps Gold Futures insert set. And the Twins retro 1960's uniforms always look great on cards.
#39 - 1998 Fleer Sports Illustrated - Harmon Killebrew
Fleer's cross marketing with Sports Illustrated back in 1998 was a hobby pairing that I missed out on upon it's release, but sure wish I'd have gotten in on buying packs of this great product. I don't recall seeing it much at the card shops I visited in 1998. This is another set I'd like to pick up at some point, for how I think it would look in an album.
#38 - 2005 Ultra - Brad Radke
I never bought any 2005 Ultra. It fell by the wayside as it looked too much like every other set of Ultra since 1997 (which happened to be an Ultra set that I really liked). This is a pretty cool photo, and I liked that all of the outfield wall ads are blocked out. Were they all beer/tobacco ads? Or are they are set of local advertisers filling up a minor league ballpark's boundaries?
#37 - 2010 Bowman Chrome - Max Kepler
Another duplicate. But I'm a big fan of really young Max in his Twins warm-up T-shirt.
#36 - 2015 Bowman Chrome - Glen Perkins - Refractor
It seems like basic Chrome refractors have gotten harder to find over the last few years. I don't know if that's because of all the different parallels of refractors have desensitized the market. Since there isn't a blue or gold or purple or red shade to the refractor, or an autograph scribbled across the front, no one cares. I do! I want cards like this!
#35 - 1995 Pinnacle Team Pinnacle - Kirby Puckett
Yay! One of the top rarest inserts from 1995 Pinnacle! At a price no one could turn down! I pulled a couple of the Team Pinnacle inserts out of packs back in 1993-1996, and they were always an exciting hit. The 1995 version wasn't the best design, though it looks a lot better in real life compared to this scan.
#34 - 1989 Donruss All Stars - Tom Kelly
I never bought any of the Donruss All Stars wax that contained the foldable cardboard "Stand-Ups". There were one for each league's starting All Star Game lineup, as well as 1 of each of the All Star Game managers. Since the Twins won the 1987 World Series, Tom Kelly got to manage the 1988 All Star Game, so he gets a Stand-Up in the 1989 Donruss All Stars set. Kind of an oddball that had eluded my collection until now.
#33 - 2005 Leaf Century Collection - Johan Santana
This card is kind of a busy mess. But they at least kept the mess to grayscale, so it's easier on the eyes.
#32 - 2018 Topps Pro Debut - Brent Rooker
This is my first card of Minnesota's 2017 2nd Round Draft Pick. I wondered what the Elizabethton Twins jerseys looked like. I should start picking up ProDebut when I see packs. Over the years, I've appreciated Topps efforts in presenting the top prospects of the Minor Leagues in each year's baseball set design. I bought a box of it in 2010 and liked it. But I haven't bought anything other than some singles here and there, from any sets since.
#31 - 1989 Topps All Stars - Frank Viola
Take what I wrote from the Tom Kelly Donruss All Star Stand-Up about the World Series and All Star Game, and apply it here. I liked how Topps used the Rack Pack inserts throughout the 1980's, as a set of glossy All Star cards with the starting line up from the game. And they always had the same design. Which I liked the consistency. I didn't buy too many Rack Packs of 1989 Topps, so this is probably the first time I'd seen the Frank Viola card from the set.
#30 - 2004 Upper Deck Legends Memorable Moments - Kent Hrbek
Which makes this seem like the perfect place for Viola's teammate on the 1987 World Series winning team, Kent Hrbek. Upper Deck dusted off the Hrbek photos a few times in the mid-2000's. Including him as one of the featured retired players in the Retrospective themed sets they churned out.
#29 - 2003 Fleer Gamers Lumber - Jose Vidro
This card dropped way down because it's really ugly. That shade of red just kills the entire card. But a cheap relic I couldn't turn down...
#28 - 1992 Fleer Rookie Sensations - Scott Leius
Oh, and the proofreader over at Fleer didn't notice they misspelled Scott's name Lieus...
#27 - 2002 Donruss Classics - Rod Carew - Gold
Always thought 2002 Donruss Classics was a really attractive set. The silver base looks a lot better than the gold (serial numbered) parallel.
#26 - 2006 Playoff Prestige Prestigious Pros - Shannon Stewart - 297/700
Surprised this scan turned out even this well... Stewart's card kind of a big blob of silver foil with white knock outs in it. It's also the first 2006 Playoff Prestige card I've owned of any insert flavor.
#25 - 1992 Starting Lineup Hit Men - Kirby Puckett
Nice to get a Starting Lineup card for a collection need, without having to free it from the packaging. Though unless I had duplicates (and I don't even have one of these), I probably wouldn't open a Starting Lineup Puckett. Too much good display potential ruined by opening them up. Plus what do you do with the loose figures? I already have have two gallon sized ziplock bags full of loose SLU figures, all stuck together in a suffocating game of Twister. Still a very cool card...
#24 - 2014 Bowman Chrome Dueling Die-Cuts - Kyle Zimmer/Alex Meyer
Much like Meyer's career never lived up it's potential due to injuries, the same could be said for Kansas City Royals pitcher Kyle Zimmer. They should have been two undeniable aces of the American League Central for years to come. Instead, five years later, Meyer is still trying to make comebacks with the Angels, while Zimmer is still hanging on with minor league deals with Kansas. Neither have seen much success, and Zimmer hasn't even pitched in the majors.
#23 - 2003 Donruss Team Heroes - Harmon Killebrew
A great shot of the late 1960's era Tinker Field in Orlando going on here... You can definitely add 2003 Donruss Team Heroes to the list of wax I've never before seen, let alone opened. 2003 was probably the year I bought the least amount of cards, and I've still never seen any of these around. Though something tells me it would be a fun box to break at some point.
I wonder how many Expos are in that set?
Hmmmm....
How many more Killebrew's are in that set?
Do any of them look like this?
"As I was unpacking a box that hadn't likely seen daylight in 25 years, I found this incredible Amoco Certicare promotional poster, autographed by Harmon Killebrew! He signed it in pencil, which is rather odd. I vaguely remember a card show he was signing at back in the late 1980's, where I got my Minnesota Twins Surf Book signed, my mom got a baseball signed, and we ended up with this poster as well. Not sure the circumstances, I'd forgotten all about it."
Still not knowing the poster's origin, I was surprised to find Three Stars Sportscards had a small collection of cans with the same art as the Killebrew poster. I asked a guy sitting in front of a computer what he knew of them.
As I suspected, Killebrew was tabbed for promotional work for Amoco. They produced a bunch of replica oil cans with the Killebrew art on them. He had no info on the dates they were sold. The poster mentioned his Hall of Fame Induction in 1984, so maybe that's the year?
Either way, he sold me a can for $5, and I wasn't going to turn that down...
Whatever...
#22 - 1998 Pacific Online - Terry Steinbach
When I first saw this set in 1998, I thought it was interesting. Adding a website about each player to the front of the cards, where theoretically, you could find all kinds of statistics or whatever else you wanted. Video clips, interviews, stories, etc.. You could have the card unlock stuff online, driving people to buy more packs... The potential to do many interesting things with this concept is right there. But Pacific didn't take advantage of their own great idea...
Now 20 years later, they are severely dated. In order to make the set work, Pacific should have set up their own website, with pages for each player. Instead of printing the URL for bigleaguers.com (which died shortly after the set) and whatever entity was running each professional team's website. The internet wasn't nearly organized enough for this set in it's time, and now it's just kind of unintentionally funny because of it.
You don't want to be on the cutting edge when you don't understand it. Otherwise history looks back on you with mocking tones... "That new fangled internet thing will be great on baseball cards... Errrrr Sassafrass..."
Which is a shame because as just cards, Pacific Online is set with an okay design, but a very deep checklist. Including cards for many player who only got cards for this set in 1998.
#21 - 2016 Topps Bunt - Byung Ho Park
I pick on the Twins for the whole Tsuyoshi Nishioka debacle, as well as pretty much everything done under that regime. Four years later they (well, nearly the same group of baseball people) once again misinterpreted foreign baseball statistics and threw a bunch of money at Byung Ho Park of the Korean Professional Baseball Organization. But Kim had no clear role on the team. His best position was Designated Hitter, he was plagued by injuries... But did hit a few MASSIVE home runs along the way.
#20 - 2016 Topps Bunt - Vladmir Guerrero
That same Monster Box full of recent singles (and 2016 Topps Bunt) was sitting so that one of the rows of cards were slumped back, revealing this Guerrero to me from across the room. Before I ever approached that box, I knew I would be buying this card from it.
#19 - 2018 Topps MVP Medallion - Nolan Arenado
One of Topps "Manufactured" relics, made to give your a wax box a hit that really isn't a hit. One thing I would not like is to be hit with this card. That chuck of metal with the Rockies CR engraved in it is HEAVY. Even though that heavy metal Topps thingy doesn't mean anything, it's a nice addition to my Nolan Arenado collection.
#18 - 2011 Topps Pro Debut - Nolan Arenado
As is this one... Arenado playing A ball for the Ashville (NC) Tourists in the Rockies minor league system. Before he became the greatest third baseman I've ever seen play.
Yeah, I need to buy Topps Pro Debut cards...
#17 - 2010 Bowman Chrome - Anthony Slama - Blue Refractor 11/199
Slama struck out tons of batters in the minor leagues, and looked like he could be a force for the Twins coming out of the bullpen. But he just never did. He always put up big numbers in the minors, but barely got a shot in the majors. Pitching a grand total of 7 games between the 2010 and 2011 seasons. Giving up 6 hits and 7 walks while striking out 8 batters, in his 7 total innings at the Major League level. Slama hung around pitching in the minors until 2014, but he never had the career many expected he would.
#16 - 1975 SSPC Stars of the 1960's - Harmon Killebrew
#15 - 2010 Finest - Justin Morneau - Blue Refractor
It's far cheaper to just buy they good singles from Finest when you find them instead of blowing a bunch of money on packs. As much as I used to enjoy opening Finest wax, it's just not worth what you pay for a box. But I'll gladly buy singles from it when I see stuff like this one sale for a buck or two...
#14 - 2004 Upper Deck Legends All Stars - Harmon Killebrew
Great Met Stadium shot here, with bonus batting cage included. I'd like to see this picture in color, not that I'm saying the black and white doesn't work here. It completely does.
#13 - 1998 Donruss Preferred Title Waves - Paul Molitor
Weird die-cut serial numbered insert from Donruss. I get what they were going for here. But Molitor won the World Series in 1993 playing for the Toronto Blue Jays. The Twins never played in the World Series with Molitor on the team. Not a bad card, just misleading. And one I'd never seen before.
#12 - 2010 Bowman Chrome - Sheng An Kuo - Gold Refractor 6/25
I'd never heard of this Rockies pitching prospect before finding the Gold Refractor. Which was only $3. I'd strongly consider just about any Gold Refractor for $3, but one of a failed no-name Rockies prospect is a must have. Looking up Kuo's numbers, he just didn't have it. He played with the Rockies system from 2007 through 2011, but never made it above A ball.
#11 - 2014 Topps Tribute - Harmon Killebrew
Topps Tribute are too rich for my blood. I don't swim in those waters, but like to pick up singles when I find them. This is just a nice looking card.
******
In my Four Baggers story about 1991 Stadium Club, I wrote the following in regards to having hand collected the set via packs, and the price of those packs back in the fall of 1991:
"But there's one more thing I really want for my collection... That would be an unopened box of 1991 Stadium Club Series 1. The same box that Mike and I didn't buy for $350 at Shinders in October 1991, I really want to own today. Not to open and sell for singles, just to look at and remember. (And retire off of in 20 years!) A quick check on the internets shows that I can have that very box shipped to my home for the low low price of 6 and a half hours at Perkins...."
Three Stars Sportscards had unopened boxes of BOTH 1991 Stadium Club series 1 and 2, for only $12 each! One of my longest desired collection pieces would now be mine, for even less than 6 and a half hours at Perkins! AND that includes Series 2 as well!
These boxes seriously made me happier than any other cards I purchased that day. Just because of how long/much I wanted them. They may be next to worthless to anyone who is not me, but buying them sure made me happy.
I should have bought a second box of Series 1 and sent it to Military Mike...
Whatever...
#10 - 2015 Bowman Scouts Top 100 - Byron Buxton -Refractor 73/99
I'm pretty sure these came in non-Refractor, non-serial numbered versions as well. But this is the first I'd seen of it, and it's Byron Buxton, so I'll pay extra for that gimmick. And because I still (possibly foolishly) believe that Buxton will eventually become the star player that he has all the potential to be. I wouldn't be shocked if he hit .275 with 30 home runs and 40 stolen bases next year. He has that kind of star potential. Of course he also he shown that he could hit .175 with 200 strikeouts...
But he'd still probably get a lot of stolen bases...
#9 - 2014 Bowman Chrome Draft - Nick Gordon - Refractor
I turned down buying this card for a lot more money a few years ago. I had to wait for the "high draft pick" hype to wear down before I'd be willing to drop more than a couple bucks on this card. While Gordon remains a great prospect, he's never likely to approach the lofty numbers I'm forecasting on Buxton. At his greatest, Gordon could also hit .275. And maybe approach 40 stolen bases someday, but he's highly unlikely to hit even 10 home runs in a season. Just doesn't have the body for it.
#8 - 2018 Bowman Chrome - Brendan Rodgers - Gold Refractor 30/50
I had to pay a bit more for the Brendan Rodgers Gold Refractor than I did for the Sheng An Kuo Gold Refractor. But nowhere near what the Rodgers would have set me back in Colorado. You gotta love finding out of market top prospects when they are a market you collect. Is 2019 the season Rodgers makes it to Denver and stars at second base? The path is clear for him to play, and I'm anxious to see what he'll do.
#7 - 2018 Bowman Chrome - Royce Lewis - Refractor
Slowly but surely starting to acquire some of Royce Lewis' more rare cards. This Refractor ranked very high on my want list.
#6 - 2018 Bowman Chrome - Wander Javier - Autograph
Lewis and Nick Gordon rank #1 and #2 as far as Minnesota's shortstop prospects go, but #3 on that list is clearly Wander Javier. The Twins paid Javier a lot of money as an international free agent signing a couple of years back. While Javier missed the 2018 season due to injury, he projects high in terms of development in hitting, running and fielding. Some believe he could end up being the best fielding shortstop of the three, with enough offensive skills to be a star for Minnesota within the next 3-5 years.
I found this card in the case as I was being rung up. Three Stars Sportscards had a $25 tag on it.
I didn't think twice.
#5 - 2013 Bowman Platinum - Max Kepler 167/199
#4 - 2017 Topps Archives Signature - Miguel Sano 18/99
I also did not have a Miguel Sano autograph before today, and this autographed buyback fit the bill as something I needed to add to the collection. Fits in nicely alongside the Jose Berrios Topps Archives Signature buyback I picked up a month or so ago.
#3 - 2008 SPx Game Jersey Autograph - Troy Tulowitzki
#2 - 2018 Topps Now - Joe Mauer
This would be the first Topps Now card I ever bought. It was one that I wanted without ever seeing it. I heard Topps produced one of their special Topps Now cards to commemorate Mauer catching in his final career game. No one knew for sure it was his last game at the time, but it made sense that it would be. And it was a nice moment for Mauer to go out the way he came, catching. So for my first Topps Now card, this seemed like the most appropriate target.
Since I never got the one they made of Bartolo Colon in a Twins uniform in 2017. Which I still want...
#1 - 2016 Panini National Treasures - Miguel Sano 73/99
Another card I wanted for my collection was a patch card, with a really colorful swatch of jersey patch attached. This card has a nice chunk of Sano's 22, on a classic 1960's throwback home jersey. (You can see a hint of blue pinstripe under the corner of 2.) The autograph was a nice bonus. $10 for this card? Absolutely! Had this been a licensed Topps card, I'm thinking the price would have been even higher.
Very happy with today's purchase. I left Three Stars Sportscards with a bunch of stuff that I'd long been after. I didn't expect to find this much awesomeness today, I just wanted to see what a "new" card shop had to offer. I'd been to a few different card stores that have provided new additions in vintage and junk wax era, but what I found today was more focused on different collection needs. Obscure inserts from the late 1990's and 2000's, plus a few high end autographs that I hadn't necessarily expected to find.
More importantly, I wanted to get away from reality (and driveway) for a while and get lost in my hobby.
Which I got in spades.
I chiseled away again on Sunday, putting another wave of salt down on the sidewalk and scraping even more. By Monday evening, the driveway was in really good shape by the time the bed delivery dudes showed up to deliver the bed.
They didn't slip and fall, they didn't die and sue us!
And I got a big buncha sweet cards that I didn't expect to buy!
Whatever...
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