Monday, September 29, 2008

Minor matters and picking up random cards



Sometimes you feel you are in your own world - I went to a sports card shop, looking for some minor league product.

You always have your usual Major League cards, but sometimes you are looking for something a little different - I was looking for the 'mass produced' cards by Tristar.

"It's not really [something that is] in demand," the man I spoke to said. "We only carry mainstream [product] like Topps and Upper Deck."

Well I guess I'd better stick with official MLB licensed and/or MLBPA licensed baseball cards - I usually try to get my rank-and-file cards autographed in-person and through the mail and perhaps if I'm looking to find a minor league card of a particular player [probably a young prospect], he probably has a first-year Bowman/Bowman Chrome card.

With the MLBPA rookie card rules - Topps and Upper Deck are probably printing cards of particular players as they make their MLB debuts.

Why bother with minor league cards?

At the shop, I found 20 random cards [$0.10 each] from the commons boxes - I'm not really enamored by cards right now, so they were not a priority.

I feel like more cards = more work I'm not willing to do when it comes to sorting - I don't care about my collecting topics as much at this point.

I did find several minor league cards- 2008 Just [unlicensed; meaning the cards can't display team logos, even of minor league teams] of Logan Morrison, Chris Davis, Bobby Parnell, Andrew McCutchen and Jordan Bachanov [Angels draft pick in 2007 who had Tommy John surgery].

2008 Upper Deck Baseball Heroes - these cards are styled after the Baseball Heroes inserts of the 1990s. Upper Deck has rolled out the Baseball Heroes graphics more than a few times.

#46 Corey Hart - a rising semistar who I probably had a chance to get, but didn't have any cards for during spring training.



#79 Alex Gordon - he hasn't made the leap from highly touted elite prospect to all-star performer [or better].
#168 Luke Scott

2008 Topps Baseball Series I and II - you need Topps, but there is an expectation these cards are very basic and boring.

#132 Ramon Vazquez - a decent utility guy

#428 Jair Jurrjens - was he really the Atlanta Braves No. 1 pitcher in 2008?
#487 Corey Patterson - breaking his bat

#489 Joakim Soria - I try pick-up cards of such players because you are more inclined to do your homework on new faces.
#607 Ryan Spilborghs - Spilborghs is making a nice attempt to grab the ball.
#618 Pat Neshek - didn't really need this one, but he is a fan favorite.
#644 Reggie Willits - a fan favorite even though he barely played in 2008.

2008 Upper Deck II - I like these cards, but they are very boring. There isn't anything grabbing at you.

#534 Reggie Willits
#645 Yuniesky Betancourt
#647 Ramon Vazquez


2008 Upper Deck A piece of History

#43 Hunter Pence
#68 Phil Hughes

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