Happy Fake Opening Day

Even if it is a crummy interleague game I guess it's still real baseball.

I'd normally also include an Astros card, but Topps doesn't put Astros cards in their products anymore.

Archives/Fan Favorites Wantlist

Yeah I know, 2012 Archives sucked. Whatever, I kinda liked it even though it was pretty horribly flawed. There are basically two reasons why Archives made the cut in my "time to stop screwing around and figure out what I'm actually going to collect" list.

1. I really like the oldy moldy reprint/reimagined cards. 
2. I already have over 90% of the entire brand run so why the hell not.

Yes, I realize that by the standards of #2 I should be building 1989 Score, 1990 Fleer and 1991 Donruss too. Leave me alone and let me collect something I like.

I have omitted the '53, '54 and Brooklyn Dodger Archives sets from the '90s because they are simply too tricky to find and when I do actually find someone selling them, they are priced like they are original cards. If you have a large pile you'd love to trade me I'll definitely listen.

2017 Update:
My local card shop does have a large pile of the '90s Archives so they're on here now.
I'm also building 1989 Score, 1990 Fleer and 1991 Donruss too.
Don't judge me.

1991 1953 Archives

16 21 35
83 84 99 100
104
154 163 167 174 177 188
220 233 238 244
253 260 261 267 268 271 275 298
308 311 319 335

1994 1954 Archives

1 2 3 4 7 8 14 15 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 31 36 37 38 39 41 42 43 44 47 48 50
51 53 59 60 62 63 64 65 66 68 70 71 72 73 77 78 79 80 81 83 84 86 88 89 90 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100
101 102 104 105 107 110 111 112 114 115 117 118 120 125 126 128 134 135 136 137 140 141 143 146 147
154 155 157 159 160 162 164 167 169 171 174 175 178 184 185 186 187 194 196 198
201 202 204 206 207 208 212 213 214 216 217 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 233 234 235 236 237 239 241 242 243 244 245 248 250
251 252 253 255 256 258 259

2001 Archives
11 Andy Pafko 52
42 Boog Powell 62
186 Mike Schmidt 89
195 Ozzie Smith 96
202 Casey Stengel MGR 60
233 Minnie Minoso 52
235 Robin Roberts 52
258 Maury Wills 60
280 Nolan Ryan 68
283 Al Oliver 69
344 Jim Bouton 68
359 Sam McDowell 74
443 Steve Carlton RB 84

2002 Archives
15 Ron Santo
44 Ryne Sandberg
56 Vern Law
63 Jim Palmer
86 Robin Yount
106 Tim McCarver
125 Kirby Puckett
199 Jim Palmer

2003 Fan Favorites
20 George Brett

2004 Fan Favorites
9 Frank Viola
23 Jack Morris
28 Robin Yount
32 Will Clark
43 Darrell  Evans
66 David Justice
70 Jim Palmer
96 Pete Incaviglia
101 Carlton Fisk
103 Dennis Eckersley
104 Rick Sutcliffe
120 Duke Snider
131 Sid Fernandez
144 Rollie Fingers

2005 Fan Favorites
2 Bill Freehan
3 Bo Jackson
16 Jim Leyland
17 Jesse Orosco
18 Joe Pepitone
25 John Candalaria
26 Mike Norris
29 Roger Craig
30 Ron Gant
47 Ernie Banks
49 Howard Johnson
54 Cleon Jones
66 Kevin McReynolds
72 Gary Gaetti
74 Ron Darling
84 Johnny Podres
85 Joe Morgan
86 Juan Marichal
87 Jeffrey Leonard
96 Jose Oquendo
99 Keith Hernandez
102 Oscar Gamble
105 Rod Carew
107 Walt Jockety
111 Rob Dibble
119 Tim Raines
121 Rafael Santana
122 Scott Brosius
135 Orlando Cepeda
136 Mike Cuellar

2012 Archives

1954 Design
COMPLETE

1971 Design
COMPLETE

1980 Design
COMPLETE

1984 Design
COMPLETE


2013 Archives

[picture goes here]

1972 Design
COMPLETE

1982 Design

86 Jackie Robinson

1985 Design

142 Willie Stargell

1990 Design

164 Dan Uggla
172 Freddie Freeman
175 Yogi Berra
200 Mike Trout

Short Prints

205 Ruben Sierra
216 Jesse Barfield
217 Mookie Wilson
218 Darrell Evans
221 Hal Morris
223 Matt Williams
230 Ray Knight
231 Kevin McReynolds
233 Vince Coleman
235 Gregg Jefferies
237 Sid Fernandez
241 Fred Lynn
242 Kevin Mitchell
243 Lloyd Moseby
244 Eric Davis

2014 Archives

[picture goes here]

1973 Design

2 Bruce Sutter
6 Marcus Semien
7 Dustin Pedroia
9 Josh Donaldson
10 Juan Gonzalez
13 Jarred Cosart
17 Joey Votto
18 Rickey Henderson
19 Nolan Arenado
20 Will Middlebrooks
21 Ty Cobb
22 Jake Marisnick
23 Chris Carter
26 Juan Marichal
28 Joe Kelly
29 Carlos Gomez
30 Alex Gordon
31 Steve Carlton
32 Frank Robinson
33 Kyuji Fujikawa
36 Carlos Beltran
37 Wilmer Flores
39 Chris Sale
41 Catfish Hunter
42 Junior Lake
44 Ernie Banks
45 Lou Brock
47 Tim Lincecum
48 CC Sabathia
49 Jonny Gomes
50 Derek Jeter

1980 Design (again)

52 Michael Wacha
53 James Paxton
54 Marco Scutaro
55 Jay Bruce
60 Ozzie Smith
61 Matt Davidson
63 Austin Jackson
67 Jonathan Villar
68 Eddie Mathews
73 Erik Johnson
74 Jon Lester
75 Ken Griffey Jr.
79 Duke Snider
80 Hiroki Kuroda
83 Billy Butler
84 Tony Pérez
85 Kevin Pillar
88 Evan Gattis
89 R.A. Dickey
91 Roberto Clemente
93 Xander Bogaerts
94 Mike Napoli
99 Salvador Perez
100 Bryce Harper

1986 Design

101 Ted Williams
104 Jordan Zimmermann
105 Tony Gwynn
106 Cliff Lee
107 Michael Choice
108 Carlos Santana
109 Jose Reyes
110 Yoenis Cespedes
111 Jason Heyward
112 Ethan Martin
113 Cal Ripken Jr.
116 Alex Guerrero
117 Mike Mussina
120 Yadier Molina
122 Larry Doby
123 Jarrod Parker
125 Jose Fernandez
126 Yordano Ventura
128 Avisail Garcia
129 Phil Niekro
131 Ian Kinsler
132 Felix Hernandez
135 Jimmy Nelson
136 Whitey Ford
139 Bob Feller
140 Tony Cingrani
141 Pablo Sandoval
142 Joe Mauer
143 Mike Schmidt
145 Sammy Sosa
147 Jose Bautista
148 Anthony Rendon
150 Miguel Cabrera

1989 Design

151 Joe DiMaggio
152 Anthony Rizzo
153 Fergie Jenkins
157 Rod Carew
159 Bob Gibson
160 Don Mattingly
161 Johnny Bench
163 Randy Johnson
165 Willie McCovey
168 Jonathan Schoop
169 Kolten Wong
173 Allen Craig
174 Andre Rienzo
176 Adrian Gonzalez
180 Chris Archer
181 Craig Kimbrel
183 David Wright
185 Doug Fister
186 Gerrit Cole
189 Jose Altuve
191 Justin Upton
192 Khris Davis
193 Matt Kemp
194 Max Scherzer
199 Sonny Gray
200 Buster Posey

2015 Archives
lolwut

1 2 5 6 8 10 11 12 14 16 17 22 24 25 27 28 29 30 31 32 35 39 40 43 44 49 50
52 54 56 57 59 62 63 65 66 67 69 70 71 73 74 75 76 78 79 82 83 84 85 87 89 91 92 93 95 96 97 98 99 100

101 104 105 106 107 109 110 112 113 115 116 120 126 128 129 130 131 132 134 136 137 142 145 149 150
152 153 154 155 161 162 163 165 166 167 168 170 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 184 186 187 189 190 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200

201 202 203 207 209 210 213 214 215 216 217 218 221 222 224 225 226 227 229 230 232 234 235 236 239 242 243 244 245 248 249 250
252 253 254 255 256 257 258 260 261 262 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 276 277 278 279 280 283 284 285 286 289 291 292 295 296 297 300


2016 Archives

5 7 15 18 34 37 43
53 61 64 69 70 73 74 75 76 80 81 86 87 97 98

105 111 116 121 123 125 133 134 136 138 150
151 152 154 166 168 170 174 187 196

201 207 213 216 224 225 231 232  237 243 250
261 264 268 273 276  281 286 290 294 297

Inserts (have)
SP 308
69TS- JA JAR BC FF MH FL AN CS AP MM
FS- AAL BB FF GGO GG PP
85DP- AB AR AG GC
BD- B LH RS T

no pretty pictures yet but the lists are updated

2017 Archives

1 2 3 4 6 8 10 11 13 14 15 16 19 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 34 37 39 43 49 50
51 52 54 58 61 62 63 65 66 67 68 70 71 73 75 76 77 79 83 84 85 86 87 89 90 96 97 99 100
101 102 103 106 108 112 116 117 118 119 123 124 126 127 128 129 130 132 133 134 136 137 139 141 143 146 147 148 149 150
151 152 155 156 157 158 159 160 162 163 164 166 168 169 171 172 173 174 176 178 180 181 182 183 187 188 189 190 191 192 195 196 198 199 200
201 203 204 205 206 207 208 210 211 213 216 219 220 223 224 225 226 227 229 230 231 232 233 236 237 238 239 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249
251 252 253 255 256 259 260 261 262 263 266 267 269 270 272 273 274 275 276 277 279 280 281 283 284 285 286 287 288 290 291 293 295 297 299 300


2018 Archives

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 12 13 14 15 16 18 19 20 22 23 25 26 27 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 40 41 46 47 49 50
51 52 53 54 55 56 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 71 72 73 74 75 78 79 81 84 85 86 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 98 99
101 102 104 105 106 109 110 111 112 114 115 116 117 120 121 123 124 125 126 128 132 136 138 139 140 142 144 146 147 148 149
151 153 154 159 160 163 164 165 168 169 175 176 178 180 186 188 189 190 192 193 194 196 197 198 200
201 202 205 207 211 217 219 220 221 224 226 227 228 229 230 239 241 242 244 247 248
251 253 255 256 258 260 262 263 264 265 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 278 280 281 282 284 285 286 287 289 290 295 297 299 300

2019 Archives

ALL OF EM

I have a bunch of doubles of this stuff too so if you need/want some let me know

Is it baseball yet?

Almost.

Presented without comment

BIG DADDY KANE

I've slacked on my card-writing-about responsibilities this week but I don't care

BECAUSE I GOTS A BIG DADDY KANE CARD

It's that time of the year for a draft

No, not a fantasy draft, Tribe Cards' Giveaway From Outer Space Thingy. Basically David from Tribe Cards is an inveterate pack ripper but doesn't want to have all that junk cluttering up the house. David's going to rip a pack of cards every day during the season. Then he gave us all an opportunity to select players in a fantasy draft format and if that player is pulled he'll send 'em to us after the season's over. If ya missed it, sorry. I mentioned it on Twitter at least twice and you should already be following Tribe Cards anyway! Here's the list of my picks mainly because it's an excuse to show off some Braves on the blog.

Initial Draft - #1 Pick Jason Heyward

True facts: Jason was not my #1 choice. That was Chipper Jones and he went #2 overall and was so popular he even got picked twice. I am quite happy with Heyward as my backup #1 choice though. I actually did pretty well considering there were over 40 people in the draft. Got 6 out of my overall Top 10 and three of those I missed went in the first round. You want to know who was the overall #1 pick in the draft? Dontrelle Willis. Not even kidding.

#2 Pick - Hank Aaron

If you're going to pick a legendary player early in the draft you may as well go large. Hank is in a surprising number of sets, at least as an insert.

#3 Pick - Kris Medlen

You know how loopy I am about Heyward? Kris is the pitching version of that obsession. I'm still kicking myself for not completely wiping out Check Out My Cards last summer when his cards cost pennies.

Pick #4 - Phil Niekro

Phil was my favorite pitcher as a kid and my first lesson in Baseball Is A Business as the Braves let him walk away to the Yankees to win his 300th game. He's also in a whole bunch of junkwax and Legends sets.

#5 Pick - Freddie Freeman

I've been so laser focused on my Heyward and Chipper and Medlen collections I've been neglecting Fab Five Freddie. I need to correct this before he goes off and becomes the premier first baseman in the NL.

#6 Pick - Reggie Jackson

Blogger ate my Reggie quip and I can't remember what I wrote now. Probably something about killing the queen.

#7 Pick - B.J. Upton 

Justin is probably the better player but I just like Bossman Junior better. Maybe it's because he used to play for the Rays and I like them a whole lot better than the D-Backs. Maybe it's because I pulled a whole bunch of B.J.'s cards back in the day and I hardly ever pull Justin Upton cards. Maybe it's because B.J. has a mustache and Justin doesn't. Yeah, that's it, I'm going with the mustache theory.

#8 Pick - Satchel Paige

There is a shameful lack of contemporary Satchel Paige cards out there but if David manages to pull one I WANT IT. Best pitcher ever in the history of the game period full stop no arguments.

#9 Pick - Justin Upton 

I don't want to say anything or even think it because I'm terrified of jinxing it but the way Justin looks this spring training he could have a monster season. Wait, no! I didn't just say that! I mean... he might turn into a monster and become a werewolf! And get suspended for eating an umpire during a night game under a full moon! (please be Sam Holbrook) And ruin the Braves' season like Braves seasons are always ruined because Braves fans deserve ruining AND I JINXED NOTHING DAMMIT, NOTHING

Here's my entire draft lineup, I'm kinda surprised I got as many as I did, Especially since Bip was a second round pick.

Mascot Supplemental Draft - Rangers Captain

When David did the pack rip giveaway last year, I wasn't very interested in cards at the time but I wanted to participate. Of course I requested all pony cards. Can you believe I actually got one? I chose Captain again because Chief Noc-a-Homa is no longer socially acceptable nowadays and the cheap Mr. Met knockoff the Braves have now just makes me sad.

Second Chance Draft

David did a short 6-pick second chance draft for anyone who missed the initial offering. I got five out of six, missing out only on Warren Spahn.

Pick #10 - Andrelton Simmons

Before last year's spring training, I was all "I guess Pastornicky's the new shortstop". Then after last year's spring training I was all "why isn't Simmons out opening day shortstop?" Then around the All-Star break I was all "Pastornicky who?" and now after seeing him utterly dominate the shortstop position I'm all "Rafael Furcal who? Ozzie Smith who? Honus Wagner who??" Yeah, I know, I'm Jinxey McJinxerson today.

#11 Pick - Julio Teheran

Having three blue chip prospects is a nice problem to have. Trading away two of the prospects and keeping the right one is even better than that. It's funny to see Julio plummet down Top Prospect lists because he actually played in a Major League game and isn't fresh and new anymore. I don't care about that, Julio is damn good and that's all that matters.

#12 Pick - Mark Lemke

I left Mark off the original list because, really, who the hell besides me is going to pick Lemke? Seeing the number of Braves fans in the draft scared me straight. Gotta pick Lemmer.

#13 Pick - Bobby Cox 

Thanks to Topps' seemingly random decisions to include managers or no managers in their flagship, Bobby doesn't have as many cards as he probably should. Any Bobby's a good Bobby though.

#14 - Marquis Grissom

Marquis was a last minute addition to my draft list and why not? I was collecting Grissom cards back when he was an Expo. I'm thinking I need to build up my stash of cards of the only guy who caught the last out in a Braves World Series victory in my lifetime. We never shoulda traded Marquis. If the Braves are still shut out of World Series wins a hundred years from now the drought should be called The Curse of Marquis.

Contestants can still claim players throughout the season so I might pick up a player here and there. Who wants to bet I pay more attention to this thing than my actual fantasy team?

Heritage Frankenset - Page 4

I had a big choice on this page. For the 1952 design I could either choose a very nice Javy Lopez card or Wally Joyner as a Brave. It was difficult until I realized that if I chose Javy I could get Sammy and Big Mac on the same page. Flash Gordon is pretty cool too, but the rest of the page was a nightmare.

Ok, so the scan is a little cockeyed. Of the fifty-something pages I scanned front and back for this set two came out really crooked. I rescanned them both. This page I scanned the back instead of the front the second time. The scan of the back came out better than the first time I scanned it so I used that scan for this post and decided not to press my luck with any more rescanning. just think of it as the page is a little unbalanced over on that right side because bigguns Sosa and McGwire are over there.

Card #28 - Nick Markakis
First on the page is a dang solid outfielder for the Orioles who is probably the face of the franchise right now even though Adam Jones is sneaking up on him. Nick played high school and college ball in Georgia and got an Allen & Ginter insert card because of it even though the Braves are filthy with homegrown talent. GINTER. Y U NO PICK MCCANN FOR GEORGIA FLAG CARD? It's all good though, as I am easily amused and am distracted by the odd lettering on this card that makes it look like Nick's name is Ik Akks.

#29 - Flash Gordon
Yeah I know, another Yankee. I just find it amusing that right when Stephen King wrote a book about a little girl who loved Tom Gordon that Flash immediately went and hurt his arm. Then he jumped ship and became a Yankee! If he had blown out his arm a year earlier, that little girl would have been devoured by wolves. Think about that. Of course the real reason this card is in the set is


#30 - Sammy Sosa
Fun to watch, hit a lotta home runs, was probably pharmacologically adventurous, will be shut out of the Hall by the BBWAA, will still get into the Hall eventually. Just watch.

#31 - Nook Logan
Even though Nook's career was short, if you get on a baseball card and have a great name, your immortality is assured.

#32 - Marcus Giles
Brian's little brother had a short but fruitful career with the Braves. He ain't no Mark Lemke, but he held down the title "Keeper of the Scrap" well in his day. And man oh man that 2003 season. Doubles! Doubles EVERYWHERE. Once again, 2006 Heritage brings the goofy pose on a washed out photo. Here Marcus shows us his impersonation of a frog.

Ribbit.

#33 - Chin-Hui Tsao
Why wasn't this man's nickname "General". He also didn't deserve the fate of having to pitch in Coors. His Baseball-Reference page has an interesting sponsor though, at least until April 27th.

#34 - Javy Lopez
So this is most likely Brian McCann's last season in a Braves uniform. If he can't bounce back from his injuries the Braves probably won't re-sign him. If he does, he will probably be too expensive on the free agent market for the Braves to keep. What this ultimately means is 2013 is his last chance to get a ring with the Braves. Javy has a ring. As great a player as Brian is, I think that probably pushes Javy ahead of Brian in the "All-Time Braves Greatest Catcher" race. Who knows? The Braves might win a title and Brian might stick with his hometown team. Right now though I think Javy might have the edge. He also has a very, very nice looking card on a '52 Topps design of all things.

And I would be remiss if I didn't mention that my grandmother always pronounced Javy's name as "Harvey Lopes". Miss ya.

#35 - Woody Williams
Another instance where the card simply insisted itself into the FrankenSet. When I see this portrait, this is the scene that plays out in my mind:

(bartender hands you a roofie colada courtesy 'that guy')
(Woody winks, adjusts the lapel on his chartreuse polyester suit, saunters over to the bar)
Woody: "Hey baby, wanna wrestle?"

2013 Heritage does the super close up portraits right, 2007 Heritage not so much

#36 - Mark McGwire
See: Sammy Sosa

Expect about three of these a week tops. My writing mojo is far from back from wherever it's been hiding.

2013 Topps 1972 Minis & Cut to the Chase Wantlist

Too damn tired to write a Heritage post tonight so I'm gonna hit ya with another want list. Romney has binders full of women, I have binders full of half-finished Topps insert sets. As part of my mad rush to organize I'm going to pick out a select few I really would like to finish and probably start trading off all the rest. May as well start with the one insert set I really really really want to finish this year. I love the '72 design, and this mini set may have drug me kicking and screaming back into buying packs of Topps. May as well strike while the iron is hot and see if I can trade for some of these suckers and finish this one up before Series 2 comes out. So far I've got 19/50.

TM-2 Dan Haren
TM-10 Adrian Gonzalez
TM-12 Anthony Rizzo
TM-16 Joey Votto
TM-26 Ryan Braun
TM-28 Alex Rodriguez
TM-30 Curtis Granderson
TM-36
TM-37 Evan Longoria
TM-38 Adrian Beltre
TM-39 Yu Darvish
TM-41 Bryce Harper
TM-45 Cal Ripken Jr.
TM-46 Jim Rice
TM-47 Roberto Clemente
TM-48 Lou Gehrig
TM-51 Ken Griffey, Jr.
TM-57 Albert Pujols
TM-61 Brooks Robinson
TM-99 Ozzie Smith
TM-100 Eddie Mathews

1971 Minis
1 2 3 5 7 10 11 14 16 17 22 24 25 26 27 30 31 33 34 35 39 42 43 50

I've also decided I would also like to collect the Cut to the Chase cards simply because they is so purdy. But since Topps got silly and skip-numbered the set I'm going to skip out on collecting all of 'em and just do  enough to fill a binder page. I've got five so far, I'll take any of these to fill out the last four slots. If you're a huge Padres fan and would like to trade for the Gwynn, I'll be happy to listen.

CTC-2 Ken Griffey, Jr.
CTC-3 Derek Jeter
CTC-5 Paul Molitor
CTC-14 David Price
CTC-20 Roberto Clemente
CTC-22 Ryne Sandberg
CTC-23 Willie Mays

Heritage Frankenset - Page 3

I'm glad I went back and did the beginning of the set when I did because the low numbers of 2001 Heritage are kind of a pain. The only two cards available on this page were Jose Vidro and Randy Velarde. Actual Variation cards make their first appearance in the set, not counting black backs.

Card #19 - Randy Velarde
I literally remember nothing about Randy Velarde from his playing days. Nothing at all. That's probably because I'm a National League guy and career American League utility infielders usually aren't on my radar. I do like the default image that pops up when you Google Velarde, it makes him look like an old timey gangster or something. Nevermind, I read the article where the image came from and now I'm sad.  The theme for this page is now Sad.

#20 - Robinson Cano
When I first started building this set I was ornery and decided to shut out Yankees whenever I could. It worked out for a while but then no brainers like this yellow letter variation card of Cano and then the Yankee floodgates inadvertently opened and they ended up with 17 base cards in the set. And that makes me Sad.

#21 - Carlos Pena
Carlos is one of those guys who bounces all over the place and hits wherever he goes. Although lately his average has been kinda Mendozaish he can still draw walks and hit the occasional dinger. Now he's with the Astros, which shouldn't really need a DH like Pena, but now they are in the American League and that makes me Sad. Why didn't they just ship the Brewers back to the AL? Oh yea, their owner is the Commish. Sad.

#22 - Bengie Molina
I got nothing against Bengie. He's a solid catcher who had a pretty decent career in the bigs. Plus Benji was one of my favorite movies when I was a kid. I liked it so much that we ended up getting a dog who looked a little like Benji. That dog was a complete asshole and I think she bit me a couple times. Now I don't really like dogs at all anymore even though they seem to like me a whole lot. Go 'way dogs! You make me Sad!

No one is more surprised than me that this card managed to make me sad without thinking of Bengie's annoying overrated douchey Cardinal brother. How'd that happen?

#23 - Derek Jeter
Did someone mention overrated? Ok, so Jeets is damn good, but he's not Babe Ruth or Joe DiMaggio or Mickey Mantle good which seems to be the conventional wisdom on some of the more annoying sports media outlets out there. Even with my Yankee bias I had to include the blue letter variation card from 2006 Heritage. It was the first variation I pulled out of that set and it was one of the best variations you could pull! And the card looks like complete drek. It's a dumb pose and you can barely read the text. And that makes me Sad.

#24 - Marco Scutaro
Not sure what about Scutaro can make me sad. He's just one of those decent hitting shortstops that is never a star but is always there in the late rounds of your fantasy draft when you've picked up 8 outfielders because upside and you realize you have no middle infielders. Oh wait, he just won a Championship with the stinkin' Giants. Posey was out. Sad.

#25 - Carlos Lee
Exhibit A on why you don't give a big ol' mashin' slugger a gigantic pile of cash when they are in their 30s. And then the Marlins gave up prospects for this guy last year, mere moments before canning everyone and beginning the Fire Sale Part 7. Baaaaahahahahaha! LOLMARLINS. Oh wait, the Marlins still exist and they have a swirling glowing statue of Cthulhu in their brand new park financed with tax dollars and Jeffrey Loria has not been tried and executed for crimes against humanity yet. Now I am Sad.

#26 - Fausto Carmona
So, Fausto. Fausto made the bigs at a young age and got roughed up a bit his rookie season but then had a MONSTER year as a sophomore but probably pitched too many innings too early because he's been up and down ever since but that doesn't really matter because he's not actually Fausto Carmona he's Roberto Hernandez and is several years older than we thought so now he's just old and sucks and the Indians dumped him but he signed on with the Rays who already had a Roberto Hernandez so that adds more confusion to the already confusing tale of Fausto Carmona. Run on sentences make me Sad.

#27 - Brian Schneider
Ugh, Nationals. The Phillies finally dropped dead and the stinkin' Gnats pop up outta nowhere and snatch the division. I don't give a darn for the Nats at all so I was hoping to sneak in more Expos cards for the Natspos combined franchise. When all was said and done, there were seven cards each for the 'Spos and the Nats and one of the Nats cards is a combo so they have eight players in the set to the Expos' seven. Saaaaaaaaaaaad.

Oh, and Brian Schneider is a catcher, I guess.

Such a depressing post. Oh well, it's Monday. Gotta expect some suckiness on Mondays. Hopefully this sideways format is a little more readable for the card backs. Assuming the one '53 design back on its side doesn't trigger everyone's OCD. If you don't like this format, that's a problem because I've already uploaded a dozen posts this way. That would really make me... well, you know.

Joy of a Completed Series - 1986 Topps Garbage Pail Kids Series 4

Time to take out the Garbage! I've been working some angles on my Garbage Pail Kids set and have managed to finish up some series. I don't exactly have all the cards with both A & B variations, but I do have at least one of every design from series 3 through 9 except for two cards. As long as I fill up a 9 pocket page I'm happy for now. All the other series, I got bupkis, but hey, they'll turn up sometime. Time to show off some sets! Tonight I have Series 4 which has my favorite card from the entire run. #138a Alien Ian. Series 4 runs from card 125 to 166 so enjoy some bonus cards from series 3 and 5 as well.

 This might actually be my favorite series of the set! Not the scandalous Reese Pieces variation that snuck through legal before it was replaced. It ain't worth nothing but it's kinda subversive if you're a 12 year old.

I thought Opening Day wasn't until the first

That is a mighty fine airbrush job on B.J.

I have no idea when this stuff is supposed to come out, but it's out.

Heritage FrankenSet - Page 2

Aww, look at Barry's big ol' smilin' head. Wait, we're all supposed to hate Barry now. Boooooo! Why did Barry get in the set? Well, because he was one of the biggest stars of the decade for one thing. For another this was one of the first pages where the page sort of created itself without my help. Let me briefly explain my process for choosing cards to include in the set.

First I'd gather all 9 pages and sort them from lowest number of cards to most. I'd quickly scan each page for cards that just flat out had to be in the set come hell or high water. If a year only had one or two possible cards I'd pick out the one to use so that year didn't end up getting left out. After the Really Wants and Gotta Haves were taken care of I'd figure out the best of the rest to fill out the page. Very often after picking two or three cards the rest just fell into place.

B.J and Tom were automatics on this page, obviously. Ethier was was the next to be chosen and Cedeno was literally the only card from the '01 set that fit. After I picked Pedroia as the '60 design rep, there was exactly one combination of cards that ensured that every design was included. Barry was one of 'em and I ain't even mad.

Card #10 - Barry Bonds
I don't care what you do, what you take, how you train, what sacrifices you make to the Dark Lord Ba'al, you don't hit over 700 home runs without being a damn good baseball player. Great, even. That being said, Hank is the King. Ruth too.

#11 - Rob Mackowiak
Remember the middle of last decade when Rob Mackowiak, Mark Grudzielanek and Doug Mientkiewicz were all giving anyone who wrote about baseball carpal tunnel syndrome? I don't miss those days. That sunuvabitch A.J. Pierzynski is still doing it.

#12 - Armando Benitez
A good closer who gave up the stupidest home run in playoff history and managed to get caught with his pants down in several other big games after that. After I hopped back on Twitter though I will forever more only be able to associate him with this guy.

#13 - B.J. Upton
Technically, the first Brave in the set. Not gonna lie, I went overboard with the Braves. I went way overboard with the Braves. Like, went on a three hour cruise and ended up stranded on a remote Pacific Island overboard. I went full Gilligan with the Braves in this set. You're not only going to see Braves everywhere but Braves in non-Braves uniforms. Also in the past decade Tampa has somehow overtaken the White Sox as my favorite AL team so I doubly like B.J. and this card.

#14 - Gary Matthews
See? Ex-Brave card right here. Gary didn't actually play a game for the Braves, but he did get picked up by them on waivers from the Padres and washed out of spring training in 2004. He even has a Braves card in the 2004 Topps set. Matthews went on to sign with the Rangers where he had three really solid years before going to Los Angeles to steal Arte Moreno's wallet.

#15 - Dustin Pedroia
Wouldn't it be really funny and ironic if Dustin Pedroia got busted for PEDs? Get it, PEDroia? Wait, no that wouldn't be funny that would be horrible. I should shut up now.

#16 - Andre Ethier
This is another one of those iconic Heritage cards to me mainly because Andre's rookie card has him in an A's uniform. Ethier? The guy who became a star for the Dodgers? Is an A on his rookie card? Because Oakland traded him for Milton Bradley? That kills me every time. A's fans probably don't like this card as much.

#17 - Tom Glavine 
This is the first actual Braves card in the set. Tommy is an appropriate choice for that honor. This is also the last Heritage card of Tom before I started associating him with Benedict Arnold. I've got over that now though. I love this card. It reminds me of the good days.

#18 - Roger Cedeno
I associate Roger with the Mets more than any other team for some reason and would have sworn he was a Met on this card even though I looked at it 10 minutes ago. I still started to type out Mets when writing this blurb even when I looked back at the card and saw a star. One notable thing about this card is that you can see how the Heritage aging filter does some weird things when exposed to batting practice jerseys. This is also the second card in as many pages to make me feel old as dirt since I am two years older than Roger who has not played a game in the bigs since 2005.

Yeah, I forgot to rotate the image again. I got it covered for next time. Check out the black ink on the 2001 and 2008 cards. Variations, baby!