BLACK FRIDAY COMC PICKUPS - PART 43: TEAM SET GET

WE'RE NOT DONE WITH TEAM SET BUILDING YET. I AM AT THAT POINT IN MY COLLECTING JOURNEY WHERE MOST OF THE CARDS LEFT FOR VINTAGE TEAM SETS ARE HALL OF FAMERS, HIGH NUMBERS, AND HALL OF FAMER HIGH NUMBERS. SINCE I BLEW MY BUDGET ON THE LAST CARD I HAD TO LOOK HARD TO FIND A SUPER CHEAP CARD TO KNOCK OUT A LINE ON MY WANTLIST. THANK GOODNESS FOR CARDS IN POOR CONDITION

1965 TOPPS FRANK BOLLING

ANOTHER FIFTY CENT PICKUP ADDS A CARD TO MY 1965 TEAM SET. THERE AREN'T MANY EASY PICKUPS ANYMORE FOR MY VINTAGE TEAM SET COLLECTION. AT THE TIME OF THIS PURCHASE I NEEDED TWENTY-FOUR CARDS TO COMPLETE MY 60S TOPPS TEAM SET RUN AND SEVEN ARE HANKS AND TWELVE ARE HIGH NUMBER CARDS. FRANK HERE WAS BY FAR THE CHEAPEST OPTION I FOUND. AND MAYBE THE CHEAPEST ONE I'LL EVER FIND AGAIN. THE THREE CARDS I STILL NEED FOR THE 60S SETS I'M MOST LIKELY TO FIND A BARGAIN ON ARE:

1961 BOB "HAWK" TAYLOR - THIS IS A WEIRD ONE, IT'S NOT A ROOKIE CARD BUT IT HAS A ROOKIE STAR LOGO ON IT SO IT DOESN'T GET ADDED TO CHEAPO BARGAIN BINS MUCH

1963 DENNIS MENKE - A SECOND YEAR CARD FOR DENNIS AND HIS FIRST SOLO CARD BUT, I MEAN, IT'S DENNIS MENKE. I WON'T FIND ONE FOR FIFTY CENTS BUT I CAN SURELY FIND A CHEAP ONE

1963 DEL CRANDALL - DEL'S AN ALL STAR AND HAS AN ARGUMENT FOR BEING THE BEST CATCHER IN FRANCHISE HISTORY BUT DOESN'T COMMAND STAR PRICES. THIS CARD IS FROM THE SEMI-HIGH SIXTH SERIES THAT IS ACTUALLY SCARCER THAN THE HIGH NUMBERS BUT PEOPLE SEEM TO HAVE FORGOTTEN THAT FACT

ALL THE REST ARE AARON, ROOKIES, HIGH NUMBERS OR HIGH NUMBER ROOKIES 😭

OH, AND BILLY MARTIN. ONE OF THESE DAYS I JUST NEED TO BITE THE BULLET AND THROW A FEW BUCKS AT THAT CARD

FRANK CAME TO MILWAUKEE THROUGH A TRADE FOR BILL BRUTON AND WAS AN ALL-STAR IN 1961 AND 1962. HIS BROTHER MILT WAS A SHORTSTOP AND GOT TO PLAY A SEASON WITH HIS BROTHER WHEN HE WAS TRADED TO DETROIT IN 1958. FRANK HIT A GRAND SLAM OFF OF SANDY KOUFAX IN 1965 AND PLAYED ONE SEASON IN ATLANTA. THIS CARD IS BEAT ALL TO HELL BUT IT LOOKS MUCH BETTER IN THE BINDER THAN AN EMPTY POCKET. IF A NICER ONE COMES ALONG I'LL JUST SLIDE THIS ONE OVER TO THE 65 SET BINDER. WITH THIS CARD I'M DOWN TO ONLY NEEDING AN AARON CARD TO COMPLETE THE 1965 TEAM SET AND I ALREADY HAVE ONE OF THE MANY REPRINTS OF THAT ONE FILLING OUT THE PAGE. MY 1966 TEAM SET HAS A CHROME AARON IN IT AND IT LOOKS GREAT. I FEEL VERY FORTUNATE THAT I CAN FILL OUT SO MANY POCKETS IN THE BINDER THIS WAY, I'LL NEVER FIND A CHEAP REPLACEMENT FOR A 1967 CHI CHI OLIVO 

BLACK FRIDAY COMC PICKUPS - PART 21: DEL PART 1

♪ ME AND DEL WERE SINGIN', LITTLE RUNAWAY, I WAS FLYIN' 𝅘𝅥𝅯

1961 TOPPS DEL CRANDALL

IT'S TIME TO STOP FOOLING AROUND AND GET SOME WORK DONE. NO CIGARETTE CARDS, ENGLISH SOCCER CARDS OR RANDOM NON-SPORTS TODAY. HERE'S A CARD I NEEDED FOR A TEAM SET I'VE BEEN WORKING ON FOR DECADES. FROM THE MOST BORING UTILITARIAN DESIGN EVER. DEL CRANDALL FROM 1961 TOPPS. THIS CARD ISN'T BORING AT ALL, IT'S QUITE ELEGANT IN ITS SIMPLICITY. RECTANGLE BORDER, RECTANGLE NAMEPLATE, RECTANGLE TEAM BOX, BIG BEEFY CATCHER HAULING LUMBER WITH A BASEBALL DIAMOND AND STANDS IN THE BACKGROUND. A VERY WORKMANLIKE CARD FOR SERIOUS TEAM SET COLLECTING. DEL IS A VERY UNDERRATED PLAYER TOO, HE HAS A SERIOUS ARGUMENT FOR BEING THE BEST CATCHER IN BRAVES HISTORY

THE 1961 SET IS ONE OF THOSE SETS THAT HAS GROWN ON ME OVER THE YEARS NOW THAT I AM OLDER AND MORE BITTER AND RUINED AND NOT AS DAZZED BY THE BRIGHT COLORS OF 1960 AND 1963 AND 1965 AND 1972 BECAUSE MY EYESIGHT IS RAPIDLY DETERIORATING. IT'S SLIGHTLY LESS BLAND THAN 1957 TOPPS AND WAY FUCKING CHEAPER. UNFORTUNATELY I DIDN'T FEEL THIS WAY BACK WHEN I HAD A LOT OF MONEY TO WASTE ON CARDBOARD AND MY 61 TEAM SET IS BY FAR MY MOST NEGLECTED SET OTHER THAN THE 1952 SET THAT I'M BARELY EVEN THINKING ABOUT ANYMORE. SO NEGLECTED I'M JUST NOW REALIZING I NEVER TOOK CRANDALL OFF MY WANTLIST. OOPS. BUT NOT THAT NEGLECTED, I DO HAVE 31 CARDS FROM THE TEAM SET* INCLUDING THE AARON BASE CARD. BUT I HAVE HIT THAT AWKWARD PHASE OF TEAM COLLECTING WHERE JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING I NEED IS A HALL OF FAMER OR HIGH NUMBER OR BOTH. I GOTTA PICK OFF THESE ATTAINABLE CARDS WHILE I CAN

*I'M A LUNATIC AND INCLUDE LEADERS CARDS, HIGHLIGHTS CARDS AND EVEN A CHECKLIST WITH A RANDOM BRAVES PLAYER ON IT IN THE TEAM SET. I HAVE MY FUN THO

September Vintage Card Show - All Star Hank

Yeah it's November and I'm finally getting around to showing off the stuff I got a month and a half ago at the most recent card show I went to. Y'all are fortunate I haven't deleted the blog altogether and moved to Pinterest by now. Anyway, this show took me by surprise and I was woefully under funded and disorganzed but I still managed to kick some ass at this show. Unlike some other show hauls I've shown off here I did not pick up one card that was a complete slam dunk over everything else. While I had the opportunity to blow my wad on one card I decided to spread the wealth around on a small pile of cards. About 17 or so if I recall correctly. I'll start off with the 'biggest' one of the bunch though since who knows when I'll post again. I haven't been the most consistant of bloggers this year you have to admit. So, better late than never, have a Hank.

Hank cards have been getting pricer as of late, but this one had snuck into the bargain box. '60s All Star cards can very often be tricky to track down, but luckily for me the NL All Stars are in the reasonably common 5th series instead of the somewhat scarce 6th series like the AL All Stars. The photo of Hank here is fantastic. The centering, not so much. I'm somewhat fascinated by that bottom border though. It looks like the yellow ink stopped early and left the bottom wood grain pink. I'm not even sure if that's a printer error or what. At any rate I approve of my pink-bordered Aaron.

The back is badly centered too. I never understood the cards that were miscut on one side and perfectly centered on the other. It pleases me that this card is off-centered correctly, which is a very unusual OCD reaction indeed. I did notice a mistake on the back as I'm pretty sure Hank hit 3 homers against the Yankees in the 1957 World Series and not the 1953 Series. Best part about this card though? It did this:

Awwww yisssss completed 1962 team set page. I'm actually pretty close to completing the '62 team set now. Or extremely far considering I still need those high number rookie cards. Stay tuned for moar old Barves on the next edition of "Card Show Haul From Weeks Ago".

Braves Team Set Wantlist - Topps 1986-1999

Forgot I hadn't posted this one yet... Oh well. Same as before, half of these are probably hiding in team boxes or doubles boxes or player boxes etc.

1986 TOPPS
COMPLETE

1987 TOPPS
COMPLETE

1988 TOPPS
COMPLETE

1989 TOPPS
COMPLETE

1990 TOPPS
COMPLETE
 
1991 TOPPS
COMPLETE

1992 TOPPS
COMPLETE

1993 TOPPS
COMPLETE

1994 TOPPS
261 Rafael Belliard
1994 TOPPS TRADED
13T Jacob Shumate RC
56T Prospects Trenidad Hubbard Rockies - Jason Schmidt Braves - Larry Sutton Royals - Stephen Larkin Rangers
63T Mike Mordecai RC
92T Charlie O'Brien
98T Corey Pointer RC
103T Deion Sanders Reds / Mike Kelly Braves

1995 TOPPS
532  Roberto Kelly
1996 TOPPS
COMPLETE

1997 TOPPS
COMPLETE

1998 TOPPS
COMPLETE

1999 TOPPS
COMPLETE

Braves Team Set Wantlist - Topps 2000-2015

I have everything block right now so don't expect any decent content on this blog until I get my shizz together. The one thing I am slightly competant at right now is organizing. I finally got all my Braves team sets put into binders and wantlisted. Some of these cards I have hiding in player/team boxes but I'm putting 'em online for my reference anyway.

2000 Topps
72 Brian Jordan
158 Odalis Perez
388 Mike Remlinger

2001 Topps
Complete
2001 Topps Traded
T6 Rico Brogna
T8 Ken Caminiti
T72 Kurt Abbott
T93 Wes Helms
T167 Marcus Giles


2002 Topps
29 Jason Marquis
195 Dave Martinez
235 Brian Jordan
261 Wes Helms
390 Tom Glavine
408 Albie Lopez
410 Chipper Jones
415 Rafael Furcal
424 Julio Franco
448 Kevin Millwood
617 Vinny Castilla
637 Marcus Giles
705 Greg Maddux GG


2003 Topps
300 Andy Marte FY
302 Gonzalo Lopez FY
556 John Smoltz

2004 Topps
COMPLETE!

2005 Topps
COMPLETE!

2006 Topps
267 Bobby Cox MG
584 Jorge Sosa

2007 Topps
COMPLETE!

2008 Topps
COMPLETE!

2009 Topps
COMPLETE!

2010 Topps
286 Javier Vazquez

2011 Topps
COMPLETE!

2012 Topps
2012 Topps Update
US78 Chad Durbin
US136 Reed Johnson
US166 Chipper Jones
US250 Cristhian Martinez
US311 Dan Uggla

2013 Topps
complete

2014 Topps
425 Craig Kimbrel - Atlanta Braves
437 Alex Wood - Atlanta Braves
454 Brandon Beachy - Atlanta Braves
619 Chris Johnson - Atlanta Braves
621 B.J. Upton - Atlanta Braves
US-108 Ryan Doumit - Atlanta Braves
US-259 Craig Kimbrel - Atlanta Braves
US-264 Freddie Freeman - Atlanta Braves


2015 Topps
379 Phil Gosselin
US45 Ryan Lavarnway - Atlanta Braves
US111 Todd Cunningham - Atlanta Braves

If anyone needs a full team set list just comment or e-mail me and I'll send you what I got.

Topps Heritage Braves Team Checklists

While trying to get my Topps Heritage Braves team binder together I checked a whole lot of online checklists to figure out what I actually needed. I learned a lot from my research - that all online checklists should be taken with a grain of salt. Especially this one. I gave up trying to confirm everything after about 2006 because apparently no one has any clue what team anyone else is on if the card is short printed. I never know Tony Gwynn played for the Orioles... I'm still trying to find all my Braves to fill out my binder so I can do a wantlist but in the meantime here's the unedited lists for your listing needs. I included black backs variations and non-super-short-printed variations but not impossible variations or Target black front variations because I am lazy. Perhaps one day I will be unlazied and add all that crap along with the inserts. Probably not.

2001 Topps Heritage
2a Brian Jordan - red back
2b Brian Jordan - black back
9a Kevin Millwood - red back
9b Kevin Millwood - black back
16a Andres Galarraga - red back
16b Andres Galarraga - black back
21a Quilvio Veras - red back
21b Quilvio Veras - black back
25a Eddie Perez - red back
25b Eddie Perez - black back
30a Rafael Furcal - red back
30b Rafael Furcal - black back
33a Tom Glavine - red back
33b Tom Glavine - black back
34a Javy Lopez - red back
34b Javy Lopez - black back
36a Wally Joyner - red back
36b Wally Joyner - black back
40a Andy Ashby - red back
40b Andy Ashby - black back
47a Walt Weiss - red back
47b Walt Weiss - black back
49a Greg Maddux - red back
49b Greg Maddux - black back
52a Chipper Jones - red back
52b Chipper Jones - black back
72a Andruw Jones - red back
72b Andruw Jones - black back
135 B.J. Surhoff

2002 Topps Heritage
17 Tom Glavine
25a Rafael Furcal
25b Rafael Furcal - Night SP
33 Wes Helms
37 Chipper Jones SP
39 Odalis Perez
98 John Burkett
129 Marcus Giles
134 Kevin Millwood
147 Greg Maddux
201 Javy Lopez
242 Vinny Castilla
293 Ken Caminiti
299 John Smoltz
310 Brian Jordan
378 Wilson Betemit SP
405 Andruw Jones SP
429 Jason Marquis SP

2003 Topps Heritage
67 Vinny Castilla
79 Kevin Millwood
99 Jason Marquis
102 Wilson Betemit
128 Adam LaRoche SP
141 Trey Hodges SP
163 Andruw Jones
170 Andy Marte SP
176 Bobby Cox
277 John Smoltz
285 Russ Ortiz
299 Mike Hampton
305 Javy Lopez
330 Greg Maddux
367 Paul Byrd SP
378 Gary Sheffield SP
382 Chipper Jones SP
407 Marcus Giles SP
417 Rafael Furcal SP
422 Adam Wainwright SP

2004 Topps Heritage
26 Horacio Ramirez
40a Chipper Jones Pointing
40b Chipper Jones Fielding SP
57 Robert Fick
66 Kyle Davies
68 Marcus Giles
98 Bobby Cox
123 Zach Miner SP
161 Anthony Lerew
178 Shane Reynolds
208 Andruw Jones
214 Greg Maddux
216 John Thomson
295 Russ Ortiz
303 Sung Jung
310 Paul Byrd
401 Brayan Pena SP
404 Javy Lopez SP
437 John Smoltz SP
451 Rafael Furcal SP
461 Mike Hampton SP

2005 Topps Heritage
10 John Smoltz
34 Nick Green
53 Juan Cruz
93 Eli Marrero
95 Atlanta Braves
130 Andruw Jones SP
172 Steve Doetsch
233 John Thomson
270 Mike Hampton
273a Chipper Jones Sliding
273b Chipper Jones Fielding SP
304 Rafael Furcal
353a Tim Hudson Atlanta Cap
353b Tim Hudson Milwaukee Cap SP
364 Marcus Giles
383 Johnny Estrada
386 Adam LaRoche
428 James Jurries SP

2006 Topps Heritage
20a A.Jones w/o Seats
20b A.Jones w/Seats SP
32 Marcus Giles
80a T.Hudson Red/White Letter
80b T.Hudson Blue Letter SP
90 Chipper Jones
99 Brian Jordan SP
114 Atlanta Braves
118 Chris Reitsma
138 Chuck James
205 Jeff Francoeur
225 Brayan Pena
283 John Smoltz SP
373 Horacio Ramirez
396 Ryan Langerhans
459 John Thomson
462 Kelly Johnson
463 Kyle Davies
480 Mike Hampton

2007 Topps Heritage
9 Craig Wilson
10 John Smoltz
64 Tim Hudson
110 Edgar Renteria
128 Willy Aybar
147 Chuck James
204 Rafael Soriano SP
241 Mike Gonzalez
314 Braves Boss and Power - Chipper Jones / Bobby Cox
355 Matt Diaz
377 Atlanta Braves
390 Brian McCann
440 Chipper Jones
482 Edgar Renteria AS SP

2008 Topps Heritage
4 Mark Teixeira
40a Tim Hudson
40b Tim Hudson black back
95 Buddy Carlyle
131 Brandon Jones
165 Jeff Francoeur
212 Fence Buster - Andruw Jones & Chipper Jones
218 Rafael Soriano
307 Kelly Johnson
312 Tom Glavine
347a Chuck James
347b Chuck James black back
356 Yunel Escobar
362 Clint Sammons
419 Atlanta Braves
425 Brian McCann
440 John Smoltz
450 Chipper Jones SP
451 Josh Anderson SP
495 Brian McCann AS SP
511 Jair Jurrjens
592a Mike Hampton
592b Mike Hampton black back
618 Matt Diaz
641 Omar Infante
651a Martin Prado
651b Martin Prado black back
662 Jorge Campillo
675 Mike Gonzalez
684 Jo-Jo Reyes

2009 Topps Heritage
3 Casey Kotchman
37 Jeff Francoeur
70 Tom Glavine
100 Jair Jurrjens
107 Jo-Jo Reyes
129 James Parr
158 Gregor Blanco
170 Brian McCann
189 Mike Gonzalez
205 Yunel Escobar
215 Bobby Cox
246 Brandon Jones
335 Kelly Johnson
350 Javier Vazquez
374 Tim Hudson
381 Atlanta Braves
417 Martin Prado
420 Chipper Jones
445 John Smoltz SP
464 Roger McDowell / Terry Pendleton / Chino Cadahia / Glenn Hubbard CO, SP
486 Chipper Jones AS SP
558 David Ross
561 Derek Lowe
562 Diory Hernandez
577 Adam LaRoche
610 Jordan Schafer
620 Kenshin Kawakami
625 Kris Medlen
635 Matt Diaz
659 Rafael Soriano
674 Ryan Church
697 Garret Anderson SP
707 Tommy Hanson  SP
712 Nate McLouth  SP

2010 Topps Heritage
28 Melky Cabrera
45 N.L. ERA Leaders - Chris Carpenter Cardinals, Tim Lincecum Giants, Jair Jurrjens Braves & Adam Wainwright Cardinals
49 N.L. Strikeout Leaders - Tim Lincecum Giants, Javier Vazquez Braves, Dan Haren Diamondbacks & Adam Wainwright Cardinals
73 Nate McLouth
84 Garret Anderson
89 Martin Prado
105 Tim Hudson
120 Chipper Jones
137 Bobby Cox
145 Jair Jurrjens
164 Yunel Escobar
239 Derek Lowe
322 Michael Dunn
395 Tommy Hanson
400 Brian McCann
458 Kenshin Kawakami SP

2011 Topps Heritage
30 Chipper Jones
52 NL Batting Leaders - Carlos Gonzalez Rockies, Joey Votto Reds, Omar Infante Braves Troy Tulowitzki Rockies
63 Tommy Hanson
76 Freddie Freeman
141 Babe Ruth
158 Atlanta Braves
239 Brandon Beachy
278 Derek Lowe
307 Jair Jurrjens
320 Jason Heyward
367 Dan Uggla
380 Tim Hudson
391 Martin Prado AS
397 Brian McCann AS
443 Brian McCann SP
486 Martin Prado SP
494 Rookie Parade Pitchers - Barry Enright Diamondbacks, Mike Minor Braves, Travis Wood Reds, Alex Sanabia Marlins, Drew Storen Nationals SP
495 Rookie Parade Pitchers - Andrew Cashner Cubs, Jonny Venters Braves, Kenley Jansen Dodgers, Jenrry Mejia Mets, John Axford Brewers SP
497 Rookie Parade Infielders - Argenis Diaz Pirates, Brett Wallace Astros, Brandon Hicks Braves, Lance Zawadzki Padres SP

2012 Topps Heritage
46 Michael Bourn
53 Freddie Freeman
62 Eric O'Flaherty
73 Fredi Gonzalez
138 Pride of NL - Dan Uggla & Chipper Jones
229 Brandon Beachy
238 Jose Constanza
275 Dan Uggla
298 Martin Prado
308 Brian McCann
347 Chipper Jones
350 Tommy Hanson
390 Jason Heyward
394 Tim Hudson
398 Craig Kimbrel
399 Mike Minor
409 Jair Jurrjens
429 Jonny Venters SP
454 Julio Teheran SP
612 Tyler Pastornicky
622 Reed Johnson
642 Andrelton Simmons

2013 Topps Heritage 
22 Andrelton Simmons
35 Michael Bourn
53 Tyler Pastornicky
70 Brian McCann
95 B.J. Upton
115 Dan Uggla
126 Craig Kimbrel
152 Tim Hudson
162 Chipper Jones & Lord Voldemort
189 Freddie Freeman
218 Brandon Beachy
300 Jason Heyward
333 Mike Minor
335 Jonny Venters
400 Kris Medlen
416 Paul Maholm
417 Juan Francisco
481 Martin Prado SP

2011 Topps Heritage Minors
1 Andrelton Simmons - Lynchburg Hillcats
33 Carlos Perez - Rome Braves
46 Arodys Vizcaino - Lynchburg Hillcats
97 Dimaster Delgado - Lynchburg Hillcats
153 Joe Leonard - Lynchburg Hillcats
155 Matt Lipka - Rome Braves
167 Edward Salcedo - Rome Braves
193 Elmer Reyes - Rome Braves

2012 Topps Heritage Minors
99 Evan Gattis - Mississippi Braves
102 Chris Garcia  - Lynchburg Hillcats
107 J.R. Graham - Lynchburg Hillcats
110 Cody Martin - Lynchburg Hillcats
173 Joe Terdoslavich  - Mississippi Braves
191 Tommy La Stella - Lynchburg Hillcats
201 Christian Bethancourt SP - Mississippi Braves

Captain Canuck wants to look at my backside

Actually, I could have just posted the card numbers he needed but where's the fun in that? Here's the back of my 1976 Topps Braves Team set.

Oh yeah, I found a card I could use to fill out the page.

What the heck is that? #662? That's from a post I should have written about a month ago. I might write it eventually.

Joy of a Completed Team Set - 1985 Topps

I quit the blog for good for about the 78th time this morning but it's evening now and I've had beer so I'm back. My collection is a complete disaster as far as organization goes, but last week I took a little time to get some of my Braves binders in order. My main focus with my Braves collection has been Topps Team sets, but I've only really paid attention to the ones from 1979 and earlier. Anything from 1980 - forward I just sort of assumed I had all the cards from those sets already even if I didn't quite know exactly where they were located. I still don't know where they are all located, but I at least know which ones aren't in the binder now. A few sets are all present and accounted for, and I'll try to show them off on the weekends since no one ever reads then anyway. Here's the first of many - a complete team set of 1985 Topps with Traded cards.

How the hell do you go from Joe Torre to Eddie Haas

 While I didn't really like the set when it first came out, I have to say that at the very least the Braves team set looks slick with the blue borders on the '85 design.

Joy of a Completed Page - 1964 Braves Team Set

Special thanks to reader James for making this page possible.  I am so close, yet so far from completing this ream set now.

Joy of a Completed Team Set - 1954 Topps

I finally finished it!

What's that? The Aaron? It's uhhhh... supposed to look like that. I had to get one in really bad condition. So bad it's smaller than normal and is printed on Chrome stock. I think it got hit by radiation or something. You know, all those nuclear tests in the '50s? Eeyup, this team set is totally legit. Nope, didn't cheat at all. Why are you looking at me like that? Hey look guys, over there!

PONIES!



(runs)

Joy of a Completed Team Set - 1968 Topps

Yep, that marked up, creased up beat up ol' checklist completed my 1968 Topps team set. Yes, I include floaty head checklist cards in my team sets. I chased that Felipe Alou card for years to complete the set only to realize Clete Boyer was on a checklist. The rage, it burned. It's done now though and I'm so happy I scanned the backs too. Enjoy the burlapy Braves goodness.

 

Transmogrified into being: Team Set Finisher

Here's a nice one for Friday. No crumminess on Friday! I'll save that for next week.

1968 Topps Felipe Alou

Not much to say about the condition of this card. No wrinkles, no creases, no gum, no wax. All the corners while not razor sharp are very nice with no dings. It's slightly off center 65-35, but so is every other card from that year. No other card I received in the Transmogrifier promotion looks as good as this one and that's taking the burlap under a microscope design into account.

This is one of the cards I was specifically targeting while trading because even though this is a low series common card. Ok, minor star maybe. I have had all sorts of problems tracking it down. I couldn't find it at card shops, I couldn't find it at card shows, I couldn't find it a flea markets. I finally was able to swing a trade online for it:

Yep, I traded down from a 1961 card to get Felipe. Why? This is why:

Team. Set. Completion.

Well, technically there's a high series checklist out there with a floaty head picture of Clete Boyer that I don't have (with a variation, of course). I have reached that point in my collecting maturity that I can tell the OCD completist voice in my head to feck off, so it's all good. Team sets are for teams, checklists are for checking.

About Damn Time

Thanks to the 2011 Topps Atlanta Braves Team set, Eric Hinske finally has a card where he is in a Braves uniform.

Here's the checklist if you're interested:

I'll post a few of the other cards that weren't in Series One throughout the week.

Topps 206 Blaster Team Collation Answer

A while back, Dinged Corners posed a question about Topps206 team collation when she pulled a whopping ten Yankees out of one blaster. Always eager to add a data point to any meaningful research, I ripped a blaster and sorted by teams. My blaster wasn't nearly as top heavy as hers but it wasn't as balanced as I expected. With 48 cards and 30 teams, you're looking at an average of 1.6 cards per team. You'd expect to get at least one card from most teams, but a full 40% of the league was completely shut out of this blaster. I didn't include the Mantle Checklists in my total, the Yankees already have an unfair advantage in payroll, they don't need one in collation.

Here are the teams with...

Four cards in the box

"I'm so HAPPY! happyhappyhappy"

Astros
Tigers
Twins
Yankees


Three cards in the box

"Kneel before Yesco, puny humans!"

A's
Braves
Cubs
Dodgers
Rangers
White Sox

Two cards in the box

This card was thisclose to being a weird anomaly, like a card of Mike Piazza in a Marlins uniform.

Cardinals
Giants
Nationals
Padres
Rays
Red Sox

One card in the box

This is the only Mariners card you need.

Mariners
Royals

No cards at all

You expected an image here??

Angels
Blue Jays
Brewers
Diamondbacks
Indians
Marlins
Mets
Orioles
Pirates
Phillies
Reds
Rockies

This wasn't a great blaster, but I knocked out a chunk of my wantlist and got some neat minis. What, you want to know what was in it? Not much, trust me... Just enjoy this small piece of the ongoing search for a Grand Unified Theory of Blaster Collation. Ripping blasters... FOR SCIENCE!

Team Sets For You

I'm not sure if I've ever shown off this site before, but it's a really useful one:

Team Sets 4 U

This site is exactly what is says on the tin. Team sets. For you. The guy who put together the site broke down a bunch of sets into teams and is willing to sell the team sets to you. Unless bought something off an auction site once I haven't actually purchased any cards from him so I couldn't give you any first hand experience on that. (Note - two commenters have had positive experiences buying cards from them, so check it out. Once I get some cash I'll have to pick out a few sets myself. That Ramly Reprint set looks mightly tempting) The list of what he has for sale is pretty spectacular though. Parallel sets? Insert sets? Strat-o-matic sets? Whew, I could spend a lot of money on that stuff. The thing I really wanted to show off is this:

Team Set Checklists

This is a really valuable resource for anyone collecting team sets. Just look at some of the sets he has team set breakdowns for:

1895 Mayo Cut Plug
1909 Ramly T204
1933 Tattoo Orbit
1948 Topps Magic Photos
1958 Hires Root Beer
1966 Topps Venezuelan
1976 SSPC
1986 Sportflics
1994 Extra Bases
1998 SPX Finite
2004 Topps Total

All kinds of team sets can be found in there and it looks like the lists were put together by hand. Great job on a great resource, check it out of you're looking to start collecting a team of your own.

2009 Topps Heritage Braves Team Set

If a card is on this page, that means I have it in my binder. If it's not on here, that means I'll gladly take it off your hands if you happen to have one lying around. These cards are too purdy not to share.

3 Casey Kotchman

13 Garret Anderson

37 Jeff Francoeur

70 Tom Glavine

100 Jair Jurrjens

107 Jo-Jo Reyes

129 James Parr

158 Gregor Blanco

170 Brian McCann

189 Mike Gonzalez

205 Yunel Escobar

215 Bobby Cox

246 Brandon Jones

335 Kelly Johnson

350 Javier Vazquez

374 Tim Hudson

381 Braves Team

417 Martin Prado

420 Chipper Jones

445 John Smoltz SP

464 Braves Coaches SP

475 Derek Lowe SP

486 Chipper Jones All Star SP

Inserts:

TME-CJ Chipper Jones Mayo Cut Plug

TN3 Minnie Minoso & Chipper Jones Then and Now

C56 Chipper Jones Chrome Refractor