Heartbreaking Cards of Staggering Genius

I've seen some hot takes that people aren't happy with the commemorative batting helmet cards included as bonuses in 2022 Topps Series 2 blasters.  I've only ripped one blaster of Series 2 and my manufactured relic was of current MLB RBI leader Pete Alonso and my pick for the player who had the best rookie season ever.  I'm personally a big fans of these and I really like the texture of the helmet and the shininess of the metal on the inside of it that really catches the light when the card is in hand.  But honestly, I'm a sucker for just about every Topps manufactured patches that have filled blaster boxes with over the past decade or so. Here are some of my favorite examples from over the years.  As a patch collector, I still pick these up whenever I see them at a card show. This beauty showing the Minneapolis and St. Paul twins shaking hands on the old Twins logo was included in the 2011 Topps Update Series.  These All-Star Game patches were found in 2010 Top...

Sort of like those Exhibit postcards from the 1930s and 40s , I really didn't know where these famous binders from the junk wax era came from. I remembered Hygrade was an Ultra Pro-like company that made supplies but were they sold as binders individually or were they a mail order type of thing?   They are sized to hold roughly a complete set of cards and mine is currently being used to house my 1972 Topps set that is a work in progress.   Recently on a visit back home to Minnesota and Wisconsin, I stopped by Bloomington's Three Star Sportscards and stumbled upon where the binders originated from.  They came in these great Baseball Card Collecting Kit that was everything a novice collector would need to get started managing their collection.  A quick rundown of the impressive includes the following:  Baseball card album 20 vinyl pages 25 card holders Baseball card price guide Guide of baseball cards Greatest games and records book 100 baseball cards 40 all-time...

Somehow over the years, I've accumulated eight copies of Andy Pafko's iconic 1952 Topps No. 1 card. I don't think any would grade over a "2" by PSA and in the future I plan on sharing how that collection has grown over the past few years.  I mention it because although 1952 Topps is Pafko's most famous card, his first Topps appearance was his 1951 Topps mini game card and it is one of my favorites Pafko ever appeared on.  But in my collecting, this card has been overlooked. I picked up one to get if off my needs list but as one of Pafko's rarer appearances, it just hasn't popped up in person or on eBay listing that frequently.  I'm not sure what changed but recently I was finding reasonably priced Pafko's all over the place this spring and summer and I've added three copies to my collection. Particularly with his vintage cards from the 50's, this is the type of Pafko collector I am. The more the merrier.  The 1951 set didn't have ...

  For an upcoming post, I'm trying to identify all the signatures on a baseball I was recently gifted and I'm turning to you, Dear Reader, to give me your thoughts on whose signature is this. Here's what I know for sure:  It is very likely a Milwaukee Braves player from the 1950s or early 60s and his first name is Bob.  Here's the list of "Bobs" from the Milwaukee Braves era.  Bobby Avila Bob Boyd Bob Buhl (it's not Bob Buhl because his signature is already on the baseball in another location and it is clearly different.)  Bob Giggie Bob Hartman Bob Hazie Bob Hendley Bob Malkmus Bob Ruselli Bob Rush Bob Sadowski Bob Shaw  Bobby Thomson Bob Thorpe Bobby Tiefenauer Bob Uecker (man I wish it was Bob Uecker!...but I doubt it.) Roberto Vargas If not a player, it could be a coach as there is a Braves assistant coach on the ball elsewhere.  My personal guess is that it is Bob Boyd, which if true, would be pretty great. He played in the Negro Leagues and was t...

Growing up, I have the distinct memory of being at my grandmother's house on many Sunday afternoons when the TV would get turned to PBS and reruns of the Lawrence Welk Show  would be on.  The variety show focused on musical performances that were mainly pre-recorded. In general, it was so wholesome and portrays a world of the 1960s and 70s that seems absurd today in many ways.  Saturday Night Live honored the show many times through the years through their series of skits about the Maharelle Sisters...from the Finger Lakes. Flipping through a stack of postcards and odd-sized cards at The National Sports Card Collectors Convention a couple years ago, I came upon this card which brought me back to those quiet Sundays.  A young Lawrence Welk, band leader and accordionist was featured on a postcard put out by  Mutoscope Cards . The cards were issued in 1945 by an offshoot of the International Mutoscope Reel Company which had machines that were one of the first ways ...

 I was surprised to find a 2022 Topps Minnesota Twins team set at my local Walmart when typically it is strictly Cubs or Cardinals with a random White Sox thrown in for some sort of equality.  But a little searching found sets for the Pirates, Nationals and Astros so it looks like a random assortment was sent to each store.  I miss that these sort of sets used to include an exclusive card or at least a card of the stadium (which I collect). The only thing "exclusive" is the card numbering which has a "MIN-" before each card number.  It's been an exciting year for the Twins as they sit a half game ahead of the Guardians in first place in the American League Central with a 39-33 record.  I'm a really big fan that four of the cards feature the powder blue uniforms that the Twins wore for road games from 1973 to 1986. I love all the Kirby Puckett cards from that era in that uniform.  Overall, I would say the Kenta Maeda card is my favorite.