2006 brings some epic cards in the steve garvey binders

my second primary steve garvey binder begins with cards from 2006.  here is the 62nd sheet of cards from the binders, but the first in binder number 2:

those cards are:

1. 2006 fleer greats of the game
2. 2006 fleer greats of the game pewter parallel
3. 2006 fleer greats of the game auto
4. 2006 fleer greats of the game autographics auto (print run of 50)
5. 2006 fleer greats of the game dodgers greats
6. 2006 fleer greats of the game dodgers greats memorabilia relic
7. 2006 topps triple threads relic /18
8. 2006 topps triple threads relic autograph /18
9. 2006 topps triple threads relic combos (with rickey henderson and tony gwynn) /18

so, upper deck bought the rights to fleer and issued the greats of the game set in 2006.  there are 26 different cards available for steve garvey from that issue (many of which are 1/1 printing plates), and i am missing most. some of those are also rare bat barrel cards, but others are a /299 copper parallel and /50 dodgers greats auto cards.  speaking of the dodgers greats cards, i appreciate the dodger stadium at sunset inset photo.

on to triple threads. garvey has two triple relic cards. the one i have the "base" version of spells out "mvp".  the other spells out "lad".  likewise, the relic/autograph cards have two versions (mvp and lad), and we'll see a version of the other on the next sheet.  as for the combos card with rickey and gwynn, beckett tells me that the rickey relic is from his cleats.  that beats the garvey bat and gwynn jersey pieces for sure.

here are the backs:

this is sheet 63:

those cards are:

1. 2006 topps triple threads relic autograph gold /9
2. 2006 topps triple threads relic combos autograph (with don mattingly and dan johnson) /18
3. 2006 upper deck artifacts awesome artifacts jumbo relic /45
4. 2006 upper deck epic epic endorsements auto /45
5. 2006 upper deck epic epic foursome fabrics relic (with gil hodges, pee wee reese, and jackie robinson) /10
6. 2006 upper deck epic epic triple materials relic (with eddie murray and don mattingly) /49
7. 2006 upper deck sp legendary cuts /550
8. 2006 upper deck sp legendary cuts bronze parallel /99
9. 2006 upper deck sp legendary cuts chronology gold /550

so here i have the gold version of the "lad" triple threads auto/relic, as well as the "base" version of the don mattingly/dan johnson auto/relic.  there was a bit of prospecting going on with these triple threads combo cards at the time, which was not the case with upper deck's epic release as they used steady eddie murray to take johnson's place on the sixth card of the sheet.  just next to that one is a pretty cool card.  i don't fully understand the use of garvey as a fourth to gil hodges, pee wee, and jackie, but i am not complaining.  and, for all the ebay 1/1 geeks, my version is 06/10 which is garvey's jersey number.  one card from that set that i would love to have is a true 1/1 bat barrel card featuring garvey, manny mota (!), steve yeager, steve sax. that would truly be epic for this dodger fan.

elsewhere on the sheet, i am a bit embarrassed that i only have one card from 2006 upper deck artifacts as there are a number of other garvey relic and auto cards out there from that set.

here are the backs:

the back of that artifacts jumbo relic that i do have, however, let's us know that the card features game worn pants, which is the bottom of the relic hierarchy.

still more to come - stay tuned!

group breakin'

so i participated in the daily dimwit's november break, which consisted of 2006 upper deck artifacts.  i did this even though the only dodger base cards in the set were survivor jeff kent

and rookie tim hamulack

complete team set achieved!

i was kinda hoping for some good karma and landing the padres as my randomly assigned team (steve garvey is a padre and has some inserts in the set), but instead i got the team that probably has the fewest fans, the marlins.

as such, i am stuck with cards of a 2012 triple crown winner

and a 2012 silver slugger

i did manage to pick up a numbered relic

break over!

before all of that, however, i took part in ryan's group break over at 'o' no not another oriole blog.  this one featured 1994 topps finest and 1996 pinnacle zenith, among other releases.

as a result, tom candiotti gets to be featured on the blog

as does orel hershiser

and jose offerman

as for the zenith, there was karim garcia

because, you know, it was 1996 and karim garcia cards were in high demand

vladdy's big brother wilton

was also prominently featured in sets around this time, and zenith is no exception.

i also received chan ho park

limbering up for an ultimate fighting match with tim belcher

as well as ismael valdes

and another member of the dodgers' internationally staffed pitching rotation, hideo nomo

i also got the nomo 'honor roll' subset card

as well as the mike piazza 'honor roll' card.

my other team in this break was the reds.  there are a few more reds fans than marlins fans, so maybe i can find someone to trade with.

thanks for hosting the breaks, guys!

trip the cards, fantastic

i've been participating in more group breaks lately (i sure do miss joe collector's monthly group break), and one of the recent breaks was hosted by fantastic catch.  he busted boxes of 2012 topps series 2, 2006 upper deck artifacts, and 2006 upper deck ovation.  i had the dodgers, of course, and i also took the padres since i wasn't sure if there were steve garvey relics in artifacts or not.  here's some of the bounty.

aside from some base dodgers, i got a couple of sandy koufax inserts - the 'cut above'

 and the 'career day' cards

sandy's 'career day' was, according to topps, september 9, 1965.  something about a perfect game.

matt kemp also had a 'career day' in september - september of 2011.

he was 4 for 5 with 3 doubles and a home run that day against the giants.  he had another 4 for 5 game against the giants this year, but he only hit 2 doubles and a home run in that game.

moving on to the 2006 product, here's the lone dodger i got out of the artifacts box.  it's jeff kent

i guess the only other dodger in the set is tim hamulack.  i also got kent from the ovation box.

i was hoping to get one of the dodger rookies from this box - billingsley, ethier, kuo, or hamulack - but i had no such luck.  i did get the other dodger veteran, though - jd drew - in both base and gold parallel versions.

i won't bother to show any of the san diego fare since it unfortunately did not include any garveys or piazzas.

thanks for hosting, fc!