moving into the '10s in the steve garvey binders

sheet 66 of my steve garvey binders starts where sheet 65 left off, with cards from 2008 donruss threads, but we'll soon get to cards from the current decade.  have a look:

those cards are:

1. 2008 donruss threads jersey relic (white swatch) /150
2. 2008 donruss threads college greats insert
3. 2008 donruss threads century collection materials relic /100
4. 2008 donruss playoff prime cuts
5. 2008 topps triple threads
6. 2008 topps triple threads sepia parallel /525
7. 2008 topps triple threads emerald parallel /240
8. 2008 topps triple threads relics combos (with duke snider and russell martin) /36
9. 2008 topps triple threads relics combos (with reggie jackson and willie randolph) /36

the first donruss threads relic is from the same serial numbered run as the one i showed last time (with a yellow swatch), meaning there aren't two distinct 150-card runs for each color.  the century collection relic is a nice dodger card marred by the padres' yellow swatch.  i'm missing a few of the triple threads parallels - well, more than a few - but they are hard to come by especially now.

here are the backs:

i don't believe there were any non-topps garvey cards in 2009.  i don't have any, anyway, as we'll see on sheet 67:

those cards are:

1. 2009 topps ring of honor insert
2. 2009 topps sterling /250
3. 2009 topps sterling framed white parallel /50
4. 2009 topps tribute
5. 2009 topps tribute blue parallel /219
6. 2009 topps tribute black parallel /99
7. 2010 topps cards your mom threw out insert
8. 2010 topps cards your mom threw out (original back) insert
9. 2011 in the game heroes and prospects heroes memorabilia jersey silver (print run 160)

there's a gold parallel numbered to 50 from 2009 topps tribute that i would like to find.  i don't really need any of the other sterling parallels, though.  there are 18 garvey cards from the 2011 in the game heroes and prospects release, and i have a couple more that will show up on the next sheet.  there are quite a few 1/1's that i will never see, let alone own, and that's ok.

here are the backs:

the 'original back' of the cymto is much brighter than the actual 1971 topps backs.  easier to read now, i suppose, but more likely a function of the cardstock used these days.

stay tuned for more goodness from the steve garvey binders!

tribute-iful cards that i hope to have received for free

i have been very good lately about buying cards using only funds that come from selling stuff on ebay or sportlots.   i've always been good about not using the plastic fantastic to fund my collecting, but these days i prefer to not raid the checking account, either.  my paypal balance is dwindling, however, so i need to get some more things sold.

one thing i have done to reduce the paypal account is purchase a couple of lots of topps tribute cards.  a total of 137 cards, to be exact, for a total cost (including shipping) of about $74.  these lots have included a fair number of dodgers (19 if we are really counting), a haloed don sutton and 3 steve garvey (as a freakin' friar) cards.  the other 114 cards are not of much use to me (actually, make that 113 as i sent a greg maddux card to the junior junkie in a trade).  those cards include many numbered parallels, and i will eventually re-sell most of them.  i'm wondering if i will be able to get all of my money back.

before i get into all of that, here are most of the cards that i am keeping.

from 2009 topps tribute, i have a steve garvey black (#/99) parallel

as well as a duke snider black parallel

and a pee wee reese black parallel

one of the lots also had the blue parallels (#/219) of garvey

and pee wee

this whole thing was borne out of a search for the two garvey parallels.  after watching a few auctions that featured the cards individually, i decided that it might pay off in the long run to buy them as part of lots.  and so i did.

there were regular ol' base versions of the duke

 pee wee

 roy campanella

 jackie robinson

johnny podres

 mike piazza

 manny ramirez

 clayton kershaw

 and don zimmer

in the lots as well.  look at that water cooler zimmer is using - it looks like a wine barrel.  the majority of the cards that i picked up were from 2009, which is probably my favorite tribute set this side of the initial 2001 release.  still, i picked up a couple of cards from the 2002 set, like gil hodges

 and don sutton

plus a bunch from the 2010 set.  here's campy

 manny

 pee wee

and jackie

and here's the lone 2011 topps tribute card in the bunch, a blue parallel of duke snider.

that's a really pretty card.  all of the tribute cards look nice to be honest, although the 2010 design is a bit busy for my taste.  it's too bad my scanner is so inconsistent with these cards.

some of those dodger cards might be doubles, so they may go back into the 'to sell' box. once i figure that out, my plan is to try to do a better job with the auction listing(s) and maybe make back all or at least the majority of my $74 investment.  it might sound like a longshot, but i have already got about $9 of it back thanks to just this one card

that would be a rogers hornsby 'no name on front' variation (or were they errors?).  i cleared about $9 after shipping and fees, so now i'm looking at around $65 to get into the black.  the seller of the lot that included this card did not mention the variation, so i was surprised to see it when the box arrived.

this is not the first time that i have tried flipping cards - i've done it several times, and i actually had a really nice (and somewhat heartbreaking) success about 12 years ago, but i'll save that for a different post.  most recently i wound up with a 1951 bowman carl furillo card for about $4 after re-selling the other 5 cards he came with when i bought him.

in the meantime, if anyone is looking for any 2009 topps tribute cards, let me know.  i am open to working out a trade before they hit the selling block.

thank you, jackie robinson

63 years ago, jackie robinson broke the color barrier in major league baseball.

there will, no doubt, be countless tributes during today's games and on broadcasts and blogs all over the place. all of those tributes will be better displayed, spoken or written than this one here, but they will not be more genuine.

today, i hope to see the 'thank you, jackie robinson' bumper that ran on mlb network last year one more time and get goosebumps all over again, because, while the players featured are thankful for the opportunities they have had, i as a fan am thankful for the joy i have experienced in my lifetime from seeing every player compete, not just a certain cross section of the population.

thank you jackie robinson. for willie davis.  reggie smith. dusty baker. al downing. rudy law. mike sharperson. gary sheffield. milton bradley. james loney. matt kemp. and the list goes on...

what sort of tribute is this?

let's get something straight topps (and upper deck and panini and anyone else who is planning to manufacture baseball cards):  steve garvey is first and foremost a dodger.

topps got it right with their 2009 garvey ring of honor insert, but completely blew it by releasing this card in their 2009 topps tribute set:

enough with the padres cards.  i doubt that the set includes harmon killebrew as a royal. or ron santo as a white sock.  just put garvey in his dodger whites with the bright red number on the front and call it a day.

sheesh.

[of course, i still bought the card - it's steve garvey!]