I Found the Vendor!

And had absolutely no idea what to do about it.

Last Wednesday I went to my local Target. I had no illusions of finding the 2021 Topps that was supposed to be released that day. For some reason, my Target never had stuff on time. I usually check every day or two, and suddenly almost a week later the shelf will be full of the new release. (Unless, I suppose, what I see is a second stocking after the first sells out in minutes? Do they do second stockings?) I had actually managed to buy a few blasters on their website earlier in the day, so I was all set in any case. But, I needed to be in Target that day anyway. Naturally, I walked by the card aisle just to see. Last time I was there, the shelf was full of Panini Contenders football and Heritage High Number Hobby boxes. I had passed on both. I'm not a football collector, and even with the auto/relic the Heritage had been more than I was willing to spend. But, I had been regretting not getting the Contenders since the price point was low enough to try just for fun. So, I figured if they had any left I'd try a box. 

No luck. Empty shelves.

I did the rest of my shopping and was walking by the cards again on my way out. There was an employee there with a cart full of what I assumed were returns. I figured I'd peek to see if she had anything that had been hidden around the store. As I approached, she looked up and said "I only have two sports, football and baseball".  I was confused. Huh? She motioned behind her, and on the conveyor belt, waiting to be stocked were several rows of the Topps Series One and Panini Playbook Football.

She was the vendor!

I didn't know what the Playbook was, so I asked for one to check the price point. At $30, it seemed a bit high...so I passed. I already had the Topps ordered, so I passed on those too. I left the store without any cards.

As I was driving away I was chuckling to myself that I finally stumble upon the vendor, and I had already ordered the cards I wanted. That's when it hit me. Was I a complete moron? Sure, I had ordered the cards. But, Target has an annoying habit of canceling online orders. I could have had them in my hands. And what's the worst that could happen? I bet I could use an extra box anyway. So I turned around and went back to the store.

The vendor was still there, and as I approached I could hear her talking to a guy next to her. I heard him say he worked at the Wal-Mart down the street and would check Target all the time on his breaks to see if their stuff was in yet. When I got there, I saw the shelf was full of Series One, the Playbook, and a full shelf of Contenders football. She hadn't shown me those before. (Apparently they do, in fact, restock) I decided to use my 3 purchase limit on one of each brand. I went to grab one of the Playbooks, and she stopped me. She said she needed to take a picture if I could wait a second. So, apparently the other guy was actually "in line" waiting for her to finish up. So, we both waited a minute while she took her pictures of the display. I let him check out the cards...he was first, after all...and then grabbed my three boxes. 

Of course, after all that, the boxes weren't amazing. I'll write about the Series One later. The best card from the two football boxes was a Contenders Justin Herbert ROY insert. Not exactly the biggest hit out there. Especially since both football boxes contained an auto/relic.

But, I had my first experience "waiting in line" for a vendor. Maybe next time I'll do it better the first time.

And maybe the cards will be better.

36 Years of Red Sox Cards (Part IX)

Once more, with feeling…

1987 Donruss Mike Grenwell
Mike Greenwell was a fine player during his Red Sox career. He did his best to keep up the noble progression of Red Sox left fielders. Following Williams, Yaz, and Rice is no easy task. But, he gave it a go. This is one of Greenwell’s better rookie cards. It’s a nice design, but led to collecting headaches. First, the black border made defects pop right out. Any white chipping of the edges could be seen a mile away. The baseballs on the sides made it real easy to see if a card wasn’t centered properly as well. If one side had more baseballs than the other, it was a bad cut. It just made it all the better when you found a nice one.

1994 Topps Stadium Club Draft Picks Nomar Garciaparra
Once upon a time, the Red Sox drafted this kid shortstop with a big nose. He went on to become one of the most beloved players in team history, before being rudely shipped out of town during the 2004 season. This card is one of the first ones to picture Nomar as a member of the Sox. He had an earlier card in 1992, but it depicted him as a member of the US Olympic team (the same set featured another member of the Olympic team, Jason Varitek) So, for Sox fans, this was the beginning of the frenzy.

2005 Donruss Champions Doug Meintkeiwicz
I like this card for several reasons. First, it has the word “champions” on the front. I can’t be reminded enough of the Sox triumph in 2004. Plus, it’s of Doug Mientkiewicz, who played a big role in that season. He was in the trade that got rid of Nomar. He caught the last out of the World Series clincher. I spent all summer trying to learn how to properly spell his name. I also like this card since it pictures Mientkiewicz in his Boston uniform, and contains a piece of the uniform from the historic season. What more could you ask for in a card?

1988 Topps Sam Horn
Sam Horn was another hotshot call-up. In his first 46 games with the Sox in 1987, Horn slugged 14 home runs. Instantly, the projections start. That works out to almost 50 dingers in a full season! This guy’s going to be a stud! So, his 1988 rookie cards were hot commodities. Of course, things never worked out that way. Horn lasted for parts of 8 seasons in the bigs, playing 103 games over three seasons with the Sox. He may be best remembered now for lending his name to a much overrated Red Sox fan website. I especially like this card since it shows Horn at first base. His appearances at first for the Sox were certainly few and far between. But, it’s still a nice memory of a very popular player.

1980 Lou Brock/Carl Yastrzemski HL
Another highlight card. Once again, the Topps company needed only one card to picture two future Hall-of-Famers. 1979 was a big year for Yaz and Brock. Each player reached 3000 career hits during the season. Yaz also slugged his 400th career home run. What better reason to include an extra card of those players?

1998 Topps Finest Pedro Martinez
Awkward crotch shot aside, this is a great card. Pedro Martinez came over to the Red Sox in a trade following the 1997 season. He was the obvious new ace for the Sox, and everyone was excited to see him get started. While action shots are nice on cards, I think this posed shot captures the mood quite well. It’s simply Pedro, sitting there with a big grin on his face. Here I am, I’m ready to pitch, watch me go. This is going to be fun. The Finest brand is nice too. It makes for a very crisp card, with just enough flair to do Pedro justice. It’s still one of my favorite Pedro cards.

So, there we are. 36 years of Red Sox baseball cards explored. The good players, the not so good. The memories they invoke, the fears they bring up. It’s what collecting cards is all about.

That’s my list. Which cards would make yours?

36 Years of Red Sox Cards (Part VIII)

A few more minutes, so a few more great Red Sox cards…

1977 Topps Fred Lynn
Any discussion of the late 70’s Sox needs to stop on Fred Lynn. He broke in with the Sox unlike any rookie ever had. He capped his 1975 season with both the Rookie of the Year, and MVP awards. Teamed with Jim Rice and Dwight Evans, the Sox could boast one of the best young outfields…maybe ever. But, when free agency came to the major leagues, Lynn was one of the first to bolt Boston. While he came to regret the decision, it was too late. What seemed destined to be a long and glorious career never really materialized? But, boy, what a great few years. This 1977 card pictures Lynn smack in the middle of his Red Sox career.

1986 Topps Bill Buckner
Who else could I pick? Were it not for 1986, Bill Buckner would be remembered as being a great ballplayer. Not quite Hall-of-Fame caliber, but pretty darn good. But, once that ball went through his legs in the 1986 series, that was it. That was his claim to infamy. This card is a great headshot of Buckner, before he grew goat horns. The back of the card is probably the last one not to mention his error. It’s too bad. He didn’t deserve any of the grief he got. Luckily, this card still reminds everyone of the good days he had.

1997 Upper Deck Collector’s Choice Jose Canseco
I’ve mentioned it before, but the Sox did a lot of this in years past. They found a superstar who wasn’t quite living up to his past, and brought him in based on name alone. Andre Dawson and Jack Clark are two other examples of this that come to mind. These days, Jose Canseco is an interesting person. On the one hand, he became a laughingstock. His baseball career ended, he turned to the shameful celebrity boxing…the last venue of C-list stars. On the other hand, he became the steroid poster boy when he wrote a book filled with outrageous claims of players who used steroids. The funny thing is, that he appears to be absolutely right. None of the current steroid ballyhoo would exist if it weren’t for Canseco. By the time this card came out in 1997, Jose had already been shipped off to Oakland. His Red Sox career never became what fans hoped it would.

1974 Topps Fisk/Bench All-Star
I’ll say it again. Baseball card companies love stars. They know that collectors would rather have cards of stars than bench players. Back in 1974, companies thought they should also have cards of all the players on every team. So, one way to save space was a combo card like this one. This way, by only using one card they could appeal to Fisk fans as well as Bench backers. The fact that this tandem would end up being a marquee match-up in the next year’s World Series is especially nice. These days, cards like this aren’t especially expensive, and are a great way to collect Hall-of-Fame players two at a time.

36 Years of Red Sox Cards (Part V)

Continuing on our way…

1976 Topps Jim Rice
This card is great for a couple of reasons. Obviously, it’s an early card of one of the newest Baseball Hall of Fame inductees. In fact, much like the Fisk card from an earlier post, it is Rice’s first card where he is pictured alone. His 1975 card pictures him with three other players in floating circles. This card also has the stats on the back for Rice’s 1975 rookie season. The other interesting part is the trophy on the front of the card. Each year, the Topps company picks an all-rookie team. For a long time, they put pictures of trophies on the front of the player’s card. They stopped this practice for a while, but have started doing it again. It’s a grwat way to recognize the great young stars in baseball. While some rookie team members end up being busts, Rice certainly lived up to the hype.

2007 Topps Updates & Highlights Daisuke Matsuzaka Japanese
The 2007 baseball season was all about Daisuke Matsuzaka. The Red Sox made big news when they paid a small fortune just for the opportunity to talk to Daisuke about a contract. The card companies were excited. Since Matsuzaka had played in Japan, nobody had bothered to make a major league card of him before. So, all the companies had a shot to make a rookie card of a popular player, and put it in their set. To set themselves apart from the pack, the companies tried different things to make their verson unique. Some put pieces of his jersey on the card. In this case, Topps decided to write the front of the card in Japanese. It’s just one more way to make a collection look a little different.

1989 Topps Rick Cerone
This was a popular card when it was released. It was probably one of the more valuable cards in the set during the 1989 season. You’d be right to wonder why. Rick Cerone wasn’t exactly the darling of the baseball card market. The reason is in the picture. Behind Cerone stands Ellis Burks. Burks was the hot-shot rookie for the Sox in 1987, and was on his way to stardom in 1989. In those days, there were only five cards sets making cards, so Burks collectors could only get a limited number of different cards of him. But, if they got this card, they could add another with Burks’s picture on it. I remember price guides at the time listing the card as “Rick Cerone (Burks).” The drive of player collectors is never ending.

1982 Topps Carl Yastrzemski In Action
This card shows how far card companies have come in a relatively short period of time. In 1982, Topps felt the need to make an entire subset showing the wonders of an action photo. I assume because of camera capabilities, many photos on cards in the early years were posed shots...headshots, players going through the motions, that sort of thing. By 1982, action shots were incorporated into the sets at a pretty good clip. So, why exactly Topps felt the need to scream “action shot” at the collector is unknown. But, it gave the company a reason to include another popular Carl Yastrzemski card in its set. As I’ve said many times in this, all they need is a reason.

36 Years of Sox cards (Part II)

As I continue my look back at the last 36 years of Red Sox baseball cards…

1984 Fleer Wade Boggs Batting Champion
This is a fun little card. At first glance, it looks like it’s been badly miscut. The border of the card is only showing on three sides. But, in actuality, this card is a puzzle. Another card in the set is of the batting title runner up, Rod Carew. His card is shifted in the other direction. When the two cards are placed next to each other, they form a single image of Carew sitting next to Boggs. It’s not an earth-shattering concept, but it’s just a little bit of variety to break up the collection.

1995 Upper Deck Andre Dawson
There’s just something about the photo of this card that I like. It’s a perfect pose showing off the classic Boston Red Sox home white uniform. The player pictured isn’t too bad either. Dawson fashioned himself a fine career…although not with the Red Sox. By the time he joined the Sox, Dawson’s best years were left behind on the Olympic Stadium Turf. He was the type of signing that the Sox did a lot of in those years…big names well past their prime. I guess it was supposed to draw fans to the park. Dawson didn’t even play for the Sox in 1995, instead heading to the Florida Marlins. It’s still a nice picture.

2001 Fleer Red Sox 100th Nomar Garciaparra Bat card
As a Red Sox fan, this was my dream set. An entire set of cards was dedicated to the Boston Red Sox. The set included 100 of the Sox players from the previous century. It was a great opportunity for current collectors to grab great Red Sox players from the past without spending a fortune. Players like Ruth, Foxx, and Williams were suddenly on affordable Red Sox cards. In addition to the regular base set, extra insert sets were included featuring autographed cards, cards pith pieces of a game worn jersey in them, or with a piece of a game-used bat in them. What could be better than opening a pack of cards and getting a piece of a Carlton Fisk jersey, or a Dom Dimaggio autograph, or a piece of Nomar bat. While the actual concepts weren’t exactly new, it was the first chance to get all the Red Sox players assembled in one great looking set. These days, it’s hard to open a pack of cards without tripping over a piece of a bat or jersey or stadium seat. But, I still love this card, and the set that contained it.

1979 Topps Carl Yastrzemski
This card has a nice classic old-time design. It doesn’t overwhelm you like the newer cards will with graphics and gold foil. It just shows you the picture, the name, and the team. pitting the team name in a banner was as flashy as cards needed to be in those days. 1979 ended up being a big year for Yaz. In July he notched his 400th career homerun. In September he amassed his 3000th career hit. He became the first American League Player to accomplish both feats. It almost appears that Yaz is looking off into the distance towards those accomplishments on this card.

36 Years of Red Sox Baseball Cards

One of the many ways I fuel my Red Sox obsession is through baseball cards. I love flipping through them. It reminds me of players I might have forgotten. It takes me back in time to a player’s early years. It brings up players I wish we still had, or I’m glad we got rid of. So, I thought the lull of the winter was a great time to dip into the Red Sox baseball card past. I’m going to look over the last 36 years of Red Sox baseball cards. I’ll pick out one card from each year to discuss briefly. If you’re a fellow card collector, hopefully it will remind you of some of your favorites as well. If you’re not a collector, hopefully you won’t think the exercise is a waste of space. There won’t be any set criteria for picking out the cards. I won’t own most of them. They won’t all be of star players. They won’t all be the most valuable cards of the year. They’ll just be the ones I most felt like talking about. I’m also not going to go in order, just to mix it up a little. So, here we go.

2006 Fleer Jon Lester
Mr. Lester has had quite a year the last twelve months or so. He went from World Series winner to effective trade bait. From promising youngster, to playoff ace. I bet this off-season, not many people would trade him for Johan Santana even up…let alone in a package. This card is one of Lester’s rookie cards. It’s a classic card with an attractive design. It doesn’t have the flash or the flair of other products from 2006, but I like it. The rookie logo on the card reminds everyone that at this point, Lester was just a hot-shot prospect looking for a way to get into the rotation. My how things change.

1990 Score Mo Vaughn
I loved Mo Vaughn. I loved the way he looked at the plate. I thought his stance was so intimidating hunched ever so slightly. He would glare out at the pitcher through one eye and almost dare him to throw a pitch. This is one of Big Mo’s rookie cards, coming from a “Draft Picks” subset. Card companies realized that people wanted the first cards they could get of their favorite players. Including a subset of draft picks allowed cards to be produced as soon as a player was in an organization. The only problem with the subset is that they were usually of players you hadn’t heard of yet. When this card was pulled out of a pack, Mo was still a year away from his Red Sox debut. Once he started playing for the Sox, though, I was sure to grab up a handful of these cards.

1975 Topps Tim McCarver
I like the 1975 Topps baseball card set a lot. I’d love to be able to build the entire set someday. The colors on the cards are a lot of fun. I’ll take the bright borders over a blander scheme any day. I also like the set because the player selection crosses generations. The set is old enough to have cards of Hank Aaron and Bob Gibson, but recent enough to have Nolan Ryan and George Brett. They have managers when they were players such as Bobby Valentine and Mike Hargrove. And, there’s cards of announcers like Tim McCarver. I don’t like McCarver as a broadcaster. He actually makes me turn the volume of the TV off during games. But, there he is on this card displaying himself as a member of the Boston Red Sox. McCarver appeared in 12 games for the Sox in 1975 before being shipped away. If it weren’t for this card, I might never have known that.

More to come...