Completed master set – 2011 Goodwin Champions

The whole point of doing these set completion posts is basically to pat myself on the back :).  Well I’m happy to do so with this “master set”.  This is me patting the 2011 version of myself on the back.  Or maybe it’s the 2011 me patting the current me on the back.  Regardless, I’m glad to say I finished this up – it took a long time to finish everything I wanted from 2011 & 2012 Goodwin Champions.  I finally did late last year.  That’s over 4 years, though the main hold up was the Goodwin Travelers postcards that came as box toppers.

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Info about my base set

How I put the set (base / SP / SSP / mini) together:

• 161 (142/12/4/3) cards from my two hobby boxes
• 10 (5/3/1/1) cards from a blaster
• 5 (3/2/0/0) cards from trades
• 34 (0/12/8/14) cards from Sportlots
• 14 (0/11/3/0) cards from a card show
• 7 (0/0/4/3) cards from COMC

Card that completed my set:  #194 – Rube Foster

Best card (my opinion): #164 – Old & Young Tom Morris

Check out this link to see the rest of the base set post.

My “Master” Set Info

285 cards – 231 “base”, 29 “insert”, 25 “other”

• Insert sets:  Figures of Sport, Citizens
• Box Topper:  World Traveler

How I put the additional sets together:

• Inserts:  5 – packs/boxes, 12 – card shows, 12 – online purchases
• World Traveler:  2 – packs/boxes, 3 – trades, 20 – online purchases

Toughest card to track down:  World Travelers #ET21 – Na Pali Coast

This was the last of 2 World Traveler cards I got.  It would have to be one of those cards or the Rube Foster.

Other product bests

Completed insert set – 2011/12 Goodwin Champions World Travelers

This is one of those few sets that carries over multiple years.  I’ve been trying to finish this set for longer than anything else on my wantlists.  And I was waiting on the last 2 cards for over a year.  Finishing this set also finished both “master sets” for me from 2011 & 2012 Goodwin.

So I’ve been holding off on those master set posts as well.  They’re coming up next.

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Info about the set:

Set description:  The World Traveler postcards came as box toppers in 2011 and 2012 Goodwin Champions.  They are done in postcard fashion (5 x 7) featuring places to travel from all over the world.  The 2011 cards feature specific sites throughout the world, while the 2012 cards showcase notable cities.

Set composition:  50 cards, 1 per hobby box (2011 & 2012 Goodwin Champions)

Hall of Famers:  None as it’s not a sports set.

How I put the set together:

• 5 cards from hobby boxes
• 3 cards from a trade
• 31 cards from eBay
• 8 cards from Beckett Marketplace
• 2 cards from COMC
• 1 card from Sportlots

Card that completed my set: #ET21 – Na Pali Coast

I got this from Beckett Marketplace last December.

Thoughts on the set:  I love this box topper set, and I wish Upper Deck had continued it past 2012.  The pictures are beautiful, the

so-so on this set.  I like the concept – but the black and white photos aren’t that great, and there are some things I’d have rather seen them do.  They had a #/10 Presidential Masterpieces set that are hand painted.  I kind of wish they had done a more common insert of that set with a non-painted version.

Best card (my opinion): #ET24 – Machu Picchu

I could have picked the card for the Na Pali Coast above – I’ve been to Kaua’i and seen it from a helicopter; the picture does it justice.  To scan something different, I’ve always been intrigued by Machu Picchu – and this is a really cool photo of the Peruvian city in the sky.

Any other tidbits:  I would love to scan every one of these cards, but that would take forever.  Instead, I’ll list the places I’ve been out of the 49 locations (card #1 is the planet Earth).  I’ve been to 11.

ET2 – Muir Woods Redwoods:  I went to the California Redwoods when I was a kid.  My Uncle’s family lives in Portland, and we traveled down there on a family visit out there.

ET3 – Niagara Falls:  I went there in 2009, on the way to Cooperstown for the induction weekend that year.

ET21 – Na Pali Coast:  We went to Kaua’i for our honeymoon in 2008.

WT4 – Los Angeles, USA:  I’ve been there twice for work, though I didn’t stay too long either time, and I couldn’t do much while there.  Chavez Ravine is one of the few ballparks I haven’t been to.

WT7 – New York, USA:  I’ve been there more times than I could possibly count (I lived in New Jersey for 2+ years).

WT8 – Zürich, Switzerland:  In 2001 I went on a trip to Europe through school.  We took classes during the week in all different cities.  One of them was Zürich, though the midterm was in Zürich and it was the one city where we really didn’t do too much.

WT11 – Barcelona, Spain:  On the same trip, we ended the classroom portion in Barcelona.  The final was there, but I did enjoy the nightlife after we were done.

WT14 – Washington DC, USA:  I’ve also been to our nation’s capital about a half-dozen times.  Most recently I was there in 2013 for a wedding.

WT21 – Chicago, USA:  I live in Chicago.

WT22 – London, England:  That was the first stop on our trip back in 2001; I actually met my wife there.  I’d also been there once before with my parents.

WT24 – Amsterdam, Netherlands:  We stopped there during the weekend in between London and Paris in 2001.  I’m surprised Paris wasn’t on the list.

Updating the Elusive Eight for a 2nd time – trade with Dan from TCDB

1995 Topps Pre-Production Spectralite #PP9 – Alex Fernandez

Doing this Elusive Eight thing was extremely helpful.  I started this at the end of December, where I list 8 cards that have been really tough to track down.  Since then, I’ve found 2 of those cards.  I found the Jackie Robinson 2011 Heritage card that finished off the master set there.  And I just made a trade for one of the 2 Spectralite promos I needed from 1995 Topps.  Alex Fernandez is shown above.

I made the trade with Dan, who posted about the card on the Trading Card Database.  I don’t use that TCDB Adam from Addiction is Therapy tipped me off about Dan’s post.  Dan was great, he sent the card before I was going to be able to send my end of the bargain over.  I sent him a 1968 Topps card I had and a few cards from 2016 Topps once I’d opened my box.

These spectralite versions of the promo cards are really tough to find.  To repeat what they are, in 1995 Topps made a pre-production set of 9 cards.  Those 9 cards came in packs of 10, with an extra “spectralite” version that previewed what the 1995 Topps Cyberstats parallels.  This one was particularly frustrating, because Beckett has the wrong stock photo for the regular promo.  They used the spectralite version.  A lot of eBay sellers use the Beckett stock photo, and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve asked a seller about this particular card just to be sure they weren’t really offering the spectralite version.  Eventually, I figured out what was going on and stopper bothering.  Luckily, Dan came along and I’ve knocked another card off the list!  Thanks again for the trade!

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Here’s the updated Elusive Eight, just in case anyone has these cards available!  Remember – the pictures are the photos I have of other cards in the set.  Since I don’t have them, I don’t have actual photos yet!

1996 Topps Power Boosters #17 – Juan Lebron

1996 Topps Power Boosters #18 – Tony McKnight

1996 Topps Power Boosters #21 – Jim Scharrer

I’m taking off 2 cards from 2012 Archives Combos set to make room for 3 cards from 1996 Topps that have proven to be very tough.  The Power boosters set paralleled the first 26 cards in the 1996 Topps set with some serious shine added.  It’s actually reminiscent of the background effect Topps added for the 2011 Diamond Anniversary parallels, except these cards are also much thicker than the base cards.  I could have considered them parallels and thus outside of my collecting goals, but they were kind of in the middle between parallels and inserts.  So I decided to collect them.  The first 12 cards, which focused on all-stars from that era, was relatively easy to complete.  But the draft pick cards have proven very difficult to track down.

Out of the 3 cards listed, only Tony McKnight ever made the Big Leagues.

2012 Topps Archives In Action #82IA-JE – Jacoby Ellsbury

1998 Topps Focal Points #11 – Chuck Knoblauch

2013 Gypsy Queen #218 – Adam Wainwright

1996 Topps Masters of the Game #15 – Kirby Puckett

1995 Topps Pre-Production Spectralite #PP5 – Travis Fryman

Here are some other cards that would be knocking on the door to make the list. 3 of them have been on the list at some point in the past, but were bumped to make room for the Power Boosters cards.

2001 Topps MVP redemption set – a very expensive set, I have about 10 of the 25 cards

2003 Topps Nolan Ryan Record Breaker – 5 very difficult cards to go

2003 Topps Traded – 5 cards to go

2004 Topps – 5 cards to go

2012 Topps – the Bryce Harper 661 card

2012 Allen & Ginter Giants of the Deep #14 – Bottlenose Whale

2012 Topps Archives Combos – #58-CK – Cabrera/Kaline

2012 Topps Archives Combos – #58-YE – Yaz/Ellsbury

Completed insert set – 2013 Topps Archives ’65 Football Mini Tallboys

This is the 3rd insert set from 2013 Topps Archives I’ve finished off – after the 1983 All-Stars set and the 4-in-1 sticker set (both of which were comparatively a much easier to complete).

Info about the set:

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Set description:  “Modeled after the 1965 Topps football design.  Featuring active and retired MLB players.”  This was something of a new idea for Topps.  They had done retro designs out the wazoo in the past, but doing it across different sports was a pretty new idea. The original cards are oversize (2-½ by 4-11/16) and had only AFL players.  It’s famous for the rookie card of Broadway Joe Namath.

The Archive version is the same design and shape, except Topps had to shrink them to fit them into packs.  The 40-card set is as tall as a standard card but thinner.  The card fronts have the player photo over a solid color background. The city name is at the top in block letters, with the player’s name and position in a block at the bottom.  The backs are horizontal with statistics below a write-up on the left side.  A cartoon with a factoid is on the right.

Here’s my previous post on this and the other “cross-sport” set Topps did for 2013 Archives.  There are 3 players who were around in 1965, that could have theoretically been in this set: Denny McLain, Al Kaline, Roberto Clemente

Set composition:  40 cards, 1:5 (2013 Topps Archives)

Hall of Famers: 4 – Al Kaline, Cal Ripken, Mike Schmidt, Roberto Clemente

How I put the set together:

• 9 cards from two hobby boxes
• 1 card from a retail blaster
• 10 cards from Beckett Marketplace
• 11 cards from Sportlots
• 8 cards from COMC
• 1 cards from the National card show

Card that completed my set:  #MT-MT – Mike Trout

I got this from COMC in September of last year.

Thoughts on the set:  Love it.  The idea of crossing sports for Topps Archives is a really good one.  I hope Topps does keeps doing that with this set.  I particularly like this design, and Topps stays consistent across teams – all the Reds players have the same color scheme.  That gets good marks in my book.  I’d change 2 things.  First, I’d only include guys who would have had 1965 cards, because I love the idea of “cards that never were”.  Second, it’s lettered not numbered, which always ticks me off.  I thought this set was only 36 cards (it’s actually 40) for nearly a year because I read that somewhere.

Best card (my opinion):  #MT-DM – Denny McLain

There are better historical players in the set, but you don’t see a ton of Denny McLain cards out there.  Plus, the fact that he played in 1965 makes it cooler than the rest as well.

My Favorite Reds card:  #MT-RD – Rob Dibble

It’s really tough to beat out the Eric Davis card at the very top.  But, like McLain, you don’t see a lot of Rob Dibble cards out there.  Awesome Topps included him.

Here’s the full scan of the set:

Any other tidbits:  If you’ll notice the Trout card has the team name at the top, whereas other cards have the team’s city.  The Angels are the only franchise to get this treatment – Albert Pujols also has a card like this.  This further highlights how ridiculous their city designation is; I guess Topps decided it didn’t want to fit “Los Angeles of Anaheim” at the top.  Clayton Kershaw has a card and they do have “Los Angeles” for him.

Completed insert set – 2013 Topps Archives ’69 4-in-1 Stickers

This was the third 2013 Topps Archives insert set I’ve completed.  The 1969 4-in-1 Sticker insert set isn’t my favorite, but it is interesting in that it comes with some very cool 4-man combinations.

Info about the set:

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Set description:  “4 subjects per card, featuring active and retired players”.

This insert set is designed like the 1969 4-in-1 sticker set, which was a test issue of 25 “cards” with 4 mini-stickers on each card.  The stickers come in the form of the 1969 design, with the players coming from the 2nd series of Topps cards that year.  These aren’t easy to find and command a pretty penny.  The cards are blank-backed.

Here’s my previous post comparing the current set with the old set.  Willie Mays, Lou Brock and Al Kaline (via World Series subset cards), Bob Gibson, Leo Durocher, Don Sutton, Earl Weaver, Carl Yastrzemski and Pete Rose are all in the original 4-in-1 set.  The Mays quadruple from the original is below.

Set composition:  15 cards, 1:8 (2013 Topps Archives)

Hall of Famers:  23 – Yogi Berra, Johnny Bench, Rickey Henderson, Ty Cobb, Willie Mays, Ken Griffey Jr., Nolan Ryan, Tom Seaver, Bob Feller, Tony Gwynn, Wade Boggs, Cal Ripken Jr., Ryne Sandberg, Willie McCovey, Babe Ruth, Reggie Jackson, Lou Gehrig, Warren Spahn, Steve Carlton, Sandy Koufax, Ted Williams, Frank Robinson, Carl Yastrzemski

How I put the set together:

• 6 cards from two hobby boxes
• 1 card from a blaster
• 1 card from the NSCC
• 1 card from Beckett Marketplace
• 3 cards from Sportlots
• 3 cards from COMC

Card that completed my set:  #69S-OPJR – O’Neill/Pettitte/Jeter/Rivera

I picked the last card up from COMC last June.  It’s cool to put O’Neill on there, but I’d have switched him for Jorge Posada to get the “CORE 4”.

Thoughts on the set:  Not my favorite design, but it has provenance in the original which I can appreciate.  It’s funny how the scans turn out.  You can’t tell where the first card starts and the second card begins.  And the coolest thing is the combinations Topps chose.  Like the card below.

Best card (my opinion):  #69S-WRYC – Williams/Robinson/Yastrzemski/Cabrera

This was an easy winner.  I really like the card with Cobb, Mays, Griffey and Trout at the top.  It connects great center fielders of the past to today.  But this card has 4 of the last 5 triple crown winners (interestingly, Topps’ favorite son, Mickey Mantle, is the missing link in both of those groupings).  Cabrera had just won the triple crown, and that was one of the greater achievements in sports of my lifetime.

My Favorite Reds card:  #69S-BPDS – Baylor/Parker/Davis/Strawberry

Johnny Bench has a card, but the card featuring Eric Davis and Darryl Strawberry is really cool.  I get why Davis and Strawberry are on the card, but I don’t know what the overarching theme is to include Parker and Don Baylor.  But it’s still a great card.

Any other tidbits:  I showed on the post linked above that Mays and Yaz had cards in both sets, but what I found interesting were how many guys are in the set twice.  Buster Posey was the one player who is in the set 3 times.  He’s on a great catcher card with Bench, Berra and Joe Mauer.  And he’s on a great San Francisco Giants card with McCovey, Matt Williams and Will Clark.  Finally, he’s on a card with David Price, R.A. Dickey and Miguel Cabrera that has the defending MVP & Cy Young award winners from 2012.

Completed insert set – 2011 Allen & Ginter Cabinets

Most of the insert sets in Ginter are not of the standard size.  You have the Baseball Highlight sketch cards and maybe 1 or 2 others, but the rest are minis.  And there are cabinet cards or N43 cards that are box toppers.  I finished off the Cabinet set from 2011 6 or 7 months ago.

Info about the set:

Set description: “10 oversize cabinet cards featuring mini parallel cards showcasing 2 to 4 key subjects in an important 2010 baseball highlight, or the founding of a National Park.  These subjects are featured on mini-parallel cards on a larger 5 ¼” by 8″ cabinet card.”

There’s a lot of duplicate wording on that write-up from the sell sheet.  Basically, these are really large cards with scenes as the background and then 2, 3 or 4 photos of mini cards using the 2011 A&G design.  Cards #1-6 are baseball highlights from 2010, while cards #7-10 are National Parks and the President and some other influential figure who helped to get the park that designation.  The backs have a checklist of the specific portion of the set (the baseball cards only have the first 6 listed, the National Parks only have the last 4).

They were a little off in calling the mini-pictured cards “parallels”.  The players all had cards, however Tony LaRussa isn’t in the main set and most of the presidents or other figures aren’t either.

Set composition:  10 cards, box topper (2011 Allen & Ginter’s)

Hall of Famers:  1.  Shown above, Tony LaRussa is on card #6, which is titled “Decade of Dominance”.  It’s honoring Albert Pujols, who did have quite an incredible first 10 years.

Ryan Dempster is the other player on this card.  I was trying to figure out what this card was getting at, other than Pujols being really good.  He hit more homers of Dempster than any other pitcher, but I think this card is in honor of May 30, 2010.  In that game, Pujols went deep 3 times.  Two of those bombs were off of Dempster, who also gave him 2 intentional passes.  So he could have hit the magical mark of 4 homers in a game if not for the free passes.

How I put the set together:

• 1 card from my 2nd hobby box
• 7 cards from Beckett Marketplace
• 2 cards from COMC

Card that completed my set:  #CB-9 – Yosemite National Park.

I got this card from COMC back in May.  Pretty cool putting Old Faithful on there, though there is no “parallel” in the main set.  Old Faithful did have a card in 2009 Allen & Ginter.

Thoughts on the set:  Retro sets are best the more they connect with the original.  Cabinet cards were a staple of tobacco cards from back in the late 1800’s, so that’s pretty cool.  I like the combination of national parks and baseball highlights.

Best card (my opinion):  #CB-10 – Redwood National Park

This card is for the National Park in Northern California.  I picked this one because it’s the only one I’ve been to out of the 4 cards in this set.

Other tidbits:  Here is a checklist of the 10 cards in this set, followed by information on the date of the game (or year the National park gained its status) and the “mini cards” shown on the cabinet.

CB-1 – “Galarraga’s almost perfect”.  June 2, 2010.  Armando Galarraga, Miguel Cabrera, Jason Donald.

This would probably be my favorite if I had picked from the baseball portion of the set.  This is from the perfect game that Galarraga lost when umpire Jim Joyce incorrectly called Jason Donald safe at first base for the 27th out.  Topps should have figured a way to get Joyce onto this card.

CB-2 – “Postseason No-No”.  October 6, 2010.  Carlos Ruiz, Ryan Howard.

One thing that is really weird about this set – the main guy in the event is usually in the background, but not on the mini card.  The only exception is It depicts Roy Halladay’s no-hitter against the Reds, which was the 2nd no-hitter in postseason history.  You see Ruiz running out to Halladay in the background, but Halladay isn’t one of the mini cards.  Howard had the last put out at first, so I get why he’s on there, but to me just having Ruiz and Halladay (or at least having the guy who threw the no-no) would have been the way to go.

CB-3 – “Dallas is perfect in Oakland”.  May 9, 2010.  Landon Powell, Daric Barton.

Topps did the exact same thing here with Dallas Braden’s perfect game.  Powell was the catcher, Barton gloved the last out at first.

CB-4 – “Multiple Milestone Matchup”.  September 23, 2010.  Felix Hernandez, Jose Bautista.

Ichiro is in the background here.  Hernandez pitched a complete game near the end of his Cy Young season.  Bautista, however, went deep off him to give Toronto a 1-0 win.  It was Bautista’s 50th homer of the season, and Ichiro notched his 200th hit in the game as well.  That was his 10th straight season with 200+ hits, extending his own record and tying Pete Rose’s record for number of such seasons in total.

CB-5 – “A-Rod does it again, for the 600th time”.  August 4, 2010.  Derek Jeter, Shaun Marcum.

This one’s pretty simple.  A-Rod hit his 600th homer.  Shaun Marcum was the pitcher.  Derek Jeter was on base.

CB-6 – “Decade of Dominance”.  May 30, 2010.  Tony LaRussa, Ryan Dempster

See above.

CB-7 – “Grand Canyon National Park”.  1919.  President Woodrow Wilson, President Benjamin Harrison, President Theodore Roosevelt.

This card has 3 Presidents on it.  Wilson was the President who signed the bill to make the Grand Canyon a National Park.  Benjamin Harrison actually first introduced a bill to make it a National Park in 1882 when he was a Senator.  And Teddy Roosevelt established the Grand Canyon Game Preserve when he was President.

CB-8 – “Yosemite National Park”.  1864.  President Abraham Lincoln, Senator John Conness.

Conness lobbied for protection of Yosemite, Lincoln signed it into law.

CB-9 – Yellowstone National Park.  1872.  President Ulysses S. Grant, Old Faithful.

CB-10 – Redwood National Park.  1968.  President Lyndon B. Johnson, Congressman John E. Raker.

See above.

2015 All-Star Stitches #9: Manny Machado (via Tomahawk Chop)

This is the 9th card I got in my crazy idea to collect all of the cards in the All-Star Stitches set from 2015 Topps Update.  As a reminder, I went to the All-Star game and Home Run Derby in Cincinnati.  These cards that have swatches from the Monday practice festivities.

Machado is the 3rd participant in the Home Run Derby I’ve added to this collection (Anthony Rizzo, Albert Pujols).

Player:  Manny Machado

Card number:  STIT-MMA

How I got the card:  trade with Andrew of Tomahawk Chop.  Thanks for the trade, Andrew!

Player:  Manny Machado

Position:  Third Base

How he made the roster:  Machado was voted in by the players as the reserve at 3rd base

This was his 2nd All-Star selection.

First half stat line:  .298/19/48, .361 OBP, .525 SLG

Home Run Derby:  Machado was the 5-seed in the derby for the 18 homers he had as of July 7th.  He lost to Joc Pederson, 13-12, in the first round.

All-Star game:  0-1.  Machado pinch hit for starter Josh Donaldson in the top of the 5th, hitting a deep fly off of Clayton Kershaw that was caught in left field.  He doubled off of Francisco Rodriguez in his second at bat, scoring Brock Holt to extend the AL’s lead to 4-2.  He came around to score on a Prince Fielder single.  Mike Moustakas pinch hit for him in the top of the 9th.

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STIT-AB A.J. Burnett – Pittsburgh Pirates
STIT-AC Aroldis Chapman – Cincinnati Reds
STIT-AE Alcides Escobar – Kansas City Royals
STIT-AGN Adrian Gonzalez – Los Angeles Dodgers
STIT-AJ Adam Jones – Baltimore Orioles
STIT-AM Andrew McCutchen – Pittsburgh Pirates
STIT-APO A.J. Pollock – Arizona Diamondbacks
STIT-APU Albert Pujols – Los Angeles Angels
STIT-AR Anthony Rizzo – Chicago Cubs
STIT-BB Brad Boxberger – Tampa Bay Rays
STIT-BC Brandon Crawford – San Francisco Giants
STIT-BD Brian Dozier – Minnesota Twins
STIT-BG Brett Gardner – New York Yankees
STIT-BHA Bryce Harper – Washington Nationals
STIT-BHO Brock Holt – Boston Red Sox
STIT-BP Buster Posey – San Francisco Giants
STIT-CA Chris Archer – Tampa Bay Rays
STIT-CK Clayton Kershaw – Los Angeles Dodgers
STIT-CM Carlos Martinez – St. Louis Cardinals
STIT-CS Chris Sale – Chicago White Sox
STIT-DB Dellin Betances – New York Yankees
STIT-DK Dallas Keuchel – Houston Astros
STIT-DL DJ LeMahieu – Colorado Rockies
STIT-DO Darren O’Day – Baltimore Orioles
STIT-DP David Price – Detroit Tigers
STIT-FH Felix Hernandez – Seattle Mariners
STIT-GC Gerrit Cole – Pittsburgh Pirates
STIT-GP Glen Perkins – Minnesota Twins
STIT-JA Jose Altuve – Houston Astros
STIT-JDE Jacob deGrom – New York Mets

STIT-JDO Josh Donaldson – Toronto Blue Jays
STIT-JK Jason Kipnis – Cleveland Indians
STIT-JM J.D. Martinez – Detroit Tigers
STIT-JPA Joe Panik – San Francisco Giants
STIT-JPD Joc Pederson – Los Angeles Dodgers
STIT-JPE Jhonny Peralta – St. Louis Cardinals
STIT-JU Justin Upton – San Diego Padres
STIT-KB Kris Bryant – Chicago Cubs
STIT-KH Kelvin Herrera – Kansas City Royals
STIT-LC Lorenzo Cain – Kansas City Royals
STIT-MB Madison Bumgarner – San Francisco Giants
STIT-MMA Manny Machado – Baltimore Orioles
STIT-MME Mark Melancon – Pittsburgh Pirates
STIT-MTE Mark Teixeira – New York Yankees
STIT-MTR Mike Trout – Los Angeles Angels
STIT-NA Nolan Arenado – Colorado Rockies
STIT-NC Nelson Cruz – Seattle Mariners
STIT-PF Prince Fielder – Texas Rangers
STIT-PG Paul Goldschmidt – Arizona Diamondbacks
STIT-RM Russell Martin – Toronto Blue Jays
STIT-SM Shelby Miller – Atlanta Braves
STIT-SP Salvador Perez – Kansas City Royals
STIT-SV Stephen Vogt – Oakland Athletics
STIT-TF Todd Frazier – Cincinnati Reds
STIT-TT Troy Tulowitzki – Colorado Rockies
STIT-WD Wade Davis – Kansas City Royals
STIT-YG Yasmani Grandal – Los Angeles Dodgers
STIT-YM Yadier Molina – St. Louis Cardinals
STIT-ZB Zach Britton – Baltimore Orioles
STIT-ZG Zack Greinke – Los Angeles Dodgers

Completed factory insert set – 2011 Allen & Ginter Glossy Rookies

This is a set that was factory exclusive to 2011 Ginter.  I didn’t buy the factory set, so I had to get each of these cards through individual purchases.

Info about the set:

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Set description:  In October 2011, Topps announced it was issuing a glossy factory set of Allen & Ginter cards.  There were 999 sets produced.  There were 10 bonus cards (also glossy) issued that were an extra for purchasing the factory set.  The cards contain 8 promising rookies from the 2011 season in the same design as the 2011 Ginter set, a card of the newly married Prince William and Duchess Kate, and a card honoring the Navy Seals who were about to have the 50th anniversary of their creation.

Set composition:  10 cards, in glossy factory sets (2011 Allen & Ginter’s)

Hall of Famers:  None – the set is all current players

How I put the set together:

• 7 cards from COMC
• 2 cards from Beckett Marketplace
• 1 card from Sportlots

Card that completed my set:  #AGS5 – Anthony Rizzo

Rizzo in a Padres uniform just doesn’t look right.  I got this card from Sportlots last month.  It took forever to find for a reasonable price.

Thoughts on the set:   Issuing the glossy factory set felt like a money grab at the time, but it is an impressive checklist to add to the Ginter product.  Unfortunately, 2011 was one of my least favorite designs for Ginter.

Best card (my opinion):  #AGS1 – Eric Hosmer

I like the Hosmer card just a bit more than the Dee Gordon.

My Favorite Reds card:  There are none.

Here’s the scan of the full set:

Any other tidbits:  5 of the rookies (Moustakis, Gordon, Rizzo, Blackmon and Crawford) have made the All-Star game since their 2011 rookie season.  And that doesn’t include Hosmer who may be the best player of the group.

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• AGS1 – Eric Hosmer
• AGS2 – Dustin Ackley
• AGS3 – Mike Moustakis
• AGS4 – Dee Gordon
• AGS5 – Anthony Rizzo
• AGS6 – Charlie Blackmon
• AGS7 – Brandon Crawford
• AGS8 – Juan Nicasio
• AGS9 – The Duke & Duchess of Cambridge
• AGS10 – U.S. Navy Seals

Completed insert set – 2011 Allen & Ginter Minds that Made the Future

This is the 4th full-size insert I’ve completed from A&G.  Like most of those insert sets, it’s one that doesn’t have anything to do with sports.

Info about the set:

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Set description:  “Honoring the biggest brains in history!  Archimedes, Kepler, Mendel, Volta, Lavoisier, etc.”  The set has a gear as a frame containing a picture of the brilliant mind.  A picture of the individual’s invention is in a circular frame just below that.  The back has a write-up about the famous person’s influence on the world.

Set composition:  40 cards, 1:8 odds (2011 Allen & Ginter’s)

Hall of Famers:  None as it’s not a sports set.

How I put the set together:

• 6 cards from 2 hobby boxes
• 8 cards from trades
• 18 cards from Sportlots
• 5 cards from COMC
• 3 cards from Beckett Marketplace

Card that completed my set:  MMF24 – Nikola Tesla.

I got this card from Sportlots last month after buying a bunch of cards when COMC had its Black Friday sale.  Tesla is one of my favorite cards of the set.  Tesla was a significant contributor to the science surrounding electricity and magnetism.  Plus, he’s the naming inspiration for an American automobile company, and an 80’s heavy metal band (who I saw live a few years ago).

Thoughts on the set:  It’s an interesting set, and I liked reading through the write-ups of so many brilliant minds.  There’s so many cards that it was really hard to put together.  I always like to learn something from these Ginter sets, and having 40 cards does make it so you get to read quite a lot!  But 40 is a lot to put together – which is why it took me over 3 years!

I would have also added a few more recent people.  Albert Einstein, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Tim Berners-Lee, John Nash and Ralph Baer are just a few that seem to be missing.

Best card (my opinion):  #MMF40 – Ben Franklin

Tough to top the most famous inventor in American history!  He has the final card in the set.

Any other tidbits:  This set is all about history, like so many Ginter sets.  There was another 2011 set – from Goodwin Champions – called “Citizens”.  I thought there would be a few guys in both sets, but Louis Pasteur is the only guy in both sets.  Alfred Nobel is in that set, but surprisingly is not in this Allen & Ginter insert set.

I also think Plato and Socrates could have been included.

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• MMF1 – Leonardo Da Vinci
• MMF2 – Alexander Graham Bell
• MMF3 – Eli Whitney
• MMF4 – Nicolaus Copernicus
• MMF5 – Johannes Gutenberg
• MMF6 – George Washington Carver
• MMF7 – Samuel Morse
• MMF8 – Granville Woods
• MMF9 – Elisha Otis
• MMF10 – Alessandro Volta
• MMF11 – Tycho Brahe
• MMF12 – Gregor Mendel
• MMF13 – Carl Linnaeus
• MMF14 – Johannes Kepler
• MMF15 – Isaac Newton
• MMF16 – Marie Curie
• MMF17 – Carl Friedrich Gauss
• MMF18 – Sigmund Freud
• MMF19 – Bernhard Riemann
• MMF20 – Leonhard Euler
• MMF21 – Robert Fulton
• MMF22 – Ada Lovelace
• MMF23 – Florence Nightingale
• MMF24 – Nikola Tesla
• MMF25 – Galileo Galilei
• MMF26 – Charles Darwin
• MMF27 – Louis Pasteur
• MMF28 – Guglielmo Marconi
• MMF29 – Antoine Lavoisier
• MMF30 – Michael Faraday
• MMF31 – Dmitri Mendeleev
• MMF32 – Robert Koch
• MMF33 – Euclid
• MMF34 – Archimedes
• MMF35 – Jagadish Chandra Bose
• MMF36 – Aristotle
• MMF37 – John Deere
• MMF38 – George Eastman
• MMF39 – Samuel Colt
• MMF40 – Benjamin Franklin

Completed insert set – 2012 Allen & Ginter mini Culinary Curiosities

This is actually the first mini insert set I’ve completed from 2012 Allen & Ginter.  I was pretty surprised about that fact, but I only bought 1 box of Ginter and didn’t even get one of these in that box.  Still, I think this is my favorite mini insert set from 2012 Ginter.

Info about the set:

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Set description:  “10 cards highlighting some of the oddest dishes and most bizarre delicacies from around the world.”  The mini cards have a pretty standard A&G design.  The miniature cards are horizontally oriented with a white border and the set name in a nameplate at the top.  The picture of the delicacy shown on top of a red and white checkered table mat.  The back has a writeup describing the dish.

Set composition:  10 cards, ~1:30 odds (2012 Allen & Ginter’s)

I’m projecting with the odds.  Insert minis combine for 1:5 odds, and there are 6 mini insert sets.

Hall of Famers: Not a sports set.

How I put the set together:

• 1 card from a case break
• 4 cards from Beckett Marketplace
• 3 cards from COMC
• 2 cards from Sportlots

Unfortunately I didn’t pull one of these in the hobby box I bought of 2012 Ginter.

Card that completed my set:  #CC1 – Nutria

This was one of 3 cards I got last May in an order from Check Out My Cards.  I think I had just gotten sick of not finishing this set off and figured 75 cents per card was worth it.  Nutria is a dish that’s also known as Coypu, is a type of river rat cooked to taste.  Chef Paul Prudhomme, who passed away in October last year, was best known for cooking this.  He used to serve it in his Cajun restaurant, K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen in New Orleans.  This was probably the least strange dish of the 10 cards, not that I’m in a hurry to try river rat!

Thoughts on the set:  This is a cool set.  I like when Ginter has unique subject for these minis.  It tends to make for a fun read.  This set was more fun than the average – I’d daresay it’s my favorite mini of the 2012 product.  Also, I kind of like the checkered place mat background.  It’s kind of like the place mats you’d find at an old school pizza parlor, which is a nice touch.

Best card (my opinion): #CC7 – Fugu

The Fugu is a type of puffer fish that’s been cooked as a delicacy in Japan.  The fish itself is poisonous and is lethal unless cooked in a very specific manner.  Certification to cook and serve it takes 2-3 years in Japan.  I had read about this before, and would have guessed this fish would be included in a set like this.  There’s a fascinating back story about the history of this fish – it’s been illegal to serve at various times throughout Japan’s history, and the Emperor of the country is not allowed to eat this for safety reasons.

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Any other tidbits:  2 of these dishes are poisonous if not prepared correctly, 2 of them require eaten something that is still alive, another requires cooking an egg while a fetus is still alive, and one dish involves collecting beans that have passed through the digestive system of a tropical animal.

• CC1 – Nutria (South America)
  • River Rat cooked in a variety of fashions.
• CC2 – Haggis (United Kingdom)
  • A recipe of sheep heart, lungs and liver hashed with oatmeal, onion, spices and liquid stock.
• CC3 – Kopi Luwak (Indonesia)
  • Coffee beans obtained in an … unusual … fashion.  Coffee berries are fed to the asian palm civit.  Once the civit digests the pulp, the defecated beans are harvested.
• CC4 – Casu Marzu (Italy)
  • A Sardinian cheese made from cheese milk that goes past typical fermentation into a state of decomposition.  It contains live “insect larvae” (i.e. – maggots) at the time of consumption.
• CC5 – Rocky Mountain Oysters (Western U.S.)
  • Deep-fried bull testicles.  These are served in Coors Field, which makes this dish somewhat more relevant to a baseball product than the others!
• CC6 – Hakarl (Iceland)
  • A national dish made from the Greenland shark, whose skin is poisonous unless processed.  To do this, the shark is buried for 6-12 weeks, exhumed, cut into strips, and hung to dry for 3-4 months.  When ready, the dish is known for an incredibly strong smell of ammonia. This dish was featured on the TV show that I watch, Elementary – Watson is grossed out when she comes home and smells the dish that Holmes is eating.
• CC7 – Fugu (Japan)
  • Puffer fish that’s poisonous unless served in a specific fashion.
• CC8 – Sannakji (Korea)
  • Raw baby octopus cut into pieces while they are still alive and served immediately thereafter.  The pieces are still squirming at the time of consumption.  The suction cups on the arm pieces can present a choking hazard.
• CC9 – Balut (Philippines)
  • Duck egg matured 17-21 days to the point that the fetus is live.  The egg is boiled then spiced to taste.
• CC10 – Muktuk (Alaska)
  • Whale skin and blubber served raw, pickled, or fried.

I haven’t eaten anything on this list, though I imagine at some point I’ll try haggis, rocky mountain oysters and (maybe) Muktuk.