Zenith 5x7 Inserts

I mentioned before that I have a lot of weird shapes and sizes coming in lately.  I am in fill-in mode.  There is very little still out there that is easy to acquire.  The stuff that is out there is mostly larger cards or odd-shaped cards or non-cards.

One of my most recent packages is of the large card variety:

These two Zenith cards each measure 5x7 inches.  They also each contained a normal-sized card.  Unfortunately the previous owner (or someone else) already saw fit to slice the back open to pull the card.  So there go my hopes of randomly finding the Z-Gold parallel.  I do have one of these cards of Nomar Garciaparra, which was not pre-opened.  As I recall the inside card was just a base card of Fred McGriff.  Hardly worth cutting it open.

RESOLUTION TRACKER:
1.  4/5 previously acquired.

2.  2 cards brings me to 983.  17 to go.  I did decide to count these as cards despite the large size.

3.  Previously achieved.

4.  No progress.

Card #243: 2002 Topps Chrome Traded Refractor #T68

YEAR: 2002
BRAND: Topps
SET: Chrome Traded
NUMBER: T68
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: Refractor
TEAM: Colorado Rockies

Currently, this is my favorite card of Alomar with the Rockies.  Due to the fact that he only spent a couple of months with the team in the second half of the 2002 season, he appears on a precious few cards wearing a Rockies uniform.  Most 2003 sets simply included him later in the year or not at all.  So there is really not much to choose from.  Unfortunately.

Card #242: 1998 Bowman Chrome Reprint #15

YEAR: 1998
BRAND: Bowman
SET: Chrome
NUMBER: 15
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: Reprint
TEAM: San Diego Padres

I just covered the refractor version of this card a few days ago, so I don't have much to add to this one.  Alomar does not really have too many rookie reprint-type cards, not that that is really much of a subcategory of its own.  It is simply that there were not a lot of Padres cards of Alomar in the years since his trade to the Indians.

Card #241: 2001 Ultra Gold Medallion #24

YEAR: 2001
BRAND: Fleer
SET: Ultra
NUMBER: 24
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: Gold Medallion
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

By 2001, Ultra had lost most of its luster.  It was now one of the earliest sets released each year, so it did not have players updated with their new teams, as seen here where Alomar is still with the Indians instead of with the White Sox.  The premium stock and glossy finish were no longer a big draw since so many sets provided that.  Even the Gold Medallion parallels seemed phoned in.  One year they had new photographs, not the case by 2001.  It did still have some great photography though, as can be seen here with the terrific aftermath of a play at the plate.

Top 15 Most Wanted?

Yep, my Top 10 has been expanded.  Ultimately I decided to do this because there were just too many cards I really wanted that I wanted to keep track of.  I am in kind of a difficult position right now.  I have most of the cards that are easy to find, with just a few random oddballs still out there that I have not yet added.  So I have to wait for rare cards to pop up on Ebay and other sites.  There just are not enough places to find stuff because I certainly do not have much in the way of card shops or shows around here.  I think about going to a national show or even to Cleveland at times to see if the rarer cards are more plentiful there.  That is not likely to happen with my current homelife.  You would think with the internet being so huge and all-encompassing that some cards would not be so difficult to find.  But they are.  

So here it is, the new list:

1.  Remaining 1998 Tek cards.  There are just 18 cards that I still need from this set.  But most of the cards have seemingly dried up.  It has been quite a while since I have added any cards from this set.  There is an ongoing thread on one of the forums I go to that is dedicated to helping collectors find their missing Tek cards, unfortunately I have not had any luck with it lately.

2.  1997 Flair Showcase Masterpiece.  This is one of those cards I am not sure I will be able to find.  1997 Flair was the first set with 1/1s which is why I wanted this one.  Any of the three 1/1s actually.  I suspect it will cost a pretty penny too.

3.  1997 Topps Stars All Stars.  These were apparently quite rare, falling just one per box.  I have never even seen a scan of this card.  Any card involving Alomar's 1997 All Star game is noteworthy as it was a major career highlight for him.

4.  1997 Pacific Baerga Softball.  This card commemorates the celebrity charity softball game that Alomar played in for former teammate Carlos Baerga in Puerto Rico.  The cards were released at the game so they are exceptionally hard to find.

5.  2002 Topps Chrome Traded Black Refractor.  This is the last card of Alomar with the Colorado Rockies that I need.  I have yet to actually see a scan of this card too.  This is one of several teams that Alomar played just a very short period of time with.  Couple with the fact that he was a backup catcher for his entire tenure with every team but the Indians and a couple of seasons with the White Sox means that he has very few cards with most of the teams he played for.

6.  2005 Topps Rookie Cup Blue.  I really like the Rookie Cup set and I have most of the more common colors.  The gold and silver will be very difficult to find.  But the blue is numbered out of 50.  It should be out there somewhere.

7.  2005 Topps Total Printing Plate.  I don't care if it is the front plate or the back plate.  I don't care which color it is.  This is pretty much it for cards of Alomar with the Rangers other than a team issue card that will be difficult to find.

8.  2003 Donruss Rookies Recollection Autograph 1989 Rookies.  There is not much in the way of Padres stuff still out there for me either.  This is one of two remaining autograph cards with the Padres at this point.  There are just two copies of this card ut there so it is another one that will be very hard to find.

9.  2006 Upper Deck Special FX Purple.  I only need the red and purple Special FX cards.  Night Owl has this card.  It is numbered to 150 so it should not be that hard to find.  Yet here we are.

10.  2003 Topps Chrome Silver Refractor.  For reasons I can only begin to guess, the silver refractors were only available via redemption.  I have a Kevin Millar in my Red Sox collection but that is the only one I have ever seen.

11.  2004 Upper Deck Going Deep Bat.  This card used to be on my Top 10 but when I picked up the gold version I dropped it off.  I always felt a little bad about dropping a card I did not actually receive.  Because I am weird. 

12.  1998 Leaf Rookies & Stars Longevity.  I hate losing out on cards.  I lost out on this one a couple of weeks ago and I still get mad about it.  This is a parallel numbered to 50.  It should not be that hard to find either.  But I have seen only one.  And I missed it.

13.  Any of the Recollection Autographs for the 1991 Diamond King.  I have an irrational love for the Diamond Kings from Donruss.  So getting a buyback autograph of the Diamond King card is a major goal.  There are three variations of this card.  I just want one of them.

14.  1998 Fleer Tradition Vintage '63 Classic.  I saw this card on Sportlots once.  I was pretty sure it would be just the Vintage, the non-foil, non-serial number version.  But I took the chance that it was the serial-numbered card numbered to 63.  It wasn't.  I was not expecting it to be, even though it was listed as such, but it would have been nice if it was.

15.  2004 Donruss Timelines Recollection Autograph ROY Card.  There are two variations of this one.  I got this idea when reading a thread on a forum talking about how happy the writer was that he got the 1987 Topps buyback autograph of Jose Canseco because the 1987 Topps card was his first Canseco.  Well, the 1991 Donruss ROY card was my first Alomar.  I would love to get the buyback autograph of it.  Someone had it on another forum and showed it off, but he was not willing to move it.

So that is the Top 15.  For now.  Hopefully some day I can add these to my collection.

Card #240: 2001 Topps Traded Gold #T1

YEAR: 2001
BRAND: Topps
SET: Traded
NUMBER: T1
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: Gold
TEAM: Chicago White Sox

I think the 2001 gold parallels are my favorite.  The foil was textured and just looked so striking when compared with the base set's green borders.  Alomar appeared in the Traded set snce he jumped ship to the Indians rivals in the South Side of Chicago.  Seeing Alomar in a White Sox uniform took some getting used to.

Oddball Fever

Today is the first in what will likely be a number of days receiving random, strange-sized and shaped oddballs.  I have a few more of these coming in the next few days, but here is today's haul:

The first card is the Stadium Club Master Photo from the 1993 Murphy set.  It is just a photo on a frame background.  I don't really know the purpose of it, nor do I really care.  It is an interesting item, but it is pretty big.  The disc-shaped card which is cut off in the scan is a Windwalker disc.  This was supposed to be part of a mobile type item and features Dave Parker of the Brewers on the back.  Finally, there is a normal sized and shaped card, the 2001 MLB Showdown 1st Edition.  Some kind of interesting items here.

RESOLUTION TRACKER
1.  4/5 previously achieved.

2.  3 cards, 19 to go to 1,000.

3.  Previously achieved.

4.  No progress.

Card #239: 1997 Pinnacle Totally Certified Platinum Red #12

YEAR: 1997
BRAND: Pinnacle
SET: Totally Certified
NUMBER: 12
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: Platinum Red
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

Apparently Totally Certifed was a parallel brand to the Pinnacle Certified brand similar to the Topps Chrome sets.  The design is basically the same except that the cards are printed on etched foil and the photos are different.  There is no base version of these cards.  This is the most common version, the Platinum Red.  This card is serial-numbered out of 3,999. 

Card #238: 1998 Bowman Chrome Reprint Refractors #15

YEAR: 1998
BRAND: Bowman
SET: Chrome
NUMBER: 15
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: Reprint Refractors
TEAM: San Diego Padres

I really like this card.  It is a reprint of Alomar's 1989 Bowman rookie card, although it is the standard size instead of the taller size that the 1989 set was known for.  In addition, this is a refractor card of the insert set.  It is just a nice-looking card. 

Card #237: 2001 SP Game Bat Edition Piece of the Game #SA

YEAR: 2001
BRAND: Upper Deck
SET: SP Game Bat Edition
NUMBER: SA
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: Piece of the Game
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

This was my very first relic card of Sandy Alomar Jr.  I have mentioned a few times in other posts that Alomar does not really have a lot of relic cards out there, certainly not compared to his brother.  I am a little surprised that Alomar is shown with the Indians on this card.  Particularly since he has a triple relic card with the White Sox from the same set. 

Another Recollection

One of my favorite sets I am working on in my Sandy Alomar Jr. collection (outside of 1998 Topps Tek) is the 2004 Donruss Timelines Recollection Autographs.  These are buybacks of original Donruss cards from a variety of years that are autographed and serial-numbered.  I have a number of these already, including his 1989 rookie card.  Today I added my seventh:

This is the 1993 card, serial-numbered to 14.  There is a blue ink version as well.  This is the most action-packed photo from Donruss sets.  Nice play at the plate, with the Red Sox' Luis Rivera sliding into home, safely I have determined. 

RESOLUTION TRACKER:
1.  4/5 previously achieved.

2.  Up to 978.  22 to go.

3.  Previously achieved.

4.  No progress.

Card #236: 1989 Star Nova Glossy #54

YEAR: 1989
BRAND: Star
SET: Nova
NUMBER: 54
SUBSET: Glossy
INSERT: NA
TEAM: San Diego Padres

The final card from the Star Nova set just features the San Diego Padres logo on the back.  This picture is used frequently in Star cards.  The border fits well with the brown of the Padres uniforms.  And that completes the first Star set.

The Last SLU I Needed

I recently received the 1999 Starting Lineup Freeze Frame figure, which was the last of the Starting Lineup figures I needed.  I have one of these with my other Red Sox figures featuring Nomar Garciaparra turning a double play while leaping over a sliding Jim Edmonds.  This one features Sandy Alomar Jr. in full catchers' gear waiting to tag out some other random player that no one cares about.  It is a nice-looking figure and includes a removable mask for Alomar. 

Here is a look:

This is definitely the most action-packed SLU in my Alomar collection.  I am a little surprised at the price it went for even though no one cares about that other guy there.

Here is a closer look at the card:

I could have done without the tongue there.

RESOLUTION TRACKER:
1.  4 of 5 previously achieved.

2.  Up to 977.  23 to go.

3.  Previously achieved.

4.  No progress.

Card #235: 1989 Star Nova Glossy #53

YEAR: 1989
BRAND: Star
SET: Nova
NUMBER: 53
SUBSET: Glossy
INSERT: NA
TEAM: San Diego Padres

The eighth card of the Star Nova set shows Alomar doing some warmups in Spring Training wearing his mask, but no other padding.  This card discusses the outlook for Alomar's Major League breakthrough.  Obviously Benito Santiago was in the way in San Diego so the card predicts a trade to another team, but the team mentioned was the New York Mets, for whom Alomar would eventually play, nearly 20 years later.

Card #234: 1989 Star Nova Glossy #52

YEAR: 1989
BRAND: Star
SET: Nova
NUMBER: 52
SUBSET: Glossy
INSERT: NA
TEAM: San Diego Padres

This is the seventh card from the Star Nova set.  This card is the earliest example of the uncomfortable closeup shot that appears frequently in Alomar's card catalog.  This time though, Alomar is not wearing a catchers' mask.

Card #233: 1989 Star Nova Glossy #51

YEAR: 1989
BRAND: Star
SET: Nova
NUMBER: 51
SUBSET: Glossy
INSERT: NA
TEAM: San Diego Padres

I'm not entirely sure what is going on in this photo.  I'm assuming it is just some long toss or something during Spring Training but it does appear that Alomar is playing the outfield.  In his entire Major League career, Alomar only appeared at one other fielding position than catcher, and that was first base.  He did appear as a designated hitter on occasion, but other than that he was exclusively a catcher.  So this is kind of an interesting card.

Card #232: 1989 Star Nova Glossy #50

YEAR: 1989
BRAND: Star
SET: Nova
NUMBER: 50
SUBSET: Glossy
INSERT: NA
TEAM: San Diego Padres

This is the sixth card from my first Star set.  This one details some more highlights from 1988, including his Major League debut.  1988 was his most successful professional season to that point in his career.  The photo is also nice due to the catching stance and mask.

Card #231: 1989 Star Nova Glossy #49

YEAR: 1989
BRAND: Star
SET: Nova
NUMBER: 49
SUBSET: Glossy
INSERT: NA
TEAM: San Diego Padres

This is the fourth card from my first Star set.  This card details Alomar's ascension into super prospect status which was completed in 1988 with the Las Vegas Stars. 

Silver Mailday

Here it is, the last of the Gallery of Champions cards, the sterling silver. 

This gives me all three of the Gallery of Champions mini metal cards.  This one is not as heavy as the bronze version, but much heavier than the aluminum.  These are really neat oddball items and look terrific together.

Card #230: 1989 Star Nova Glossy #48

 

YEAR: 1989
BRAND: Star
SET: Nova
NUMBER: 48
SUBSET: Glossy
INSERT: NA
TEAM: San Diego Padres

This is the third card from the Star set.  It is also my favorite due to the in-action shot of Alomar behind the plate.  Sure it is during Spring Training, but there are very few nice action shots of Alomar with the Padres.

Disappointment

I lost out on a card last night that I wanted.  It was a 1998 Leaf Rookies and Stars Longevity parallel numbered to 50.  It does not seem like the kind of card to be too hard to find.  But this was the first one I had seen, at least since focusing on my Alomar collection.  I don't recall having this much trouble finding this parallel for my Jason Varitek collection.  And as I recall, I did not spend much on it when I got the Varitek.  I should have done my homework.  I should have checked to find out that for some reason these parallels are going for quite a bit of money.  I have no idea why.  So I set a snipe, but my snipe was not enough to win.  And I missed out on a nice card.  It's very disappointing.  Hopefully another one will show up soon.  If anyone out there has this card or knows someone who has it, please contact me.  I would love to work something out for one.  Also, if anyone has any of the cards in my Needs List, please let me know. 

Stadium Club 1st Day

This is the last of the Stadium Club parallels from 1994.  This is probably one of my favorite photos of Alomar.  Stadium Club has terrific photography anyway, but this one is terrific.

This is the 1st Day Issue parallel of Alomar with a Robin Ventura cameo.

RESOLUTION TRACKER:
1.  4/5 previously achieved.

2.  One card brings me to 975.  25 to go.

3.  Previously achieved.

4.  No progress.

Card #229: 1989 Star Nova Glossy #47

YEAR: 1989
BRAND: Star
SET: Nova
NUMBER: 47
SUBSET: Glossy
INSERT: NA
TEAM: San Diego Padres

This is the second card in my first Star set of Sandy Alomar Jr.  Alomar is really thin in this shot.  He is very young at this point.  This card details some of Alomar's career highlights from 1984 through 1986.  Admittedly there were not very many.  Alomar did not hit much in those years and was a much more defensive-oriented catcher at that time.

COMC Holes

I made an absolutely huge order on COMC recently.  It was mainly to pick up a bunch of stuff for my Red Sox collection, but I figured that while I was at it, I might as well pick up as many of the remaining Alomar cards that I needed as I could.  This meant a ton of parallels of course. 

1.  1989 Bowman Tiffany.  This is the last remaining major rookie card that I needed.  Alomar looks so young in this pic.

2.  1999 Pacific Platinum Blue.  Yet another of those pesky Pacific parallels.

3.  1996 Stadium Club Extreme Players Silver.  I had the bronze and gold already but the silver had eluded me until now.

4.  1995 Pinnacle Artist's Proof.  The scan does not do this card justice.  The foil is kind of a greenish silver.  It is really kind of cool.  I like this card a lot more than I thought I would.  The lack of dufex bothered me.

5.  1997 Donruss Team Set.  Donruss released team-specific boxes in 1997.  That meant I had to track down the Alomar.  I bought a box of the Red Sox stuff though.

6.  1998 Donruss Collections Prized Collections Leaf.  Getting this leaves the Preferred version numbered to 55 to have all four of the Prized Collections cards.

7.  1994 Stadium Club Members Only.  This is one of three Stadium Club parallels from 1994.

So, that plugged a few holes in the Alomar collection.

RESOLUTION TRACKER:
1.  4/5 previously achieved.

2.  7 cards brings me up to 974.  26 to go.

3.  Previously achieved.

4.  No progress.

Card #228: 1989 Star Nova Glossy #46

YEAR: 1989
BRAND: Star
SET: Nova
NUMBER: 46
SUBSET: Glossy
INSERT: NA
TEAM: San Diego Padres

This is the first card from my first Star set.  Star cards often came in a small set of several cards all of one player.  I have a number of these cards in my Sandy Alomar Jr. collection.  This one features Alomar's career statistics in the minors through 1988, including his cup of coffee in San Diego that year.

More Star Stuff

This pretty much locks up the rest of the Star stuff that I am aware of.  Apparently some, but not all, of the cards came in glossy and matte versions.  It pretty much just covered one set and one promo, as far as I am aware.  So with the help of Matt to identify the differences, I tracked down the remaining cards I needed:

This was the set, from 1989.  This is the matte version, I apparently already had the glossy version.  This was the first Star set I picked up.  Some nice photography here, although it is clear that they all came from Spring Training.

And this is the Promo.  This is the glossy promo.  I had the matte version.  Both of these items came from the same seller and I think that I have all of the Star stuff now.  Which is great.  Unfortunately that means a lot fewer Padres cards still remain out there.  I did break the century mark on Padres cards though, so that is a milestone of sorts.

RESOLUTION TRACKER:
1.  4/5 previously achieved.

2.  10 cards brings me to 967.  33 to go.

3.  Previously achieved.

4.  No progress.

Card #227: 2002 Topps Chrome Traded #T68

YEAR: 2002
BRAND: Topps
SET: Chrome Traded
NUMBER: T68
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: NA
TEAM: Colorado Rockies

This is my first Rockies card of Sandy Alomar Jr.  He does not have very many.  Pretty much just variations of this card, a Danbury Mint, and a 2003 Topps Heritage SP.  Alomar was traded to the Rockies by the White Sox the day before the trading deadline.  He returned to the White Sox the next year so there was really not much time to get a lot of cards.  Besides that, he was mostly a backup at this time in his career.  This was the last Major League team I needed, besides the Mets, for whom he has no cards.

Studio Gold

Sportlots is occasionally pretty good for finding rare cards.  This one is the gold Studio Proof from 1998:

This card is numbered out of 300 and came at a decent price.  I have not seen one of these on Ebay over the last year at all.  Those late 90's parallels can be very difficult to track down at times.  It is great to be able to pick one off.

RESOLUTION TRACKER:
1.  4/5 previously achieved.

2.  Up to 957.  43 to go.

3.  Previously achieved.

4.  No progress.

Card #226: 1998 Pinnacle Inside Stand-Up Guys #23CD

YEAR: 1998
BRAND: Pinnacle
SET: Inside
NUMBER: 23CD
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: Stand-Up Guys
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

Luckily I picked up both of the Stand-Up Guys inserts at the same time from one person on the trading forums.  That meant I did not have to wait to see the full image of Alomar.  Kind of an interesting idea for cards.  I don't know of anything else like them off the top of my head.

Star Ad Card

I am trying to track down all of the Star items, well I am trying to track down everything, but this has been a little bit of a focus.  The problem is that most of the stuff is not listed on Beckett, so I don't have a really good idea of what is out there. 

This Ad Card came in a lot of 20 other identical cards.  Again, I have no idea what all is out there, but I know this one was and now I have it.  Hopefully there is not a ton left.

RESOLUTION TRACKER:
1. Four out of five previously achieved.

2.  Up to 956.  44 to go.

3.  Previously achieved.

4.  No progress.

Card #225: 1998 Pinnacle Inside Stand-Up Guys #23AB

YEAR: 1998
BRAND: Pinnacle
SET: Inside
NUMBER: 23AB
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: Stand-Up Guys
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

The Stand-Up Guys insert was kind of a novel idea by Pinnacle.  They were comprised of two interlocking cards with half images of four players usually with a common theme.  Of course in this case the theme was Indians players.  Manny Ramirez, Jim Thome, and David Justice also appeared on this card.  The downside is that to see the full image, you had to get the other card.  Then they could stand up as well.

Talking Baseball

In 1988, Parker Brothers released some kind of board game based on the Starting Lineup figures.  They released cards to go along with it, and that is about where my knowledge of the whole thing ends.  Oddly, even though this was a 1988 set, Sandy Alomar Jr. appeared in it.  Behold:

This is a smaller card and is square.  And of course there is no MLB license, so team information does not appear on the cards.  In order to get this oddball card, I had to buy six total Padres cards.  The other players were Rich Gossage, Carmelo Martinez, Garry Templeton, Mark Davis, and John Kruk.  Otherwise I would have to wait and see if it pops up again.  So if anyone out there wants any of the other five Padres and has some Alomars I need from my Need List on the right or some Red Sox to trade, let me know.

RESOLUTION TRACKER:
1.  Four out of five previously achieved.

2.  One card brings me to 955.  45 to go.

3.  Previously achieved.

4.  No progress.

Card #224: 2001 Upper Deck #357

YEAR: 2001
BRAND: Upper Deck
SET: Upper Deck
NUMBER: 357
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: NA
TEAM: Chicago White Sox

This was probably one of the first cards of Alomar showing him wearing a White Sox uniform.  It definitely seems to portray him as a leader type.  He looks almost like a manager observing his team.  Hopefully some day he will be a full-time manager.  But it does not look likely to happen in Cleveland with Francona locked up for a few more years.

Bronze Champions

The scan did not turn out very well here, but this is the bronze Gallery of Champions card from 1991:

The color in person is a more typical bronze color, I have no idea why it scanned like this.  I previously had the aluminum version.  The sterling silver version is still out there.  These cards are about one-quarter the size of a regular card and made of metal.  They were released as a group and include the major award winners and other notable highlights.  Nice little oddball item.

RESOLUTION TRACKER:
1.  4 out of 5 previously achieved.

2.  One more down, 46 to go to 1,000.

3.  Previously achieved.

4.  No progress.

Card #223: 1993 Panini Sticker #47

YEAR: 1993
BRAND: Panini
SET: Stickers
NUMBER: 47
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: NA
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

Yet another Panini sticker.  Panini did a pretty decent job of catching Alomar in his catchers' gear.  Panini has been back in action for the last couple of years but they have yet to get Alomar back into any sets.  Hopefully that will change some time soon. 

Yet Another Pacific Parallel

Here is yet another of those random Pacific parallels where the only difference is a stamp and a serial number here.  This one is apparently quite rare though:

This is the Premiere Date parallel numbered out of just 36.  How they came up with 36 for the total number, I have no idea.  Oh well.  Just another parallel.  Nothing to see here.

RESOLUTION TRACKER:
1.  Four of five previously achieved.

2.  One more brings me to 953.  47 to go.

3.  Previously achieved.

4.  No progress.

Card #222: 1994 Panini Sticker #53

YEAR: 1994
BRAND: Panini
SET: Stickers
NUMBER: 53
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: NA
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

I don't think I ever had any baseball sticker books growing up.  I think I had a couple of dinosaur books, but I did not get into baseball until I was about 10.  By that point, I had grown out of stickers.  So adding these Panini stickers like this one was really more about getting new cards than stickers.

Another Black Label

This is yet another one-card package that I have received recently.  This is the 1999 Topps Gold Label Black Label card of the Class 2 version.  Some may recall that acquiring the Class 1 Black Label caused me a little bit of consternation earlier this year.  Luckily the Class 2 was not nearly as dramatic.  It was a smooth transaction.  I now have all of the Black Label cards from 1999, but none of the Red Labels and I am missing the Class 3 base for some odd reason.

RESOLUTION TRACKER:
1.  Four of five previously achieved.

2.  One more brings me to 952.  48 to go.

3.  Previously achieved.

4.  No progress.

Card #221: 1998 Pinnacle Inside Behind the Numbers #20

YEAR: 1998
BRAND: Pinnacle
SET: Inside
NUMBER: 20
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: Behind the Numbers
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

Pinnacle Inside was an interesting set that was released in collectible cans.  I actually managed to get the base card in one of the two cans that I purchased.  This is a nice-looking insert set discussing the stories behind the numbers some players wore.  Alomar apparently wore #15 because Yankee catcher Thurman Munson was his favorite player growing up.  I suppose I can look past that because his dad did play with Munson with the Yankees.  This was my first die-cut card of Alomar.  I managed to get it in a trade last year.

Southpaw Order

Southpaw Cards is one of my frequently-visited online stores because of their large number of oddball items.  Since I have been splurging a bit lately, I decided to go back and see if they had any cards I needed.  They are a bit pricier than some other places, but they often have stuff I can't find anywhere else.  That was the case here again:

The 2001 Topps card is from an Employee box set.  You can see the stamping if you look hard enough at the scan.  The Circa is the Rave version numbered to 150.  The Upper Deck is the Exclusives Level 1, numbered to 100.  The Stadium Club is a special National Convention card.  There were only 200 of those issued.  The Leaf is the Silver Press Proof, giving me all four versions of this card.  Finally, the three 1991 Donruss cards are the factory set variations with different borders than the pack-released cards.  Most of these cards are a little hard to come by.  And they definitely help fill in some holes.

RESOLUTION TRACKER
1.  Four of five previously achieved.

2.  Up to 951.  49 to go.

3.  Previously achieved.

4.  No progress.

Card #220: 1994 Fleer Extra Bases #55

YEAR: 1994
BRAND: Fleer
SET: Extra Bases
NUMBER: 55
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: NA
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

I never was that interested in this set.  Until I picked up this card, I did not own any of them.  That is because they are about an inch taller than regular cards, meaning they don't fit well into binders because they cover up part of the card above them.  I never picked up any of the Red Sox cards.  That may change now, since I actually kind of like this card.  Even though it is so tall, it is actually kind of a nice card.

Another Pacific Parallel

I am slowly working my way through the litany of Pacific parallels.  This package added one more to the list:

This is the Platinum Blue version.  I also have silver, gold, copper, and red, and there is apparently a holographic silver version that I have not seen.  Still a ways to go on the Pacific parallels.

RESOLUTION TRACKER
1.  Four of five previously achieved.

2.  Up to 943.  57 to go.

3.  Previously achieved.

4.  No progress.

Card #219: 1997 Flair Showcase Row 0 #115

YEAR: 1997
BRAND: Fleer
SET: Flair Showcase
NUMBER: 115
SUBSET: Row 0
INSERT: NA
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

I have no idea why there was a Row 0 out of Flair Showcase in 1997.  Seems rather odd.  The Row 0 cards had quite a bit of a different design from the other two Rows, particularly in the background.  Since it is so different, the Row 0 is probably my favorite of the three Alomar base cards.  The card is almost a piece of art.

Parallel Madness and Some Oddballs from Burbank

I splurged over at Burbank Sportscards.  I have been thinking about it a lot.  There were a bunch of rarer parallels of Alomar over there that I needed.  I decided to go a little crazy.

So there we have a refractor and five low-numbered parallels.  The Finest Refractor is a nice card, one of the nicer normal parallels I have seen in some time.  The Paramount cards are the Opening Day parallel numbered to 74 completely randomly and the Holo-Silver numbered to 99.  There are two Flair Showcase Legacy parallels and the Thunder Rave parallel.  With the Legacy parallels, I need just one more to have all six.  The one I need is the Row 0 from 1997. 

Beyond the rarer parallels, I also picked up a couple of very strange oddballs:

The card on the left is a bookmark.  The card on the right is a Strat-O-Matic card.  Most of these do not have player pictures on them, but this one did, making it far more interesting.  This is from a game.  I never played the game, but I know of a lot of people who did.  I don't know if I will add any more of these or not.

RESOLUTION TRACKER
1.  Four of five previously achieved.

2.  Up to 942.  58 to go.  I counted the bookmark as a card because it is the same size as the Fleer Extra Bases cards and sort of fits in my binder.  The Strat-O-Matic does not count though.

3.  Previously achieved.

4.  No progress.

Card #218: 1999 Fleer Tradition Millenium #318

YEAR: 1999
BRAND: Fleer
SET: Tradition
NUMBER: 318
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: Millenium
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

This is another closeup shot of Alomar in his catchers' mask.  The Millenium set was a special factory set parallel of the base set.  There were 5,000 sets issued.  Other than the stamp at the bottom right-hand corner of the card, there is no real difference from the base set.

More Tek Progress: Diffractor Time!

I have not been making as much progress on my Tek goal lately.  It has been awhile since I got the last pattern and I still have 18 patterns to go to get all of them.  But I did recently buy these cards:

Yes, those are Chuck Knoblauch Tek Diffractors.  So why did I buy those?  Well I know of a person willing to trade for Tek Diffractors of any player who happened to have these:

If I can't find them on my own, I am willing to pick up something that I can trade for cards I need.  The Knoblauchs were not terribly expensive, only slightly more than I paid for the one diffractor I had previously.  This gives me three Tek Diffractors of Alomar.  I am realistic.  I know of people who have been working on a Diffractor set of their player since they were originally released that don't have close to all of them.  There is a strong possibility that not every pattern has a Diffractor.  In particular pattern 49 does not seem to exist as a Diffractor.  So I am not likely to get all 90 Diffractors.  I am only at 3.  I have a long ways to go.

RESOLUTION TRACKER
1.  Four of five previously achieved.

2.  Up to 935.  65 to go.

3.  Previously achieved.

4.  No progress.

Card #217: 2006 Topps Update Gold #UH79

YEAR: 2006
BRAND: Topps
SET: Update
NUMBER: UH79
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: Gold
TEAM: Chicago White Sox

I had the base card shown earlier.  This is the gold version of Alomar's last base card released during his playing career.  Alomar had been traded from the Dodgers back to the White Sox at about midseason in 2006.  It was his third stint with the Chicago White Sox.  Alomar was relegated to wearing uniform number 26 at this time.

Strange Oddball Time: High 5 Decal

When I was in junior high, a friend of mine gave me five decal cards of the Red Sox.  I found out later that they were High 5 decals and I had Roger Clemens, Wade Boggs, Jeff Reardon, Phil Plantier, and Mo Vaughn.  I did not really think much of them for years until I found a listing for this card:

That is the High 5 decal of Sandy Alomar Jr.  There is not much to this.  It is most like a window decal that sticks to glass.  There is no real card stock to this, so it is difficult to get into my nine pocket binder pages.  With the Red Sox cards, I just stuck them to the page.  Not sure what I will do with this one.

RESOLUTION TRACKER
1.  Four of five previously achieved.

2.  Up to 933.  67 to go.

3.  Previously achieved.

4.  No progress.