Card #359: 1998 Pacific Crown Collection In the Cage #6

YEAR: 1998
BRAND: Pacific
SET: Crown Collection
NUMBER: 6
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: In the Cage
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

This is one of my favorite non-game-used insert cards in my Alomar collection.  I have always liked the Pacific inserts because of their innovativeness.  This is definitely a good example of that.  Not only is it die-cut at the top, but the netting of the cage is actually cut out as well.  I have one of these of Nomar Garciaparra from a different year in my Red Sox collection as well, and I really like that card as well.

Card #358: 1995 Score #519

YEAR: 1995
BRAND: Score
SET: Score
NUMBER: 519
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: NA
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

The Gold Rush version of this card appeared just a few posts ago.  This is the base version.  I like the photo here of Alomar congratulating Omar Vizquel, or the other way around, at the plate after someone scored.  Alomar towers over the diminutive Vizquel.

80 Down, 10 to Go

I was not expecting an envelope in the mail today.  Alomar cards have kind of dried up lately for some reason, at least as far as cards I need anyway.  Well I was surprised to say the least when I saw a PWE in my post office box.  Even more so when I saw that it was from a forum member that I have had frequent transactions with.  This guy is a big 1998 Topps Tek collector, so I knew when I saw his name on the return address that he had found one of my missing Tek patterns.  Sure enough, this is pattern 54 and leaves me with just 10 to go.

Card #357: 1997 Pacific Crown Collection #66

YEAR: 1997
BRAND: Pacific
SET: Crown Collection
NUMBER: 66
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: NA
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

This was the first Pacific set I really got into.  Most of the reasoning behind that is that the gas station a block away from my house had packs of it available.  I was able to drive by this time, but it was more convenient to just walk a block when I felt the urge to open some packs.  That being said, I did not get this card in a pack, I actually just got it when I re-started my Alomar collection in 2014.

Card #356: 1997 Donruss Silver Press Proof #314

YEAR: 1997
BRAND: Donruss
SET: Donruss
NUMBER: 314
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: Silver Press Proof
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

This is the more common parallel from the 1997 Donruss set.  I like these parallels a lot better than the Press Proof cards in the past because there is more to them than simply the words "Press Proof" on the front.  I also like this picture because of the hockey-style mask.

Card #355: 1997 Circa #257

YEAR: 1997
BRAND: Fleer
SET: Circa
NUMBER: 257
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: NA
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

I was in my mid-teens when this set came out and I really enjoyed it.  Sure, it is bright and garish, but the cards were eye-catching, the quotes were interesting, and the player selection was pretty good.  It included a card of Bill Haselman for the Red Sox, who got very few cards.  Of course that is irrelevant to this blog, but the Alomar card is pretty cool.  Alomar is talking about his 30 game hitting streak in his quote.

A Team Card Mailday

Well after getting the Mets team card a few weeks ago and starving for some new cards, since Alomar cards I need have not been popping up much lately, I decided to get a few team cards.  Here are the cards together:

This is the 2007 Topps Heritage team card of the White Sox, the 2006 Topps team card of the Rangers and the 2005 Topps Heritage team card of the White Sox.

Now for an up close look at each card, starting with the 2007 White Sox card:

I like the fact that this card names a bunch of players and their general positions.  I am not sure if each of the players named is on the front of this card, or if there is anyone present that is not named.  Alomar is on the card, third from the right in the back row though, wearing uniform number 26.

Here is a very blurry scan of him.

Now for the Rangers card:

And once again, Alomar is in the back row, this time fifth from the right.  Here is another blurry scan of him:

And last, but not least, the 2005 White Sox card:

This is my favorite team card because Topps goes out of their way to positively identify everybody on the front.  Alomar is clearly listed, and here we have yet another blurry picture:

So, there you have it.  A bunch of other team cards to add to my collection.

Card #354: 2001 Topps Heritage #142

YEAR: 2001
BRAND: Topps
SET: Heritage
NUMBER: 142
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: NA
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

2001 saw Topps try out the Heritage set for the first time, using the 1952 Topps design.  It was a hit idea and the short prints kept set collectors coming.  Heritage has been one of Topps's most successful sets since that time.  The Alomar card is nothing special.  It is not even short-printed and it did not come out late enough to reflect his change in team.

Card #353: 2001 Fleer Platinum #13

YEAR: 2001
BRAND: Fleer
SET: Platinum
NUMBER: 13
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: NA
TEAM: Chicago White Sox

2001 Fleer Platinum's design pays tribute to the 1981 Fleer base set.  Other than the Fleer logo and the 20th Anniversary at the top, it was exactly the same.  Alomar appears here in one of his first cards in a White Sox uniform.  I'm sure this was kind of a difficult thing for Indians fans to get used to, Alomar going to their division rivals.  Not being an Indians fan myself, I actually like seeing Alomar cards with other teams.

Card #352: 1992 Diet Pepsi Collector Series #10

YEAR: 1992
BRAND; Diet Pepsi
SET: Collector Series
NUMBER: 10
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: NA
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

You cannot even tell that this card does not have an MLB license.  That is the nice thing about catchers.  Plus, this is a pretty cool action shot.  Something that is not seen terribly often.  It appears that he is picking up a ball that was pitched into the dirt.  I actually really like this card.  It is an example of a card with no MLB license done right.

Card #351: 1998 Pacific Crown Collection Gold Crown Die Cuts #10

YEAR: 1998
BRAND: Pacific
SET: Crown Collection
NUMBER: 10
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: Gold Crown Die Cut
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

The scan does not do this card justice.  I cut off the top of the card in the scan.  One of the things that Pacific did very well in the 1990's was to make very interesting inserts.  Whether acetate or die-cuts, a lot of the cards were very cool.  The Gold Crown Die-Cuts were one of their most well-known inserts, and this is a very nice card.  It is not my favorite of my Alomar Pacific inserts though.  That one is coming up soon.

Card #350: 1995 Fleer #130

YEAR: 1995
BRAND: Fleer
SET: Fleer
NUMBER: 130
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: NA
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

This is from the atrociously garish 1995 Fleer set.  There is just way too much going on on the front of this card.  Fleer had different designs for the fronts of the cards depending on the division the player played in.  I never bought any packs of 1995 Fleer, just Red Sox singles when it came out and the AL East design was significantly more subdued than this, so I had no idea how ugly some of these cards were.  This was an eye-opener.

Card #349: 1997 Fleer #74

YEAR: 1997
BRAND: Fleer
SET: Fleer
NUMBER: 74
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: NA
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

Like the 1996 set, the 1997 set featured a matte texture which made them stand out from the other sets.  I do like how the cards feature a little All Star logo for the players that made the 1996 game.  This is a nice card from an underrated set.

Card #348: 1997 Upper Deck #343

YEAR: 1997
BRAND: Upper Deck
SET: Upper Deck
NUMBER: 343
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: NA
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

I love the fact that Upper Deck included a little notation explaining what was happening on the front of the card and the date that it happened.  This shot is of Alomar hitting a home run in a game that Cleveland won over the Rangers on May 19, 1996.  This was a very interesting concept that should have stuck around.

Card #347: 1995 Score Gold Rush #519

YEAR: 1995
BRAND: Score
SET: Score
NUMBER: 519
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: Gold Rush
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

1995 was the second year that Score was offering a parallel.  There was a promotion with Score that year that people who completed the set could send it in to me specially stamped.  Unfortunately, Score only did Series 1.  So players in Series 2 did not get stamped.  Alomar is of course in Series 2, so he does not have a stamped parallel of this card.

Card #346: 1997 Ultra #45

YEAR: 1997
BRAND: Fleer
SET: Ultra
NUMBER: 45
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: NA
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

I actually really liked 1997 Ultra even though things had not changed all that much for the brand in several years.  It had some nice photography and the addition of different pictures for the Gold Medallion cards was a nice touch.  This shot is not the best though and his other shot is not terribly inspired either.

Another Oddity

What is missing on this card?  Most would realize it is the name plate and the team name.  This is apparently a foil-less gold card.  I don't think that this is an intentional variation but I have seen a fair number of them out there.  The back clearly shows that this was supposed to be a Topps Gold card, but there is just no gold foil on the front.  Just another curiosity to add to the collection.

Card #345: 1996 Leaf #98

YEAR: 1996
BRAND: Leaf
SET: Leaf
NUMBER: 98
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: NA
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

1996 was not a very exciting year for Leaf, same as a few years previous.  There is just not much new design you can do for full-bleed cards.  So Leaf ends up looking pretty much the same as Stadium Club, Ultra, and Pinnacle.  At least this is a decent action shot though.

I Made the Last Goal from 2015

I received this card on December 30.  I was afraid it would not sneak in last year, but it did.  Here it is:

This is the 1997 Pacific Baerga Softball card.  It was the #4 item on my Top 15, and it was in the same spot on my Top 10 list as of January 1, 2015.  So that was the last goal I needed to knock off.  I wanted five of the Top 10 cards as of January 1 to add to my collection.

This card was exceptionally hard to find.  There are 10 cards in the set, including players like Derek Jeter, Roberto Alomar, and Ivan Rodriguez.  They were made to commemorate a celebrity softball game that Carlos Baerga put on in Puerto Rico every year for awhile.  The cards were given in packs of two to those in attendance at the game, so they were localized in Puerto Rico.  Apparently not many found their way out of the game and into the public.  I have not seen this card, or any others from the set, appear on Ebay at all.

I was in contact with a member of a forum earlier in November who lives in Puerto Rico.  He offered to try to find some of these cards for various members and this was the first one he found.  I am thrilled to add it to my collection.

Card #344: 1999 Topps Opening Day #149

YEAR: 1999
BRAND: Topps
SET: Opening Day
NUMBER: 149
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: NA
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

Opening Day in 1999 was just the regular 1999 Topps base card with silver borders and silver foil.  I am still a fan of the picture, but Opening Day is just not a terribly interesting set.

I Had an Epiphany

One day I was thinking about how there are no New York Mets cards of Sandy Alomar Jr. and I suddenly remembered that I count team cards in my Alomar collection if he is present in the picture.  So I took to Ebay to search and I found this 2008 Topps Heritage Short Print:

I looked closely and could immediately find Sandy in the top left-hand corner.  It helps that I knew what uniform numbers he wore in 2007.  He wore 19 and 28.  #19 is somewhere near the right-hand side of the second row and is most likely Jeff Conine.  But #28 was there in the top left corner.  And it is indeed Sandy Alomar Jr.

Here is a closeup:

And for another surprise, in the first row, we can find this guy:

That is Sandy Alomar, Sr.  

So now at last I have a New York Mets card of Sandy Alomar Jr.  Sure I would have preferred an actual card showing him alone, but this will do.  I have never been this excited about a team card before.

Card #343: 1993 Kraft #3

YEAR: 1993
BRAND: Kraft Singles
SET: Kraft Singles
NUMBER: 3
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: NA
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

And, yet another food issue.  You can't really tell there is no MLB license on this one because of the catcher's gear, but it is another example.  You can pull the tab at the top and the back will pop up which features a shot of Alomar batting.

Here is the back:

I Have No Idea What This Is Either

Apparently this is a 1989 Upper Deck Test Proof.  The Tim Wallach collector had something similar that was blue from 1989 Donruss.  I don't know the story behind the card and cannot find much information about it, but a new Padres card of Alomar is definitely nothing to sneeze at.  I picked this one up in a lot with a Kevin Romine Red Sox card and a number of other random players.  The back of this one is blank but some of the cards have the color back, just with no hologram.  Kind of an odd item, but I won't complain.

Card #342: 1991 Jumbo Sunflower Seeds #21

YEAR: 1991
BRAND: Jumbo Sunflower Seeds
SET: Autograph Series II
NUMBER: 21
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: NA
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

No, that is not a real autograph.  That was probably a little disappointing for collectors.  This is another food issue oddball with no MLB licensing.

Some More Odd Variations

Recently I was able to add two cards that were basically printing errors.

The first card is a regular 1996 Fleer card, with the matte finish, but it has silver foil lettering instead of the gold foil lettering.  I have no idea how this happened, but apparently it was fairly common.  I don't know how people got a hold of them either.  Definitely an odd item and not one that is seen very often.

The second card is the Donruss Limited Exposure card, but with a non-glossy finish.  It looks like the base card but the Limited Exposure language is there underneath the card number.  Again, this probably started out as a printing error, but it was a very common one.

Card #341: 1991 MooTown Snackers #10

YEAR: 1991
BRAND: MooTown Snackers
SET: Signature Series
NUMBER: 10
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: NA
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

I don't really understand why these cards, and other oddballs like them, are able to list the player's team's name, but not use logos on the uniforms.  Oh well.  I always like these types of oddball cards and I would love it if they would be made again.

Some Hard-to-Find Samples

You can barely see on the left-hand sides of these two cards the big, black, bold letters SAMPLE.  These were not easy cards to find.  I found them on Ebay by doing a description search for Alomar.  A little pricey, but two more cards to knock off my needs list.  The cards fit together to make one big stand-up card.  You can see the two halves of the Alomar panel in the scan.

Card #340: 1993 Finest Refractor #26

YEAR: 1993
BRAND: Topps
SET: Finest
NUMBER: 26
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: Refractor
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

I mentioned that the Crusade cards were the Holy Grail in 1998, well the Finest Refractors were the Holy Grail in 1993.  I was not sure I would ever own one.  I finally picked up my first one several years back, an Ivan Calderon for my Red Sox collection.  This is just my second 1993 Finest Refractor.  I still paid quite a bit, but at least the prices are more reasonable now.  Other than star cards.

The Last Red Label from 1998

I recently made contact with a collector from Puerto Rico that has helped me add a couple of rare Alomar cards.  The first such card was this Red Label Class 3 that was the last Red Label from 1998 that I needed.  I still need two of the Red Labels from 1999, so there is still some work to do.  But checking one off the Wantlist is never a bad thing.

Card #339: 1999 Finest Gold Refractor #24

YEAR: 1999
BRAND: Topps
SET: Finest
NUMBER: 24
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: Gold Refractor
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

Somehow I acquired the rare Gold Refractor from 1999 Finest before the regular refractor and the base card.  I found this for sale by a guy selling out on his 90's inserts.  He was an Indians fan so his price was a little high, but I had to have the card.

MVP Gold Signature

I don't even have this card for my Jason Varitek collection.  I had never even seen one of these before a bunch popped up on Ebay.  The Gold Signature cards are numbered out of 100 and as I mentioned before, these low-numbered parallels are getting progressively harder to find.  Many are just buried in people's collections, likely never to see the light of day again.  That is kind of frustrating.  Dig through your collections, find your rare parallels and inserts and try to move them to someone who will want them.  I will be doing that this year.

Card #338: 1998 Donruss Crusade Purple #20

YEAR: 1998
BRAND: Donruss
SET: Donruss
NUMBER: 20
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: Crusade Purple
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

This was my first Crusade cards.  These were like the Holy Grail of cards in 1998.  They were so hard to find that prices were insane.  I did not even get my first Red Sox Crusade card until after getting this one some time in 2014.  The cards are even more impressive in person.  This is the Purple version which is numbered out of 100 and is the second-toughest to find of the Crusade cards.

And Yet Another Cut Signature

Two in a row:

This is a 1/1 and is from the same set as my first cut signature card which was numbered out of 5.  The foil on this one is silver or platinum as opposed to green.  This makes three total cut signature cards.

The concept of a cut signature card of an individual that is still alive is a little bizarre, but hey, more cards.

Card #337: 1994 Upper Deck Electric Diamond #415

YEAR: 1994
BRAND: Upper Deck
SET: Upper Deck
NUMBER: 415
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: Electric Diamond
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

1994 was the first year that Upper Deck released a parallel that could be found in backs.  The Electric Diamond parallel had silver foil letter for the player's name and the words "Electric Diamond" along the bottom.  Nothing exciting, but parallels were fairly new yet.

2016: Looking Ahead

I suppose since last year was a decent year for my goals that I will make some new ones.

1.  Currently, this is the Top 15:
1. 1998 Topps Tek #27 (I still need these patterns: 8, 11, 13, 21, 27, 54, 55, 71, 78, 83, 86)
2. 1997 Flair Showcase Masterpiece #115 (any version)
3. 1997 Topps Stars '97 All Stars #AS20
4. 2002 Topps Chrome Traded Black Refractor #T68
5. 2005 Topps Rookie Cup Blue #75
6. 2003 Donruss Rookies Recollection Autographs #1 1989 Donruss Rookies
7. 2006 Upper Deck Special FX Purple #677
8. 2003 Topps Chrome Silver Refractor #399
9. 2004 Upper Deck Going Deep Bat #SC
10. 1998 Leaf Rookies and Stars Longevity #82
11. 2004 Donruss Timelines Recollection Autograph 1991 Diamond King or 2004 Diamond Kings Recollection Autograph #1
12. 1998 Fleer Tradition Vintage '63 Classic #14
13. 2004 Donruss Timelines Recollection Autograph ROY
14. 2005 Topps Total Printing Plate #326 (any color)
15. 2006 Upper Deck Special FX Red #677

I would like to knock five more cards off of that list.

2.  I would like to complete the Topps Tek run.  This can be counted as one of the five from #1.

3.  I would like to add three more Recollection Autographs from any of the Donruss sets that included them.  There are three (or four) listed in my Top 15.  Any of those can be counted as one of the five from #1.

So there it is.  I think this is a little bit more difficult than last year, but I did not expect to knock five cards off of my Top 10 from last year either, so who knows?

If anyone can help with any of this, please let me know.

A Dual Cut Signature

I sprang for a big card recently.  

Here is the front:

So, why did I add a cut signature of Roberto Alomar?  Check out the back:

Because it is also a cut signature of Sandy Alomar Jr.  Sorry about the real bad scans, but this card is very thick in the graded case.

The pictures the signatures were cut from came from this:

This card is likely a 1/1 and is the second cut signature of Alomar in my collection, and definitely my most interesting.

Card #336: 1996 Metal Universe #42

YEAR: 1996
BRAND: Fleer
SET: Metal Universe
NUMBER: 42
SUBSET: NA
INSERT: NA
TEAM: Cleveland Indians

This is the base version of the first Metal Universe set.  I definitely prefer this card to the parallel version which has just silver foil all around the player.  1997 saw Fleer improve on the backgrounds and making them more interesting.  1996 was just some weird designs.