Lindor's Set

Around the time of the All Star Break, I saw that Topps was releasing a special set that was put together with the assistance of Indians' star Francisco Lindor.  The set was devoted partially to Lindor's home country of Puerto Rico, also the home country of Sandy Alomar Jr.  I was cautiously optimistic that he would include a card of Alomar in it, particularly since he is a coach with the Indians.  When the checklist dropped, I saw that there was indeed a Sandy Alomar listed, but it did not specify whether it was Jr. or Sr.  I bought one anyway, thinking it was likely that it would be Jr.  And I received the above card.  Yep, that's Jr. alright.  So, now Alomar has appeared in two online only sets this year.  Pretty exciting.

Topps Now: July 9, 2019

What?!

Yep, Sandy Alomar Jr., a coach, has appeared on a Topps Now card.  The card celebrates the All Star Game tribute in which retiring former Indians star pitcher C.C. Sabathia threw out the first pitch to Alomar.  This is pretty damn cool.  I never thought I would see Alomar on a Topps Now card.  There were autographed versions too, but they were ridiculously expensive.

By the way, Sabathia never pitched to Alomar in a Major League game.  Alomar left the Indians to join the White Sox after the 2000 season.  Sabathia debuted in 2001.

More Archives Buybacks Part 3

And here is yet another White Sox buyback.  This is not anything really special, other than that it is a Chrome card.  I do kind of like the pose here though.  And of course, it is nice to add another White Sox autograph. 

More Archives Buybacks Part 2

This one has two things going for it.  First, the number of cards Alomar has with the White Sox is shockingly small considering he played with them for most of five seasons, due to the focus on high-end, smaller sets packed with stars and rookies.  He actually has far fewer White Sox cards than he has with the Padres, a team for whom he played in eight games.  Second, that is a great action shot.  This one was a no-brainer for me. 

More Archives Buybacks

I generally have a method for which buybacks I will be grabbing.  You have to have a method with as many of these things as there are out there.  The lesser teams in Alomar's career get priority.  I am still on the lookout for a 2005 Topps Total Rangers card.  Then the more premium brands.  Then, if the picture is a great one.  Guess which one this is?  I don't know what is going on in that picture, but it looks like a catastrophe of epic proportions.  Even though this is just a basic 1994 Topps card of Alomar with the Indians, it was a pretty easy decision to grab it. 

Rediscovering 1999 Topps

This is one of those silly Rediscover Topps buybacks.  This is the Silver version for the 1999 Topps card.  I don't really hate these things, at least they are a means to adding more cards.  I just wish they would not do buybacks of the same cards every year.  This though is the first time I have seen the 1999 card. 

Ultimate Victory

Recently I have been picking up a few more Alomar cards.  Some have been rare cards that have popped up.  Others have been new cards released (we will get to those), and others have been some of the Archives autos.  This one falls into the first category.  Cards from the 1990's numbered to 100 or less are very hard to find these days.  It is almost an event when one pops up.  And so it was with this parallel, numbered to 100.  I'm just damn happy to add an older card to my collection again.

All Star Fanfest Bobble

This year, the All Star Game was held in Cleveland.  Which means that there were some Indians-centric Fanfest items available.  Given Alomar's status as a current coach and a six-time All Star for the Indians, it was only natural that something pop up of him.  One item was a trio of bobbleheads honoring Jim Thome, Francisco Lindor, and of course, Alomar.  Here is that bobblehead.  It is not very tall, only about three to four inches, but it is just the second bobblehead in my Sandy Alomar Jr. collection.

Stadium Club One of a Kind

I am falling behind again.  I have actually picked up a number of new Alomar cards.  A lot have been popping up lately.  This is the 1998 Stadium Club One of a Kind parallel.  The name of the insert is quite misleading because these were actually serial-numbered to 150, a far cry from being one of a kind.  The scan is pretty bad too, actually the card just had a high-gloss, almost chrome finish.  The colors were not distorted like that.  Cool card.

Another Archives Buyback

Prices are these things are still often ridiculous (particularly the shipping costs), so I have not been picking up too many.  If one makes a big impression or is much cheaper though, I will still bite.  This one fell into the second category.  There is nothing super exciting about this, it is just the 1996 Topps card.  But, the seller was much more reasonable about his price and so I added it.  This makes just three of these from 2017.  I did generally better in 2016, but it was more novel then.

Finally, Some More Tek Progress

This is pattern #86, giving me 85 out of the 90 patterns.  It is not in the best shape, the front and back are not aligned well, but that's not important at this time.  This one was actually mislabelled on Ebay.  It was listed as pattern 25, but I could vaguely see the pattern number in the scan and it was not 25.  Upon doing a thorough search, I realized it was one that I needed, so I jumped on it.  Five more to go.

#4 on My Most Wanted List...

...Has been found:

This is the 2002 Topps Chrome Traded Black Refractor.  It was the last Rockies card (non-Buyback edition) that I needed.  It was pretty elusive.  I had never seen it show up until it popped up on Ebay recently.  Thank you Ebay saved search notifications.  I never would have even seen it otherwise because I have not been actively seeking Alomar cards for awhile after getting frustrated that none were popping up that I needed.  I paid a little more than I think I should have, but I was willing to do it to add this one to my collection.  This looks even better in person.

No, I Have Not Abandoned This Collection

It is just kind of hard to find cards I need these days.  I never really went nuts for the Archives Signatures cards, and I don't know why.  Maybe it's the cases, or the fact that everyone selling them was over-pricing them.  The second one probably.  But there will be a few posts in the coming days, because I managed to find a few cards I needed.

Up first:

This is the 1998 Topps Gallery Gallery Proofs card.  It is serial-numbered to 125.  I had to double-check on it when I saw it pop up on COMC to make sure I did not already own it.  There is not a lot of difference, except some minor coloring, card stock, black and white back and the serial numbering.  So, finally, a new Alomar to my collection.  As I said, check back in the next couple days for more.