The Trading Post #60: The Junior Junkie

Shortly before the birth of his son, The Junior Junkie cluster bombed the Cardsphere with a huge stack of trades. Clearly he has his hands full with the new addition, as his blog has been quiet the last couple weeks. Congratulations to him and his family on a healthy baby boy!

We might not see much activity from this #Supertrader for a while, but I did get a nice stack of cards from him, starting with this partially transparent Todd Helton card:

2013 Pinnacle Clear Vision Hitting Single #59 Todd Helton

It's a lot more silver than it looks in the scan.

I saw that giant Pinnacle logo in the lower right, and at first glance, I thought it might be from their then-final 1998 release. But Helton didn't have a goatee then, and the copyright date says 2013. I guess I didn't realize that Panini resurrected the Pinnacle brand, but that only lasted a year. 

The "single" lettering in the transparent area leads me to believe this is probably the most common in a series of parallels. Sure enough, Beckett confirms this, with Double, Triple, Home Run , and 1/1 Cycle varieties listed.

Flip this card over and the clear cutout section looks a lot like the State of Illinois. And that font they used for "Single" looks a lot like the old United Airlines logo. This card does have a 1990s feel, reminding me of those see-through Skybox E-X 2000 cards from 1997, not to mention Pinnacle of that same year. And you don't often see that much gold foil anymore, at least not all in one spot.

2016 Donruss #103 Charlie Blackmon

Panini is definitely looking to the past to create their new designs, as I can't really see anything other than 1991 Donruss in this design. Also a bit of 1989 Topps in the two rounded border corners. Just like how the tiny baseballs of 2014 and 2015 Donruss look pretty much like the 1987 set, the slant of the background design mimics 1991, though without all the random colored lines and dots and squiggles. I haven't blogged about that set before, but it might be the most overproduced set in history, so you shouldn't have much trouble picturing it. The backs are standard Donruss too, though they used a pleasant sand color, which is a nice backdrop for the black text.

1998 Crown Royale #50 Ellis Burks

With all this talk of older designs, there were actually a few older cards in here, including a "princess card" of 30-30 man Ellis Burks. There's a glimpse of the Rockies' 1998 All-Star patch, but the giant gold die-cut crown pretty much steals the show. The back points out that he started the 1998 season with five home runs in his first eight games.

Nice, but not quite Trevor Story numbers.

1992 Upper Deck Gold Hologram #710 Ryan Turner

Though he never progressed past AA, Ryan Turner was the first-ever player in the Rockies organization. We see the pre-inaugural Rockies logo that was never used on the field, as well as a very Ted Kluszewski-style sleeveless shirt. The back talks about the bidding war between the Rockies and Marlins for Turner, as well as the expansion draft, scheduled for November 1992.

What makes this card more special is the rare gold hologram. Unlike most gold parallels of the day, this was not a one-per-pack treasure. It was only found in factory sets. I've run across a few like that, which always slightly disappoints me. Somewhere out there, a Factory Set is missing its Ryan Turner card.

1999 Topps #442 Matt Holliday / Jeff Winchester (RC)

Like Ryan Turner, Jeff Winchester never made it past AA-ball. But his cardmate, Matt Holliday, continues to have a highly successful career. He won the NLCS MVP award with the Rockies in 2007, a World Series ring with St. Louis in 2011, and has been elected to the All-Star team numerous times, including last year.

That is a long career with a lot of recent success, and Holliday's tenure on the Rockies doesn't seem that long ago. But the fact that this card is from 1999 is a little hard to comprehend.

2008 Upper Deck #775 Troy Tulowitzki CL

I can always appreciate a Upper Deck base card, even if I have a bit of trouble telling the years apart. This is actually a checklist card, but it still shows Troy Tulowitzki in excellent form. More relevant to the current Rockies season, we also see the right-center outfield wall, which is no longer in the form pictured on this card. They raised the outfield wall eight feet from by adding a chain-link fence from the right field scoreboard to the edge of the bullpens.They also raised the wall five feet down the left field line.

Interestingly, there's no yellow line at the top anymore, which is surprising. Surely no one will leap that high, but I'm sure umpires would like to have it. It also is a telltale signature for spotting Coors Field cards, which just got a little more difficult. But not too many stadiums have a coniferous forest just past the center field wall.

2015 Topps Triple Threads #13 Troy Tulowitzki

One nice thing about these super-thick cards is that I don't have to worry that a corner will get dinged if I drop it off a table. Though you can't really put them back-to-back in a 9-pocket page, they always feel....important. We don't get a great look at an actual Rockies logo here, as it's partially hidden under Tulo's wrists. If you were just browsing, this could be mistaken for a Panini card, perhaps from their Immaculate Collection premium set.

2006 Upper Deck Signature Sensations #SS-GA Garrett Atkins (AU)

In addition to all these great cards so far, The Junior Junkie threw in a couple of Autographs. This isn't my first Garrett Atkins auto, and he definitely signed a lot of cards in his heyday. From Castilla to Arenado, third base for the Rockies has always been a prime position. Though it's a sticker autograph, Upper Deck wisely used a sightly rough surface for the signature area, reducing the likelihood of the ink to bleed or smear. Just another UD innovation that we can expect Topps to adopt in the next decade or so.

2007 UD Masterpieces Stroke of Genius Signatures #SG-JB Jeff Baker (AU)

I have a few Jeff Baker autographs too, most of which came from Matthew at Bob Walk the Plank. I've noticed that Baker's autograph tends to be more consistent than Atkins, but I'm happy with either, as they were both members of that fabled 2007 pennant-winning team. And with all these UD autograph cards, I have plenty of tiny facsimile signatures of Richard P. McWilliam, whose printed autograph on the back certifies the authenticity of all these signed cards.

Unfortunately, Upper Deck forgot the "i before e except after c" rule, misspelling "masterpeices" (sic) on both front and back, an error they made in the entire memorabilia set. It's a fairly glaring blemish on a beautiful design and paper surface. Not exactly a "stroke of genius". But unlike Atkins' card, this does have a gold hologram.

1987 Topps Custom #NNO The Junior Junkie (AU)

To top it all off, this #Supertrader threw in a custom, printed up by none other than Topps itself on the classic 1987 design. The current Mariners logo didn't exist at that time, but neither did 1989 Upper Deck. Yes, that's one of the more famous examples of a #walletcard in our community, though I can't really explain the rest of this card other than the beads. He's from New Orleans, and that is a ubiquitous Mardi Gras accessory. He even sent me a purple necklace in our first trade last year.

Topps executives might be a little ticked seeing Upper Deck's most important card on an iconic Topps design, but if The Junior Junkie wants to make a custom, sign it, and address it to me by name, I'm fine with that. I like this product offering from Topps, and it reminds me a bit of those custom-printed M&Ms you can order. Great for marketing, events, and promoting your blog!

That marks three autographs in one package, and I could even make a meta-wallet card of the Junior Junkie's wallet card if I wanted to.

Those are the highlights from this veteran of the Cardsphere! And on the Rockies Rookie front, Trevor Story's home run streak came to an end Saturday, but he did hit one more in yesterday's series finale, bringing him up to seven.

The Trading Post #30: The Junior Junkie

Between getting a promotion at work and spending more time with friends and family (including the start of hockey playoffs), I haven't had much time for baseball card blogging.

That doesn't mean that trade packages stopped, though. A plain white envelope (PWE) from The Junior Junkie arrived a couple weeks ago, and it packed a real punch for only including seven cards!

A quick apology: you might have noticed a bad link from this blog in your feed a few days ago. I had started a draft of this post, but just nicked the edge of the "Publish" button. I reverted to a draft almost immediately, but not before it populated the feed. Sorry about that. I guess it's a double edged sword (as are most swords), in that it's cluttering up the blog feed for you all, but at least it went out quickly.

Anyway, I was a bit surprised that seven cards (mostly of the thick, shiny variety) can be mailed with just one stamp!

1995 Pinnacle Museum Collection #343 Mike Harkey

Ex-Cub Mike Harkey was one of the first out of the envelope, and this is a "Museum Collection" parallel. Pinnacle applied that brand to cards long before Topps thought it would be perfect to slap on a horrendously overpriced product. It's not quite as rare as an Artist's Proof card from 1995 Score Select, but it has a similar look, along with a fuzzy orb of a baseball in the upper right.

They get shinier than that, though.

2014 Topps Stadium Club Triumvirates Luminous #T6C Carlos Gonzalez

Not only is this a shiny card, but it is quite "shapey" as well, according to my girlfriend. It's the rightmost card in a three-card "Triumvirates" jigsaw puzzle, and the second one I own from 2014 Stadium Club. One from the left side of the puzzle and I'll have enough to build a full one, albeit from different teams.

2014 Finest #44 Josmil Pinto (RC)

Speaking of different teams, I found a Minnesota Twin in this envelope. I am sent mostly Rockies cards, but occasionally there will be another team to mix things up. No problems there, as I don't label myself as a team collector. I'm just fine with anything shiny, especially from a brand like Topps Finest.

That wasn't even the only card from 2014 Finest, a set I've blogged about before, including in my previous trade post from The Junior Junkie.

2014 Finest Rookie Autographs #RA-EB Eddie Butler (AU)

That's an on-card autograph of Rockies pitcher Eddie Butler, who started against the Dodgers today. The Rockies are having a sweep-heavy season so far. They swept the Brewers to open the season, and the Giants earlier this week. They didn't manage to pick up a win in Los Angeles this weekend, so the only series so far in which each team picked up wins was the home opener against the Cubs.

Butler is one of the more interesting prospects in the Rockies organization, at least according to Topps. Rosenort at Condition Sensitive put together all six acetate patterns and an autograph from 2014 Topps High Tek. Topps must think he's something special to put him in such a high-end set.

There have only been a few Rockies pitching prospects throughout the years that have panned out. Jason Jennings comes to mind, as does Ubaldo Jimenez. If Butler can get to their level, he'll put himself in rare company.

Unlike elite pitchers, the Rockies have fielded plenty of Gold Glovers in their 22-season history, and Nolan Arenado might be the best yet.

2013 Topps Chrome X-Fractors #78 Nolan Arenado (RC)

In case you didn't see it, have a look at this amazing no-look catch he made in foul territory last week.

I'll just wait here.

It's drawing plenty of comparisons to Derek Jeter's catch in the 2004 ALCS, and with good reason. Though he just lined out to end the game against the Dodgers, he's quickly becoming a fan favorite. He was a little shaky defensively for his first month or two in the majors, but he has my All-Star vote for many seasons to come!

Though Topps Chrome does go pretty overboard with the number of parallels, X-Fractors remain among my favorites. It's not nearly as rare as the /50 X-Fractors from 2003, but since it's of my favorite Rockie (and since his surname is at the front of the alphabet), this one will go right toward the front of my 2013 Chrome collection.

I'm still a little bit in shock that a mere 49-cent stamp can deliver so much great cardboard! Thanks to The Junior Junkie for my first PWE!

The Trading Post #17: The Junior Junkie

Continuing with more of "The Trading Post" theme, the third of three trade packages that arrived on Christmas Eve was from The Junior Junkie, complete with little Mariners logos hand-drawn on the box. I've already covered the first two, from The Angels, In Order, and Nomo's Sushi Platter.

Remember how I said that my girlfriend and I opened all three on Christmas Eve? Well, I didn't quite give you the whole story on that.

1996 Collector's Choice #130 Bret Saberhagen

My girlfriend had a childhood friend who had a "thing" for Bret Saberhagen. Right around the same time that the baseball card bubble was at its highest, she started buying packs here and there to see if she could pull a Saberhagen card for her friend. She didn't ever find one, and eventually stopped looking that carefully. Unopened packs started to end up in the back of the proverbial shoebox, long forgotten.

Forgotten, that is, until stocking-stuffer season rolled around. She asked her mother if any of those old cards were still tucked away. Sure enough, her mother found six unopened packs (1991 Score, 1990 Fleer, 1989 Donruss, etc...) and a few other loose cards, all of which ended up in my stocking on Christmas morning.

I wouldn't be able to leave packs unopened that long any more than I could not finish my chips with a lunch sandwich.

Anyway, on Christmas Day, the morning after a few Saberhagen cards fell out of The Junior Junkie's trade package like the one above, take a look at what I finally liberated from the second pack I opened:

1990 Fleer #116 Bret Saberhagen

After all those years.

Of course, now they're just starting to show up everywhere.

1995 Collector's Choice #441 Mike Kingery

Just like the 125th Anniversary patch, which I've pointed out in numerous recent posts. Here it is on center fielder Mike Kingery diving back to first base.

I wonder if these commemorative patches are starting to turn into a mini-collection. This next card from Ellis Burks caught my eye because of one.

1996 Fleer Tiffany #361 Ellis Burks

That's the Rockies 1995 patch, commemorating the opening of Coors Field. The arch part of the logo replaces the "Colorado" lettering with green-colored girders matching the stadium's architecture. Saberhagen is wearing one too, at the top of this post.

There was plenty of great photography to be found, and it wasn't just in Coors Field.

2008 Topps #607 Ryan Spilborghs

Outfielder Ryan Spilborghs did a good job in the Rockies outfield, and he's now a commentator for the team on the Root Sports cable channel. I even snapped a picture of him when the Cubs were in town in 2007. But this one is from Turner Field in Atlanta. That #44 banner on the outfield wall (right-center, to be specific) is of the Home Run King, Hank Aaron.

Let's take a look at one more arm patch. It's small in this image, but very important.

2008 Upper Deck First Edition #350 Garrett Atkins

Yes, that's the 2007 World Series patch! Garrett Atkins is shown here facing Red Sox relief pitcher Hideki Okajima in either Game 3 or 4.

I was really hoping to pinpoint the date of this card. Trouble is, Atkins faced Okajima in both games, so I can't be sure. Atkins hit a home run off of Okajima in Game 4, so it's likely that this is that shot. However, I was really hoping that I could point to Game 3, because that's the game I was lucky enough to get a ticket to!

Yes, I've been to 50% of all World Series games that have taken place in Denver. Unfortunately, the Rockies were swept that year, but the appearance itself was pretty special!

2012 Topps Opening Day Fantasy Squad #FS-7 Troy Tulowitzki

Tulowitzki was a participant in the 2007 World Series, but this card is a bit newer. It's an insert card from a brand that does a pretty darn good job with insert sets, Topps Opening Day. There's a nice amount of green on this one, and foil too (only the "Fantasy Squad" lettering), but nothing that distracts from readability. There's even a little bit of the "surfboard" design element that was the major theme of 2012 Topps. In fact, it looks a bit like the McLaren logo, for those of you who follow Formula 1 or supercars.

When you're sent this many Rockies cards, you're sure to get plenty of photos from Coors Field, like this one of my favorite Rockies player, Nolan Arenado:

2013 Bowman Chrome #24 Nolan Arenado (RC)

It's not that shiny for a "Chrome" card, which is a little disappointing, design-wise. It also has a bit of that gravity-defying curl, though nowhere near as bad as 2010 Topps Chrome. Arenado appears with the left-field wall over his shoulder, clearly earning that Gold Glove while covering third base.

Last but not least (last but most?) is my first card from the 2014 Finest set, and it's a beauty.

2014 Finest #30 Carlos Gonzalez

The colors really pop on this design, as do the bright accents on the right. The vertical nameplate isn't my favorite, but the subtle concentric lines around the border give it an interesting frame. And I don't know if it's just me, but I see a lot of this design in the upcoming 2015 Topps base set, which I can't wait to see in person.

I have to thank The Junior Junkie for my first taste of 2014 Finest; as well as the whole small flat-rate box full of Rockies!

And Bret Saberhagen.