2011 Topps Lineage Bert Blyleven

Here is my one Bert Blyleven so far:

2011 Topps Lineage

A Nickel Ain't Worth A Dime Anymore - My Yogi Berra Collection so far

A nickel ain't worth a dime anymore and most of these cards ain't worth a nickel's dime neither. But they are Yogi and they're fun; baseball's fun.

1973 Topps

1987 Topps

2001 UD HOF

2001 UD HOF



2010 Cards Your Mom Threw Out

2012 Topps Allen & Ginters

2013 Topps Gypsy Queen Mini

Johnny Bench Collection - 11 So Far

Johnny Bench is one of those characters that sort of spanned both my baseball fever as a kid and my dad's baseball fever as a kid. In short, both of us collected him and that's pretty cool to me.

Here is my collection thus far:

1971 Topps with Perez & Williams

1977 Crane

1992 UD Baseball Heroes, with Morgan

2001 Fleer Greats of the Game

2001 UD HOF (doubles)

2011 Topps Lineage 

2012 Panini Cooperstown

2012 Topps Classic Walk-Offs

2013 Topps Gypsy Queen White Frame

2013 Topps Gypsy Queen

My Mr. Cub Collection

Let's play two. I've got six of Mr. Cub Ernie Banks, but none yet from his playing days.

Two from the Upper Deck Hall of Famers Set:

2012 Topps Gypsy Queen Hallmark Heroes

2012 Topps Gypsy Queen White Frame

2012 Topps Gypsy Queen Mini

2013 Topps Gypsy Queen Mini

1982 TCMA Greatest Sluggers Frank Baker

My one and only Frank Baker: a 1982 TCMA Greatest Sluggers.

2006 UD SP Legendary Cuts Earl Averill #70

Earl Averill passed away the year I was born. He played his last game when my Grandmother was 18. However, I have a deeper connection to him than I do to say Luis Aparicio or Walt Alston because of an experience I had with him in collection. The first two Goudey cards I bought in my early adulthood were a Kiki Cuyler and an Earl Averill. I got them in a 1930's lot that I bought. Neither of the cards were in fantastic shape and sadly I sold them when I did my great purge in 2004 so I don't have either of them any more. The only Earl Averill card I have is this 2006 UD SP Legendary Cuts card, not as pretty as a Goudey, but it's a good start to collecting Averill.

Richie Ashburn Collection

So far I have two Richie Ashburn cards. One of which is from 1989 and one of which is from 2012. These cards represent two of the many phases of my collection history - one the original and compulsive compiling era of an obsessive child and one of the resurgent compulsive behavior of an early 30's man clinging to a childhood dream.

The 1989 Bowman is an interesting card for a couple of reasons. First, I despise the 1989 Bowman set frustrates me because of the size of the card. It's not the standard 2.5"x3.5" and thus it doesn't fit in the Ultra Pro Sheets made to hold them. The 1989 Bowman cards are 2.5"x3.75". That damn quarter of an inch that sticks out of the top makes me nervous that my card is going to get bent up and damaged. One other thing about this card is that it's a card without a number. It doesn't have a number because a card designed to be sent back in to win either the original card featured on the front (the 1949 Bowman Ashburn) or the entire 1953 Bowman set. It would've been nice to win those. But, alas I didn't in 1989 though I sent some in. I doubt if I filled it out I'd win now. What makes this card somewhat interesting is that after the 1990's cards came out and I bought the previous years packs I would throw these cards away as a kid because they weren't the contemporary stars and they weren't really part of the set.

The 2012 card is a 2012 Topps Allen & Ginter What's In A Name #WIN20. This card represents the still lingering love I have for opening packs. Honestly, I could probably collect in a more precise way by buying specific cards on eBay (which I do), but there is something magical about opening a pack and pulling a card that I want. The suspense, the surprise, the elation of pulling what you want all adds up to the joy in opening a pack. It's like winning the lottery when you pull that perfect card. While this one wasn't the perfect card, it is a part of my collection.