Bidding Under the Influence #13

Date: January 9, 2022

Time of Bid: 12:17:23 AM

Cards: 2005 Topps Updates & Highlights #UH182 Ivan Rodriguez All-Star Gold (0337/2005)

Price: $0.01 (+$1.10 shipping)

What Was I Thinking?:

Ever since I got back into the hobby, I've really liked the gold parallels Topps has put into their base sets.  They're relatively easy to pull, and if you are after a certain player, they are usually affordable to add to your collection.  I've had fleeting thoughts to try to put together a 2007 gold set.  The cards that year look really cool in gold, but I've never officially gotten started because the Jeter/Mantle/Bush is going to set me back quite a bit.  Maybe one day.

As for this card, a penny is always a sweet deal.  Rodriguez is probably the greatest catcher of my lifetime (competition only from Fisk, Bench, Carter, and Piazza).  A Frankenset isn't really my thing, but if I chicken out on the '07 gold set construction, this one would definitely make the cut.  Plus, it's cool to see a player in an All-Star Game played in his home park, even (or especially) if it was as the sole representative of a bad team.

Bidding Under the Influence #12

Date: January 8, 2022

Time of Bid: 12:15:46 AM

Cards:  1978 Topps #120 Bob Griese, #331 1977 NFL Passing Leaders Griese/Staubach, 1990 Score #601 Hall of Famer Bob Griese

Price: $0.99 (+$2.00 shipping)

What Was I Thinking?:

Maybe I just wish there were more cards of guys wearing glasses?

In all seriousness, this is a nice group of cards for $3 shipped.  Men who played on a single team for their entire careers get a little extra rub in this hobby, and to have two all-timers on one card is outstanding.  I probably have the Score card in a pile somewhere, I know I certainly remember having it back when the set came out.  When these two quarterbacks went head-to-head in Super Bowl VI, Staubach came out on top, 24-3.  The next year, Griese helped the Dolphins to their famed undefeated season, beating Washington in SB VII.  They repeated against the Vikings the next season, and a few years later Staubach would win his second Super Bowl (XII) against the Denver Broncos.  Two cool cards from a cool set.