2024 Card-vent Calendar: December 19

December 19, 2024:

1984 Topps #299 John Butcher

John is absolutely hiding a knife behind that glove.

Just so everyone knows, the last name is just a coincidence.

Oh, you say that you would dare to cross John if you had been there at the time of the photo?  OK, tough guy.  I'm just saying it wouldn't be wise to chance it.

2024 Card-vent Calendar: December 18

December 18, 2024:

1978 Topps #299 Nelson Munsey

So, I'm going to link to something that this card makes me think of.  Perhaps you would care to guess what it is?

 

Make your prediction, then click on the link.

 

This is the link.

 

 

Were you thinking the same thing I was?

2024 Card-vent Calendar: December 17

December 17, 2024:

1994 Flair #160 Kurt Abbott

I don't know, man.  The ear flap plus the off-putting facial expression, and then, Good God, all that teal!  I just can't handle that much on a Tuesday.  Put your face away, Kurt Abbott.

 

If this card was the first thing I saw after waking up, I'd go back to bed.  It portends evil.

2024 Card-vent Calendar: December 16

December 16, 2024:

1993 Upper Deck Deathmate #64 Hold the Line

I don't know what happening in this story (part of an Image/Valiant crossover that appears to be an agreed-upon watershed that signaled the end of the early-1990s comics boom), but I think she's going to want to get that looked at.

2024 Card-vent Calendar: December 15

December 15, 2024:

1990 Topps Woolworth Baseball Highlights #1 Robin Yount

Usually when I pull Yount cards out of this calendar, it's something really unique, a newer card I couldn't have foreseen existing back when I was a young collector.  I'm talking like a card embedded with a fabric swatch from Robin's favorite childhood pajamas, a cut relic card containing a piece of his 4th grade report card, or something so shiny that the name for the color hasn't been invented yet.  This year it looks like we're going back to basics.  There weren't any Woolworth stores in Milwaukee in 1990, at least on my side of town, but I can imagine getting a set of these would have made an otherwise awful afternoon of trying on shoes and school pants worth it.

Can we talk about Yount's mullet?  Doesn't it sort of... transcend the mullet in this photo? It's so unbelievably well maintained.  It's not wispy, nor is it ratty.  It serves a purpose.  It speaks with authority.  It has voting rights.  When your job requires you to wear a hat, this style lets everyone know what's going on up top, delivering just a hint of majesty.  If Yount was one of those guys who was part of a road crew and he was the one who held the sign when they're working on a half-mile-long single-lane road, and traffic can go in only one direction at once, and they stretch of road they're working on is like 3/4 of a mile long so they have to radio from one end to the other that they're switching the traffic direction... you know, those guys?  Yeah, even if you're Robin Yount, you have to wear a hardhat, and this haircut would be perfect for that.

It's why he won MVP in 1989.

2024 Card-vent Calendar: December 14

December 14, 2024:

2024 Hawk Tuah Girl with Cock 'n Balls Lincoln Cent Relic (40/69)

However you view this phenomenon, be it from the lens of bewilderment at instant celebrity, or trickle-down memification*, or the the inherent dangers of unstable currency, she did at least get something right.

 

As consenting adults, you and your partner of choice should aggressively pursue satisfaction, whatever form that may take.  Without bias against any gender, please feel free to spit on that thang**, and in turn get that thang spit on.  It's Saturday, after all.

*Seriously, I have third grade students saying "hawk tuah" all over the place.   It's very disturbing.  ("Skibidi" and "What the sigma?" are also huge right now.  I've worked very hard to ignore it, they're just dumb words that will go away in a few months, and calling attention to them would just prolong their stay.  After all, three years ago it was an onslaught of randomly singing "We Don't Talk About Bruno," and now nobody does that anymore.)  I'm hoping they're oblivious to its origins, and they're just repeating what they've heard repeated ad nauseam from short-form videos, which are the most popular form of entertainment for their age group at the moment.

 

**Thang having no specific biology, in this space at least.  Parts is parts, as they used to say.

2024 Card-vent Calendar: December 13

December 13, 2024:

1995-96 Fleer #133 Brian Shaw

This is some freaky stuff.  

 

The existential crisis Fleer was going through in 1995 has been well documented, and its basketball set was no different.  A variety of motifs were used in this set, some of them being the supersaturated color switch filter close-up used as background as seen above.  Brian Shaw was unfortunate enough to have been depicted as if by some sort of alien x-ray.  It's kind of an off-putting picture, to be honest.

This card makes me think of the ways unsettling imagery placed within an otherwise benign medium can provoke a strong visceral response from a viewer.  I'm thinking of the infamous Large Marge jump scare from Pee-Wee's Big Adventure.  Another instance that comes to mind is how that one lady gets turned into a cyborg with all the metal sticking to her face in Superman III.  That's something I can remember scaring me as a kid.  I'm sure there are other examples of "freaky inside normal, " and you're welcome to share your examples in the comments.

2024 Card-vent Calendar: December 12

December 12, 2024:

1974 Topps #48 Dick Sharon

Vastly underrated double entendre baseball name. Dick Sharon sounds like a title that would round out a sleazy drive-in double feature, paired with The Pigkeeper's Daughter or Country Cuzzins or something like that.  Liberally sprinkle in some apostrophes and the marquee will suggest enough slap and tickle to keep audiences coming back for more.

2024 Card-vent Calendar: December 11

December 11, 2024:

2016 Topps WWE Road to Wrestlemania Rowdy Roddy Piper Tribute #10 Piper/Flair

Yeah, I'm a couple of days behind now.  The last two nights I've been trying (unsuccessfully) to nurse a dead minivan back to life.  Not a huge deal, we just wanted to have a little something to trade in for our new car, WHICH WE PICKED UP TODAY!!!  It's been a long time coming, as we put some money down for it back in May.  A few days before the build was scheduled to begin, a stop production order was issued.  Back then we were hoping to have the car for a trip up north in July.  How naive we were back then.  In the meantime we were forced to put heavy miles on our remaining vehicle, which of course required new tires and a new alternator.  There was even a breakdown on Interstate 94 between Milwaukee and Madison.  It's been a lot.  But now we're here, and having the car feels that much sweeter.

Anyways, these guys are both legends, all-time #1 and #2 on the mic (not saying who is first, it's an impossible choice), great to see them together like this in the latter stages of their careers.  More cards should have plaid on them.

2024 Card-vent Calendar: December 10

December 10, 2024:

1994 Upper Deck Collector's Choice #111 Luis Gonzalez

I think this is one of those instances where the makers of the Card-vent Calendar (sold at Walgreens, CVS, Piggly Wiggly, and a bunch of regional drugstores and supermarkets you've never heard of) intended this to be a back-of-the-card showcase.

Rumor has that Luis's cousin Walter died of a broken neck trying to, well... you know.  A spring training workout is no place for any such attempt, but Luis was always known for his superior body control, so he probably knew when to go for it and when to take his foot off the accelerator.  The human spine is not something to mess around with.

"Balls resting on his lips."

"Wow, he really made it."

"Yeah, but at what price?"

2024 Card-vent Calendar: December 9

December 9, 2024:

1992 Classic Draft Picks #4 Tony Bennett

Tony Bennett is probably best known for being the coach of the Virginia Cavaliers, the team that would, under his guidance, famously become the first #1 seed to lose to a #16 seed, and then follow that up with a national championship the next year.

 

Tony was, of course, a standout player himself, starring at UW-Green Bay playing for his father, Dick Bennett.  What's not quite as well known is that Tony's collegiate career has been commemorated in video form, and the soundtrack to this masterpiece is Carly Simon's "Nobody Does It Better.  Enjoy.

 

Just a few months ago, Bennett resigned as head basketball coach at Virginia mere weeks before the start of the season.  At the moment, the Cavaliers' record is a very mediocre 5-4.

2024 Card-vent Calendar: December 8

December 8, 2024:

2008 Upper Deck #PP-7 Hillary Rodham Clinton & Morganna

When is the Democratic party going to get its shit together?

I mean... FUCK.

 

Less than half of the country subscribes to the platform of "WE ARE GOING TO MAKE YOUR LIVES WORSE," and they can't make a compelling argument against that?

GOD... DAMN.

What if Hillary had had some tig ol' bitties?  Would that have made a difference?  Could my kids go to college for free?

2024 Card-vent Calendar: December 7

December 7, 2024:

2016 Topps Garbage Pail Kids Prime Slime Trashy TV #2b Cherry Cooper

The world really does need more Twin Peaks cards in it.  In typical GPK style, this one contains tons of adolescent gore (if that's the right phrase for it).  We've got BOB, the zigzag carpet, wood paneling, red curtains, and more coffee mugs and damn fine pieces of pie than you can imagine.  Still, I feel that more Easter eggs could have been crammed into this picture.

 

On the other hand, the card name itself might very well be an astonishingly deep cut.  Early in season 1, the first time Agent Dale Cooper meets Dr. Jacobi, Cooper introduces himself.

 

"Huh?  Gary Cooper?" responds Jacobi after not quite giving his full attention.

 

Could this card be referencing that tiny moment from 34-odd years ago? 

In any case, I really need to get moving on my Blu-ray set of the Showtime series from 2017.  It's been kicking around my house for the last three or four years.  I always intend to watch, but something else invariably takes precedent.  It's next off the pile after I finish my first season rewatch of The Shield, I swear.

2024 Card-vent Calendar: December 6

December 6, 2024:

2021 Topps Archives #MPC-3 Andrew McCutchen "Uncle Larry" Movie Poster 

This is a fortunate card to pull out of the calendar today, a day when I'm already a post behind.  The card pretty much writes its own description.

Just enjoy Uncle Larry.

Trade Me Anything Mystery Package

The other day I got a TMA package in the mail from a person named Brendan.  However, I don't have anything marked down as being claimed by Brendan, and there's nothing in my email either.  If you're reading this, Brendan, please get in touch with me to let me know what you're trading for.

2024 Card-vent Calendar: December 5

December 5, 2024:

1989 Topps #417 Mike LaCoss

Mike here is showing off his grip for the split-fingered fastball.  This isn't something a pitcher would normally do, seeing as he'd probably be more successful hiding what pitch was coming next.  However, what Mike's doing isn't tipping his pitch, he's actually inventing a new obscene gesture.  The Splitter means something ten times worse than the middle finger.  It insults generations of ancestors, male and female alike, including insinuations about their general lack of hygiene, socioeconomic status, and low level of intelligence.  The gesture also carries with it the connotation involving the deleterious effects said relatives' decomposing bodies are having on the ecological makeup of their respective final resting places.  And finally, the signal communicates a curse upon any and all future offspring of the gesture's recipient.  If you give someone the Splitter, you mean business, and you can never, ever take it back.  The world has actually been a better place for it not to have spread widely these last 35 years.  The Splitter carries powerful sentiment, and should not be wielded lightly.  You have been warned.

2024 Card-vent Calendar: December 4

December 4, 2024:

2001-02 Topps Stadium Club #85 Hakeem Olajuwon

Not a ton of fancy foil here, no serial numbering, not even an autograph on a couple square centimeters of sweat sock.  Just a great photo of two first-ballot Hall-of-Famers playing physical basketball under the rim.  Duncan was a featured card on last year's calendar, and he sneaks in this year as well, with a much more familiar haircut.

Basketball cards are kind of an unheralded haven for memorable photography.  In most other sports, it's highly unlikely that two ultra-superstars are going to appear in the same action shot.  In football you have the chance for a star linebacker pursuing an All-Pro quarterback, but those moments are rare.  How about baseball?  Cy Young pitcher versus a home run champ happens every so often, but you're probably not getting them on the same card.  And if you did, it would look like the center field camera of a typical television broadcast, not the most aesthetically pleasing image for a card.  The closeness of basketball, plus the way all players are asked to fill an offensive and defensive role during the course of play, makes such pairings more likely.

I'm only left wondering if Tim blocked the Dream's shot on this play.  Someone out there could probably figure this out.

2024 Card-vent Calendar: December 3

December 3, 2024:

1993 21st Century Archives National Lampoon #SC2 Vaughn Bode Prototype

Thinking about all that this card encompasses kind of led me to a big old knot of feelings and suppositions and what-ifs that are difficult to put into words.  I suppose that for those born before a certain year, the work of Bode and Crumb and Bakshi and National Lampoon and the intersection of these and others like them... that was the pre-Internet Internet.  You could be into something weird and there were enough of you that enjoyed something offbeat, and by seeking it out you became part of an unspoken collective.  Today there are multiple outlets in multiple forms of media for just about any niche thing or attitude or obscurity out there.  But back then, there wasn't as much of the weird, and fewer opportunities for accessing the weird.  I would like to have experienced the thrill of being part of the secret club, but at the same time I enjoy the practically unfettered access of today.

I sometimes get on my kids for sitting there and watching short-form videos, but I probably should just back off and realize that these are today's equivalent of the Cheech Wizard of yesteryear.  It's hard to see because there's just so much more of it now, and the vast majority is derivative and just plain sucks, but there are probably some gems hidden among the junk.

Just some incoherent musings on the dark corners of art and entertainment.  I hope you enjoy the card.

2024 Card-vent Calendar: December 2

December 2, 2024:

2021 Topps Chrome #RA-EA Eddy Alvarez AUTO

Remember the Olympics?  Was that really this past summer?  Do you recall anything that happened?

I'm remembering that the USA women's team won the soccer gold medal, but I had to look up who we beat in the final (Brazil).

I also have several anime-styled pictures of that Turkish shooter dude on my phone.  You know, the one who nonchalantly took shots with his non-shooting hand in his pocket?  And all the while his competitors were done up in full Robocop gear with scopes and lenses and all manner of danglies?  Remember that guy?

Why am I going on about the Olympics here?  Well, believe it or not, Eddy Alvarez is an Olympian.  Yes, he may have a negative career WAR, but he also won a silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.  See, it's a little-considered secret that amazingly marginal players can succeed in the Olympics.  Be born at the right time, play the right sport, and have enough talent or potential in a year divisible by 4 and you can do it.  Some Olympic team sports have benchwarmers, and they get the same medals as the stars.  You don't even have to play!  It's an odd beast, the Olympics.  (No disrespect to Mr. Alvarez, it takes a TON of talent just to make it to the big leagues.  And don't get me started on sports where the athletes are considered greater just because they can win multiple medals for the same sport by doing one thing a little bit differently.)

You might be reading this wondering what this idiot writer is going on about.  Yeah, yeah, there are lots of baseball players with Olympic medals, what's the big deal?  Well, how about some more?  Alvarez also won a silver medal in short track speed skating in 2014.  He became just the sixth person (of seven, currently) to win a medal in both a Summer and Winter Olympic Games.  That's impressive.  Since his 2020 medal, German runner Alexandra Burghardt has won a bronze in the 4x100 relay (2024), which followed a 2022 silver in bobsled.  Must be nice to be surrounded by that type of positive support.  Cycling, skating, running, and bobsled are common threads that these "good with legs" athletes usually double up in.  The oddest pairing has to belong to Norwegian Jacob Tullin Thams, who sailed (literally, like on the water) to the silver in 1936 after winning the gold in the ski jump in 1924.

This is a pretty neat card, and perhaps Alvarez is the only athlete on the list with a certified autograph.  If you find one of another of the summer/winter medalists, please let me know.

2024 Card-vent Calendar: December 1

December 1, 2024:

1986 Fleer Baseball's Best #40 John Tudor

Well, what do you know, its Card-vent starting on time this year.  A nice, properly late Thanksgiving works wonders for the soul.  Plop it down on November 23rd and you've got a super long nightmare corridor until Christmas.  When it's on the 28th, there's three full weeks left at any reasonable school and then it's "see you next year."

John Tudor here has the look of a man spooked.  He's seen some shit.  Whether it's something from 1985, or he's had a premonition of 2025, I'll let you be the judge of that.  One thing is certain, and its name is dread.  Breathe it in deep, folks.  That hitch you feel?  That sensation of just being a skosh away from a full, satisfying intake?  That's the dread.  Embrace it, and get used to it. 

Trade Me Anything XVIII: #1

It's a beautifully cold November Saturday, there are lots of sports to watch, and tonight I'll be eating barbecue and watching wrestling with my cousin.  The only thing that could make it better is a good trade.  Longtime trader Tim supplied the one I'm about to cover.

 

Giving:

#ASG-36 Rafael Devers All-Star, #AT-26 Albert Pujols Autumn Tales

Getting:

 #US240 and #US155 Jackson Chourio

How do I feel about the 2024 Milwaukee Brewers?  Regular-season success beyond expectations is great, but losing in the first round of the playoffs is getting old.  We're in the longest sustained period of success this ballclub has ever known, but it hasn't hit the same as used to.  I have long bemoaned that my team has never won a playoff series against a real team.  Sure, we've popped champagne against the likes of a couple of franchises that were born in the 1990s, but those aren't real baseball teams.  We almost got the monkey off our backs, but those last few outs proved to be too difficult.  It's an awful feeling knowing that your team isn't ever going to play in a World Series, much less win one.

Over a month removed from such deflation, I now have the perspective to reframe my thoughts on the Brewers' future.  Having Jackson Chourio on our team is a great comfort.  There is no young player I would rather build a team around.  The Brewers will forever be required to do more with less, and although he will never play in a World Series as a Brewer, he will someday get to celebrate in a locker room after the deciding game against a team that was actually around when 1986 Topps was on drugstore shelves.  I am reliably certain on this.

#AC-23 Jackson Chourio All Class

I'm probably done building player collections of any specific Brewers, but this is the start of a nice little Chourio PC.  (Boy, does my Ryan Braun-dedicated binder look dumb now.)

#SMLB-84 Jackson Chourio Stars of MLB

That is a dynamite-looking card.

#US17 Elvis Peguero Gold Parallel (1206/2024)

How long will Topps Keep numbering their gold cards to the year of release?  How sustainable is this?  And how come even though there are more of them out there, you don't get as many golds as you used to?  Yes, I know this is all overproduced junk, but why is it more expensive than ever?  Why do you get fewer cards per box. Why?  Why??  WHY???

 These are all great cards, Tim, thank you so much for saving these Brewers and sending them my way.

Trade Me Anything XVIII: The Keepers

As you probably know, not every card from my annual Update box is available for trade.  It's been a while since getting anything really good (remembering a Kolten Wong 1/1 letter patch a few years ago), and this year continued the usual mediocrity, but there were a few things worth holding on to.

 

#89AU-VSC Victor Scott II 1989 Topps 35th Anniversary AUTO Black Border Parallel (022/199)

Here's the deal with this card.  If you know anything about me, you know that the Cardinals are my most hated team.  This card is better than your standard All-Star Game warmup jersey card, but not something I would choose for myself.  I am faced with a conundrum.  If I were to put the card up for trade, it basically guarantees that Scott becomes the second coming of Albert Pujols.  This turns into a $10,000 card, and Scott's batting average against the Brewers over the next 20 years will be .687.  I can't let that happen.  So, I choose to keep it, and Scott has an unremarkable career, and I sell this card for a dollar to a sketchy looking guy under the Gateway Arch.  Sorry, Victor, I am in control of your future, and it is looking bleak.

#89US-15 Rhys Hoskins 1989 Topps 35th Anniversary

Hey, I actually got a Brewer insert!  The best news of the off season came a couple of weeks ago when it became official that Hoskins would return to the Brew Crew in 2025.  He's someone who actually underperformed last year and has the potential to do great things.

 #89US-44 Jackson Chourio 1989 Topps 35th Anniversary

Chourio is the real deal.  For those of you who don't know much about the Brewers, he's the first in-house prospect to get really excited about since guys like Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun.  And this card looks great, too.  I'm usually not a big fan of the navy jersey, but put it in a combo with the new yellow-accented design and you start to have something.  The '89 design also gets a glow-up, favoring a lighter yellow for the team name and ribbon, a vast upgrade over the original mustardy yellow of 35-year-old Brewers cards.

Well, those are the keepers, a couple of Brewers and an on-card auto.  Calling this box a win.

Trade Me Anything XVIII Has Arrived!

Eighteen?!?!?!  That's right, Trade Me Anything is old enough buy smokes and porno mags.  I guess I often use this space to give a yearly life update.  Simply put, things suck.  I'll skip any talk of Tuesday in favor of more immediate hardship.  First of all, my family has been down to a single vehicle since May.  Back then, we bought (well, ordered) a new car, the first of my lifetime.  Everything was in place for a brand new Toyota Grand Highlander Hybrid.  But about a week after picking out our package, Toyota put a stop production order on all Grand Highlanders because of an airbag flaw.  Production reportedly got back underway in later October, but we still don't have a car.  Luckily, I walk to work every day.  Unluckily, our secondary vehicle had to go into much heavier use than we wanted, and the long-in-the-tooth Murano is suffering for it.  A few weeks ago we broke down driving between Milwaukee and Madison for a soccer tournament.  The other team families were super helpful in getting us where we needed to be that weekend, but it ended up costing us over two grand in the end.

 

Speaking of expensive shit, what's the deal with Topps Update this year?  Last year I went the jumbo box route, but 2024 Update jumbos were going for over $300.  So what, I can actually complete a set worth $40 from a single box?  Nah.  I just bought a hobby box this year, but that gets you barely half of the base set.  You used to be able to complete the set from a hobby box.  Why is everything always getting worse?  Today's bags of Doritos are only slightly larger than those 1990s 99-cent Big Grab bags, and now you don't even get a Star Wars lenticular!  This country isn't going straight to hell, because we're already there.

In any case, I have a huge base card want list for this set.  They even had the nerve to slip me a bunch of base card doubles, an absolute travesty.  

So as to end on a positive note before I copy and paste the standard TMA instructions, I'll share that my children and I are very close to obtaining dual citizenship in Luxembourg, but that's another story for another day.

Here we go.

1. Check out the list of available cards below. Select one (or a few) you want. Just remember, the more you claim, the better your trade material should be.

2. Send me an email with your choice of card(s) at bill13boehm@yahoo.com 

Please don't leave a request comment on the blog. This just confuses people, so don't do it, it will just be deleted and will not count.

3. I will reply to you as to the card's availability. First come, first serve. I will include my mailing address.

4. When I confirm the card of your choice, pick out one or more of your own cards or anything else you want to send me. A few guidelines about what you can't send: Nothing that should really be in the garbage, nothing perishable, and nothing illegal. (Notice I didn't say nothing immoral.) I've got a want list you can check out, too!

5. Send me whatever is was you picked out. Don't tell me what it is before you send it, I'd like to have it be a surprise! Include a SASE or you won't be getting your card.

6. When I receive your item, I will take a picture of the trade materials and post the happy couple on my blog, and then I will send you the card. Here are the cards you may choose from. Cards that have officially been claimed are in BOLD. 

Base Cards

5 Mitchell Parker - Nationals

28 Mitch Spence - A's

44 Combos Adley Rutschman / Craig Kimbrel - Orioles

49 Jared Jones - Pirates - Daniel

58 Evan Carter - Rangers

90 Adam Duvall - Braves

97 Jackson Holliday - Orioles - gcrl

124 Jon Berti - Yankees - Daniel

129 Tanner Banks - White Sox

131 Zack Gelof - A's

134 Cade Smith - Guardians - Daniel

156 Jack Leiter - Rangers

163 Combos Clayton Andrews / Josh Maciejewski - Yankees - Daniel

186 Landen Roupp - Giants

220 Max Schuemann - A's

227 Combos Mason McCoy / Chandler Seagle - Padres

310 Oliver Dunn - Brewers

All-Star Game

5 Gunnar Henderson - Orioles - gcrl

12 Ketel Marte - Diamondbacks - gcrl

19 Corbin Burnes - Orioles - gcrl

21 Garrett Crochet - White Sox - gcrl

23 Mason Miller - A's - gcrl

36 Rafael Devers - Red Sox - Tim

37 Josh Naylor - Guardians - gcrl

Rainbow Foil

194 Jurickson Profar - Padres - Morgan

251 Tony Kemp - Reds

Gold (#/2024)

54 Trevor Rogers - Marlins

156 Jack Leiter - Rangers - David

 

All Class

6 Willie Mays - Giants

Autumn Tales

26 Albert Pujols - Cardinals - Tim

35 Stephen Strasburg - Nationals - Zpop

Mystical

9 Juan Soto - Yankees - Morgan

19 Jung Hoo Lee - Giants - David

1989 Topps 35th Anniversary

2 Ozzie Albies - Braves - gcrl

21 Connor Phillips - Reds

30 Mickey Mantle - Yankees - gcrl

1989 Topps 35th Anniversary Refractors

16 Darell Hernaiz - A's

50 Ketel Marte - Diamondbacks - Morgan

60 Pedro Martinez - Red Sox - Zpop

65 Jordan Beck - Rockies

***Please note, I will be going out of town for much of the weekend, so I will probably not be responding to requests made on Friday or Saturday until Sunday.  Of course I will be responding to email in the order they are received.

Alright, make your claim and go find some anything!

Packs That Just Showed Up #5

It's time for another one of these packs, and next on the pile is a pack of 2015 Topps Update Series.  Like my pants after Thanksgiving dinner, it's a good thing this pack is already open to accommodate some extra girth.  You'll see what this means soon enough.

No, I didn't mix up my photo files, these are 2018 Topps Update Series cards emerging from the 2015 pack.  At some point in the past several years, these cards made it into the 2015 wrapper, along with the actual 2015 cards.  It's a cozy fit in there, but they're making it work.  No cards are complaining about anyone hogging the armrest.

US161 Seranthony Dominguez, US117 Kyle Martin, US96 Tyler Clippard, US52 Justin Anderson / Michael Hermosillo

Four horizontal cards to start things off, kind of weird.

PO-18 Mariano Rivera Postseason Preeminence 

It's an educated guess as to the name of this insert, it's really hard to read with the player blending into the text, especially with the pinstripes.

#S-5 Bo Jackson Legendary All-Stars

Bo Jackson just always looks awesome in a Royals uniform.

US64 Mookie Betts, US63 Corey Dickerson, US146 Blake Treinen, US276 Hector Santiago

The Santiago is a stealth Feces Smear parallel (unnumbered).

Now we get to the cards that were actually in the 2015 wrapper.

US340 Fernando Salas, US25 Byron Buxton, US54 Max Muncy / Tyler Ladendorf, US227 Mike Trout Checklist

Since I already have this complete set, maybe I'll put the Buxton and Muncy cards on eBay as a nice little rookie lot.

WW-10 Jim Palmer Whatever Works

I don't remember this insert set, but it's an interesting one, basically a compilation of superstitions held by various players.  Jim Palmer ate pancakes during every Orioles victory in the 1966 World Series, so he kept doing it throughout his career.

US16 John Axford, US346 Brandon Crawford, US66 Neftali Feliz, US211 Tommy Milone, US69 Zach McAllister

Twenty cards, three inserts, and a ton of fun, pretty good stuff for a DIY fat pack.