On demand

'On demand' means a lot in today's world. 

It's become a part of everyday speech, often referring to some sort of instant gratification. To me, it's mostly commonly associated with television. There's even a button on my TV remote with a star on it, with the button's label reading "On demand."

Baseball cards too are now printed on demand, something that started with Topps Now and has evolved into many, many forms of cards released online and printed to order. There are so many of these types of sets now, that it's impossible to keep up. I rarely know what sort of sets are out there at any given time.

It's easy to not pay attention. I have no need to go Topps' website just to browse around. Every so often I'll open one of their emails and notice a set that's currently available on demand. I might even buy one once in a while, such as Derek Jeter-curated set.

Recently on TCDB, someone offered me two Gleyber Torres cards that were printed on demand. I had no idea either card existed.

The first is a 2020 Topps Attax. I don't think the brand every resonated with baseball collectors. I've gotten tons from 2010ish in trade packages. I see the brand seemingly do well for some other sports, like soccer, but in baseball it never made much of a splash. Still, it's neat to see some of today's current players on an Attax design.

The next was a 52-card set created by Kenny Mayne. I love Kenny Mayne. I know there are a lot of cool people who like to brag about not liking ESPN, but Mayne was one of the best SportsCenter anchors and talents to land on air, and his catch phrases and features were always outstanding. While this looks more like a playing card of course, I didn't know this set was even a thing until the card was proposed to me in a swap.

That's all for today. Off to work...where my time is IN demand.

Uncle Martyn does it again

"Uncle" Martyn is one of my favorite collectors out there. He runs the blog I Collect Ball Cards from the UK, and is an overall good dude. Back when Joey was born, Martyn sent him a few relic cards "From Uncle Martyn", hence my blog post title.

We lost touch for a little bit, but Twitter re-connected us and we go back and forth from time to time. Martyn said he had a cool Pineda to send me, and he wasn't lying. Check out this beauty:

One cool thing about this card is that it's a palindrome card. It's numbered 26/62. I don't know why, but I find that cool.

Uncle Martyn also sent some stuff along for Joey since he just became a big brother. Stickers! World Cup stickers! Joey loves stickers...and I constantly find them on the bottom of my shoes. He usually peels them off and sticks them to his face. It's sort of funny and sort of weird. He did enjoy these though, although they are a bit tough for a two-year-old to peel off. I did save one unopened pack and put it in the pile of unopened packs I've been accumulating for Joey. They are mostly junk wax, but I'd love to give him a big box of unopened stuff one day, no matter when it's from. He'll enjoy seeing what it was like to open cards in the '80s and '90s, since when he's older, they will probably have flying cards and all that.

Martyn gave two packs of Match Attax too, which are the Barclays Premier League equivalent of Baseball Attax. They are cool cards, and we pulled two inserts that are X-Fractor like.

Martyn, thanks again man!

A Spankee Yankee trade

I dropped the ball on this trade, but luckily Spankee didn’t. He sent me a great batch of Yanks that had a little of everything. I am just now sending out cards for him. Talk about a slacker.

The trade started by checking if a Reggie Jackson he pulled was for trade. Here’s the card. I’ve always loved these, especially with the signature.

A Joba card #/d to 699 was also included. Hard to believe I’m watching Joba’s last few weeks in pinstripes. He’ll either be traded today or walk away as a free agent next year. 

Fleer Inscribed of Derek Jeter is just a classy card. 

I have no idea what set this Roberto Kelly card comes from, but there were two different ones in the package. 

A great old Topps All Star of Donnie Baseball. 

A Topps Attax refractory card, which is surprisingly sharp looking for a Topps Attax card.

Oddball! 

Last but not least, a Floyd Little Syracuse card. I always appreciate gestures like this, as it shows Spankees knows I’m a Syracuse guy from the few times I've mentioned it. I wonder if Floyd signs TTM… 

 

Thanks again, Spankee! I SWEAR your cards are in the mail.

Trade Review: This Card is Cool

A few weeks ago, I contacted Ryan G over at This Card Is Cool about setting up a possible trade. I figured I'd have a bunch of cards on Ryan's want lists, especially his Super Collection. I pulled a bunch of cards I had that I figured Ryan might need...and as it turns out, he didn't need many of them! That's a true testament to Ryan, who is is trying to collect a card of every set ever produced. No small task. The fact that he is 17% there is pretty amazing.

I did manage to find a handful of cards he needed, including a relic and an autographed card of Randy Velarde, which I had a spare from a past TTM success. Ryan sent me a 2008 A&G Melky Cabrera relic and a handful of other Yanks, including some 2011 Topps Attax and a sweet Munson National Chicle.

Thanks for the trade, Ryan!