2021 Topps Yankees Project entry...for now

While I no longer actively send TTM autograph requests, I don't want my Topps Yankees Project to go by the wayside. 

The Series One checklist offered no real opportunities to check off 2021 in my quest to have a signed Topps Yankees card from each year. Series Two offered some slightly better options.

The first, and easiest, was a card featuring third base coach Phil Nevin and Giancarlo Stanton. Of course, Stanton doesn't answer fan mail, but Nevin is an outstanding signer. So while I'd prefer a traditional card being my entry for the 2021 season, this will be a solid placeholder in the binder for now:

I certainly hope to upgrade, both this card, and hopefully from a rostered player. The signature bubbled pretty badly. I definitely ran an eraser over the card prior to sending, but must not have done it enough if the marker tried so badly to evaporate.

However, I do like the card itself. Stanton's HR handoff is a pretty cool celebration when he is rounding the bases. Sadly, it just doesn't happen much anymore. Apparently he started this isn Miami and brought it to NY.

As for the Project, there's still a couple of other guys who might return a card, so hopefully I'll have another addition to this collection.

If you're interested in seeing past entries to the project, check this out here.

2020 Hindsight

I don't have a lot to say about 2020 that hasn't been said. I know it was horrible for many, and I hope that 2021 proves to be more fruitful to any who had hardships, whether it be health, financial, or job-related.

I'm fortunate to say that my year was pretty good in the grand scheme of things. My family remained healthy and happy. I got to spend more time with my kids during important ages of their lives than I would have ever dreamed possible. Although I have to say, that feels like a negative at times as well. I think I've hit my family-time quota for the next few years.

Work was busy and rewarding. I feel fortunate about that. While not essential, my line of work does provide people with entertainment and an outlet for tough times. We grew when others cut back.

The last time I physically went to work was on March 9. I have not been into Manhattan, where my office is, since then. And it doesn't appear that I'll be going back soon. Remote work has become the norm, and my dining room table is my new desk. I just wish I invested in a better chair than the cheap I bought on Amazon at the beginning of all this.

Baseball was weird this year, but I applaud MLB - and all other leagues - for figuring out a way to get in or finish a season. I actually liked the season quite a bit. Seven inning double headers were awesome. Each inning felt so important. I did not hate the extra inning runner on second, either. For the regular season, I wouldn't be upset if MLB kept that one.

As for cards, it was a really weird year for me. The best way to describe it was up and down, with short term bursts that kept me interested and occupied. It almost felt like I truly lived into my name as "The Lost Collector", as these quick projects are sort of what kept me going once the store shelves dried up. Not that I am a big retail buyer anyways, but the hobby changed around me, and I changed with it and found projects to make me happy and keep me focused, or at the very least, give me something to do that was card-related.

So with that, here's a bit of my year in review on cards.

My card of the year:

In July, I declared this my card of the year. Nothing knocked it off its perch for me. The card brings me back to the '90s, whose cards continue to pull me in ways that neither current cards nor vintage can.

Basketball rookies I missed:

That love of '90s also pulled me back into collecting some NBA cards, notably of rookie cards of guys I missed after I stopped collecting basketball. Playerss like Vince Carter, Dirk, Paul Pierce, Tim Duncan, and more. I grabbed RCs of current established guys like Lillard and Durant and AD as well. But that was one of my aforementioned few short-term focuses. I'm glad I did that before the card market went insane

Vintage Syracuse lore:

I did dabble in some vintage, but really more of under-appreciated Syracuse legends Floyd Little and Dave Bing. I'm glad I did. It was fun to look at vintage designs I hadn't seen before due to not being familiar with 70's Topps basketball and football products.

Goodbye to TTMs:

One of my biggest shifts in collecting is that I all but said goodbye to TTM autograph collecting, something I had done fairly religiously since this blog kicked off. A few players publicly expressed their displeasure with having mail sent to home and that it was an invasion of privacy. That, and the whole pandemic thing, made me not want to send mail to home addresses of athletes, past or present. So I all but stopped.

Although the one area of TTMing I will keep alive is my Topps Yankees Project, which luckily I was able to check off 2020 when Mike Ford returned a card signed to me. I now have a signed Yankees Topps card from every year, 1951-2020.

Hello Project 2020:

I started off as skeptical about Project 2020 as anyone, but once I got my first Derek Jeter card, I decided to give it a go and collected the full run of all twenty of his cards. Expensive? Sure. But it's not like I was buying a blaster a month or anything. The set should be collected any way someone sees fit, whether that means one card, or all 400, despite the opinions of those who will tell you on how this set should be collected. 

The varieties are endless. I know some who bought one card from each artist, and will display 20 different players from 20 different artists. I know some who collected entire runs of teams or players. Some picked and choosed here and there based on simply liking a card. Some bought none and at and wanted to brag about that.

Me? I got all 20 Jeters directly from Topps, and supplemented a few more on eBay for much more affordable costs. There are lot for under $5. I even split a lot of Don C. Ripkens with Napkin Doon!

I definitely have my favorite artists of the bunch. I have some I wasn't a fan of. I think a few artists were out to lunch and had no idea what they were doing at the start. But I sure do respect anyone willing to put their art out there, and I admire the work done by these men and women.

TCDB emerges:

I started using the Trading Card Database in 2019, but it took off for me in 2020. I completed over 100 PWE trades. It has been a fun way to add a few new Tino cards, as well as 2020 Yankees that I wasn't able to find in stores or by ordering online.

Tino hits 1K, and beyond:

Last but not least, my favorite collecting achievement this year was when I hit 1,000 unique Tino cards a few months ago. And since Tino found his way into the likes of Allen & Ginter (and all its spinoffs), as well as Topps Update, my collection has continued to grow. I now sit at an even 1,050!

I'm sure I'm missing a few things from collecting cards in 2020. But the year came and went, and I'm still here. I appreciated a few trades with friends old and new, and receiving cards 'just because.' I enjoy being able to share the hobby here, and I look forward to celebrating this blog's 10th birthday in a few weeks.

Thanks for reading and being a part of my small corner of the collecting world. I wish you and your families the best in 2021!

My Topps Yankees Project...is ALIVE!

I thought I had no shot at continuing my Topps Yankees Project for 2020, but out of nowhere a few days ago, this showed up:

Let me take a step back. For those not familiar, my Topps Yankees Project is a collecting project I started in 2011. The project consists of one signed Yankees Topps card from every year since 1951. All autographs were obtained by me through the mail (TTM), and there are no repeating players. 

I sent a batch of cards out at spring training for 2020, and none came back. Then COVID-19 and stuff. And I did stop sending TTMs during that time, except I sent three requests to Yankee Stadium once Series 2 came out. I know, hypocrite!

After hearing nothing, I assumed I was going to have to try again next spring, but luckily Mr. Mike Ford came through for me and I can check 2020 off the list.

I am due to once again scan the entire project. For now, I'll link back to the last time I did that in 2017 here.

Topps Yankees Project - 2020 Challenges

Although my team has more than one card in 2020 Topps, the checklist is not going to be conducive to quickly checking off 2020 for my Topps Yankees Project. For those unfamiliar, it's a TTM autograph for each year Topps has existed. I have completed 1951-2019, but 2020 will be a tough one until Series 2 comes out.

Here's what the Yankees checklist is looking like, with the signing habits of each player.

• 7 Aaron Judge - rarely signs
• 16 Gleyber Torres - doesn't sign
• 46 Gary Sanchez - doesn't sign
• 68 James Paxton - rarely signs
• 83 New York Yankees Team Card - doesn't count
• 121 DJ LeMahieu - rarely signs
• 157 New York Yankees Combo Card - doesn't count
• 161 Aroldis Chapman - doesn't sign (used to!)
• 252 Aaron Hicks - sometimes signs
• 279 Masahiro Tanaka - doesn't sign
• 301 Mike Tauchman - signs
• 335 Luke Voit - doesn't sign

My best bet is going to be Mike Tauchman, which I'd be thrilled with. I've gotten him TTM before, actually, so I've got a shot here. I'll still probably send to Tauchman, Voit, Hicks, Chapman, and Judge in hopes that I catch them on a good day. Maybe I'll send the team card to a lesser-known player as at least a placeholder in my binder.

I haven't updated the project and shown pictures since 2017, so I'll have to do that at some point this spring. Here's who I have for each year, though:

Progress:  63/63

Details: 

1951 - Jerry Coleman
1952 - Charlie Silvera

1953 - Irv Noren

1954 - Bob Kuzava

1955 - Steve Kraley

1956 - Bob Turley

1957 - Bobby Shantz
1958 - Gil McDougald
1959 - Virgil Trucks

1960 - Art Ditmar
1961 - Joe DeMaestri

1962 - Bobby Richardson

1963 - Hector Lopez

1964 - Bud Daley

1965- Phil Linz

1966 - Al Downing

1967 - Dooley Womack

1968 - Mike Hegan

1969 - Jake Gibbs

1970 - Jerry Kenney

1971 - Ron Klimkwoski

1972 - Mel Stottlemyre

1973 - Fritz Peterson

1974 - Roy White

1975 - Ron Blomberg

1976 - Ed Herrmann

1977 - Chris Chambliss

1978 - Fred Stanley

1979 - Cliff Johnson

1980 - Jim Beattie

1981 - Greg Nettles

1982 - Bob Watson

1983 - Goose Gossage

1984 - Bert Campaneris

1985 - Clay Christiansen

1986 - Don Baylor

1987 - Bobby Meacham

1988 - Rick Cerone

1989 - Dave Eiland

1990 - Steve Balboni

1991 - Randy Velarde

1992 - Roberto Kelly

1993 - Andy Stankiewicz

1994 - Lee Smith

1995 - Scott Kamieniecki

1996 - Jimmy Key

1997 - Mariano Duncan

1998 - Joe Girardi

1999 - Chuck Knoblauch

2000 - Chili Davis

2001 - Clay Bellinger

2002 - Scott Brosius

2003 - Steve Karsay

2004 - Chris Hammond

2005 - Tony Womack

2006 - Kevin Thompson

2007 - Scott Proctor

2008 - Kei Igawa

2009 - Phil Coke

2010 - Michael Dunn

2011 - Mariano Rivera
2012 - Austin Romine
2013 - David Robertson 

2014 - Boone Logan
2015 - Shane Greene
2016 - Andrew Miller
2017 - Tyler Clippard
2018 - Garrett Cooper
2019 - Troy Tulowitzki

Adding a Yankees Legend to my Topps Yankees Project

Most are likely familiar, but a few years ago I set out to collect at least one signed Topps Yankees card for each year that Topps has put out a product. I did this all via TTM autograph requests, and didn't purchase any of the autographs via a 3rd party. I also didn't repeat players. Here is the last time I posed all the cards together, in 2017.

Given current signing habits, it's gotten tougher and tougher. But it's still doable.

In 2019, this had been my entry so far. I was fine with it, but the personalization was something I was hoping to not include in my project. Just a weird quirk, even though I don't mind at all when I get personalized autographs.

Then yesterday, this 'lil beauty arrived in my mailbox.

That right there is from Yankees legend Troy Tulowitzki.

I was all for the Tulo signing last winter. People bitched and moaned, because that's what they do, without understanding that the Yankees were getting him for the league minimum at a time when their starting SS was going to miss the first half of the season with TJ surgery. I know it's a hard concept to grasp: no risk, high reward.

Tulo then had himself a great spring training, and was the Yankees opening day shortstop.

Sadly, as most likely would have predicted, he got injured after just five games, and eventually called it a career. At the age of 34, he just couldn't stay healthy enough to keep playing. It's a bummer, because he was an elite player when healthy. I'm glad he was a Yankee, albeit for a short time, because he idolized Jeter (wore #2 in Colorado and Toronto), and I know it meant a lot to him. He even hit his last career homer as a Yankee.

Tulo then latched on with the University of Texas as a coach, which is where this TTM request was sent.

So if it comes down to Chance Adams versus Troy Tulowitzki for my 2019 project entry, I might just have to give the nod to the five-time All-Star, two-time gold glover, all-time Mets killer, and all-around cool dude and Yankees legend.

If you could donate a card to the Baseball HOF, what would you choose?

I stumbled upon this cool article on Sports Card Daily about the National Baseball Hall of Fame building a baseball card exhibit. My first thought was, “This doesn’t already exist?!” I know cards are featured throughout the exhibit, but I suppose they don’t have a place to call their own. I definitely plan on donating to this exhibit (click here), and please scroll to the end of this post to see how I’m going to do that with your help.

Sadly, I haven’t visited the HOF since 1996. I do intend to get back there at some point, as it’s not terribly far from where I grew up. I do want to take my kids there though, although I’m waiting until they are just a little bit older for that. They'd be a disaster there now.

Regardless, it got me thinking. If you could donate one item to the Baseball Hall of Fame for their card exhibit, what would it be? I've seen so many amazing cards/collections featured on these blogs, I know we could open up an exhibit on our our!

Mine would easily be my Topps Yankees Project, as I think it would be awesome to feature that within a glass case…although sort of sad I wouldn’t have it in my own possession. However, it’s what I’m most proud of as a collector. As a reminder, it’s a signed Yankees card from each Topps flagship set, 1951-2018, done entirely by me via through the mail (TTM) autograph collecting.

 

 

 

 

(I know 2018 is missing but I have it...just didn't have an updated image!)

 

So how about you? Which personal card(s) would you donate if you had the chance? If it’s something you’ve featured on your blog in the past, feel free to link it within your comment.

And since I feel strongly about this exhibit being part of the HOF, I’ll donate $1 to the exhibit for each response I get by Friday at 11:59pm ET (capped at $100).

2018 Edition - Topps Yankees Project

Big sigh of relief.

I’ve gotten one TTM success back from 2018 MLB Spring Training. But, it was an important one. Former Yankee and current Marlin Garrett Cooper signed this for me:

Notice anything? Yep, that’s a signed 2018 Topps Yankees card. Which means…

I HAVE AN ENTRY FOR 2018 FOR MY TOPPS YANKEES PROJECT.

I’m really happy to have this. I reserve the right to swap it out if a different success comes in that I prefer to use, but for now, I am thrilled to check off 2018 for my project. I was a little nervous when I saw the Yankees checklist for Series One, but Cooper came through for me.

I really hope he gets a shot at significant playing time with Marlins. I liked him in his short Yankees stint. The Yankees actually traded him for international bonus pool money when they were still in the hunt for Ohtani. That was before the Yankees were notified that they were an East Coast team.

Cooper hit .326 for the Yanks in 45 plate appearances. Obviously Justin Bour is the starter at 1B in Miami, but hopefully Cooper can make the roster and get his share of ABs. Easy guy to root for.