A Walgreens re-pack to end 2016

We planned to stay in on New Year’s Eve this past Saturday. With two kids ages 5 and 2, there isn’t a ton of options outside of getting a sitter, and after a week of travel, we looked forward to a night at home. Our friends two streets over were doing the same with their three kids, and before we knew it, we had plans to go to their house for dinner, along with another couple who has two kids. The end result was not a nice quiet evening, but listening to seven kids run around like complete maniacs.

So at about 4pm, I hit up the liquor store so as to not show up empty-handed. My wife asked me to grab sparkling cider for the kids as well. Of course I forgot it, so instead of turning around and heading back, I continued on to Walgreens, where I luckily found some sparkling grape juice. Close enough!

While at Walgreens, I felt like I needed to treat myself to a New Year’s present. 2016 was a good year for me, overall. Kids were happy and healthy. We bought our first home. My first year at my new job went well. Sure, why not splurge on a $4.99 gift to myself?

There were four of thew 100-card re-packs to choose from, and the very last one on the rack had this as the first card:

Easy choice, right? Frazier cards have increased in price since he became a Yankee, and I only have one or two, so I figured this was the best choice.

There is a 1:4 chance of a hit. I didn’t get one. The pack also guarantees 5 HOF cards. Cool, I’ll put them in Joey’s binder. How did my five go?

Ok, ok. Not bad. I don’t think I’ve seen the blue bordered Classic cards. I remember the yellow ones. The Winfield Score is ok, and Palmer oddball is cool, although I definitely already have it. There were two Winfields too (also had an '88 Topps), so I guess I ended up with six cards of five HOFers.

It would have been six HOFers if this guy didn’t cheat.

 

How was the rest of the pack?

I was surprised to see 2016 Topps already make an appearance in these.

There were two 2015 Topps cards, but I was pleasantly surprised when I turned it over to find that they were from team sets, including Bryan Mitchell of the Yankees.

Not bad here, including an OPC.

A Scott Stahoviak hot pack!

Hey, I know this guy! I have about a hundred of these, but funny to see in a re-pack.

All-in-all, not the worst way to spend $5 on the last day of the year.

Hayes has room...Hayes makes the catch!

“…Swung on and popped up again off third. Hayes has room. Hayes makes the catch! Yankees win. Theeee Yankeeeees win! The New York Yankees have won the 1996 World Series!” – John Sterling

I’ve heard that call many, many times over the past 20 years. It’s one of my favorite baseball memories: seeing the Yankees win the 1996 World Series. I was a seventh grader at the time, but I still remember that night well, including being over at my friend Pat’s house.

The moment above was luckily immortalized in his 1997 Upper Deck card.

While I didn’t know much about the 2016 Archives 65^th Anniversary set, I was happy to see Hayes had an autograph. I can’t imagine many folks would be thrilled with pulling this card as their auto given that it’s selling for about $2-$3, but I couldn’t snatch one up fast enough. Although this photo isn't from the '96 moment, it's still neat that he's catching pop up.

The lot I purchased also had a green bordered back parallel #’d to 150, as well as a base card. Not bad to pick up a few of these at once. 

TTM Success: Tim Stoddard

I sent off a few junk wax card to former Yankees pitcher Tim Stoddard, and he returned all four in just three weeks. 

Admittedly, I don’t remember Stoddard as a Yankee. He was there from 1986-88. While I do have baseball memories from that time, they are mostly of Mattingly and Winfield and Henderson and Strawberry. A reliever, outside of Dave Righetti, wasn’t someone I had much knowledge of as a five year old.

Stoddard had a successful 13-year career as a reliever, spending six years with Baltimore, three with NY, and the rest of his time split between San Diego, Cleveland, and both Chicago teams. However, what I knew him best from was this:

He admirably played the role of “Pitcher has a big butt” in the critically acclaimed 1993 film Rookie of the Year. He also served as a baseball consultant on the film’s production crew.

TTM Success: Albert Belle

It turns out that I did receive one final TTM success on New Year's Eve. Former feared slugger Albert Belle signed my card in 19 days. I actually sent two cards, but he kept one, which is fine. This is the one I wanted signed anyways.

Belle was obviously one of the best hitters of our generation, and George Steinbrenner loved him. It was no secret he wanted him on multiple occasions. 

The card looks great, but the problem is, I don't think it would hold up in an authenticity test.

The "B" in "Belle" looks quite a bit different than Belle's certified autographs. See?

So, while I'd say the vast, vast majority of my TTM success are legit, this is definitely one I'm not too confident in. Who knows, maybe he signs his "free" autographs differently, but I'm not betting on it.

TLC in '17

Usually, I'm not the kind of person to make New Year's Resolutions. I like to think that I can make changes in my life whenever I need to, not because the calendar says January 1st. Although, I think I used to be better at that than I am now.

So with that being said, here are a few card-related items I hope to address or sustain in 2017. There's nothing particularly tangible, like completing a set, but I think I can make a few changes to enhance the way I enjoy the hobby.

1. Add 2017 to my Topps Yankees Project. That's the only real goal I have.

2. Continue to send out TTMs. I sent out about 150 in 2016, which is a lot more than I have in years past. TTMs are probably my favorite part of the hobby and they make me happy. I need to continue sending them out.

3. Organize. I moved twice in the past two years (I know, you're sick of hearing about it). It's been an easy excuse to keep my stuff boxed up. But this house is permanent and I need to make my collection more accessible.

4. As it relates to the above, I really want to take another inventory of my Tino collection to make sure everything is accounted for. I also want to officially count how many unique Jeters I have. While I've never formally collected him, through trades I know I have a few hundred. I'd love to know what that number actually is.

5. Joey's HOF binder - organize by player, and display them on the page above by player instead of as they come in.

6. Stop buying $3-$5 cards that add up - both in terms of money and clutter. For example, I recently picked up this Nick Swisher jersey card. It's a cool card. Huge jersey swatch. Three pinstriples. It ran me a little over $5 shipped. I keep doing this. $4 here, $3 there, etc. I know it's not a lot of money, but it adds up. I need to stop doing that, because it just creates clutter.

7. If I stop making about 25 to 30 of these random purchases, and pool my money, I can probably pick up a Jeter autograph. That would make me a lot happier than random autos and relics of forgettable players.

That's it. That's what I've got. Nothing above will make the year a success or failure, but I think it's a good starting point for my collection as it continues to grow and evolve.