Gold borders 27 years apart

I had two Tino Martinez cards come in this past week. They couldn't have been more different, yet they shared one common trait.

Gold borders.

The first was was Allan Kaye's Sports Card News and Price Guides. It's uncommon when a Tino from 1992 I hadn't seen pops up, but sure enough, this one did. I was unfamiliar with it, which is definitely surprising since I have a sound grasp on most of Tino's early stuff. But sure enough, I didn't have it, and it was a quick and easy eBay win.

I was surprised to see gold foil borders on this card, as that was still fairly rare for 1992 and generally oddballs were made fairly cheaply. I appreciate the effort, as well as the nice, clean design.

The other was from 2019 Archives Snapshots, a set I have little use for. But when a low-numbered Tino is available, I'll snag it if the price is right. In this instance, the card is hand-numbered 04/10. Weirdly, I also own the gold autograph numbered 04/10.

These two Tino cards put me at 1,099. Just one away from another round number!

Your way, right away

Burger King has been a part of baseball card collecting for a long time. Most of us probably think of the late '70s BK issues, at least I do. You know, the Topps cards that were the same as the flagship, just with different card numbers. Reggie Jackson's and Thurman Munson's 1979 Topps Burger King always come to mind when I think of that.

Mark Hoyle once sent me that whole set via PWE back in 2015, which was amazing.

In the late '80s, they went the more conventional oddball-type route with their All-Pro Series. The image below is ripped from Beckett.com but I can't figure out how to caption on new Blogger. So sorry, Beckett.

I have come across the cards above far more than one I have wanted even more, which is a Tino Martinez from the 1999 Fleer Burger King set. However, I finally snagged the card I wanted:

No BK logo on the front, but there it is on the back. Interesting choice working with Fleer on this one. 

What's a little annoying is that I realized I could get a full uncut sheet for a little more had I searched for it. Meh, I don't want to store an uncut sheet anyways.

Fleer issued a set through Burger King to honor the Yankees 1998 World Series title. The sheet also came with a 1999 schedule attached. There are 27 cards in the set, and were distributed locally in the NYC area.

The Tino for me doesn't pop up often, but maybe because I should have been searching for the uncut sheets this whole time. Who knows? But glad to finally have it.

And I didn't even need to eat a Whopper to get it. 

A Helping Hand

When I was a small child, I remember a few television commercials vividly. The Duracell Battery bashing together at the end was one. I don't know why, but I found the noise to be really loud. Like unbearably loud. I remember the creepy Twizzler's spots with the disembodied lips. I recall always enjoying seeing the little Pillsbury Dough Boy laughing while getting his belly poked.

And I remember that funny little friendly Hamburger Helper glove, aptly named Helping Hand. That small hand was adorable, hopping all around the TV screen helping busy families prepare meals quick meals.

That's why I'm a little ashamed that a card I've been aware of for over 20 years finally became mine.

Back in 1998, Hamburger Helper issued some cards on select product boxes. After his 44-HR season in 1997, Tino Martinez became a subject of their Home Run Heroes set. While keenly aware, I never managed to snag the card until it popped up on eBay just last week.

The biggest complaint I have is that Helping Hand wasn't on the card! This is a big miss! I would have been thrilled to have that little lefty grace the design somewhere.

Overall, the card is fine and feels like a late 90s food issue. It was cut out nicely and with care, so no qualms there.

There aren't a ton of Tino oddballs out there, but this is one that was long overdue to find its way into my collection.

No Wonder he reached out

A while back, I got an email from friend of the blog Dan. He did a cool Ty Hensley interview he showed me over at Bronx Pinstripe blog, and also mentioned Tino was his favorite '90s Yankee.

We decided to do a quick cardboard swap, and I was most excited when I saw this card.

What a cool card! It's from the 1990 Wonder Bread Superstars series. I haven't seen this card. Most of my oddball Mattingly cards are from Post, so this was a nice surprise. It's a simple, elegant design that reeks of a bread-issue! I would have pegged this around 1988 or so. What a great addition to the collection!

I've decided one of my next collecting quests will be to collect 1,000 unique Jeters. I need to take inventory. I believe I'll be in the 600 range once I officially count. I can say that I definitely didn't have this 1996 Stadium Club.

Here's a sampling of the rest of what Dan sent me.

Dan, I'm glad we connected. Thanks for the cards!

Clearly Traveling

This summer, we've already had one trip canceled due to the COVOD-19 pandemic. As you may or may not recall from previous blog posts, we making a yearly trip to a lake in New Hampshire. I always visit a card shop while there, and have chronicled that before. My most recent revisit was here, although I must've gone to the shop last year too and not blogged about it.

Anyways, it's usually the last week of June, and we didn't go this summer, for obvious reasons.

We do hope to go to the Jersey Shore in a few weeks, though work is so busy for me right now (which I'm thankful for) that I may simply go and work from there, maybe ducking down to the beach for an hour or two here. That will also depend on the bozos there and their ability to social distance. Based on the usual Jersey Shore crowd, I'm not optimistic.

Regardless, most travel for the summer has been called off. I'm definitely staying away from airports.

One thing I've never seen at airports are baseball cards. However, I just received a trade offer for a 2019 Topps Clear Travel Gleyber Torres. I had no idea what this was, but the other person had asked for a 202 Heritage SP of future Yankee Fransisco Lindor. I thought it was a fair swap for an oddball of Gleyber.

The card itself looks no different than 2019 Topps. No added logo. Just a different number on the back - CP-18. I wish they had the Utz treatment with a logo, but it's still a neat card to add. I'm not quite cure what the "P" stands for. Maybe "Clear Packs"?

According to Cardboard Connection, these cards were distributed at MLB parks and nearby airports. They also came with a coupon for the Clear travel service, which is like a pre-check, skip the line type of service. I have never seen one outside of an airport, but apparently some parks have a "Clear" line that serves in a similar manner. Five card packs were given out for using the service.

If I didn't know this card was a Clear Travel version, I would have skipped right over it. Check your card backs, people!

It's clear to me that this is only travel reward I'm going to get this year.

Utz Happening Again

It's here again. A rematch of the 2017 ALCS, where the Astros beat a young Yankees squad in 7 games. Both teams are a little older and more mature now. I have to give the edge to Astros because of the starting rotation, and an offense that is on par with the Yankees.

However, it's certainly not a given, as we've seen throughout these Playoffs. Anything can happen, and I hope the Yanks are up to the task.

One very bright spot in the quick sweep of the Twins was the amazing play of Gleyber Torres on both sides of the ball. He was a monster at the plate, with a HR and two doubles in Game 3. Plus he made a terrific defensive play at 2nd to help the Yanks avoid danger.

He's just 22, and he's a complete star. The Yankees are very luck to have him.

On the other side of the ball, Luis Severino is looking for some redemption from a season lost to injury. He threw 4 shut out innings in Game 3, and while he wasn't great, he found a way to dance out of trouble a few times. That kind of step in the maturation process is important, especially in the Playoffs.

Both of these Utz cards came from the man, Mark Hoyle, over the summer. Thanks, Mark!

Go Yankees!

Utz Utz Baby

In the past few weeks, I've seen a lot of card folks posting about 2019 Topps Utz promo cards. Essentially, this is a 100 card promo set inserted into snack pack bags of Utz chips. The cards look just like a 2019 Topps card, but with an unmistakable Utz logo on the front, similar to Topps Opening Day.

Also similar to Opening Day - no foil!

Mark Hoyle was kind enough to send me Didi Gregorius, the first card I've received from this promo. I'm all for food-issue and other oddballs, and given how few of them we get in modern times, this is a nice win for the card collecting community.

The rest of the Yankees checklist includes:

4 Aaron Judge
9 Johnathan Loaisiga RC
12 Gleyber Torres
37 Chance Adams RC
42 Aroldis Chapman
53 Didi Gregorius
54 Miguel Andujar
55 Luis Severino

And the complete checklist:

1 Buster Posey
2 Yadier Molina
3 Brandon Crawford
4 Aaron Judge
5 Lorenzo Cain
6 Aaron Nola
7 Whit Merrifield
8 Wade LeBlanc
9 Jonathan Loaisiga
10 Adam Jones
11 Dansby Swanson
12 Gleyber Torres
13 Javier Baez
14 Steven Duggar
15 Kyle Tucker
16 Shin-Soo Choo
17 Jesus Aguilar
18 Sean Reid-Foley
19 Nick Markakis
20 Kohl Stewart
21 Francisco Arcia
22 Khris Davis
23 Shohei Ohtani
24 Ryan Zimmerman
25 Nolan Arenado
26 Kris Bryant
27 J.D. Martinez
28 Ramon Laureano
29 Byron Buxton
30 Joey Votto
31 Blake Snell
32 Clayton Kershaw
33 Carlos Correa
34 Todd Frazier
35 Corey Dickerson
36 Ronald Acuna, Jr.
37 Chance Adams
38 Trea Turner
39 Mookie Betts
40 Paul DeJong
41 Austin Hedges
42 Aroldis Chapman
43 Josh Harrison
44 Rhys Hoskins
45 Max Scherzer
46 Willson Contreras
47 David Bote
48 Justin Turner
49 Miguel Cabrera
50 J.T. Realmuto
51 Robinson Cano
52 Starling Marte
53 Didi Gregorius
54 Miguel Andujar
55 Luis Severino
56 Jonathan Schoop
57 Jake Bauers
58 Trey Mancini
59 Kyle Schwarber
60 Salvador Perez
61 David Price
62 Dee Gordon
63 Nick Pivetta
64 Francisco Lindor
65 Joey Gallo
66 Corey Kluber
67 Jeff McNeil
68 Jake Arrieta
69 Freddie Freeman
70 Brad Keller
71 Jose Ramirez
72 Julio Teheran
73 Mike Clevinger
74 Cedric Mullins
75 Eric Hosmer
76 Matt Carpenter
77 Harrison Bader
78 Justin Verlander
79 Miles Mikolas
80 Mike Trout
81 Jacob deGrom
82 Corey Seager
83 Jose Altuve
84 Michael Conforto
85 Juan Soto
86 Charlie Blackmon
87 Johnny Cueto
88 George Springer
89 Marcus Stroman
90 Jose Quintana
91 Jake Lamb
92 Christian Yelich
93 Brian Anderson
94 Eddie Rosario
95 Matt Chapman
96 Edwin Diaz
97 Ryon Healy
98 Paul Goldschmidt
99 Ryan O'Hearn
100 Nicholas Castellanos

Danny Baseball?

One of my favorite players of all time is Don Mattingly. If he played a couple of more seasons, he probably would have been the star of my collection. Instead, most of my childhood coincided with Tino Martinez at 1B for the Yankees, and he obviously become the focus of my collection.

Still, I love Mattingly cards. During all of the reorganizing I've been doing, I keep stumbling across cards I haven't looked at in a while.

Even better, I notice new things on these cards all the time.

This 1990 Broder Living Legdn stuck out to me. Do you see why?

It says Dan Mattingly!

The error is repeated on the back too.

Very funny! I had never noticed it until earlier today. I will say, Donnie Baseball has a nicer ring to it thank Danny Baseball, does it not?

Who you callin' a Squirt?

Matt from Doc Holoday is one of the best blogging dudes out there.

First off, his customs are true works of art...even when they have Red Sox players on them.

Some of my best blogging buddies are Red Sox fans, so it just goes to show what a great group of collectors we've got around these parts. Matt is no exception, and this trade package meant a lot because I know he's been dealing with a lot since late summer when Hurricane Harvey affected him and millions others in Texas and the southeastern US.

Matt sent me a message that I had 2 lbs of Yankees headed by way, and right away I was greeted with a card I had always wanted:

Squirt! I love this card. And I love squirt. Full disclosure - on New Year's Eve this past year I was shopping for food to make that night, and wandered down the soda aisle and my eyes immediately went to Squirt. The colors are so catchy! I bought a 2 liter and drank the whole thing that day. It's delicious! And I'm really happy to have this card.

He wasn't joking about the 2 lbs of cards either. Holy moly was their great stuff, including this Dellin Betances holiday relic.

And some really, really shiny Yankees. I don't know much about Topps Finest these days other than knowing the Refractors still look awesome.

Roger Clemens was represented well in this box. I really like the Double Play insert with Greg Maddux on the flip side.

Derek Jeter cards are always welcome in my collection:

At the time, this was probably a stretch. Now, even more so! Ruben Rivera sharing a card with The Big Hurt? Not a great look.

Oddballs besides the Squirt Reggie were found too. Sweet Woolworth card of Mattingly!

I keep saying it, but Severino is criminally under-priced right now.

Some nice cards of Yankees legends from some newer products - Reggie, Gehrig, and The Mick finding his way into Donruss.

I had no idea that Steve Sax's brother, Dave Sax, played in the majors!

Two trippy ARods. The old Fleer Ultra inserts really hold up today. This was a Diamond Mine insert.

Big Mike /499! Good luck in Minnesota, my friend.

Look how young Jorge looks! I collected a ton of Collector's Choice growing up, but I don't think I have this card. The base card designs were always pretty tastefully done.

Trust me, there were many, many more great cards. Matt, I really appreciate you thinking of me. Keep up the amazing work with the customs!

Johnny lights up the mailbox again

One of my favorite bloggers out there is John of Johnny’sTrading Spot. He’s always fun to follow, posting cards of vintage, card show pickups, and amusing posts like “shadow shots.” He also seemingly has an endless supply of cards that he generously sends out very regularly.

He is definitely one of my main sources for Tino cards, as he’s always on the lookout. He sent a few my way in a recent package, including two I didn’t have:

He was kind enough to label the Rediscover Topps as a “copper.” I probably wouldn’t have been able to tell. The Prestige was just one of those random base cards from a random set I would have never realized I needed. While there were some dupes in there, I still appreciate them. Here are a few of the ones I liked most.

Fleer Excel minor league cards were awesome. There were a lot of minors issues in the early ‘90s, I’m now realized. This Pettitte is definitely cool.

I showed a Melky Cabrera card yesterday, so why not another? I think this Bazooka design is very underrated. I liked Bazooka in the mid-90s, but wasn’t around for their short comeback around 2005.

Drake’s oddballs! Oh hell yes. Who doesn’t love these?

What a great card of NFL QB Brandon Wheeden. I definitely checked to see if he signs TTM, but all signs point to no. This card would look great signed.

Lastly, as he does from time to time, Johnny sent a few NASCAR cards for Joey. I gave him one before I could scan it – a cool picture of Kyle Petty’s Mello Yello car popping out of an Action Packed card. Joey goes, “Whoa-a-a-a-a suuhhweeet!” when he saw it and ran it up to his collection, so I’ll just have to show this instead.

Johnny, thanks as always!