Amazing Care Package From Fred

The Instagram Card Community is a great place for trading baseball cards and memorabilia, but the average age of the users appears to be about 15 or so.  I am one of the oldest people who are trading actively on there.  One of the other folks who are about my age is Fred, who is also from NC.  He told me recently that he was preparing a care package for me, just because, and told me that I would really enjoy it.

Fred was right!

I was very surprised to find this Brooks Robinson signed OMLB.  According to Fred, he had this ball for a LONG time and decided that when he parted with it, it should go to someone who would love it.  Again, Fred was right.  I really love this baseball.  I now have three of them: this one, one my mom gave me and one that I got TTM.  This one might have the cleanest signature of all.

Fred also included this really nice Christian Walker Bowman Inception auto.  I like the design on these cards and the signature on this one is really great.  I just can't get over how amazing this care package was.  Fred is a great guy, and I'm happy that the NC and Instagram Card Communities have such a strong bond!

Ebay Pickup - 2015 Topps Mini Chris Davis Black Parallel

I made a purchase for myself off of Ebay recently for my Davis PC.  I hadn't really bought much for myself, so when I saw this, I jumped all over it, mainly because I wasn't sure if I would see another.  This is a 2015 Topps Mini black parallel that is numbered 6/10.  The Minis were an online exclusive from Topps, and were only sold as complete sets.  I guess each set came with a few random inserts, so I imagine getting these will be pretty tough, since I'm sure not a lot of people will be busting their sets.

The card looks really cool.  It isn't foil like the larger 2015 Topps inserts have been this year, but it still looks nice.  I got it for a great deal, as well, at only $5.

Care Package From Dalton

I have been active in the Instagram trading community for about 2 years now.  During that time, I have met quite a few collectors that I would go so far as to call them friends.  I have also met some folks who don't necessarily collect, but I chat with them often about baseball, collecting, life and whatever.  For a while, I have been chatting with a kid named Dalton, from Minnesota.  He's into geology, so we talk about fossils and shark teeth and stuff, but had never done any trading.

Recently, he surprised me with a care package, saying that he was getting rid of some baseball cards so he could concentrate on football.  He also wanted to send something nice for my son, Chris, since his birthday was around that time.

I was surprised when I opened the care package that Dalton sent.  There were quite a few lower end relic and auto cards.  I was expecting a few Orioles and Giants base, but the package having all of those relics and autos was really cool.

There were some base cards as well, like the above 1972 Topps Frank Robinson.  I think I actually need this one for the set, if I can ever get it started.  It has a small crease on the left side of the card, but it isn't imposing, so I'll probably keep it in the set.  If not, it will go into the Frank Robinson PC.

I didn't scan each and every card Dalton sent, because he sent so much.  Probably the highlight of the autos and relics was this game used baseball card.  If you look closely, you can see that some of the stitches made their way into the relic.  I haven't seen many relic cards like this, so it was one that I really enjoyed.

This Tim Hudson relic was another card that Dalton sent that I really liked.  It is just a nice, clean card.  The card is numbered 245/250.

Thank you so much for the care package, Dalton!  I really enjoyed it, and Chris has, too!

Instagram Trade With Dylan

I completed a trade recently with my friend, Dylan from Virginia when I sent him a Rafael Devers auto that I pulled from a pack of 2015 Contenders baseball.  In return, he hooked me up with this really nice Rickey rookie.  I had an extra one of these before, but traded it away.  This one is in much better shape, even though it didn't scan all that great.

Dylan sweetend the deal with this 2015 Topps Chrome Christian Walker pink refractor.  This is a nice card to see in person.  I found it a bit odd that it wasn't serial numbered.  I thought for sure that the pink parallels were numbered.  Oh well.  It is still a nice card.

Finally, Dylan surprised me with this Cal Ripken standups card from 1985 Donruss-Leaf.  It is an '85 All Stars standup, and as you can see, it features Cal inside the Hubert H, Humphrey Metrodome.  I don't think I had this in my collection until now.  I think I would know, especially since this is an elongated card, and it would stand out.

Thanks so much for the trade, Dylan!

The Foulbunt Top Ten - No. 1

It all comes down to this.  I have ranked the cards that I consider the tops in my collection.  I feel like I chose all of the cards on this list very well, and they all slot into their different positions nicely.  The card that made No. 1 on the list has much more meaning to me than for it to be just another card in my collection.  It meets a lot of the criteria that landed other cards on the list.  Vintage? Check. Rookie? Check. PC Player? Check.

The thing that pushes this card to the top of my list, ahead of all others is that it was/is the culmination of a PC that I never expected to start in the first place.

Card No. 1 out of my Top Ten is:

My 1948-49 Leaf Virgil Trucks rookie card.  Anyone familiar with this blog knows how I feel about Mr. Trucks.  He was a gem of a man, and a favorite to those in the hobby.  I first discovered him when I was discussing TTMs with my good friend, Drew.  I did a phone interview with him.  I corresponded with him a great deal, and I cried when he passed away.  He was a good man, and a great American.  A hero to many of us in the hobby.  When I bought this card, it was (and still is) the most that I ever spent on one baseball card.  I won an auction on Ebay and got this card for $350.00.  Graded, this one would likely go for a lot more.

The price was so high, mainly because this card was a short print.  It was the last of Mr. Trucks regular series cards that I needed for the PC.  I added some more later on, like the 2011 Topps Black Diamond auto, but this one was the last of his regular issue cards from his playing days.  It caps my Trucks PC nicely.

Furthermore, this, like a lot of the older cards with minimal color, it really pops.  The picture of Trucks on the card is a blurry, but he still looks cool.  I also love the old school Tigers jersey.

This card made No. 1 on my list for a lot of reasons.  To me, it most represents what Mr. Trucks meant to me as a person and my desire to have a nice PC built around him.

Thank you all for checking in to see my Top Ten posts; for all of the comments here on my blog, or my Facebook or Instagram.  This has been a lot of fun to do.  I plan on revisiting this in a few years to see if the numbers still stack up.  Who knows, I may add some awesome pieces between now and then, and the list will get a good shake-up.  For those that are interested, I created a page among my tabs (at the top of the blog) so you can go back and look at the Top Ten.

I always hated the Top Watever countdowns that VH1 would have, because there was always some current song or artist that just didn't quite fit in with whatever the countdown was.  Like, they would always try to find a way to sneak Celine Dion into the countdown.  Like, Slash would be the Number 3 guitarist on their list, followed by Celine Dion at number two.  Stuff like that.  I tried my best to make sure that the list was comprehensive of my entire collection, and it didn't reflect any bias toward anything that was obtained last week versus last year.  Thanks for reading!

The Foulbunt Top Ten - No. 2

Each of the card on this list were ones that cost me a decent enough amount of money and/or were amazing gifts from friends and loved ones.  Each card is desirable and would be highly sought after by any collector.  The next card on my Top Ten list is one that took me over 20 years to add to my collection.  It is also one card that I was almost willing to pay any price to get it in my hands.  It is also the only card in my Top Ten that came out of the Junk Wax era, showing that there are cards from the late 80s to early 90s that still command value and mystique.  Card No. 2 in my Top Ten would be No. 1 in any collection, but it is supplanted here, but is still an amazing piece:

My 1992 Donruss Elite Cal Ripken auto card was one that I wanted to add since it was announced to be able to be pulled out of 1992 Donruss packs.  I can't even begin to count how many 1992 Donruss packs that I opened in hopes of adding this card to my collection.  I had a chance to get one at the 2012 National, but declined, believing that I would be able to find one cheaper than what I found there.

I made it my mission to get this card at the 2015 National and I was able to leave Chicago with it in my hands.  I dropped $300 on the card, but in the end, I was super satisfied with it.  I had walked clear across the Donald Stephens Center looking for it, until I found a vendor who had it.  My excitement probably cost me a few bucks, since he wasn't willing to come down on the price any.  It didn't matter.  I wanted the card so bad, I was willing to pay up.  The hunt for the card was a welcome side-quest at the National and made it a very enjoyable time.

The auto is on-card and is still share after all these years.  It is also the only signed card in my Top Ten.  I guess it shows how much I value vintage and rookie cards.  Still, Cal was my first PC and my first baseball hero.  I doubt I will be able to add any Ripken card that means more to me than this one.  As amazing as it would be to pull this out of a pack, I was happy with being able to find it when I could afford it, and bring it home.

The Foulbunt Top Ten - No. 3

I've covered rookie cards, amazing vintage and set building in the previous Top Ten posts.  There was no card I was more excited to receive that the next one on the list.  I was working really hard on building a major vintage set at that time, but I had told myself that I wouldn't ever be able to afford the key rookie card, so my set would likely be incomplete.

It took a cursory look on Ebay one afternoon at the card shop, some nudging from my friend, and I put a bid in.  Little did I know at the time that the card would be one of the crown jewels of my collection.  Card No. 3 in my top ten is:

My 1955 Topps Roberto Clemente rookie card.  I placed the bid on the computer at the card shop, but the auction was ending about 30 minutes after closing time.  I raced to my parents' house and begged my mom to let me use her computer so I could watch the end of the auction (since I was still winning).  She let me, but said "If your dad comes in, he's going to want to get on the computer and you'll have to get off."  I took my chances and signed into Ebay.  With about a minute to go, my dad walked in, wondering why I was on his computer.  I told him I was winning an auction and really wanted to make sure I won.  He walked over and saw it was for a baseball card; then he saw the price.  I figured he would tell me how silly it was that I was bidding so high for a piece of cardboard.  What he said next really surprised me, though.  He chuckled and said "I guess we all have our things, don't we?  You should see what I paid for the engine I just bought..."

He walked away, saying he would be back in about five minutes, to which I told him that would be fine.  I ended up winning the auction for this card for about $150.  That was a complete steal, since the book value on the card is exponentially higher.

It isn't mint, but it looks great.  The card now resided with my 1955 Topps set, which I was able to finish about a year and a half later.  I still think it is really cool that my dad got to see me get it, and he understood the importance of my collection to me.  I'll always remember that about this card.  I have met a lot of collectors over the years who's parents either didn't understand or support their hobbies.  I am lucky to say that both of my parents not only understand, but they support it and they each have their own hobbies as well (Dad actually collects a great number of things, from fishing reels to trains to Johnny West figures and more).  This card reminds me just how lucky I am.