TTM Success - Carlton Fisk

Carlton Fisk was among the last few Hall of Famers that I needed for my 1987 Topps set. I had put off adding him to the set for some time now, since his fee was so high.  I finally got the money together and sent to him. Before I did, however, I found another card that I wanted to send.

The above 2013 Gypsy Queen Collisions card turned out amazingly and I am glad I spent the extra money to get it signed.

Of course, I got my 87 done, as well, and crossed Fisk off of the list. 

I mailed to Fisk on October 9 and got the cards back on November 4, for a 26-day TAT. This was also my 700th signed 1987 Topps. I paid a fee of $50/card.

Hits From 2014 Topps Series One

Continuing on with my 2014 Topps posts, here are the biggest hits that I got from my break of three jumbo boxes.  I got three manufactured relics.  All of them were Red Sox.  Two of them were Ted Williams.  Not too bad.  I'm sure Scott will end up with some of them and I know my brother, John, will end up with at least one as well.

This Topps Black parallel was pretty sweet.  I'm no Yankee fan, but this card will definitely get top loaded and put in with my good cards.  This will likely end up being an iconic card for Mo, I believe.  Even with the product placement for Pepsi and Gatorade as well.

Finally, I had an epic pull in one of my boxes (I believe it was the second box).  I got a redemption for a Cal Ripken Trajectory autograph.  Pretty sweet, if you ask me.  I was kind of in shock when I pulled it.  I was beside Scott and on Skype with Andrew, so they got to see it get pulled also.

Ok, there you have it.  I got some good stuff from 2014 Topps.  I ended up with a few other autos (Wade Miley and Jason Kipnis) and some decet relics (Buster Posey, Rick Porcello and Andrelton Simmons).  I got a pink parallel (Wily Peralta) and another black parallel that I hope to post soon.  Overall, I was very satisfied with my purchase of three boxes of cards from my friend and supplier, Taylor Crane from CranesCards.

Hall of Fame Birthday Present

Drew has outdone himself this time.  I never expected my good buddy to surprise me with a present this year for my birthday (which is tomorrow), so when I came home to a box and saw what was inside, I was definitely excited.  Drew contributed my 76th Hall of Fame signed baseball to my collection.

Fisk (born in 1947) played in the majors from 1969, 1971 to 1993 for the Red Sox and White Sox.  He is one of the greatest catchers of all time.  The 1972 AL Rookie of the Year.  His home run in the 1975 World Series against the Reds is legendary.  His lifetime numbers are either at the top or near the top in all categories for a catcher.  2,356 hits, 376 home runs and a .269 batting average over 24 seasons is very impressive for a guy who caught 2,226 games (a record that has just been passed by Ivan Rodriguez).

Fisk was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2000 (his second year of eligibility) when he was named on 79.6% of the ballot.

Thanks so much for the ball, Drew.  You've been an awesome friend and I can never put into words how much that means to me, so I will again say, thank you!

Some Christmas Packs of 2011 Topps Update

One of the Christmas presents my wife got me was a blaster box of 2011 Topps Update Series.  It was the Target exclusive version, so inside were two red variation packs (nothing really of note in them) as well as the Commemorative Logo Patch.

The logo patch I got was the above Carlton Fisk Red Sox patch.  It looks pretty cool, even thought I'm not a Red Sox fan.

I got a Roberto Alomar cognac diamond parallel, but I already had it, but the above Koji Uehara diamond parallel was pretty nice.  Rumor has it that Texas is willing to trade Koji back to the Orioles since he really wants to be back in Baltimore.  I'd love to have him back.

Finally, this mini Kimball Champions insert of Vlad Guerrero was also pretty cool.  I didn't think Vlad was a bad pickup for the O's this past season.  Even though, $8 million for a singles hitter is pretty high.  It would have been nice if Guerrero had hit for a bit more power.