2016 eBay purchase: Hall of Flawless Fame

As I said on TMV this evening, I'm a bit late getting back to the party in terms of Hall of Fame weekend (not to mention posting here at all) but at least managed to land a couple eBay pickups--both of which are Michigan PC guys--that were perfect for showing off this week.  You already saw one of those, a nice Charlie Gehringer cut auto, and now, as promised, I'm here to show off the other fun acquisition.

I already mentioned this player is a guy a number of you collect and that I just as easily could have posted his card on TMV because of his popularity.  Like Gehringer this player is a middle-infielder who left Michigan and went on to a HOF career.  He also played 19 MLB seasons, all for one team, and won an MVP award like the Mechanical Man.  Oh yeah, and each managed to win a World Series ring during their respective careers.

Know who it is yet?  I'm sure most of you do:

Barry Larkin 2016 Panini Flawless Transitions Signatures Emerald auto (#4/5)

So, uh, that's a pretty nice low-numbered autograph of Barry Larkin, huh?  If you hadn't noticed, he's prominent pictured as a Wolverine on half of this card, hence his appearance on this here blog tonight.

This super-thick, super-premium Panini Flawless card highlights Barry's career both with the Wolverines and with Team USA back in 1984.  As this article notes, Larkin was on the '84 USA team that went on tour and then participated in the Seoul Olympics as a demonstration sport, cruising to the gold medal game before losing to Japan.

I love that Panini has continued to take advantage of alternative uniforms to overcome the lack of the MLB license, especially since that's resulted in a nice number of college cards.

The fact I won this one at all was amazing enough to me, but so was the fact that I paid just a bit more than $36 shipped for this Emerald version numbered to just five copies!  I was prepared to pay even more considering that amount was around or even under what the more common versions (#d /15) were going for; Barry doesn't have a ton of Michigan cards out there, especially not autographed versions, so I'll happily pay a bit of a premium when I see them.  As it is, this is now my third maize & blue auto of his (1 and 2), fourth signature overall, and 19th hit.

For less than the cost of two craptacular blasters I now own what may be my top overall Larkin card!  Hopefully eBay continues to treat me well this year with cards like this one.

2015 eBay purchase: the Mechanical Michigan Milestone Man

I showed off a beautiful pair of Tigers cards I picked up on eBay over on TMV tonight, but just in case you didn't see that post (or even if you did!), here's the highlight that's appropriate for putting on display over here:

Charlie Gehringer 2007 SP Legendary Cuts Inside the Numbers Cuts auto (#52/60)

This is my first non-manufactured hit of the HOF Tiger, and I'd be hard pressed to do better!  I'd wanted a cut auto of Gehringer for the longest time, but the ones that had appealing designs were almost always too expensive.  Not so this time as the seller's BIN of $40 was plenty reasonable for me, and I think you can see why:  Charlie's "Chas. Gehringer" signature is as beautiful as always, the cut window fits the whole thing comfortably ("...he said, as Topps studiously ignored him while designing another overpriced crap product"), and the old-fashioned look with the MM's photo ties everything up nicely.  This is a card I'm gonna cherish for a long, long time, and then some!

So, I deployed the "milestones" tag, why come?  Well friend, there's two reasons.  First of all, ol' Charlie here represents the 1500th total hit in my Michigan Sports collections.  Considering where I was just a few years ago when I started this blog, much less way back when I created TMV, this just blows my mind!  Don't forget to check out those collections with the links to your right towards the top.

The other milestone of the day concerns posting totals; yep, after three years and almost three more months, we at TMM have finally hit our 500th post!  That I took so long to get here is a testament to my laziness and ability to be distracted easily, so I'd like to thank the other blogs, TV, shiny objects, and loud noises, without which I wouldn't be writing this today.  Or, well, that doesn't make a ton of sense since without those things I would be writing this today, I'd just have way more posts under my belt.

As usual when reaching a milestone like this I'd also like to credit Jeff of My Sports Obsession who's contributed his fair share of content, especially his excellent Michigan tumblr photo features.  Thanks again for chipping in content sometimes, Jeff--that makes you just as much of a laziness enabler as the things listed above.

And thank you to the few of you that follow this blog that has a more specific and audience-limiting focus that my other one.  GO BLUE!

I'll be back soon with some fantastic trade package hauls, some loot from COMC, and the remaining new PCs I need to show off.

2014 COMC purchases: we wish you a Barry COMChristmas

While I was picking out cards on COMC once again on Black Friday weekend, and then again thanks to my surprise free shopping spree, I decided to throw some credits at my Barry Larkin PC.  I'll deviate from protocol slightly by revealing that he's currently tied with Rich Hill for #1 in my player collections at 241 cards including the ones in this post.  Those guys are the only two that have eclipsed 200 for now, though obviously under different circumstances--I've got a LOT more to work with when it comes to Larkin!  Of course he's also much more expensive, so most of the time I end up landing base and lower-end inserts of the HOF SS.  That's fine by me, though, as I'm happy with anything new of Barry I can add!  Here's what I picked:

Barry Larkin 1991 Stadium Club

If Topps has achieved anything greater than Stadium Club since the early 90s I'd sure like to know about it.  What a great shot of Barry in the cage.

Barry Larkin 1992 Stadium Club Dome

For those that haven't heard of it, '92 Stadium Club "Dome" is a 200-card set Topps made in 1992 that used the '91 design and included some highlights and rookies from the previous year.  It gets its name from the fact that the packaging was done in the shape of Toronto's SkyDome, which hosted the 1991 All-Star Game.  Speaking of that, Barry didn't start thanks to SS Ozzie Smith, but he did pinch hit for Ozzie and went 0-1 in yet another NL loss.

Barry Larkin 1993 and 1994 Finest

As I always like to point out, this is a tale of two sets.  1993's debut version looks very cool and has definitely earned its place in hobby lore.  Meanwhile, the '94 set isn't terrible, but it's an obvious step down, and I still like to call it the "Fruit Roll-up" set.  Hey, anyone want to trade me Barry's '93 Refractor?

Barry Larkin 1995 Pinnacle Museum Collection

Dufex!  Nobody did it better than Pinnacle back in the mid-90s at a time where you had to work hard to distinguish yourself from the rest of the pack.  This is a cool shot of Larkin in the field with OF Thomas Howard in the background.

Barry Larkin 1996 Finest Bronze (#B167)

Back to Finest and another of the sets I liked, although I believe this was the first of the brand to use the "peels" that have split collector opinion for years.  "Intimidator" is an apt label for the 1995 NL MVP who went .319/.394/.492 with 15 HR and 51 steals a year before joining the 30/30 club!

Barry Larkin 1996 Topps Chrome (#6)

Like '93 Finest, '96 Topps Chrome is what I would call a successful debut for the brand, even if the price caused sticker shock for many collectors.  And like Finest the set has been hit or miss ever since.  I noted the card number here because Barry has both a Star Power subset card and a base card, which I haven't picked up yet.

Barry Larkin 1996 Topps Laser

Speaking of higher-end 1996 Topps products that caused sticker shock, anyone else remember Topps Laser?  Another of Topps' one-and-done brands, it just never really had a chance.  They cost too much and the overuse of "laser" cutting makes them hard to keep in good shape.  That doesn't mean I didn't want to pick up Barry's card, though!

Barry Larkin 1996 Upper Deck Diamond Destiny

Ok, last 1996 card, I promise.  For as cheap as it was I couldn't help but pick up this fun-if-goofy relic of the 1990s insert craze that includes an inset round window with a translucent image of the player.

Barry Larkin 1997 Topps Inter-League Finest (with Albert Belle)

Here's another card that doesn't exactly age well in one sense--the celebration of now-commonplace interleague play--but otherwise holds up well as far as 90s inserts go.  Given how much of a beast "Joey" was for the Tribe, I'd say Topps did a good job selecting Larkin and Belle to represent the two Ohio teams here.

Barry Larkin 1999 Fleer Sports Illustrated

1999 saw the final release of a set that combined Fleer and magazine Sports Illustrated.  As with the previous two versions, the product featured a rigid, glossy design and some fantastic photography, which you'd probably expect with SI involved.  Here we get an awesome shot of Barry turning two against the Cubs.

Barry Larkin 2000 Topps HD

Man, the more I look at some of these cards, the more dated they feel!  Remember when nobody knew what "HD" was all about?  These super-thick, super-high-def cards are very cool, though.  Still, don't most people these days associate HD with widescreen?

Barry Larkin 2003 Playoff Portraits

We wrap things up today with this very artistic card of Larkin out of Panini's 2003 Playoff Portraits set.  Nice choice of an image of Barry to work with, apparently standing on-deck just a couple seasons before his retirement.

As I said earlier, I'm now up to a solid 241 cards of Michigan's best modern MLBer, and hopefully I'll be hitting the 250-card mark soon!  Until then, look for lots more COMC cards this week.

Charlie and George were among the Greatest Hitters

I realize I've gone without posting for nearly two weeks, but I've been busy putting together my spring cleaning contest for the other blog (which I hope to have ready by today), and more importantly, enjoying the fantastic spring/summer weather that's been long overdue!

While I have plenty to show off in the form of trades and pickups from Sportlots, COMC, eBay, and more, today I have a pair of cards I dug out while flipping through things to get rid of:

Charlie Gehringer and George Sisler 1982 TCMA Baseball's Greatest Hitters

TCMA cards, and this set in particular, may be familiar to many of you.  This version came out a year before I was born, but my parents must have bought them for my brother and I at some point, and I've had them for a long, long time.  It's chock full of legends, including these two, which are among my player collections.

Both Gehringer and Sisler are in the Hall of Fame, of course, and for each that was the case especially thanks to their hitting prowess.  Gehringer, the "Mechanical Man," finished with a career average of .320 and more than 2800 hits.  Sisler was even more renown for his skills with the bat, tallying a .340 career mark and owning the single-season hits mark of 257, broken many years later by Ichiro.

These cards mark my 17th Gehringer and 33rd of Sisler, and I think they were perfect for a lazy Sunday kind of post, which will hopefully get me back in the habit!

To see more of this classic set, hit up this link to the Trading Card Database.

2014 eBay purchase #7: Little Leon and the Mini Kid

For such a little card, the one in today's post ended up being a pretty big one.  It hails from a fan favorite set, 1975 Topps Mini, and despite its small stature it manages to cram four players onto it.  I'm talking, of course, about a Topps multiplayer RC!  This one in particular:

Leon Roberts 1975 Topps Mini RC (with Carter, Hill, Meyer)

This here is the second of Leon Roberts' pair of '75 Topps RCs, with the other being the flagship version I already owned.  I managed to land it for a very reasonable $6.50 on eBay earlier this month, and it arrived in pretty nice condition.  Of course, Roberts will forever be in the shadow of HOF catcher Gary Carter, and rightly so--and how great is the "catchers-outfielders" combo that drew these players together?  This may be another notable RC of The Kid, but I'm thrilled to have added another needed Roberts to the PC.  

Here he's joined by fellow Tiger Danny Meyer, a 1972 fourth-rounder and a corner IF/LF that managed to eke out a 12-year career despite producing a negative WAR!  He did have a bit of success with Seattle after being grabbed during their expansion draft.

Also along for the ride is Marc Hill, a Giants catcher that was a 10th-round pick of the Cards in 1970 (a few choices before the Reds took future Carter teammate Ray Knight).  He was a Giant for six of his surprising 14 MLB seasons, even if his career was unspectacular.  With Carter's 19 and Roberts' 11, all four players on this card had double-digit seasons in the Bigs to their names, which is the mark of a successful prospects card as far as I'm concerned.

Not only is this a great addition to my baseball PC, but as I alluded to earlier, it's a big one for Roberts' collection--I'm now one card short of his entire run, though it'll be the toughest to get:  his 1975 O-Pee-Chee, whose value is also bumped up by Carter's presence.  No worries, I'll find one, I'll celebrate another great card of the Kid, and then I'll head back here to pop some champagne over another completed PC, so stay tuned!

Also, feel free to head over to TMV to see me discuss the same card, but with a focus on Carter.