Full Barrel

 

I like to stagnate out my CardBarrel orders so the people there don't think I'm a psychopath.

The Online Dime Box ones are easier, cause at most I'm just filling a Hamilton and they can do that easily. But CardBarrel is a larger database with more filing cabinets and more stuff lying around and I don't wanna tax them too often by throwing countless cards into a bubble mailer sent towards Jersey. Yes, the consumer is already right, but this consumer has anxiety. 

So I wanted to make sure the iron was hot when I made another order, and judging by a lot of the stuff in this post, the iron was very hot. Being able to get this 1999 Upper Deck Bobby Abreu card, a very cute and poignant portrait of the Vet in 1998, almost made the whole thing worth it, but there's more to cover. 

Player Collections:

CardBarrel had a Pat Venditte MLB card I did not have. This was a problem that needed to be rectified. This 2016 Heritage issue is not the classiest Venditte card, but it is still a Venditte card, and I enjoy those immensely.

There were also some other small player-related needs I filled here.

I realized recently that I have lots of Coco Crisp cards on the Indians and A's, but not otherwise. Mostly his Sox days have evaded me, so getting these cool ones helped, as did the rare Royals Crisp card from 09 UD.

A rare 2008 Update card that fell through the cracks was Ben Zobrist's 2008 Topps issue. I feel like this one has a chance of being photoshopped from a 2007 photo? That blue jersey looks a bit green, that Rays logo looks a bit pasted on, but I've been wrong before. Still, it's a young Zo card, and a pre-fame Zo issue I didn't have

And more Phillies Andrew McCutchen cards is never enough. This was also my first taste of 2020 Gallery, which for obvious reasons did not show up on my radar during my retail quests. Looks cool, though.

And four from 2020 Heritage High Number. Didi and Wheeler were obvious Phils-related needs, but those top two I needed from the moment I realized they existed. Lucroy played maybe a game or two as a Red Sox, but CarGo didn't play ANY in Seattle. A zero year card that doubles as a sunset issue. Wild.

Set Intrigue:

This 2004 Fleer Showcase Barry Zito continues my quest for the 2004 Fleer sets I chased in my intro to collecting [detailed in this post]. They stand out in my memory, and finding new issues from them continues to really impress me. 

These four as well. 2004 Classic Clippings, while simple, still stands out to me, and getting some of the bigger cards, like Nomar and Glavine helped. Plus, Andruw Jones was another needed Patchworks card. 

My similar quest to nab Topps base cards of all the people I collect continued as well, with two 1999 Topps issues. One easy to find, Brad Radke, the other a bit rarer, John Smoltz.

I also was piqued by a recent baseball card store dot com order that featured lots of late-90s Pacific issues to look towards Fleer's more Pacific-esque endeavors under their Skybox umbrella. So these two issues of guys I collect from 2000 Skybox Dominion made it into the cart, despite the oddness of the b/w background.

As did these...absolute oddities from 1998 Skybox Thunder. I didn't know when I scanned these that certain cards combine to create a T, so only Colon and Lofton together demonstrate this. But...man these are wild, in the best way possible. Perfect 90s-Fleer looniness. Also cool to see late career Eck, Boggs and Molitor subscribe to this. 

Diamond Kings:

This is one of those properties I've been pilfering cards from since I started collecting. The texture, elegance and modesty of these 2000s Donruss DK sets have been something I've always respected, even after Playoff became more copy-and-paste about it after 2004. So getting a whole bunch of these felt really good, especially this 2004 commemoration of I-Rod's 2003 Marlins year.

2002- Fairly simple backgrounds but good detailing all around. Ramirez' might be the best of these. 

2003- I have a ton of these already so I'm just getting the stragglers, including a Yankee Ventura, and some usual suspects like Huddy and Wood.

2004: Lots of variety here. Yes, some more usual suspects like Abreu and Beckett and Konerko, but Padres Oliver Perez, and baby Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez. Also, nabbing a semi-action static shot of Cubs Aramis Ramirez was a cool change of pace.

2005: Another one I have a ton of already but I still strive for more of. Hudson's is an 05 DK Update issue, so it's on slightly different stock [as Playoff were essentially closing its doors upon its release], but getting Smoltz, Larkin and that Dave Parker one were important to me.

UPPER DECK BASE CARDS:

This was a biggie. CardBarrel had just gotten a huge shipment of 90s-00s Upper Deck base sets, spanning most of the run. So I had to go back through the sets I was both familiar with and had busted boxes of in college in order to find stuff that was new to me. Some, like this BEAUTIFUL Jimmy Rollins in Baltimore, stood out to me immediately. 

1999 UD: This one I'd nabbed some from CB before [back in the JustCommons days], but the refresh brought some new stuff as well, like more Colons and Loftons, and these late-career issues from Harold Baines and Wade Boggs.

The 99s even included a subset or two, like this Foreign Focus one giving us Panama's Mariano Rivera and Dominican Bartolo Colon. All for cool, international-centric subsets, as you'll see.

2000 UD: Another one I don't have a ton of, so my usual suspects [McGriff, Lofton, Colon] show up here as well. Kind of a transitional set, from the bulkier sets of the 90s to the crisper, cleaner ones of the early 2000s.

These two really struck me. Potential final releases for HOFer Harold Baines and...guy I enjoy collecting Orel Hershiser. Cool to see them both in this set.

2002 UD: Mostly collected stuff from Series 1, cause 2 was the one I broke. Hideo Nomo in Boston is the coolest sight here. 

Another international-themed subset, World Stage, netted me two cool-to-collect guys, Nomo and Walker, representing their home countries. 

2003 UD: Most of these were taken from Series 2, cause 1 was the one I busted. Good to see some presence from the younger players from that season, as well as some vets, and a rare Pirates Kenny Lofton card.

Four horizontals. Rivera I was shocked to nab at a low price. McGriff and Pierre look awesome from this dimension. 

2004 UD: The last of these they had a ton of. More usual suspects [Colon, Lofton, Oliver Perez], but a Cardinals Larry Walker card, and early closer Joe Nathan. 

The best part of there being an onslaught of 2004 Upper Deck is that I could get both Roberto Alomar cards, each depicting him at a different stage of the final season of his career, in Arizona or in Chicago. Impressive stuff.

Set Needs:

This 2008 Trading Card History one of J-Lo's weeping ex-husband brings my search for that 75-card insert set from 2008 Topps down to three cards- that elusive Mickey Mantle card, Joey Votto's rookie, and, of course, Derek Jeter. I've been chasing this one since I started collecting, and it feels good to bring home another one. 

I also knocked off a bunch of 2020 Archives needs, a set made harder to chase by its exclusion from retail shelves. These commons from 55 continued the chase, even if the larger ones are gonna be tricky. 

74s. Mostly basic photography here, though Frank Robinson's is awesome. Kiner's is grouped in here cause Topps gave him 2 cards in this set and hoped we wouldn't notice. 

More 02s. Two legends, a steroid abuser and Geno. Eclectic mix.

A rookie card of 2015 World Series champ Yordano Ventura brings my chase to complete the 2014 Stadium Club set down to ten cards, which is pretty huge. 

And these two big pieces of the 1988 Donruss set bring my set endeavor down to just four cards- Roberto Alomar and Al Leiter's rookie cards, Jose Canseco, and Matt Williams' rookie card. Again, big pieces to go, but not undoable. 

So yeah, that was a really productive CardBarrel order, and I'm glad I was able to snag a lot of nice 00s DK and UD stuff. Might wait it out til I do another one, but I did get a lot out of this one. 

Barrel of Necessity

It had been a while since I'd made a CardBarrel run. I'd only made a haul from their once since their rebrand from JustCommons. And it had begun to show- several times, I'd throw out the contents of a cart because it had been too long and a lot of the cards weren't in the catalog anymore. So if I wanted to make a run at anything, I'd need to be quick.

And aside from one or two cards, including the ever-elusive lead singer of Pearl Jam, I succeeded in being quick this time out. I got a lot of set needs, a lot of OCD-needs for my own neurosis, and a lot of cool stuff. Let's dive in, year by year, shall we:

1993-
To clarify my neuroses listed above, one of my goals with players I collect is to nab all of their Topps issues as a backbone for their placement in my binders. I'll usually stack it so that canvas-esque, cooler cards go first, then other base cards from other sets, until finally, oldest to newest, a player's Topps base cards can be displayed. So I'm still rounding up a few of those, including two HOFers, like Biggio and Yount, as well as some fun fringe players like Robin V, Kenny Lofton and Lou Whitaker.

 Two unusual ones for me: Dale Murphy in Philly, and Harold Baines in Oakland. Interesting that the guy on the right is a Hall of Famer, and the other one isn't.

1994: HOFers on top, including that awesome multiple-exposure Ryno, plus a cool Ozzie. Favorites on bottom: you'll see a few more Dutch issues in here, but none more 90s.

1995: Fairly basic here, but I do LOVE that Daulton one. He looks so happy.

1996: This set is underrated as far as photography is concerned, man. Just some cool stuff going on, regardless of weird design. Lofton's and Ventura's are nice here.

1997: I swear, we'll get to non-Topps stuff soon, guys. Here we reach our first of many Bartolo Colons of this purchase, and a rare Topps issue of Tim Raines before Topps decided to stop making base cards of the guy for...some reason.

Great shots here, too. Obviously the Loftons weren't flying off the shelves, but that final Sandberg issue is a nice one.

1998: Obviously, Robin V wasn't selling out, either. That Edmonds one is a cool one, though. Been looking for that one for a while.

1999: A fun bunch of Indians players in this. Also, forgot that I needed the reigning MVP. Fun stuff.

2000: 2000 Topps is one of those sets I pretty much have covered, but every once in a while one card pops out of my grasp. Robin V was one of those. Not enough cards of him on the Mets, Yankees or Dodgers.

2001: Surpisingly needed a lot from this set, hence all these HOFers. I loved that this set wasn't afraid to go horizontal for surprisingly commonplace shots.

Plus all of these fun ones. A lot of coolness here, from the posed shot with Manny, to Nomo as a Tiger, to the ability to zoom back a bit on shots like Nomar's, to the cool red of Dunn's, which actually came from the traded set.

2002: Yes, finally some non-Topps-base stuff. I still have fond memories of old Topps inserts, and love that they gave one to J-Rol in his second year. Thank god they had one still.

Speaking of J-Rol, he's one of four UD40-man ones from '02 that I got. I honestly prefer the 2003 issue, as it's a bit more...set-like, but this one's nice too. These are some of the less-oddball choices from this set, but they still work.

A few 2003 Leaf issues, because nobody talks about that set anymore. And also because my search was clearly for Bart-as-Expo cards.

2003: Yes, but this is among the last of it. Feels weird that Omar was in Cleveland so long that he got to wear those odd 'I' hats and blue-maroon jerseys. Plus, I love that the Marlins were still rocking teal in 2003. Yes, they'd phase them out after the WS win, but...still cool.

Toldja I was after cards of Bart as an Expo. These ones had evaded me. The UD MVP insert is...very awesome.

2004: Okay, he's not an Expo here, but still.

2005: Some Update needs.

2008: Yes, I'm still trying to collect Trading Card History. And yes, both of these cards look awesome. THIS is why I'm still trying to collect this set.

2010-11: Too lazy to break these up by year, so here they are together. Getting more into finding old Pro Debut issues of people, even if they're not worth quite as much as Bowman. These are not only XRCs of both Jose Iglesias and Jean Segura, but they're both pictured for teams they'd barely ever play for: Iglesias for Boston, who'd trade him (and Frankie Montas) for Jake Peavy; and Segura for Los Angeles, who'd trade him to Milwaukee for Zack Greinke.

2012: These were the last two of three non-shortprinted 2012 Archives needs for me (Babe evaded me). I also threw in ONE short-print...

Yeah. Whatever. I'm from Philly, I can take it. I think he lives not too far from me, too, despite apparently being a horse's-ass in real life.

And an XRC of Marcell Ozuna for the road.

2013: Two of the hardest throwers in baseball this year. I'd forgotten Fried was a San Diego farmhand. Think they got him in the Kimbrel trade.

2014: These were the last of my non-SP base needs for 2014 Archives. That Ernie Banks card is a gem.

I've probably mentioned this on the blog once or twice, but 2014 Finest was a frigging awesome set. I try to get as many cool-looking commons from it as I can.

Although 2014 Stadium Club may be my favorite set of the decade. Just amazing all-around. And as I'm collecting that one as well, here are four more solid base needs.

And these two fireballers got decent horizontal shots. Down to my last few big ones for this set.

 2015: Look, I dunno what prompted these, but...2015 Bowman's Best was cheap, I collect all of these players, and these cards scan surprisingly well. What else is there to say?

A couple Detroit rarities. The Yoenis is cool because Yoenis never got a proper Topps card as a Tiger, and DK gave him a base anyway. Nice job Panini.
...and then there's that Jack White card, from 2015 Topps' First Pitch insert, which I have legitimately been looking for since it was announced. Yes, I'm a White Stripes fan, I like the Raconteurs, and I really like Jack's solo stuff. So finally getting this was therapeutic. Now the search for Eddie Vedder's card continues.

2017: Two more Pro Debuts. Honeywell hasn't made his debut yet, but he's coming, and he's probably gonna be really good for the Rays. Spencer Turnbull has been pitching well for Detroit so far, so I'd say this was a fine investment.

A...relatively rare issue of Rich Hill pre-Dodgers trade, and another First Pitch I've needed for a while, of SNL legend Jon Lovitz.

And now...let's talk about some Short Prints.

Yeah, for some reason, CardBarrel had a TON of cheap short printed variations from 2017 Update. Maybe they weren't so short printed, as I recall pulling 3 SPs easily from my limited number of packs I bought from that set. Maybe they threw 'em in to satisfy collectors who were upset about the lack of traded players (it didn't work).

Anyway, these three fun shots were from that year's All Star Game. Cano's is the classiest, Harper's is the most fun..

...well except maybe this shot, from the Home Run Derby, or the Kraken high-fiving with enemy Chris Sale. See, even Topps believes in unity between sworn enemies. Classy all around.

The 2017 SPs get weirder than that...

These two were also pretty affordable. Like...Reggie cards aren't usually too affordable these days, so that was nice. And that Eddie Murray card is just menacing as hell.

And then there was one I kinda HAD to have...

...yeah.

If 2017 Update was a normal set, this would be a common. But 2017 Update sucks, so this was a super-short-print that I had to wait 2 years to get my hands on. Why? Because Topps is hella lazy. Hell, I can barely even confirm that he's really in a Dodgers uniform, as some elements look a bit airbrush-y. But...this is the 2017 Update Yu Darvish card that could have just been...a regular base issue.

And at least I finally have the damn thing now.

2018: Cutch-a-palooza. As one of my favorite players has hit the 'we can't keep up with which uniform he's wearing' phase of his career, here are some solid entires from last year. As awesome as that Aurora insert is, it's an obvious Pirates uniform. And that Bowman's Best may be my sole card, so far AND ever, of Cutch as a Yankee. I will cherish it.

2019: One of the first real issues of Cutch as a Phillie. Hopefully the first of many.

...and let's end with cards of two of the best arms in the minors right now.

Sixto's is NOT his XRC, but it's close, and it's a zero-year card, as he's been traded from Philly to Miami, where he's been throwing fire in the minors.

Mize's...IS the XRC. At least from Pro Debut. That is Casey Mize's rookie card, which is a pretty damn big deal considering how well he's been pitching in AA. He could be a Detroit Tiger as soon as next year, or even, like September, the way he's blowing through the minors.

I could be wrong on both of these two, but I have a feeling that this may have been a good choice.

And that concludes my massive CardBarrel purchase. If you're stuck along for the entirety of this post...good for you. I'm glad people still do that. Hope you enjoyed the fun pictures.