If Jon Lester signs with a team other than the Athletics—which is how it seems things will shake out—does that mean we'll never see a card of Lester in an A's uniform? This probably happens a lot, but the two players who come to mind are Reggie Jackson (Orioles) and Don Baylor (Athletics), both in 1976. Another guy who could fit this bill is Yoenis Cespedes, the slugging outfielder the Red Sox obtained in exchange for Lester. The Sox have a logjam in the outfield and the feeling is that Cespedes walks after next year.
This also brings up an interesting take on the purpose of end-of-year series like Topps Update and Topps Heritage High Numbers. Topps Update is a showcase for All-Star cards, rookies, and guys who fell through the cracks in the regular set. Heritage High Numbers is chock full of rookies and other end-of-the-bench guys who didn't get cards in the regular series. Gone are the days when traded players get cards of them in their new uniforms. Were it up to me, High Numbers and Update would be a more traditional mix of rookies and traded players. This would solve the problem of guys like Lester, Cespedes, and Nelson Cruz (whose year on the Orioles probably won't be recognized in 2015 Topps Heritage)...
...An insert set that didn't seem to hold its value is the mini set in 2014 Topps Heritage. Despite being the case hit and each card being numbered to just 100, eBay prices have fallen in the last few weeks. All of this is good news for me, as I now have 47 of the 100 subjects...
...Is Topps's design for 2015 a subtle homage to 1990's design? It'll be the 25th anniversary of that set, which could mean a possible "no-name" error, right?...
...I promise this is the last Heritage item I'll bring up for now: I've decided that the ultimate card from the Heritage set is the Maury Wills Real One autograph card. For one thing, Wills is shown as a member of the Dodgers. Secondly, he wasn't included in the 1965 Topps set, so—barring custom cards—this is as close as you're going to get to a 1965 Topps Maury Wills card.
...Are there great card blogs still out there? From what I've read recently, collectors are more interested in posting images of their "hitz" on Twitter than talking about the bigger picture in the hobby. Is that how others see it?
Finally, I almost forgot. Remember my post in November 2013 about the future of price guides? (Read Average Real Pricing: The Future of The Price Guide.) Well, if you subscribe to Beckett's online price guide, it looks like they incorporated something like average real pricing into their tiered offerings. They're calling it the Beckett Online Price Guide Plus (very original). If it's anything like my idea for average real pricing, this is a step in the right direction. Hey Beckett, you're welcome.
Finally, I almost forgot. Remember my post in November 2013 about the future of price guides? (Read Average Real Pricing: The Future of The Price Guide.) Well, if you subscribe to Beckett's online price guide, it looks like they incorporated something like average real pricing into their tiered offerings. They're calling it the Beckett Online Price Guide Plus (very original). If it's anything like my idea for average real pricing, this is a step in the right direction. Hey Beckett, you're welcome.
6 comments:
It does seem like most people inside of blogs are more interested in talking about the things that they're collecting. I just resumed the hobby in earnest in the past few months, and I am surprised how little information there is to be found beyond buying stuff on eBay. I haven't even figured out how to be a set collector any more...I mean, where do you get commons any more? Shops don't carry them, Ebay won't bother with them...they gotta go somewhere, right?
We're still out here, blogging about the hobby and not necessarily just what we like. But I admit that what's going on "currently" has interested me less and less.
That Heritage mini set would be a pretty cool set to put together. It's weird how some inserts take off and others don't really grab a foothold. You could take two inserts with identical checklists and the same print run, and one would be flying off the shelves and the other would collect dust.
I agree with Night Owl. I'm still posting on both my main site and my 1982 Topps site pretty regularly. I find myself frustrated with Topps and its "chase the rainbow" approach to issuing cards these days.
I check in on Twitter because of the interaction. I get annoyed with all the "sick Hitz" people there.
Jon Lester has an Athletics card in 2014 Topps Update, but I still get your point.
There are many great card blogs still around.
The Sports Card Blogroll lists a great majority of them.
http://bdj610scblogroll.blogspot.com/
Yes, JayBee's blogroll is a wonder, and I appreciate that he keeps it up. Don't get me wrong—it's great to know that there are so many collectors out there who blog about what they're into now. I think it's probably just me who has shifted his interest away from reading about random sets and players, or shiny new cards. Barring any new developments for Archives 2015, this year's Heritage will probably be the last new-card set I collect for a while.
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