Reevaluating My Collection

I'll be honest...I'm to the point of burnout when it comes to my collection. So much so that I've decided to thin out my collection in a big way. I've spent the past week posting A LOT of stuff on eBay. I've sold my 2015 Topps All Star Stitch set as well as my 1990-91 Skybox set with prototypes. I've listed my complete Kahn's Cincinnati Reds team sets as well as my HOF rookie card project and my recently started Joey Votto rookie card project. One project that I started on the beginning of last year that I never got around to blogging about was the 2015 Topps Strata Shadowbox set. I was able to acquire half of the set but decided I'll probably never finish it so I've listed the cards separately. Not sure if I'll stop here or if I'll keep purging. I know that I plan on keeping my Topps Reds cards from 1952-present as well as my 1949-51 Bowman Reds cards and my t206 Reds cards. I just feel like my collection has gotten out of hand and I want to get back to actually enjoying collecting again instead of it feeling like a chore. If anyone's interested here's the link to the stuff I have listed https://www.ebay.com/sch/shaneluck/m.html?item=123577310247&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562

2018 Topps Cincinnati Reds Team Set

35 cards total for this year's Topps Reds team set (including the short prints and the Votto super short print). I'm still on the fence as to whether short prints should be included in team sets. Honestly, I would be content if Topps went back to producing their flagship without including short prints in the product. Rather, save that gimmicky stuff for Stadium Club or Heritage. Here's the list of players that make up the team set:

14 Amir Garrett
55 Tyler Mahle
57 Zack Cozart
68 Billy Hamilton
68SP Billy Hamilton
95 Eugenio Suarez
137 Scott Feldman
153 Brandon Finnegan
207 Scooter Gennett
209 Michael Lorenzen
301 Jackson Stephens
331 Raisel Iglesias
352 Cincinnati Reds Team Card
354 Robert Stephenson
450 Joey Votto
450SP Joey Votto
450SP Johnny Bench
450SSP Joey Votto
452 Tucker Barnhart
504 Scott Schebler
543 Luis Castillo
574 Jared Hughes
581 Jesse Winker
589 Adam Duvall
589SP Adam Duvall
596 Keury Mella
601 Jose Peraza
694 Anthony DeSclafani
US28 Alex Blandino
US49 Eugenio Suarez
US74 Joey Votto
US87 Thunder & Lightening (Votto & Hamilton)
US135 Sal Romano
US145 Scooter Gennett
US238 Matt Harvey

Hey Batter Batter Batter......

A few days ago I was able to add another card to my t206 Reds team set. I had been looking to land this card for awhile and when a copy came up on eBay I knew I had to try and grab it. This t206 Downey marks my 11th tobacco card of this set. I already had the fielding version in my collection so this will complement that card nicely. Once Downey arrives in the mail I will definitely make sure to free him from his plastic prison to join his teammates in the binder. I'm just shy of having half of the Reds set wrapped up. With 12 cards to go, four of those cards will take a lot of cash to acquire as 2 are of Hall of Famer Clark Griffith and 2 are of Hall of Famer Miller Huggins. For the time being I'll just concentrate on those other 8 cards.

A lot o Vottos!

I've been kicking around this idea since the beginning of January this year and last week I decided to start pursuing this project. While there are many Reds fans out there that have a love/hate relationship with Joey Votto, I have nothing but respect for the Reds first baseman. His primary goal for each at bat is to ensure that he gets on base. Whether that's through getting a hit or by being walked by an opposing team's pitcher, Votto's discipline at the plate is amazing. For the past 3 years he's led the league in on-base percentage and he's led the league 7 out of 12 years during his career. He currently ranks 11th all time for on-base percentage (.427) behind Williams, Ruth, McGraw, Hamilton, Gehrig, Bonds, Hornsby, Cobb, Foxx, and Speaker. Anyway, back to my project. I've decided to track down 90 different 2008 Votto rookies to add to my collection. I'll be adding the cards to a 9 pocket, 10 page Ultra Pro Collector's binder that I think will look nice filled up with nothing but Votto rookies. I've created a page on the blog (Votto Rookie Roundup) to keep track of my progress and hopefully I'll have this project wrapped up within a year or two.

Never Say Never!

Back in June when I was talking about 2018 Topps I mentioned the various Reds short prints that are included in the release. One of those cards I spoke about was this particular Votto Super Short Print. At the time, these things were going for more than $50 a piece and I made the comment that this card would probably never enter my collection with the steep price tag these cards were commanding. Well, fast forward two months later and I was able to snag this card off eBay for less than $30 shipped. Is that still a lot to pay for a card that was produced this year? You bet. However, when you factor in that odds for pulling a SSP is 1:866 packs I think it's a fair price to pay for the card. There are still two SSP cards that I don't have but maybe one day I'll be fortunate enough to add those to my binders as well. The first is a 2017 Votto Gatorade bath and the second is this 2013 Topps Teddy Kremer.

Teddy, who has Down Syndrome, is a huge Reds fan and was an honorary bat boy for the Reds. He was recently honored this past year with his own bobblehead. There were only 1000 bobbleheads produced and distributed on July 20th.

Join the Club!

For the past few months I've been working on trying to complete my 1991 Topps Stadium club set. I'm not talking about the standard set of 600 cards. Rather, what I'm talking about is the 50 card Pre-Production set the company produced prior to launching the actual 1991 Stadium Club set. A "promo" set essentially.








While the front of these cards look just like your standard 1991 Stadium Club cards, the backs of these cards are all the same. They show a Jose Canseco rookie card with a Pre-Production sample blurb.

According to baseballcardpedia, "Not much is known about these cards. It is believed that Topps distributed these cards to their sales team and to major distributors. The set consists of 50 cards and it's believed that 300-600 copies of each card was produced." I think these cards complement my 1991 Stadium Club set nicely. Now that I have this set completed maybe I can get back to wrapping up my 2011 Gypsy Queen set.

A Little Late to the Party

Ok, most of you have already talked about this year's series 2 release of Topps. For better or for worse, I'm just now getting around to it. This past Sunday my wife surprised me with an eBay gift card for Father's Day. Needless to say, within a few hours of receiving it I had already spent it. I was able to purchase a complete set of 2018 Topps Series 2 Reds cards and three short prints. Out of the three short prints this Bench card is my favorite. There's still one more series 2 Reds card I don't have...a super short print Joey Votto card and it will probably never enter my collection. Starting bids on eBay are $50....way too steep for a modern variation card. I'd rather spend that money on a couple of vintage Goudey or T206 Reds cards.