Shogo Akiyama Auto

I picked up this 2020 Topps Chrome Sapphire auto of Shogo Akiyama today off of eBay for a great price. I had been looking to add an auto of Akiyama to my collection since he was the Reds first Japanese ballplayer. He signed a three year $21 million dollar deal with the club back in 2020 but was released by the Reds in June of this past year. 

It Finally Appeared!

For 19 years I've been working on the 2003 Fleer Authentix baseball set. There were times when I thought about just giving up on this build and thinking to myself that I'll never be able to accomplish this task. Two cards have eluded me for years, but today I was finally able to nab one of them. Behold, the last card I needed to complete the base set....Chin-Feng Chen! This card popped up today on COMC and I couldn't purchase it fast enough. Not sure when I'll have the card in hand. Maybe I'll request a shipment from COMC before the end of the year. The only card remaining from this set that I need is the Hometown Heroes Johnny Damon relic card. Here's hoping it doesn't take another 19 years for one of those to surface.

Paul Janish Auto

Did you know that Paul is currently a coach on his alma mater Rice Owls? He played a total of three seasons for the Reds from his call up on May 14, 2008 through the 2011 season.

Gookie Dawkins Auto

I picked up this 2000 Fleer Showcase Gookie Dawkins auto for a few bucks last year on COMC. Did you know that Gookie won a gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games? He's currently the manager for the Daytona Tortugas.

Raisel Iglesias Auto

I picked up this 2018 Topps Finest Iglesias auto last year on COMC and just now posting about it. Did you know that Iglesias attempted to defect from Cuba in September 2013 but was caught. He was successful in November of that same year. Iglesias is currently with the Braves.

Lurking in the Shadows

As luck would have it, a few days after I acquired the Piazza and Thomas shadowbox cards this Freddie Freeman card appeared on eBay with a Buy it Now/Best Offer. I submitted a reasonable offer to the seller and he accepted. This is my 15th shadowbox signature card from 2015 Topps Strata and I'm now down to needing only 9 cards to complete the set.

It Pays to be Patient

 A year ago I saw a listing on eBay for a 2015 Topps Strata Frank Thomas Shadowbox Signature card for $250. At the time, I was tempted to purchase the card to add to my set Shadowbox set build but I decided to hold off until I took care of some of my other collecting goals first. Needless to say, I waited too long and the card ended up selling a few months later. I guess that was a good thing because last week another 2015 Topps Strata Shadowbox Frank Thomas popped up as well as a 2015 Topps Strata Shadowbox Mike Piazza COMBINED for less than that first Frank Thomas card I saw listed a year ago. Check them out!

With these two additions I'm down to just 10 more cards from this set build. The Ichiro is going to be the tough one to chase. Regardless, it's nice to add two Hall of Fame autographs to my collection

Just as good the second time!

Today I was able to finally cross off another project on the blog, for a second time. I've completed once more the 2015 Topps Update All Star Stitches set and this time I won't be getting rid of it. I'm still kicking myself for selling this set a few years back. I think Topps did a great job with incorporating the Palace of the Fans design since Cincinnati hosted the mid summer classic that year. I would still like to add a seat from that stadium to my man cave sometime in the foreseeable future. Glad I'm finally able to put this project to bed.....again.

Passing the 500 card mark

Today I was able to meet another goal I had wanted to complete before the end of the year. I finally crossed the 500 card mark for my Pete Rose PC. While I no longer hold the #1 spot on Tradingcarddb for Rose cards in my collection, I am happy with the progress I've made in acquiring his cards. I know it's a bit premature, but maybe I'll be able to hit 600 by the end of the year. Onward and upward, unlike my Reds who are sitting in the basement in the NL Central.

Replacing Some Amazing Cards

 I decided to revisit and update one of my completed projects recently, my Album of Amazing. There were some cards in that album that I wasn't happy with. Sure, they're great cards, but I feel that there were other cards out there more deserving to be part of the album. This past week I purchased 7 new cards to add to the album. Without further adieu, here they are.

Daniel Corcino Auto

I picked this card up a few months back and was waiting until today to show it off. Did you know that on June 17, 2012 Corcino, along with pitcher Wilkin De La Rosa threw the first no-hitter in the history of the Reds Double A Team, the Pensacola Blue Wahoos? Corcino also had a stint with the Wei Chuan Dragons of the Chinese Professional Baseball League in 2021. I love that Corcino is sporting the St. Patrick's uniform on this card. Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!

Half empty or half full?

It's always nice to know as a collector that once you hit the halfway mark of a set or any other goal you set out to achieve that once you hit the halfway mark then it should be all downhill from there. Of course, more often than not, collecting is like running a marathon. You have to be in it for the long haul and while it can be daunting at times and seem nearly impossible, once you acquire that last card then you realize the accomplishment you've achieved. Today, I crossed the halfway mark on my Votto Parallel Universe project. I now have 45 of the 90 cards I'm chasing for this project. Card number 45 is this 2019 Topps Chrome Indigo box topper numbered out of 150. I'm not sure what number in the print run it is since I still need to receive it in the mail, but it's definitely a nice card and can't wait for it to arrive. I also don't have all the photos listed on the project page since they're currently in my COMC inventory and I don't want to use a picture with their watermark on it. I'll be content to wait until I have those in hand before I post those pictures. It's been a fun project to tackle so far and I can't wait to see what other Votto cards I can add to this.

Glad There's Only One!

For the past couple of years Topps had a tendency of including two or more Reds short prints in their series 1 release. That made it a pain to try and track those down for my Reds Team sets just because they normally set me back $20 or more a piece. That adds up after a while. Don't even get me started on the super short prints. Luckily, this year Topps only had one Reds short print included but it was a doozy since Votto has had a resurgence among some collectors and the price of his cards have gone up considerable...even for new release product. Thankfully I know have this card in hand and won't have to worry about trying to track down any more short prints until series 2 is released. Of course, the way things are going with the players and the owners right now I wonder if there will be a series 2.

A Break From Baseball

 

While the players and owners have spent the past few months squabbling over money and how the game should be played, I decided to take a break from the baseball world and watch this year's Winter Olympics. I'm not much on figure skating but I can watch bobsled, snowboarding, and skiing for hours on end. Of course there always seems to be some sort of controversy and this year was no different. As far as I'm concerned the IOC shouldn't allow Russian athletes to compete. I don't care if you label them as the Russian Olympic Committee, they're still competing for Russia who's been banned due to their blatant disregard for doping. Anyway, I enjoyed watching the games this year and look forward to watching the games in 2026 when they're in Italy. While Topps normally releases an Olympics set just before the start of the games, this year is the first time in over a decade that they did not. So I decided I would chase the 2018 set. Thus far I've been able to get the base set and a few insert sets completed and that just leaves the relic set and autograph sets to complete. I wish the autos would have been on card instead of sticker but beggars can't be choosers. This should be a fun project to work on and I'm hopeful that I'll have this set completed by the time the Winter Olympics roll back around in 2026. It's been nice to collect something other than baseball. Hopefully the league and players can get their act together and not repeat the same mistakes we fans had to suffer through the last time there was a strike.

Looking Back and Forging Ahead

I'm a little late on this post considering that the new year began six days ago. Better late than never I suppose. I made some progress with my collection in 2021 including a rebuild of the 2015 Topps Update All Star Stitches and Joey Votto rookie projects. I still regret getting rid of that set and those rookie cards but it's been fun to tackle these projects all over again. That being said, I'm down to needing only eight more relic cards to complete the Stitches set and I only need three more Votto rookies before I can consider that project complete. I also picked up about a dozen cards from my 1991 Stadium Club proof set and I can now say that I'm less than 200 cards shy of wrapping up that set build. As for my Reds Team sets, I only acquired the 2021 Topps flagship and update sets. Thankfully I was able to get all the short prints that were part of this year's release but I didn't make a dent in my vintage want list. I also started a new project, my Votto Parallel Universe collection. Out of a waitlist of 90 cards I acquired 30 cards for this project. Not a bad start. In addition, I grabbed a few more remaining cards from the autograph portion of Topps' 2011 Gypsy Queen leaving me with two cards still to acquire (Aaron and Koufax). Finally, I was able to pick up a few more cards for my 2015 Topps Strata Shadowbox collection.

So, what's in store this year? I'm hoping I can complete my 2015 Topps Update All Star Stitches set. That shouldn't be too difficult since there are only eight cards I need to track down. I'm also aiming to acquire the last few Reds cards I need from 1951 Bowman. I also plan on crossing the sixty card threshold for my Votto Parallel Universe project and track down a few more Strata Shadowbox cards (at least two more to put me past the halfway point). I'm also hoping to add at least sixty more Pete Rose cards to my Rose PC as well as acquire as many 1991 Stadium Club proof cards as I can from my waitlist. I know it's a bit ambitious but I think I can get reach these goals. We'll see. Have a great year everyone!