Monday, May 24, 2010

Derek Jeter Collection

Derek Jeter Collection

year manufacturer, set: "subset or insert name" card# (variation)



1996 Fleer, Metal Universe: #87
1996 Fleer, Metal Universe: #87 (platinum edition)
1996 Pinnacle: 279 (hardball heroes)
1996 Topps, Bazooka: #80

1997 Fleer, Circa: #200
1997 Pinnacle, Xpress: #32
1997 UD: #421 (Ken Griffey Jr.s Hot List)

1998 Pinnacle, Score: "Spring Training" #RT262

1999 UD, Choice: #33
1999 UD, Choice: #115
1999 UD, Choice: "Star Quest" #SQ4 (blue, one star)
1999 UD, MVP: #139

2000 Topps: #15
2000 UD, ???: "Pennant Driven" #PD1
2000 UD, Black Diamond: #40
2000 UD, Victory: #319
2000 UD, Victory: #330

2001 Fleer, Platinum RC: #442
2001 Fleer, Platinum RC: #494
2001 Fleer, Tradition: #188
2001 Fleer, Tradition: #419
2001 Pacific, Private Stock: "PS-206 Action" #40
2001 Topps: #100
2001 Topps, Heritage: "Classic Renditions" #CR9
2001 Topps, Heritage: "Then and Now" #TH4
2001 UD: "2001 Greatest Hits" #GH10
2001 UD, Ovation: #26
2001 UD, Victory: #255

2002 Bowman: #2
2002 Donruss, Leaf: #129
2002 Fleer, Maximum: #34
2002 Topps, 206: #236
2002 Topps, 206: #380

2003 Donruss: #154
2003 Fleer, Flair: #2
2003 UD, Victory: #54

2004 Bowman: #3
2004 Bowman: #3 (gold)
2004 Donruss, Playoff Prestige: "Prestigious Pros" #PP-2
2004 Fleer, Tradition: "Diamond Tributes" #1 of 20 DT
2004 Fleer, Ultra: "Ultra Performers" #11 of 15 UP
2004 Topps: #337
2004 Topps: #693
2004 UD: #65

2005 Bowman: #25
2005 Topps, Opening Day: #138
2005 UD, ESPN: #60
2005 UD, Pros and Prospects: #6

2006 Topps, Opening Day: #96
2006 Topps: #NYY2
2006 Topps: "SI for Kids: Max Action" #4 of 25
2006 Topps: "Topps Stars" #TS-DJ
2006 Topps, Bazooka: #5 (gold chunk)
2006 Topps, Chrome: #256 (Refractor)
2006 UD: #900
2006 UD: "Season Highlights" #SH-26

2007 Bowman, Chrome: #90
2007 Fleer: "Year In Review" #YR-DJ
2007 Fleer, Ultra: #126
2007 Topps: #301 (red back)
2007 Topps, Turkey Red: #109
2007 UD, Elements: #70
2007 UD, Elements: #112
2007 UD, Future Stars: #63
2007 UD, Goudey: #266 (heads up)

2008 Topps: #455
2008 Topps: "Topps All-Star Rookie Team 50th Aniversary" #AR46
2008 Topps: "Topps Stars" #TS11
2008 Topps, Chrome: #121
2008 Topps, Stadium Club: #59
2008 UD: "Star Quest" #SQ-9 (common)
2008 UD, Heroes: #114
2008 UD, Heroes: #188
2008 UD, Heroes: #196
2008 UD, Heroes: #197
2008 UD, Heroes: #200
2008 UD, SP Authentic: "Marquee Matchups" #MM-33
2008 UD, X: "Exponential2" #X2-DJ

2009 Bowman
2009 Bowman, Chrome: #80 (Refractor)
2009 Bowman, Chrome:
2009 Topps: #353
2009 Topps: "Ticket to Toppstown" #TTT29
2009 Topps: "Turkey Red" #TR77
2009 Topps, Updates and Highlights: #UH69
2009 Topps, Updates and Highlights: #UH69 (Target)
2009 Topps, Updates and Highlights: #UH122
2009 Topps, Updates and Highlights: #UH131 (gold border #d/2009)
2009 Topps, Allen and Ginter: #323
2009 Topps, Allen and Ginter: "Highlight Sketches" #AGHS18
2009 Topps, 206: #120
2009 Topps, 206: #120 (piedmont mini w/ cardstock variation)
2009 UD: "Star Quest" #SQ-6 (silver common)
2009 UD: "Star Quest" #SQ-6 (emerald super rare)
2009 UD, Goudey: #130
2009 UD, Goudey: "4-in-1" #35-18 (green border)
2009 UD, SP Authentic: #2
2009 UD, Spectrum: #65

2010 Topps, Opening Day: #174
2010 Topps: #8
2010 Topps: #269
2010 Topps, Finest: #14
2010 UD: #589
2010 UD: "Season Biography" #SB-182



I'm too lazy to dig into the box of rookies, serial #d and relics right now so those aren't yet listed.

If you have a Derek Jeter card that I don't, shoot me an email at nrmtblog (at) gmail (dot) com and we can work out a trade


Thursday, May 20, 2010

Are Painted Cards Really Painted?

This posts is an offshoot on the discussion that jswakos started at "A Priceless Pursuit". The question is: Are painted sets really painted?

*This is just my interpretation of the cards, not necessarily truth.

Subject 1: Allen and Ginter


2009 Allen and Ginter base cards are not in fact painted. They are photos that are converted into a sketch looking form on the computer, which are then placed in front of a watercolor "wash" that was scanned. A "wash" is loose background coloring in a watercolor painting. I believe that these are actually painted because I don't know of a computer program than can create a digital wash well (Not to mention that it would have taken a painter about 5 minutes to create the wash for this card.). Once the wash is painted, it is scanned and placed behind the digitally altered photo of the player.

However, these Allen and Ginter insert sets are definitely real paintings.



Subject 2: Goodwin and Champions

These cards are not actually painted. Every time I look at them I have a very tough time deciding whether they are faked or are real. In my mind there are several clues that indicate they are faked. 1. On some cards the "brush strokieness" resembles a watercolor painting, but the color saturation is much more similar to an oil painting. 2. Each card seems to have a unique quirk that would not exist in an actual painting. Let's take #158 David Purcey as an example of this. On his right cheek (our left) the shadow does not flow from light to dark in a smooth manner, nor does it transition in a step-like gradation. Instead, there is a light tone, a dark tone, and a middle zone where there is a color of medium darkness in which the are tiny patches of the dark tone thrown in. A painter would not have inserted these tiny little patches of darkness in the transitioning shadow, but a computer could have. Sorry I couldn't get a photo of the David Purcey card.


Subject 3: Upper Deck Masterpieces.


Now this are what a painted set looks like! The cover of the Hobby box advertises "an entire base set of exclusive artist paintings". I'm sure they would have been sued by now for false advertising if they were lying. Also, most cards even have an artist signature on them. The 5x8 box loaders provide the best evidence that these are actual paintings. The set is done in watercolor, and there are clearly watercolor brush strokes visible in this card. The cloud of dust at his feet would have been created by using a sponge to blot the painting before the watercolor dried, thus soking up some of the color and creating a faded look.


I hope this was helpful. If anyone has any further insight, don't hesitate to comment.

Friday, May 14, 2010

Wants and Needs

Black = Cards I Need
Red = Cards I Have


1986 Diamond Kings: 1-26

1987 Diamond Kings: 1-27

1988 Diamond Kings: 1, 11, 14, 15, 16, 19, 21, 23, 24, 27

1989 Diamond Kings: 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 10, 14, 15, 16, 23, 26, 27

1990 Diamond Kings: 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 11, 13, 16, 27

1991 Diamond Kings: 6, 8, 9, 10, 19, 22

1992 Diamond Kings: 1-27

2003 Diamond Kings: 1-6, 8, 10, 13-20

2002 Topps Post Cereal:
1, 2, 5, 6, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29

2007 UD Masterpieces:
14, 17, 28,42, 53, 55, 68, 78

2007 Topps Turkey Red:
SPs: 7, 43, 47, 63, 71, 73, 74, 101, 103, 106, 123, 124, 128, 134, 135, 139, 146, 152, 165, 179, 183,
Ad-Backs: 1, 15, 20, 25, 40, 56, 95, 105, 106, 110, 130, 150, 159, 180, 185

2009 UD Goodwin and Champs:
7, 8, 10, 15, 18, 19, 21-24, 28, 32, 39, 43, 51, 52, 56, 69, 72, 77, 78, 82, 84, 92, 97, 98, 100, 101, 103, 106, 107, 109, 110, 113, 114, 117, 124, 127, 129, 131, 134, 135, 136, 140, 141, 142, 144
SPs: 153, 156, 158, 159, 168, 177, 188 (red means I have these cards)

2008 Topps Stadium Club:
1, 3-8, 9, 11-18, 21-24, 26-30, 32, 33, 35, 36, 37, 39, 42, 45, 48, 50-60, 63-69, 71, 72, 73, 75, 76, 78-82, 84, 85, 87, 88, 90, 93, 94, 96, 99, 101, 102, 104, 105, 106, 108, 109, 111, 114, 115, 116, 117, 119, 120, 123, 125, 126, 129, 131, 132, 133, 135, 136, 138, 141, 142, 144, 145, 147, 149

2008 Topps Trading Card History (In):
TCH_ 2, 3, 4, 11, 14, 15, 16, 21, 22, 52, 57, 66

2008 Topps Chrome Trading Card History (In):
TCHC_ 5, 6, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25

2008 Topps Wal-Mart Exclusive Dick Perez Painted Cards (In):
8, 9, 10


2008 Topps Heritage Wal-Mart Exclusive Dick Perez Painted Cards (In):
1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9


2009 Topps Turkey Red (only the retired players):
1, 3, 10, 20, 30, 50, 59, 61, 79, 80, 85, 87, 90, 93, 97, 100, 101, 105, 113, 133, 150

2009 Topps Propaganda (In):
PP_ 2, 3

2009 Topps Allen and Ginter Highlight Sketch Cards (In):
AGHS_ 12, 22



2010 Topps Heritage (Checklists, World Series Highlights, and Baseball Thrills)
CL: 17, 98, 189, 273, 361, 423, 437SP
WSH: 306, 307, 308, 309, 310, 311, 312, 313
BT: 401, 402, 403, 404, 405, 406, 407, 408, 409, 410


If you have any cards that are on my want lists, feel free to comment or send me an email and we can work out a trade

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Leaching, and Fading, and Damage, Oh My!!











NOT SAFE






NOT SAFE


SAFE





???

So we all have heard about the older card protecting products that will damage your cards by leaching chemicals over time. This same type plastic has been a culprit in more recent warnings about Nalgene water bottles. Maybe I'm taking the threat to seriously, but this risk scares the heck out of me when buying things to protect my cards.

If the product doesn't advertise that it is acid free and archival safe then I don't usually buy it. I figure, if a lot of products advertise being archival safe, then wouldn't every company want to make sure to advertise this feature if their product is in fact safe? It's like foods and the idea of "all natural"; if the company goes through the effort of making something the "all natural" way, then wouldn't they make absolutely sure to have that feature in their ad?

If I notice penny sleeves becoming yellowed or faded I immediately switch them out for a brand new one. The card shop owner must think I have the best card collection ever because I am always in there buying penny sleeves and top loaders.

But there are a few mysteries that I have yet to solve:

1. "The Condom Factor" - The penny sleeves that I buy are archival safe, but often I can't find top loaders and/or semi-rigid holders that are advertised as archival safe, and sometimes they say "archival safe when used with a polypropylene sleeve". Assuming the worst (they are loaded with PVC, acid, and HIV), Is my thin little polypropylene condom going to be a strong enough barrier to ward off the danger? For instance, I know that Lays potato chips in a plastic sandwich bag will manage to leak their grease right through the bag and then soak into the outer paper bag as well. If it turns out that the chemicals will go right through the penny sleeves, you guys might all be getting a large shipment of top loaders that I will be removing from my cards.

2. Snap Tites - Recently I bought a couple snap tite holders for some 1/1 sketch cards I had gotten. They didn't advertise as being archival safe, but the shop owner assured me that they were. He may have just been trying to make a sale, who knows. They are a dollar a piece, so I tend to think that the company would make them archival safe (especially since they are used without penny sleeves). Does anyone know if any of these snap tites are a no-go in terms of chemical leeching?

3. Mystery Wal-Mart Boxes - I bought a plastic box from wal-mart that is meant to store cards. I always prefer the plastic boxes to the cardboard ones. Again, it was not advertised as archival safe, nor was it produced by a company that I recognized, and it even has a kinda foggy look to it. It has gutters along the sides so that the corners of the cards don't get damaged. Would a company really have the awareness to design the box to protect the corners of the cards but neglect the chemical leeching problem? The box is a soft plastic rather than the hard plastic that the snap closed boxes are made with. Idk what to think.

Woah, looking for pictures to insert into the post, I just found this box. It looks effective. Seems to have precise corners, has adjustable dividers, and has side slots to fit your fingers in when taking out cards. I might jst have to get a couple of them. And apparently it holds up to 800 cards, which is bigger than I thought based on the picture.
This site has had every supply that I have ever thought about buying, check it out.


Advise is greatly appreciated, even if it's a sentence-long response :)

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

I'm Back!

So after a long absence due to school work, I am back (at least for the summer). I have a ton of stuff to post so stay tuned.

My first interest has been to really improve my top 4 PC's (meaning player collections, not personal collection). On that list we have:
Derek Jeter
Ichiro Suzuki
Joe Mauer
Mariano Rivera


In order to do this, I figure I have to know the cards that are out there available for these players. I've been scrounging this site to try to put together checklists for each of these players. However I've been realizing that this site doesn't list things like variations and inserts which are the cards I most need to focus on gathering.

I've also found this site, and this site which have helpful checklists.

These checklists are taking a huge amount of time to put together, and I'm wondering if anyone has found reliable checklists by player online? If anyone knows of checklists for any of these players, I'd love to see them posted in some comments.

Heck if anyone knows of any fairly all-inclusive player checklists for any player feel free to post them here post them in comments. I'm sure I'm not the only one that faces this dilemma.

Feels nice to be back