2008 Albert Pujols Stadium Club Stadium Slices

We have Pujols jersey and bat cards but how cool is this? This is a Stadium Slices relic from  2008 Topps Stadium Club with a piece of the blue outfield wall from the old Yankee Stadium! The card actually looks even better in person.

Lone Wolf Pack Break

I mentioned before that the principal at my school helps to run a card shop on the weekends. We went to visit him last weekend but it turns out he was on vacation. We bought the last pack of 2008 Bowman Chrome and the last pack of 2008 Moments and Milestones they had in the case and spent some quarters at the card vending machine.

The Bowman Chrome pack had a numbered refractor of current Cardinals backup catcher Gerald Laird’s baby brother – Brandon Laird 464 of 500.



The Moments and Milestones pack had a Clay Buchholz Rookie Autograph!


These are both for trade.

Dad: Isaac has inherited my “what if” disease – The one that, in other collecting realms, will not allow me to walk away from the last copy of a Jazz LP, or editioned poster / print, or other music or hifi related collectible in fear that it will not be there next time or, worse yet, the item is even more special than I suspect. This affliction has now spread to the the last (few) packs of a box at the shop. Isaac’s propensity to grab autos and relics out of these lone wolf packs has only worsened this condition in both of us.

2008 Tim Lincecum Topps Chrome Brown Trading Card History

Tim Lincecum is another of my favorite players. I like him because he’s a great pitcher and he looks like a kid. My grandparents like him because he’s part Filipino… just like me. I got this card when I was a little kid and first started collecting baseball cards. I remember liking the Trading Card History cards that year and really liked this shiny chrome card. Its numbered 20 out of 100.

Dad – Jeez. I remember this design back from when I was a kid!

Helmar Brewing Series Three Set

Unlike the first series (I do not have the second and cannot comment on it), this series focuses exclusively on baseball subjects. Players and managers from the Negro Leagues, the Majors, and Japan, among others, are featured in the set. Sorry for the fuzzy thumbnails - they're not resizing correctly in blogger. Click on each image for the larger high resolution scan.

Helmar Series Three

I finally had a chance to open the box of Helmar Series 3 cards last week. As in my posts about Helmar Series 1 (here and here), I’ll follow up this St. Louis centric post with one displaying the entire set.

While the first series was available in packs, Series 2 (release in 2006) and 3 (2008) were only available as complete sets with Series 2 being short printed by comparison. I’m trying to track down a Series 2 set now that I have the others. Unlike the first series, this one focuses exclusively on baseball.

The Box

Contents

St. Louis related cards:

Nice to see the folks at Helmar have a sense of humor. They’ve included a “corrected” card for an error from the first series.

Pics of the complete third series coming soon...

Follow Up: Topps 2008 Red Hot Rookie Redemption

Guess what was waiting for Isaac today? That's right, the first of two 2008 Red Hot Rookies: The Rangers' Chris Davis.

I'll say this for Topps support, while they weren't proactive about correcting the wrong email dates they support representative was honest and provided accurate information. He said the email should have said "4 - 6 weeks" and sure enough, this card arrived four weeks to the day.

The card itself is pretty blah. Davis's face is obscured by the helmet and sunglasses. He appeared in 80 games for the Rangers last year yet this picture appears to be from spring training, batting practice, or a minor league game. Topps couldn't get a major league shot for a guy who played half a season in the majors? One last thing, is "Rangers" airbrushed / Photoshop'd on his jersey or is that just me?

Topps 2008 Red Hot Rookie Redemption Update

PSA for those waiting for their 2008 Red Hot Rookies.

Like many others, we received emails in late February and early March that Isaac's 2008 Red Hot Rookie Redemptions were in the mail and should be delivered within 10 - 14 business days. After waiting well past that timeframe with no cards in hand, I called Topps this morning for an update.

I was told that the emails were erroneous and that the cards would not be arriving within 10 - 14 business days of the email sent date. Instead, the wait is actually 4 - 6 weeks for the cards to be sent, with a 10 - 14 day delivery window after they leave Topps.

No great shakes, just an FYI for others waiting for their redemptions. We're waiting for #6 and #8... I've forgotten who they are and am too lazy to find out right now. Isaac would know though.

1959 Topps “Heritage”

Isaac loves the 2008 Heritage but, being six, didn’t understand that the set was based on the Topps 1959 design. Fortunately, these were part of the vintage haul so he could see old and new in person. I’m considering building Cardinal team sets around these random cards from various years but imagine that could be a fairly costly proposition given the likes of Musial, Gibson, Brock, Carlton, etc… We’ll see.

Jim Brosnan

Phil Clark

Gene Oliver

2008 Topps Heritage High Numbers

Need: Bold denotes Short Print

Base Cards (Green Backs)

523, 531, 532, 541, 542, 545, 579, 596, 677, 703, 711, 713, 714

Rookie Performers (RP's)
2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14

Flashbacks (FB's)
1, 3, 10

Then & Nows (TN's)
2, 4, 6, 9,

For Trade: Bold denotes Short Print

Base Cards (Green Backs)
501, 502, 503, 504, 505, 506, 508, 509, 510, 511, 512, 513, 515, 516, 518, 519, 520, 521, 524, 526, 527, 528, 530, 533, 534, 536, 537, 540, 543, 546, 547, 548, 549, 550, 551, 552, 554, 556, 560, 561, 562, 564, 565, 566, 567, 568, 569, 570, 571, 572, 573, 574, 575, 576, 577, 578, 580, 581, 582, 583, 584, 585, 586, 588, 589, 590, 591, 592, 594, 598, 600, 602, 603, 604, 606, 607, 608, 609, 610, 611, 612, 613, 614, 615, 616, 617, 618, 620, 622, 623, 625, 627, 628, 629, 632, 633, 635, 636, 637, 638, 639, 640, 641, 643, 644, 645, 647, 649, 650, 654, 656, 657, 658, 660, 662, 663, 665, 666, 667, 669, 670, 671, 674, 675, 676, 678, 679, 680,683, 684, 685, 694, 697, 701, 706, 712, 716, 720

Black Backs
523, 532, 539, 545, 549, 579, 595, 596, 597, 619

Flashbacks (FB's)
2, 7, 8

Then & Nows (TN's)
8

Rookie Performers (RP's)
1

Updated 2/10/09

2008 Allen Ginter

This one's for Dad...

Needs:
325

Sharks: Bull Shark, Ocean Whitetip, Mako

Baseball Icons: BI2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18

Team Orange: TO1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10

Any STL Cardinals mini's


For Trade:
2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 37, 38, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 57, 58, 59, 61, 62, 63, 64, 66, 67, 68, 69, 71, 74, 75, 76, 77, 79, 80, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 88, 89, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 101, 103, 104, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 118, 120, 122, 123, 125, 127, 130, 131, 132, 134, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 143, 145, 146, 148, 149, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 169, 173, 174, 175, 177, 178, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 191, 192, 193, 194, 196, 198, 199, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 210, 211, 212, 213, 216, 217, 218, 220, 225, 227, 229, 230, 321, 234, 235, 236, 239, 240, 243, 245, 246, 247, 248, 251, 255, 257, 259, 260, 262, 263, 264, 266, 267, 270, 272, 273, 274, 275, 277, 279, 284, 285, 287, 288, 289, 290, 292, 293, 294, 296, 297, 298, 299

SP's
303, 305, 306, 308, 316, 318, 323, 324, 328, 330, 337, 340, 342, 343, 345

States
4, 5, 6, 9, 11, 12, 16, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 29, 28, 32, 33, 38, 40, 41, 44, 45, 46, 47

Updated 1/12/2009

2008 Topps Chrome

Needs:
2, 6, 7, 9, 11, 14, 15, 17, 24, 28, 33, 34, 35, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 68, 72, 73, 76, 79, 81, 82, 90, 93, 103, 104, 117, 118, 126, 130, 134, 135, 141, 142, 146, 149, 156, 162, 163, 170, 194, 197, 198, 204, 210, 212, 218, 219

TCHC6, 7, 19, 20, 21, 24, 37

ARC11, 22

WMDPC3, 9, 12, 19

TCCP8, 10, 11, 13, 17, 22

For Trade:
1, 4, 18, 19, 22, 23, 25, 31, 36, 39, 41, 43, 46, 49, 51, 54, 65, 67, 69, 70, 77, 78, 80, 86, 99, 105, 109, 111, 115, 121, 127, 129, 138, 147, 154, 155, 157, 161, 167, 169, 171, 175, 179, 183, 185, 196, 202, 214, 217,

MMSC46, 51

ARC2

TCHC33, 36, 43, 46

Updated 1/1/2009

2008 Topps Updates & Highlights

Needs:
Base Set: None! A jumbo hobby box did the trick! Insert wants coming soon.

For Trade:
1, 4, 5, 10, 16, 17, 18, 20, 22, 24, 25, 27, 28, 31, 32, 34, 36, 41, 43, 44, 45, 46, 50, 52, 53, 55, 56, 57, 60, 63, 64, 65, 67, 69, 72, 76, 77, 78, 81, 82, 85, 86, 87, 89, 90, 93, 95, 100, 101, 103, 105, 106, 114, 116, 118, 124, 125, 130, 133, 140, 142, 143, 144, 148, 149, 152, 153, 154, 160, 163, 167, 168, 170, 172, 173, 174, 182, 183, 185, 187, 190, 192, 193, 196, 197, 198, 202, 203, 205, 206, 211, 213, 214, 215, 217, 221, 223, 224, 225, 227, 230, 231, 235, 236, 239, 241, 243, 244, 248, 249, 250, 252, 253, 259, 260, 261, 262, 264, 267, 270, 272, 274, 277, 279, 284, 285, 287, 288, 293, 297, 298, 299, 300, 304, 305, 306, 307, 308, 315, 317, 320, 321, 322, 323, 325, 326, 328, 329, 330

Current as of 1/15/2009.