One Met at a Time, Vol. 6

[Ed. Note: Since my Mets collection recently eclipsed the 7.5k plateau, I figured it might be fun to drop in a few single-card posts here and there to celebrate the achievement.]

Player:  Alberto Castillo

Card Info:  1994 Bowman, #23

Is 1994 Bowman the best of the modern Bowman sets?  I dunno, but I think it's got a place at the table if you're ever having the discussion.  Unless I'm mistaken, I think it's the only Bowman set that went full-bleed photo on the front.  Castillo, by the way, was a Met for four seasons.  His defining moment was a pinch-hit, walk-off single in the 14th to sink the Phillies in the '98 season opener.

As of this post, I have four cards of Alberto in my Mets collection.

MK

A Few of My Favorite Things (Cards from Stack)

From the illustrious Stackhouse Law Office in New Mexico came a surprise delivery last week.  A yellow padded mailer full of Mets, Bills and other cardboard delights.  A little bit of everything that pleases this particular collector.

For starters, a box panel card from 1989 Fleer featuring David Cone.  Sure, '89 Fleer won't ever be confused for an attractive set, but I have some warm 'n fuzzy feelings for this particular release since it was the first-ever factory set I received -- it was a Christmas gift from my uncle that year.

Anyhow, box panel cards are always a treat because they are so rare to come across.  Especially in such good condition!  Okay, so it's a rather sullen-looking Coney pictured on this card.  Then again, how would you look if you had a creepester with a blue media credential stalking you?

Heritage short prints are absolutely among my favorite things!  Jason Bay is one of four Mets from the SP portion of 2012 Heritage set along with Ike Davis, Frank Francisco and, of course, David Wright.

Late-'80s Sportflics are always fun.  This is Lenny Dkystra from the 1987 edition, by the way.

One of Eddie Murray's best cards as a Met can be seen above.  This is the gold version of the HOFer's 1994 Topps card.  Great addition right here!

Okay, let's talk some vintage Mets now...

One of the best years for League Leaders cards was 1972.  The groovy design fits these subset cards so well, in my humble opinion.  Seaver, by the way, led the loop with an uncanny 1.76 ERA in '71 -- a career high for Tom, by the way.

From 1967, this is my first stand-alone card of hurler Dick Selma.  My only other Selma card is from the '66 set when he shared the 'Rookie Stars' platform with Cleon Jones.

Well-worn and proud of it!  This copy of Dan Frisella's 1971 Topps card has some stories to tell, I'm sure.

There were some nice non-Mets vintage cards included, also...

An iconic card of Hank's younger brother, Tommie, from the iconic '63 Topps set.

I'm having de ja vu all over again!  In 1969, Topps used the same photo of Tommie.  Six years later!  Crazy!

Also from the '69 set, one of the famed Alou boys.  This one is notable because Jesus never played an inning as an Expo.  He was selected from the Giants in the '69 expansion draft and was traded to the Astros just a few months later.  Interestingly, Alou plus the other two main pieces in that trade--Donn Clendenon and Rusty Staub--all wound up playing for the Mets during their careers.

Let's turn the clock ahead once again...

My heart be still!  I will always long for the black retail parallels that Heritage used to treat us to.  I love them with all my being.  Sadly, they are no more as of last year's release.  You used to get three of these bad boys per three-pack blister hangers at Target.  The blue and red parallels also were killed off last year like some semi-popular character from The Walking Dead.  With any luck, at least one of the colored parallels crawled under a dumpster and will resurface with 2016's Heritage release.  But, I'm not holding my breath.

Finally, since the NFL season took a final bow Sunday night, let's look at some football cards.  Specifically, cards of my beloved Buffalo Bills...

I sure did smell up the joint with my Super Bowl prediction, eh!?  Oh well, at the end of the day the result of any Super Bowl doesn't please nor disappoint me if it doesn't involve the Bills.  Maybe one of these days, before we all turn to dust, the fans of Buffalo will be treated to another postseason contest involving the Bills. Maybe.

Thanks for the great assortment of stuff, Stack!  And may Syracuse athletics be blessed, always.

MK

SB50

I might as well give you my two-cents on the Super Bowl.  Well, if I waited for someone to ask, I'd be silent forever.

Two-time Super Bowl champ John Elway is the honorary cardboard captain for the AFC Champion Broncos. Can you believe that Denver will be representing the conference for the eighth time?  Elway was front and center for five of those Super Bowl trips.  His first three weren't pretty.  But, I'm of the opinion that it's better to make the big game and stink it up than to not make it at all.  Then again, I'm a Buffalo Bills fan, so I might be the wrong person to ask!

Representing the NFC Champs--the 17-1 Carolina Panthers--is the man who lined up under center for Carolina's only other conference champion.  Jake Delhomme and the Panthers fought Tom Brady's Patriots tooth and nail in Super Bowl XXXVIII, but ultimately fell 32-29.  If you recall, Delhomme played a hell of a game for the Cats, eclipsing 300+ yards passing and tossing three scores.  But, you probably only remember Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction during halftime.  And, that's O.K.

Now, for the moment of truth: my prediction for the big game!

The Panthers are this year's team of destiny.  They are the more complete team than Denver.  They've barely broken a sweat in the postseason.  They have the league's MVP.  They should win the Super Bowl.

Denver's season was at times rocky, but their elite defense kept them on top.  They sneaked past the Patriots by a whisker in the AFC title game. The legendary Peyton Manning had his worst statistical season yet and looks mostly used up.  Denver fans are hoping for the fairy tale ending with Manning going out on top.

While it would be a great story--and a pretty decent upset--for Manning and the Broncos to take the Lombardi Trophy, I'm just not seeing it.  Moreover, I'm concerned that we could witness a playback of the Denver/Seattle Super Bowl from a couple years ago.  In other words, an utter ambush.  With any luck, I won't be flipping over to Ancient Aliens by the second half.  I want a good game with lots of drama.  But...

I'm sensing a Panthers rout.  Let's call it Carolina 33, Denver 11.

Enjoy the game!

MK

Maybe You've Heard...

So, 2016 Topps, right?

I only got around to scooping up my first pack on Saturday during a Target run.  I ponied up for just one 36-card pack.  Are those things considered "jumbo" packs?  I don't even know what's what anymore.  Oh, and I also got a single 12-card pack for my son's collection.  I've been able to get him pack of every Topps retail product since his birth year (2014).  So when it's time for him to catch the collecting bug, he'll have a nice big stash of packs to rip open and enjoy!

As for the brand-new edition of Topps, I'm still not sold on it.  It's easier to appreciate the cards in-hand than via internet scans, of course.  And I suppose I'll sufficiently warm up to them over time.  It seems I always do.

However, I more or less side with those who are dismayed by the overly digital treatment of the photos and the cable-access television design elements.  The cards are zoomed and cropped with reckless abandon and the smoky effects in the corners are putrid.  What should be a warm, fuzzy collectible is more or less a cold, antiseptic piece of card stock.  So, bravo, Topps.

My official "first Topps card of the 2016 collecting season" was a pretty snazzy one: a Corey Seager rookie. There are way worse ways to kick off your campaign.

I also managed to snag a pair of Mets among my 36 cards.

I won't bother showing you any of the others, since you'd no doubt had your fill of those on many of the quality blogs around the 'net.

I will, however, show you what I thought was the best photo from the pack.  It's also one I haven't seen on any of the blogs yet.  [If you showed it on your blog and you're reading this, I apologize!]

Of course, it would have to be a horizontal card.  Great action photo and it's only slightly ruined by the smoke-tinted corners.

I think this will be my lone pack purchase of Series 1.  As usual, I'll put a factory set on my Christmas list and go about it that way.  I have zero interest in any of the inserts, which are all tired and repetitive, quite frankly. The parallels are always fun, but I'll just hope to track them down in dime boxes or via trades.

In the meantime, enjoy your current and future pack/box breaks, folks!

MK

A Clubhouse Connection

Believe it or not, I still make trades outside of Zistle.  The most recent of these was with Adam of Cardboard Clubhouse.  A couple of guys who run blogs with the word clubhouse in their names were bound to pull off a trade eventually, right?

The shiny, golden Kevin Plawecki card you see up top prompted the trade.  As soon as I saw it on Adam's blog, I knew I had to make a play for it!  I only have a handful of cards from this past year's Update Chrome product. None of them are Mets and certainly none are a gold number like this.  Numbered to 250, in case you were curious.  A beauty of a card!

Lucky for me, Adam also had some other Mets odds 'n ends that he was looking to clear out.  I was all too happy to receive them.  Among the highlights of Adam's goodwill is this deGrom insert from '15 Update.  I hadn't seen this card before it arrived in Adam's delivery, so it was a pretty cool surprise!

Speaking of surprises, it was definitely neat to find this Ike Davis relic card in the mix.  My third card from 2014 Donruss Game Gear.  No logos, no license, no problem as far as I'm concerned.  Would this card be better with MLB consent?  Perhaps.  But it's still a nice-looking card of the former Mets first-bagger.

The best part of Adam's extras was that many of them patched up holes in my Mets want/need list.

From 1988, this is a Topps League Leaders mini of the Straw.  I really enjoyed these little sets from the late '80s.  At some point, I'd like to acquire the complete sets of each.

Some base needs from last year's Topps flagship.  I haven't found any 2016 cards yet, but I'm okay with that. I've seen lots of images and reviews online thus far, and I'm not breathless over the newest edition.  I'm sure I'll get there eventually, but it's gonna take some warming.

Of course, I still need cards from '92 Topps.  Because, why not?  I'll always have a soft spot for this set.

Ditto for '92 Leaf.  I got a hobby box of the stuff (Series 1) for Easter that year.  And, I'm now just a Bobby Bonilla shy of completing this team set thanks to these two pickups.

It's always nice to find '86 Topps in any sort of mystery mix.  Even if it's just Tom Gorman.

A new Steve Trachsel card is an underrated pleasure.  Or is that just me?

And a couple of early Upper Deck cards to round out the highlights.

But wait, there's more!

The most novel piece to Adam's trade package was also the most unorthodox.

I didn't make the scan big just for the heck of it.  Rather, this is a Diamond King box-topper from 2014 Donruss. Can you beat that?!?

My first Mets box-topper, and a pretty amazin' one at that.  Do they make binder pages to accommodate these things?  I guess I'll have to look into that.

Thanks for the terrific trade, Adam!  Hopefully not the last of the exchanges between our respective clubhouses!

MK