Chasing Gold

Summer break is over.  The summer sort is over.  And the 2024 Summer Olympic Games are over. 

What does that mean to me?  It means things are gonna change and they're going to change drastically.  Obviously... I'm heading back into the classroom, so that'll replace things like cleaning, playing Red Dead Redemption 2, sorting cards, and binge watching The Acolyte, The Umbrella Academy and House of the Dragon.

My morning routine will also be different.  The past few weeks, I'd watch highlights from Paris (almost) every morning before reading blogs.  I was also waking up well after 6am on a regular basis... which is something I haven't done in decades.  Not gonna lie... it was nice.

However... during the school year... I like to wake up by 5am (5:30 at the latest).  Time permitting... I'll continue to read blogs before heading to work, but I'm gonna miss sleeping in and watching those highlights.

My favorite Olympic events were the track & field events that involved running, skateboarding, soccer, and surprisingly speed climbing.  One thing I just couldn't get into was break dancing... which kinda shocked me, because it fascinated me as a kid.

The bottom line is I'm going to miss watching all of those talented athletes competing for gold medals.  It was super entertaining.  Thankfully... collecting cards are too.  

And those aren't going anywhere.

1996 Finest #330

Today's post is headlined by this very cool card I received from Dennis over at Too Many Verlanders back in May.

In 1996 Topps adopted a tier system for their Finest products using three colored borders: bronze, silver, and gold.  As expected... gold was the rarest.  I didn't open up any 1996 Finest baseball, but I watched other people bust boxes.  At the time I was going through a huge hockey phase, so my money was dedicated to 1995-96 Finest hockey... which used the same tiered system.

I was obsessed with this product... as I was desperately chasing any gold cards I could get my hands on.  The gold refractors were especially popular among collectors that year... as Topps claimed that they produced no more than 150 copies of each card.

Well just like there was controversy over Olympic gold medalist Imane Khelif this year, Topps found themself in the midst of controversy back in the 90's.   A collector cornered the market on Greg Maddux gold refractors and accumulated 220 copies.  This led to the gentleman taking Topps to court and settling (out of court) for an undisclosed amount of money.  The world sure loves drama

Okay... that's way too much writing dedicated to one card.  Let's move on to the rest of the care package.  Dennis sent me four team bags packed with cards.  In an effort to keep this post a reasonable length, here were some of the highlights:

2006 Upper Deck Diamond Collection Materials #DC-MA

Let's start with this card, since it continues with the "gold" theme.  I actually had this card already... however this one is an upgrade with that prominent pinstripe.

All four of these shiny cards were new additions to my Japanese player collections.  Hoping Darvish will return this season and help the Padres make a push into the postseason.

He also included this rare Hideo Nomo card:

2004 Leaf Silver Press Proof #293 (#'d 38/50)

Maybe Topps should have serial numbered those gold refractors.  It would have saved them a lot of money.

He also sent me some 2021 NPB cards.  Here's one of best National League rookies from last season:

2021 Topps Chrome NPB #204

Unfortunately he's only pitched in one game during his sophomore season.  Hopefully he'll bounce back in 2025.

Who knows... maybe he'll be teammates with this guy:

2021 Topps NPB #112

I climbed aboard the Roki Sasaki bandwagon back in November and hoping he finds success in the MLB eventually.

The card that stood out the most out of the entire package was this Ichiro:

2020 Stadium Club Widevision #244

In addition to utilizing an awesome photo... it's an oversized box topper, so it literally stands out.

He also sent me the McGwire from the set:

2020 Stadium Club Widevision #96

Another very attractive card.  It also features one of my favorite Stadium Club designs.

Next up is my all-time favorite Athletic:

2023 Panini Chronicles Obsidian #31

Dennis sent me three new Rickey cards for the collection, but this one stood out.  I'm not usually into Panini cards, but this Obsidian card is gorgeous.  Sadly... my scanner sucked at capturing this card's beauty.

It struggles to capture most shiny cards like this sweet Gwynn refractor: 

2020 Stadium Club Chrome Refractor #160

I love this card so much, it motivated me to seek out more on COMC.  So far, I've purchased a Stan Musial.  But there are a few other legends I'll keep an eye out for.

Well this post took a lot longer than expected.  Luckily I was still on summer break when I wrote it (yesterday morning).  However by the time it's published... I'll be in my classroom getting things ready for the upcoming school year.

Thank you Dennis!  I'm hoping to drop off a package for you at the post office this week.

Happy Monday and sayonara!