Back in early April, I received a text message from Greg over at The Collective Mind. His LCS had recently acquired a huge Rickey Henderson collection and he shared a pair of photos with cards that were available for purchase.
The collection was very impressive and I could have used almost everything in the pictures. However at the time, I hadn't done my taxes... so I decided to shop conservatively. I ended up picking two $25 cards:
2010 Topps Sterling Legendary Leather Relic #5LLR-5 (#'d 09/25)
2010 Topps Sterling Stats Relic #SSR-5 (#'d 08/25)
I don't usually spend $25 on relic cards, but these two took me on a trip down memory lane.
Watching high-end breaks on YouTube in the late-aughts lured me back into the hobby and Topps Sterling was one of my favorite products to watch. Boxes were usually player or statistically themed and 2010 was the final year of the initial product run.
That year each box cost collectors around $250 and contained only two packs: a mystery pack (with one framed parallel or a cut signature card) and a themed pack (with three base cards and two hits). In other words it was a high dollar gamble and not a product I would ever consider opening.
On the other hand, I was very excited to add these two game-used jersey cards to my Rickey Henderson PC for about the same price as two 2026 Topps Series 2 value boxes at Target. I also offered to send him $25 to cover shipping and reward him with a finder's fee, but he insisted on only accepting $10.
As a bonus, he tossed in this Rickey relic card:
2021 Topps Tier One Legends Relic #TTLR-RH (#'d 019/149)
2021 Topps Tier One is another high-end product. These one pack boxes were also originally $250. However instead of six cards, you only received three: 2 relic cards and 1 autograph/autographed relic.
In May, Greg sent me a few more Rickey Hendersons. Two were for my Topps Base Card Run:
1995 Topps #559
2001 Topps Traded #T77
Technically I already own copies of his 1980 and 1981 cards. However the second year card is part of my 1981 Topps set and the rookies fall into one of three categories:
#1: Part of my 1980 Topps baseball set
#2: Graded Rookie Card
#3: Signed Rookie Card
He also tossed in a pair of 2013 The National promo cards:
2013 Leaf National #N-RH1
The final cards in Greg's care package were customs created by his friend Eric (EricD3043 on TCDB):
I'm super jealous of collectors with the ability to create custom cards like these.
My personal favorites are the 1965, 1978, 1979, 1980, and both of the 1960 customs. Great job Eric!
Thank you Greg for going out of your way to grab those two high-end Rickey relics... and for giving me a bonus one to boot. And congratulations on your retirement! After dedicating the past 22+ years to that school district, you've earned some rest and relaxation. Hope you get to spend some quality time with your girlfriend, cars, collection, and card room!
Happy Thursday and sayonara!
13 comments:
Nice relics. It's still a shocker that he passed away.
Great Rickey's!
I have always regretted not having a Rickey RC or auto. I think I'll fix that one day soon!
I like the Tier 1 card. Sterling's not so much.
Rickey likes.. Good Job! 👍
Awesome relics! It's crazy how much the boxes cost.
At a bigger card show last year in So.Cal, there were a row in a monster box of singles of midlevel / lower end Henderson relics from presumably No.Cal seller :/ dealers - I wasn’t familiar with the values, but maybe I am hoping to see something similar to browse through and maybe make a keeper out of a card.
Great cards from Greg! Enjoyed those customs too. Happy 4th all!
Wow, great new Rickey cards for your collection! The customs look fantastic too. I'm also very impressed by folks who can make their own cards that look that nice.
Nice Rickey additions and I still can't believe he passed and Rose too, sad days for Baseball.
So many awesome Rickeys here! That was quite a deal, and very generous of Greg. The customs from Eric look fantastic as well!
Your Topps Rickey run is impressive! I know some of those Tops Traded issues are pricey. Can't wait to see you complete this project!
That Sterling relic is so cool!
batting out of order - i agree. i don't think i'll ever get used to him or tony gwynn passing away so early in life.
johnnys trading spot - thanks. there were a bunch to choose from. the sterlings just took me back in time
the lost collector - good luck. i see rookies and autos all the time at local card shows, but being a local legend... they're usually priced accordingly. i'm guessing the same might be applied to new york. i doubt i'll ever add another autograph of his to my collection, but i am hoping to one day find a lower grade rookie (with reasonable eye appeal) in the $20 to $40 range. #wishfulthinking
night owl - the tier 1 is definitely a more attractive card (compared to the sterling). but seeing those sterling relics took me back to when i returned to the hobby.
john sharp - i'm sure rickey appreciates your comment too :D
damien - the crazy box prices is the reason i ended up watching break videos on youtube. no way i'd actually spend that kind of money on a box for myself
laurens - i'd love to come across a monster box filled with rickey cards at a show. hope you find that dealer again and pick out something nice for your collection
jafronius - thanks. hope you had a happy 4th yourself
dennis - i wish i had the skills to produce nice looking customs. on the other hand... if i did... nothing would end up getting sorted or organized around here :D
rr - it's hard to see players we enjoyed watching pass away. at least pete lived into his 80's. rickey passing away at the age of 65 was a total shocker.
chris - yeah... those "end of his career" traded cards will probably be the last ones i pick up (if i ever do).
matt - thanks. in regards to appearance, i actually like the tier 1 more. but those 2000's topps sterling cards hold a special place in my collection
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