30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Thursday, August 27, 2020

Acclaimed Autograph

2020 Archives hit the hobby last week and it's highly unlikely that I'll be opening any up for a few reasons:

1
. I doubt I'll find any blasters and refuse to pay inflated box prices.

2
. I don't love the base set enough to justify busting a hobby box.

3
. My hobby budget is tight right now.

That being said, I will be
targeting affordable lots of the Archives Fan Favorites autographs.  I don't think I'm the only one, because I haven't landed many over the past year or so.  At the very least, I'd like to purchase the Andy Ashby, Bruce Bochy, Mark Buehrle, John Blue Moon Odom, and Benito Santiago signatures.

These autographs are one of my favorite things to collect year in and year out.  I haven't sat down and actually counted, but I'm guessing I own close to one hundred of theses on-card autographs that have been released annually since 2012.

The most recent addition to this collection was this card:

2019 Topps Archives Fan Favorites Autographs #FFA-KB

If you're a diehard baseball fan, you're familiar with Ken Burns' baseball documentaries.


Personally, I've only seen the 1994 miniseries, but I'll get around to watching the other two eventually.

Normally I try not to pay more than $5 shipped for signatures from this series, but I ended up having to pay $17.69 ($12.35 + $4.20 shipping + $1.14 tax) for this card.  The good news is it actually didn't cost me a penny, since I'm still using up several eBay gift cards that I have laying around.

By the way, the photograph of Burns was taken back on July 29, 2009 at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington where he threw out the first pitch before the Texas Rangers game versus the Detroit Tigers.

2017 Heritage Clubhouse Collection Relic #CCR-JV
2011 Heritage Clubhouse Collection Relic #CCR-MC

The Tigers trounced the Rangers that day.  Justin Verlander won his 12th game of the season and Miguel Cabrera went 4 for 6 at the plate with a double, home run, and four runs batted in.

Well that's it for today.  I'll leave you with today's questions of the day...

Is there a particular set (base, insert, autograph, etc.) you look forward to each and every year?

Do you have a favorite documentary (not necessarily sports related)?

Happy Thursday and sayonara!

19 comments:

Robert said...

I don't have a particular baseball set I look forward to. Hockey is OPC, love the challenge of that set each year.

The Ken Burns baseball documentary would be my favorite. I watched a Ted Williams show that lasted about 90 minutes (roughly) and really enjoyed that as well.

Jeremya1um said...

I guess I just look forward to when the new Topps set comes out at the start of the year. If I had unlimited funds, I’d probably look forward to Archives for the player selection and autographs and stuff like Bowman and Chrome. If Archives were like the ‘01-‘05 versions, I’d look forward to it no matter what.
As far as documentaries, MLB has done some good ones. I particularly enjoyed the ones on Dennis Eckersley and Lenny Randle.

bbcardz said...

Basically, I look forward to Topps flagship, Heritage and Dodger Stadium giveaway cards. Those alone keep me plenty busy.

Sean said...

Oh neat, I like that Ken Burns card. My favorite baseball documentary remains his 1994 baseball. Its such a classic, I watched it in 1994, then again about 10 years ago when he released that 10th inning follow up.

The Lost Collector said...

I really enjoyed The Last Dance. I don’t really look forward to a particular set each year! Not how I’m wired.

Johnnys Trading Spot said...

I seen 2 blasters and twenty fat packs at Walmart yesterday. I left them on the shelf. I did take a picture though, lol.

night owl said...

I used to look forward to the new sets, but that's gone away the last couple of years.

I'm not enough of a documentary fan (or movie fan, really) to have a favorite. I do enjoy watching them. But that's about it.

Nick Vossbrink said...

Gonna nominate Murderball for the documentary list.

Matt said...

I usually look forward to Archives and Stadium Club, but I agree that this year's Archives lacks any real appeal for me. (Although I am quite please by the inclusion of Mo Vaughn and Dennis Eckersley this year!)

As far as documentaries go, I really enjoyed "The Battered Bastards of Baseball".

friend11 said...

I've watched a few different Ken Burns Documentaries and enjoyed them all.

Jongudmund said...

I like seeing the mascot cards in Opening Day. Otherwise I rarely buy new releases.

The Snorting Bull said...

I like Heritage, but I feel like the Archives sets are ruining the future releases of that product. As far as documentaries go, I like a lot of the ESPN 30 for 30 movies. Favorite being Survive and Advance. The Ken Burns Baseball one was good too, but I actually think the Vietnam War series was he best work.

Adam Kaningher said...

I always look forward to Stadium Club. And Opening Day, if we're being honest.

I watch a lot of documentaries but some of the non-verbal ones like Baraka are truly mesmerizing.

gcrl said...

I'm always interested to see what designs will be used in archives and who will be on the autograph list. Same with the Allen & ginter insert checklist.
There are a lot of documentaries that I've enjoyed including the ken burns ones .e ruined above. The most recent one I liked was "free solo" about alex honnold and his climb of el Capitan.

gcrl said...

Apparently .e ruined is what happens when I try to type mentioned

Fuji said...

robert - i don't really buy current hockey, but if i did, i'd target opc too. love their designs each year

jeremya1um - i wish i had access to mlb documentaries. maybe one day, i'll dish out the money

bbcardz - stadium giveaway cards of any team can grab my attention

sean - yeah, it is a classic. i need to watch it again... as well as the 10th inning follow up

the lost collector - i still need to watch the last dance. never sat down this summer to do it, but i will eventually

johnnys trading spot - i had to go to walmart yesterday, but mine doesn't carry cards. i asked about them years ago and the lady told me there were too many thefts

night owl - with each passing year, i get less and less interested in newer products. i'll definitely be interested in heritage next year, but in general i'd rather spend my money on older stuff

nick vossbrink - never heard of it, but it looks like it's on amazon for free. just added it to the watchlist

matt - nice call on the battered bastards of baseball. that was fantastic

friend11 - i need to check out his others

jongudmund - the mascot cards are my favorite thing about opening day. although i did enjoy the broadcaster autographs in this year's packs

the snorting bull - i'll be buy some heritage next year, because of the 1972 design. i love espn 30 for 30 movies too. dont think i've seen survive and advance though

adam kaningher - i like stadium club's photography. not always the biggest fan of their designs though. i'll look into baraka. never heard of that one before.

gcrl - i've heard of free solo, but haven't seen it. as a fan of yosemite, i'll have to check it out

Matt said...

For me its all about Prizm and chrome!

acrackedbat said...

I love Ken Burns. His documentaries on baseball and the Civil War were phenomenal. "The War" may be my favorite. He chose four American towns and followed their stories through WW2. I found the episodes moving, sometimes graphic and informative.

Fuji said...

sport card collectors - my buddy told me prizm basketball is going for crazy prices right now. i definitely enjoy chrome too... but mainly for their refractors

a cracked bat - i'll have to look into "the war". i've been fascinated by the topic since i was a kid