A little over a decade ago... I decided to put together a complete run of Steve Carlton's Topps flagship base (and traded) cards. Next up was Thurman Munson. In 2022, I completed the Steve Largent run. A month later, the Tony Gwynn run was finished too.
After putting it off for far too many years... last month I decided to start another run. This time, the subject is The Man of Steal. Before Gwynn, Rickey was my favorite baseball player. In fact... had he not been traded to the New York Yankees back in December of 1984... there's a chance he still would be.
Ultimately, he'd return to the A's in 1989 and help them beat the San Francisco Giants in the World Series. Unfortunately by then... there was no way he unseat Mr. Padre. But he'd settle comfortably into the #2 spot which is where he has remained ever since.
Over forty years after becoming a fan... I'm now making a point of completing his run. Considering all of the teams he's played for over his twenty-five season career... I've quickly discovered this is going to be a lot tougher than anticipated.
Let's start off with what I have...
1982 Topps #610
As of right now, his 1982 card is the oldest in the run. This is a chance to explain one of the guidelines I've created for myself... which is that the cards in these base card runs are not part of a set or set build. Rickey's 1980 Topps rookie card is the perfect example. I own a complete set of 1980 Topps, but I'm not willing to pull it out for this project. The same thing applies to a few other cards in this project: his 1981, 1983, 1985, and 1995 cards.
1984 Topps #230
1985 Topps #115
1987 Topps #735
1988 Topps #60
1989 Topps #380
1989 Topps Traded #48T
1990 Topps #450
1991 Topps #670
1992 Topps #560
1993 Topps #750
1994 Topps #248
1997 Topps #96
Assuming these seven eventually arrive safe and sound, I'll be down to nine cards. Here's a look at the ones I need:
The four cards highlighted in red were purchased over three weeks ago and haven't arrived... so I'm starting to think I'll need to purchase them again.
His rookie card will set me back a little, but I'm not too worried about that card. Living in the Bay Area, I'm hoping to find an affordable, lower grade, raw copy for a reasonable price. Not sure what the deal is with his 2002 and 2003 Topps Traded cards. If I'm lucky, I'll have to pay $15 for the 2003 card. Outside of his rookie card, that's about the most I want to pay for a card in this project.
Sadly... that puts me in kind of a bind, because his 2002 traded card currently sells in the $50 to $80 range. NO WAY WILL I PAY THAT KIND OF MONEY. Anyone know what the deal is with that card? Anyways... maybe the Hobby Gods will help me out and I'll find it lingering in a dime box or quarter bin.
If not... this might be one of those projects that take years... possibly decades to finish. That's kind of a bummer, but let's wrap things up on a happier note.
Hold on. My scanner does not do this card justice. Here's a photo of the custom:
Is this card awesome or what? It actually looks way better in person. And it's absolutely perfect for a St. Patrick's Day post.
Anyways... when he first showed it off... I asked him he was planning on selling it. He didn't reply to my comment... but eventually this card showed up in my mailbox with a note thanking me for supporting his 1991 MusiCards Blog.
He also used the scraps from this custom and a Canseco reject to produce this one-of-a-kind card:
The Green Super was put into a magnetic and will eventually be added to my A's shelf in the office, while this Gold Super will be added to my Sports Card Smorgasbord binder which contains all of the other customs I've received from him and others over the years.
Thank you Gavin for these welcomed additions to my Rickey collection.
Happy St. Patrick's Day and sayonara!
Hi Fuji. The reason why the '02 Traded Henderson is so expensive is that it was short-printed relative to the majority of the set. Beginning that year Topps printed lower quantities of the non-rookies in the update set, inserting them at a rate of about 1 per pack. This short-printing only applies to the base version of the card with the Chrome variety having been produced at the same rate as the set's rookie cards.
ReplyDeleteIf I can ever find the time to start working on those PC boxes (to weed out dupes) I'm sure i could fins some of those Rickey needs.
ReplyDeletecardboredom - thank you so much for that information. i did notice that the chrome versions were more affordable... which i thought was even stranger.
ReplyDeletejohnnys trading spot - i can only imagine how many pc boxes you have laying around. based on all of the care packages you ship out, i feel like you could open up your own online store... and plenty of us would be willing to support you
I always wondered why Topps didn't make a card of him in 1998.
ReplyDeleteAwesome project, good luck! I went through my trade list but came up empty on the ones you need (however, should you need some Allen & Ginter Henderson cards let me know)!
ReplyDeleteBest of luck with your run and glad to hear you like the cardart from me! Yeah, I wanted to send you a little thank-you and that seemed like a nice idea to use. I've since made a couple more "green supers" using Rickey's Berger's Best, but they are a different shade of green (and are stamped 2024). One went to my bud Man-cave of Steal/rickey939 on Twitter, and the other got stamped as an "Artist's Proof" for me to keep for myself. :)
ReplyDeleteI wonder does Ricky hold the record of base cards.
ReplyDeleteThis will be a fun run to collect and see, especially after Rickey bounced around a bit toward end of career. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI've got a run of Rickey cards from 1980-93, but that's because I collect sets (I can probably say that for a lot of guys who played then). It gets shaky later in the '90s because I wasn't collecting then. I might have an extra 2003 Traded card for you I'll have to check.
ReplyDeleteCool project idea. It's weird that he does not have a 1998 base card, because I am almost certain he is in the Hall Bound insert set that year as a member of the Angels. Weird.
ReplyDeleteI've most likely got a couple of Rickeys that you need. Don't repurchase anything yet. I'm on it...
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised you didn't have a run of his already! Good luck getting it done!
ReplyDeleteI love the title pun. Good stuff and good luck!
ReplyDeletesg488 - me too. what's weird is that they made an insert for him, but no base card.
ReplyDeletenachose grande - one of these days i'll get my act together and put my rickey collection up on tcdb. but it probably won't happen until retirement :D
defgav - you did a great job on this custom gavin... and i'm grateful that you thought enough of me to send it my way. thanks again. i'll have to see if man-cave of steal showed his off on twitter.
john bateman - that's a great question. maybe someone like night owl will take on this challenge to find out who has the most flagship base cards in a career.
the lost collector - yeah... i'm looking forward to the build. it just might take awhile.
night owl - i was collecting in the mid and later 90's... but the problem is by then i was collecting the four major sports, so my budget was spread thin. and by then i wasn't focusing on just topps flagship. thanks for checking on the 2003 traded.
the snorting bull - yeah... he's in that set. and yup... it's weird.
gca - thanks buddy. coming out to cali this year?
jafronius - although i knew i needed some of his late 90's base cards... i didn't realize i needed so many. but i'm up for the challenge.
sumomenkoman - thanks buddy! you should do this with nolan ryan!
I've got the 2000 and the 2001 for sure if they don't show up. And I'll look for the rest tomorrow at a show in PA.
ReplyDeleteSorry, no prospects of west coast travel this year. You coming east any time soon? :) Still waiting for the warmup to reconnect the battery on the ol' Buick and fire her up again....
gca - appreciate you keeping an eye out. it looks like the sportlots shipment is lost. i'll be requesting shipment from their box site soon and will update this run hopefully in a month or so. no plans to hit the east coast anytime soon. if i had to guess, i'd say i'll make it out there when i retire in 10 years. i hate flying... so i gotta figure out a remedy for that :D otherwise... it'll be a coast to coast road trip. sure hope you write up a buick post. that car is gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteI might have that 03 Topps. I'm on my way to the bar to watch opening day so hopefully I remember when I get home. lol
ReplyDeleteI hadn't seen Gavin do a negative space custom before. Both cards are awesome, but that one is even more unique than usual.
ReplyDelete