3 Highlights of My Week

No sense in burying the lede here. Acquiring a button relic card has been on my to-do list for years and I've been watching a Kerry Wood button card Ebay for quite some time. The price, unfortunately, hasn't budged.

Enter Panini's 2020 National Treasures. 

I can sit watch National Treasures case breaks on YouTube for hours. It's a fun break to watch for sure.. I knew Dan Vogelbach had a traditional jersey card in the set, but what I didn't realize was he had a button card!

I set a timer and sniped this auction at the last second for a very nice price. How cool of a card is this!?!

The back might even better as it recounts the story of Yusei Kikuchi giving his son the middle name of VOGELMONSTER Daniel.

From time-to-time I've stopped in at Dunkin' Donuts, on a Friday, to grab some coffee to help me finish off the school week with a little extra kick. I guess my students have noticed and one of them introduced me to Dunkin's app. I earned a free coffee right away and decided to cash in. While I was there I splurged on a donut as well. 

Behold! The Ghost Pepper Donut! It's a yeast donut, with pink frosting and sprinkles. I'm fairly sure the ghost pepper was only in the frosting. I picked up a tiny hint of hot pepper taste, but little, if any heat. I would definitely say this donut was far sweeter than it was hot. 

I think those who can't normally handle spicy foods would have no problem consuming this tasty, sweet pastry. See if you can locate one and impress your friends!

Here's a picture of Hugo on our back patio. I like to think he's protecting us from the sparrows and juncos who frequent the nearby feeder. 

He's wearing his vest of Kryptonite, as well like to call it. When we first introduced him to the vest he flopped right over on his side. Later he learned to walk, but he did so as though his joints were fused together. The Kryptonite within the vest has slowly begun to wear off. Or perhaps he's built up an immunity? Now the vest only hinders his mobility enough so that he is not a threat to our little flying friends.  Good times.

What were the three highlights of your week?

A PWE for the Folder of Fun

 I received a really thoughtful PWE in the mail a week or so ago. 

I have a Cubs FrankenSet and a Folder of Fun, but Jeff is putting together a FrankenSet with some similar themes to my Folder of Fun. 

I'm guessing these are either duplicates or they didn't make the cut for his set. Regardless, I don't mind giving them a good home. 😀

This Jack McDowell is checks all the boxes for my collection! 

Eric Davis seems to be having a good time. 

The Saberhagen and Sutcliffe cards are duplicates for me, but I know a ten year old collector who will be so excited to have them. 

This Jose Rijo cards is so excellent!

I believe that is Kal Daniels getting checked out, but I'm more than likely wrong. (See the comment below.) What a great picture captured on cardboard!

I wonder how many card collectors these days know the purpose of Jeff Montgomery holding a fire extinguisher? The Sporting News started the "Fireman of the Year" award back in 1960 and it was renamed the "Reliever of the Year" award in 2001. It was last given out in 2010. For the record, Montgomery won the award for the AL in 1993, with 45 saves and a 2.27 ERA, while pitching for the Royals. The card above is from the 1998 Topps set. 

Thanks for the great selection of cards, Jeff!

Unexpected Vogelmonster Awesomeness

I haven't sent any trade packages or *gasp* return trade packages in a couple months, but that doesn't seem to stop them from coming in. No worries though, I'm keeping a list and when I get a little time I'll go shopping for the eleven bloggers whom I owe cards. 

Here's what I found in my mailbox today. 

Good gracious. Do I ever love this card!

This one came from my current favorite Frankenset builder. 

If you haven't been over to Padrographs lately, then I suggest you drop in to vote and help Rod determine which Padre card makes the cut. 

Thanks for Vogey autograph, Rod!  You've been added to my list!

October was High End Vogelmonster Month

 Panini Chronicles and Topps Triples Threads were released within a week of each other and I've been happily chasing parallels of base, relics, and autos ever since. I'm a fan of high end product as long as I'm not the one paying the initial premium. 

What I'm not fond of is sellers who feel the need to use packing tape to cover the top of thick top loaders when shipping. Packing tape nearly always means certain death for the top loader in this household. I don't have a bunch of thick top loaders just laying around. I like all my more "expensive" Vogelbachs to rest comfortable in a penny sleeve, a top loader, and a team bag. I do this so I can pull them out of the box and enjoy their beauty without having to worry about damaging the cards in any fashion. What's the point of owning attractive cards if you're not ever going to look at them? Right? 

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Give Panini an MLB license. This is the spectra card design from 2020 Panini Chronicles. I'm after all of the parallels of the base card because they are brightly colored and so shiny. Everyone knows I'm a sucker for shiny.

Above is the "neon pink" parallel, number to /75. I couldn't be happier with the photo selection from Panini in this instance. I don't miss the logo the front of the jersey would have provided and it's quite obvious Vogelbach just launched one into the stratosphere with that swing and gaze. 

Here's the gold "Silhouettes" jersey card number to /10. Kudos to panini for matching the fabric behind Vogelbach with the color of his uniform top in the picture. 

I believe the next card is the last I needed with a print run of five or higher from the 2020 Topps Archives Signature Series. This one is numbered out of /26.

Vogelbach in Cubs jersey. Those were the days!

Did you know Topps had Pete Alonso curate a set this year? Yeah, I thought it was a bit strange, too. There was a couple of insert sets and one was titled Florida Roots. You can sort of make out the title in the background if you look hard enough. 

This is the base autograph card and there autographed parallels to chase as well. I'm a little surprised Topps went with the Panini photograph selection here. FYI, this is my first Vogelbach BREWERS card in my collection. 

I am not an Allen & Ginter fan. I'm a baseball guy through and through and I don't have much use for celebrities in my sets. But, I do like framed minis. 

Tint the boarder black and add in a blue signature and we have a winner! For what it's worth, this one is numbered out of /25. 

Topps, still drinking the Vogelbach All-Star Kool Aid from 2019, gave the Vogelmonster two cards in 2020 Triple Threads. Both come with a half dozen parallels or so. 

Above is the Emerald (out of /50) patch and signature combo. The design is gorgeous and I love how there's room for some fabric, an auto, and a picture. This card was going to be a leader for my favorite Vogelbach card of 2020 until I realized this is the exact same photo Topps used for his Bowman Chrome card.  

In case you weren't sure what I meant by "high end" in the title, then get this: A box of 2020 Triple Threads contains 14 cards for the low-low price tag of $300. 

My two cents = A high end product should not feature photos used in other products. I have one word for that: LAZY.

Below is the Sapphire jumbo jersey relic numbered to /3 from the same product. Thankfully, I haven't seen this photo used yet.  

If you look closely you can make out a little bit of teal jersey in the bottom-left corner of the jersey swatch. I'm not sure, but I think this swatch is part of the zero from the back of his uniform. Very cool. 

I hope you've enjoyed this quick spin through some of my recent Vogelbach acquisitions. I sure did!