Collection Audit 1990

Not featured in this photo, but the dog I mentioned yesterday did in fact get ahold of a few of these, pulling several team bags of 1990 Fleer off the table.  She tore open two bags and about 50 of my 1990 Fleer cards are now either missing a corner or feature some teeth marks.  (They still count.)

1990 Bowman - Listed: 102   Actual: 104  Difference: +2

1990 Bowman Tiffany - Listed: 5   Actual: 5  Difference: none

1990 Collect the Stars Magnet - Listed: 1   Actual: 1  Difference: none

1990 Donruss - Listed: 437   Actual: 446  Difference: +9

1990 Donruss Aqueos Test - Listed: 1   Actual: 1  Difference: none

1990 Donruss Baseball's Best - Listed: 10   Actual: 11  Difference: +1

1990 Donruss Learning Series - Listed: 10   Actual: 10  Difference: none

1990 Fleer - Listed: 375   Actual: 439  Difference: +64

1990 Fleer Canadian - Listed: 5   Actual: 5  Difference: none

1990 Fleer Award Winners - Listed: 8   Actual: 9  Difference: +1

1990 Fleer League Leaders - Listed: 9   Actual: 10  Difference: +1

1990 Leaf - Listed: 119   Actual: 123  Difference: +4

1990 O-Pee-Chee - Listed: 3   Actual: 3  Difference: none

1990 Panini - Listed: 5   Actual: 5   Difference: none

1990 Publications International Stickers - Listed: 3   Actual: 3  Difference: none

1990 Red Foley - Listed: 3   Actual: 3  Difference: none

I have no idea how I was off by 64 cards with 1990 Fleer.  I'm sure over the years there have been more than a few large purchases that fell threw the cracks, but not 64 cards at once.  It's not like 1990 Fleer is a Wallach card that shows up in 50 card lots on eBay the way his rookies do from time to time.  Still, better to have 64 more than I thought, than 64 fewer.  It's almost like my dog didn't take a bite out of 50 or so of them.

1990 Score - Listed: 302   Actual: 310  Difference: +8

1990 Sportflics- Listed: 10   Actual: 10  Difference: none

1990 Topps - Listed: 517   Actual: 530  Difference: +13

1990 Topps Big - Listed: 15   Actual: 15  Difference: none

1990 Topps Coins - Listed: 9   Actual: 9  Difference: none

1990 Topps Doubleheaders - Listed: 2   Actual: 2  Difference: none

1990 Topps Mini Leaders - Listed: 15   Actual: 15  Difference: none

1990 Topps Stickers - Listed: 2   Actual: 2  Difference: none

1990 Topps Superstars - Listed: 21   Actual: 21  Difference: none 

1990 Tiffany - Listed: 5   Actual: 5   Difference: none

1990 U.S. Playing Cards - Listed: 34   Actual: 34  Difference: none

1990 U.S. Playing Cards Silver - Listed: 1   Actual: 1  Difference: none

1990 Upper Deck - Listed: 312   Actual: 313  Difference: +1

The review of my 1990 Wallach's came out with 104 additional cards.  That brings the running total up to 515 additional cards.  I figure that number will shoot up again with 1991, and then start to slow down significantly.  Not that I'm rooting for it to.  I'd rather have whatever accounting ego I have be bruised and come up additional cards, that have it stroked and be sport on.

Collection Audit 1989

I had to pause this process for awhile, but had time to hammer out another year this morning.  The issue with doing this, is it takes up a lot of space and creates a good amount of clutter.  So it's not just a matter of counting the cards and running numbers.  Pulling the boxes and then laying out the cards, then putting them away eats up a lot of minutes.  I'm also the proud owner of a new dog.  A Siberian Husky.  She's 7 months old and has an amazing ability to destroy any and everything that isn't closed in a drawer, closet, or about 8 feet off the ground.  So leaving these cards out overnight or during the day is out of the question.  Otherwise, she's a great dog.  Here are some numbers:

1989 Alaska Goldpanners - Listed: 5   Actual: 5  Difference: 0

1989 Bowman - Listed: 152   Actual: 157  Difference: +5

1989 Bowman Tiffany - Listed: 6   Actual: 9  Difference: +3

1989 Donruss - Listed: 394   Actual: 406  Difference: +12

1989 Donruss Baseball's Best - Listed: 19   Actual: 20  Difference: +1

1989 Donruss Baseball's Best Blue Test Proof- Listed: 1   Actual: 1  Difference: 0

1989 Fleer - Listed: 401   Actual: 391  Difference: -10

1989 Fleer Glossy - Listed: 4   Actual: 4  Difference: 0

1989 K-Mart - Listed: 58   Actual: 58  Difference: 0

1989 O-Pee-Chee - Listed: 10   Actual: 10  Difference: 0

1989 Panini - Listed: 1   Actual: 1  Difference: 0

1989 Red Foley Stickers - Listed: 3   Actual: 3  Difference: 0

1989 Score - Listed: 183   Actual: 183  Difference: 0

1989 Sportflics - Listed: 11   Actual: 12  Difference: +1

1989 St. Vincent Stamps - Listed: 2   Actual: 2  Difference: 0

Probably the biggest surprise here was the revelation of three more Bowman Tiffany.  I have no idea where they came from or when I picked them up.  It's a fairly scarce card.  One more wouldn't have been much of a surprise, but to have 50% more than I thought I did is a bit of a head scratcher.  Somewhere along the way I credited myself with ten additional '89 Fleer.  Probably a math error at some point while adding a bunch at once.

1989 Topps - Listed: 750   Actual: 758  Difference: +8

1989 Topps Baseball Talk - Listed: 1   Actual: 1  Difference: 0

1989 Topps Big - Listed: 15   Actual: 16  Difference: +1

1989 Topps Stickers - Listed: 5   Actual: 5  Difference: 0

1989 Topps Tiffany - Listed: 8   Actual: 9  Difference: +1

1989 Upper Deck - Listed: 197   Actual: 199  Difference: +2

No real surprises here.  The total change for 1989 was 24 additional cards to add to the total.  That brings the total audit total up to +411, a number far larger than I expected to find, and there's still a good number of years to go through.

Collection Audit 1987-1988

I only made my way through two years with this post.  This process may take a little longer than I thought.  It went when there were only four or five different cards in the early 1980's, and I underestimated the tediousness of counting off a handful of copies for dozens of different sets in a given year.  Of this first batch, '87 Opening Day was the only real surprise.  Not sure how I missed 14 of those.  Sportflics was the lone set to go backwards.  I don't feel too bad about that given I don't really like Sportflics, and they tend to stick together when you're trying to count them.  So that error is easy enough to write off for me.

1987 Donruss: Listed 429   Actual: 435   Difference: +6

1987 Donruss Opening Day: Listed 39   Actual: 53   Difference: +14

1987 Fleer: Listed 224   Actual: 225   Difference: +1

1987 Fleer Glossy: Listed 30   Actual: 34   Difference: +4

1987 General Mills: Listed 3   Actual: 3   Difference: none

1987 Hostess: Listed 4   Actual: 4   Difference: none

1987 Indiana Blue Sox: Listed 1   Actual: 1   Difference: none

1987 Leaf: Listed 53   Actual: 55   Difference: +2

1987 O-Pee-Chee: Listed 18   Actual: 18   Difference: none

1987 O-Pee-Chee Stickers: Listed 3   Actual: 3   Difference: none

1987 Red Foley Stickers: Listed 3   Actual: 3    Difference: none

1987 Sportflics: Listed 49   Actual: 47   Difference: -2

1987 Sportflics Tri-Stars: Listed 13   Actual: 13   Difference: none

1987 Stuart Super Star Panels: Listed 1   Actual: 1   Difference: none

1987 Press Box: Listed 1   Actual: 1   Difference: none

I'm at over 900 copies of '87 Topps and my count was only off by five.  I feel pretty good about that.  I'm going to have to make a point to push that card over the 1,000 mark before the end of the year.

1987 Topps: Listed 924   Actual: 929   Difference: +5

1987 Topps Stickers: Listed 6   Actual: 5   Difference: -1

1987 Topps Tiffany: Listed 19   Actual: 21    Difference: +2

I was an even 100 off on 1988 Donruss.  I don't know if I made a typo at some point or if I'm just an idiot.  I think I just have an aversion to 1988 Donruss.  It's probably my least favorite 1980's set design of the big three Topps/Fleer/Donruss.

1988 Donruss: Listed: 782   Actual: 882   Difference: +100

1988 Donruss All-Star: Listed 48   Actual: 49   Difference: +1

1988 Donruss Baseball's Best: Listed 34   Actual: 49   Difference: +15

1988 Fleer: Listed: 293   Actual: 294   Difference: +1

1988 Fleer Award Winners: Listed: 20   Actual: 24   Difference: +4

1988 Fleer All-Star: Listed: 11   Actual: 16   Difference: +5

1988 Fleer MVP: Listed: 20   Actual: 17   Difference: -3

1988 Fleer Box Bottoms: Listed: 15   Actual: 15   Difference: none

1988 Fleer Glossy: Listed: 11   Actual: 12   Difference: +1

1988 Fleer Mini: Listed: 15   Actual: 15   Difference: none

1988 Fleer Star Stickers: Listed: 80   Actual: 82   Difference: +2

1988 Hostess Disc: Listed: 4   Actual: 4   Difference: none

1988 Jiffy Pop: Listed: 2   Actual: 2   Difference: none

1988 Kay Bee: Listed: 32   Actual: 33   Difference: +1

1988 Leaf: Listed: 37   Actual: 37   Difference: none

1988 Leaf Canadian Greats: Listed: 35   Actual: 35   Difference: none

1988 Nestle: Listed: 6   Actual: 6   Difference: none

1988 O-Pee-Chee: Listed: 16   Actual: 16   Difference: none

1988 O-Pee-Chee Stickers: Listed: 2   Actual: 2   Difference: none

1988 O-Pee-Chee Super Stars: Listed: 6   Actual: 6   Difference: none

1988 Panini: Listed 11   Actual: 11   Difference: none

1988 Red Foley: Listed 16   Actual: 16   Difference: none

1988 Revco: Listed 42  Actual: 39   Difference: -3

1988 Score: Listed 267   Actual: 276   Difference: +9

1988 Score Glossy: Listed 2   Actual: 2   Difference: none

1988 Sportflics: Listed 9   Actual: 9   Difference: none

1988 Starting Line-Up: Listed 2   Actual: 2   Difference: none

1988 Topps: Listed 713   Actual: 721   Difference: +8

1988 Topps All-Star: Listed: 717   Actual: 745   Difference: +28

1988 Topps Big: Listed: 62  Actual: 63   Difference: +1

1988 Topps Cloth: Listed: 2   Actual: 2   Difference: none

1988 Topps Coins: Listed: 3   Actual: 3   Difference: none

1988 Topps Glossy Send Ins: Listed: 18   Actual: 19   Difference: +1

1988 Topps Mini Leaders: Listed: 34   Actual: 35   Difference: +1

1988 Topps Stickers: Listed: 25   Actual: 26   Difference: +1

1988 Topps Super Star: Listed: 29   Actual: 32   Difference: +3

1988 Topps Tiffany: Listed: 19   Actual: 20   Difference: +1

1988 Topps Tiffany All-Star: Listed: 17   Actual: 17    Difference: none

1988 Topps UK Mini: Listed: 89   Actual: 89   Difference: none

1988 Topps UK Mini Tiffany: Listed: 3   Actual: 3   Difference: none

I ended up finding 208 more cards than I had listed from 1987-88.  That brings the running total up to an additional 387 cards.  I suspect that it will continue to go up through about 1991, then taper off significantly, but we'll see.

Collection Audit 1982-86

Like so many other card bloggers, I do a couple of end of/new year post annually.  In probably every "year look ahead" post I've ever done, I've mentioned my need to go through and do an audit of my collection.  I try my best to keep track of cards as they come in, and log them accurately to keep the count honest, but I know cards get lost in the shuffle.  Well after four or five years of saying I was going to do an audit, I've finally gotten around to it.  I figure it may take four or five post, but this first one will cover the years 1982 through 1986.

Below are the posted numbers I have for cards from 1982 along with the count I came up with during the "audit."  It's not an exact science, but I think it's pretty close.  Each of those bags contains 25 of the same card.  I store them in the white shoe boxes, and until I reach 25 copies the extras are kept loose not in bags.  So much of this relies on my own ability to count 25 copies correctly as they've gone into the bags over the years.

1982 Donruss
Listed: 206
Actual: 214
Difference: +8

1982 Fleer
Listed: 300
Actual: 377
Difference: +77

1982 Hygrade
Listed: 2
Actual: 2
Difference: none

1982 O-Pee-Chee
Listed: 24
Actual: 24
Difference: none

1982 Topps
Listed: 1,202
Actual: 1,219
Difference: +17

Other than 1982 Fleer most of these numbers were very close if not dead on.  There was a period of time in the last year where large lots of '82 Fleer were showing up on eBay on a regular basis.  I bought quite a few of them, and one or two must have fallen through the cracks.  It was literally hard to keep up, as every time I searched a new listing was popping up.  I didn't even buy them all as other people were also bidding and I try to hold firm to my 10¢ a card shipped threshold on cards.   I feel like I have a pretty good eye for shill bidding, and this didn't feel like it.  Not sure who is trying to crowd in on my hold on the Wallach market.

1983 All-Star Game Insert
Listed: 5
Actual: 5
Difference: none

1983 Donruss
Listed: 134
Actual: 139
Difference: +5

1983 Fleer
Listed: 129
Actual: 133
Difference: +4

1983 O-Pee-Chee
Listed: 39
Actual: 39
Difference: none

1983 O-Pee-Chee Stickers
Listed: 4
Actual: 4
Difference: none

1983 Stuart
Listed: 9
Actual: 9
Difference: none

1983 Topps
Listed: 281
Actual: 281
Difference: none

1983 Topps Stickers
Listed: 37
Actual: 39
Difference: +2

1984 All-Star Game Inserts
Listed: 7
Actual: 7
Difference: none

1984 Donruss
Listed: 153
Actual: 155
Difference: +2

1984 Fleer
Listed: 123
Actual: 125
Difference: +2

1984 Nestle
Listed: 80
Actual: 81
Difference: +1

1984 O-Pee-Chee
Listed: 47
Actual: 41
Difference: -6

1984 O-Pee-Chee Stickers
Listed: 2
Actual: 2
Difference: none

1984 Stuart
Listed: 6
Actual: 6
Difference: none

Somehow I lost six '84 OPC cards, or miscounted them while they were coming in.  It's the first card that's come up short in this audit, and my OCD has me already pulling up Sportslots to find six more to make things right.

1984 Topps
Listed: 357
Actual: 364
Difference: +7

1984 Topps Stickers
Listed: 8
Actual: 10
Difference: +2

1984 Topps Tiffany
Listed: 12
Actual: 13
Difference: +1

1984 Topps Encased Test Design
Listed: 2
Actual: 2
Difference: none

1985 All-Star Game Inserts
Listed: 6
Actual: 6
Difference: none

1985 Donruss
Listed: 121
Actual: 122
Difference: +1

1985 Fleer
Listed: 107
Actual: 113
Difference: +6

1985 Leaf
Listed: 31
Actual: 40
Difference: +9

1985 O-Pee-Chee
Listed: 25
Actual: 25
Difference: none

1985 O-Pee-Chee Posters
Listed: 3
Actual: 3
Difference: none

1985 O-Pee-Chee Stickers
Listed: 2
Actual: 2
Difference: none

I have no idea where an extra nine '85 Leaf cards came from.  Its not a card that shows up very often and certainly not in bulk.

1985 Topps 
Listed: 323
Actual: 334
Difference: +11

1985 Topps Stickers
Listed: 6
Actual: 6
Difference: none

1985 Topps Tiffany
Listed: 11
Actual: 11
Difference: none

1986 Donruss
Listed: 146
Actual: 155
Difference: +9

1986 Donruss All-Star
Listed: 28
Actual: 28
Difference: none

1986 Fleer
Listed: 121
Actual: 126
Difference: +5

1986 Fleer Mini
Listed: 38
Actual: 38
Difference: none

1986 General Mills
Listed: 1
Actual: 1
Difference: none

1986 Leaf
Listed: 28
Actual: 28
Difference: none

1986 O-Pee-Chee
Listed: 12
Actual: 16
Difference: +4

1986 O-Pee-Chee Stickers
Listed: 2
Actual: 2
Difference: none

1986 O-Pee-Chee Tattoo
Listed: 2
Actual: 2
Difference: none

1986 Provigio
Listed: 27
Actual: 29
Difference: +2

1986 Sportflics
Listed: 15
Actual: 15
Difference: none

1986 Topps 
Listed: 359
Actual: 368
Difference: +9

1986 Topps All-Star
Listed: 655
Actual: 661
Difference: +6

1986 Topps Stickers
Listed: 51
Actual: 51
Difference: none

1986 Topps Tattoo
Listed: 2
Actual: 2
Difference: none

1986 Topps Tiffany
Listed: 5
Actual: 5
Difference: none

1986 Topps All-Star Tiffany
Listed: 3
Actual: 3
Difference: none

The total ended up being 179 additional cards through 1986.  That's more than I expected, but on the flip side, there were a lot more cards that were exactly on point than I expected to.  Hopefully I'll have this wrapped up by the end of the week.

Rawlings Glove

Last April (2019) I posted photos of a Tim Wallach model Rawling Glove that I had found on eBay.  It was something that I always figured must exists somewhere, given the fact that Wallach won three (should of been more) Gold Gloves during his career, but something I had never actually seen a picture of let alone owned.  

So after 35 years of searching, with Little League and Varsity careers wasted wearing a Kirby Puckett Wilson model glove on my hand (it was actually a great glove), I finally had a Wallach glove.  As chance would have it, it didn't take long to have two Wallach model gloves.  Literally before I could even publish the post for the first glove, this one showed up on eBay.  Naturally I bought it.  While it's in better shape, and used less, I like the first one better.  The first one actually looks like same model Wallach wore.   There's nothing wrong with this one, and given my preference for center field over shortstop (where I was usually forced to play), the web of this glove probably would have suited me better, but I still prefer the other model.  That said, this a very nice leather Rawlings if great shape.    I didn't post it right away because I wanted to give the first one it's proper deference, not water down it's significance.  Also, this is a baseball card blog, not baseball glove blog, so I figured some breathing room was in order.

I asked last time and didn't get much in the way of feedback, but if any of you are glove collectors (I am not), and know more about these gloves, please let me know.  Any information on this or the other one would be greatly appreciated.  Here are some more pictures:

4th of July Stats

Wallach's 4th of July Results 

1982: Game 1: Expos 16, Pirates  6
In the first game of a double header in Pittsburgh, Wallach went 1/3 with two walks and a double.  He scored two runs and had two RBI's.  Steve Rogers picked up the win, going seven innings, and Warren Cromatie drove in five runs.

1982: Game 2: Pirates 10, Expos 4
The second game of the double header saw Wallach once again pick up two RBI's, going 1/4 with a run scored and a triple.  Bill Gullickson took the loss for the Expos.

1983: Game 1: Expos 6, Cubs 3
In the first game of a double header at Wrigley, Wallach went 1/4 with a triple, and also drew a walk.  Steve Rogers went 6.2 innings and picked up the win.

1983: Game 2: Expos 4, Cubs 2
Wallach drew a walk and scored a run as the Expos swept a double header.  Scott Sanderson went six innings and picked up a win.  Ray Burris was credited with a hold, and Jeff Reardon picked up a save.

1984: Expos 7, Braves 4
Wallach went 0/4 with a walk in Atlanta's Fulton County Stadium.  Andre Dawson homered for the Expos, and Charlie Lea struck out 6 while throwing a complete game.

1985: Expos 9, Astros 3  12 innings
Montreal picked up a win in the Astrodome behind a 3-run homer from Wallach in the top of the 12th inning.  Mitch Webster hit a 2-run homer and also drove in three for the Expos.  Bryn Smith held the Astros to two runs over 7 innings, but the win went to Randy St. Claire.

1986: Expos 11, Braves 5
Montreal (Canada) extended their American Independence day win streak to five games with a road win in Atlanta in 1986.  Wallach achieved a July 4th career cycle with a double and two singles, and scored three runs in the win.  Floyd Youmans threw 8 innings and picked up the win for the Expos.

1987: Expos 4, Padres 3
Playing a home game on the 4th for the first time in his career, Wallach went 1/3 with an RBI triple as the Expos won on a Hubie Brooks walk-off homer in the bottom of the 9th.  Tim Burke was credited with the win.

1988: Expos 7, Pirates 3
Wallach went 2/3 with 2 runs scored, an RBI, and a walk, as Montreal picked up a win in Pittsburgh.  Their 7th straight July 4th win.  Dennis Martinez was winning pitcher and Bob McClure picked up a save.

1989: Expos 7, Phillies 4
Wallach doubled and scored a run in a road win over Philadelphia.  Dennis Martinez picked up a win on the 4th for the 2nd consecutive year, and Andy McGaffigan had the save.

1990: Expos 5, Reds 3
Playing at home in Montreal on the 4th for only the 2nd time, Wallach doubled and scored a run as Dennis Martinez was an Independence Day winner for the 3rd straight year.  Dave Schmidt had the save as the Expos extended their July 4 win streak to 9 games.

1991: Mets 5, Expos 1
Wallach went hit-less and Tim Burke took the loss in front of the home town crowd in Montreal.

1992: Expos 3, Padres 2
Wallach went hit-less in San Diego, but Montreal still picked up the victory with John Wetteland being credited with the win in a relief appearance.

1993: Dodgers 1, Expos 0  11 innings
Cory Snyder scored on a passed ball, as Wallach's Dodgers picked up a win in his return to Montreal with his new club.  Jim Gott was given the win.

1994: Expos 5, Dodgers 1
Wallach went 1/3 with a walk and scored the Dodgers only run.  Ramon Martinez was the losing pitcher.

1995: Braves 3, Dodgers 2
Wallach homered and drew a walk, but the Dodgers came up short in Atlanta.

1996: A's 8, Angels 7  11 innings
Wallach walked and drove in a run, but the Angels lost on a Scott Brosius walk off homer in the 11th.

Keizer, OR

This massive dumping of 130 early 80's Wallach cards (and a few other strays) was sent by Bo of Keizer, Oregon.  It's the fourth time Bo has sent cards.  He most recently piled on in December with an envelope stuffed with over a 100 Wallach's, mostly Leaf and Fleer from '90-'93.  Include among the 1986 Topps All-Star cards, was the one at the bottom center of the photo, which appears to have had issues with the it's ink levels in production.  This is the sort of stuff that excites me.  When you're dealing with 655 copies of the same card, it'd probably excite you too.

A few milestones reached with these cards, 1982 Fleer joins the 300 Club, and 82 Topps becomes the first card to reach the 1,200 mark.  Thanks for the cards Bo.

Updated Totals:

1982 Fleer: 300
1982 O-Pee-Chee x2: 24
1982 Topps x5: 1,202
1983 Topps x11: 281
1984 Topps x23: 357
1985 Topps x20: 323
1986 Topps x39: 359
1986 Topps All-Star x24: 655
1990 Topps: 517
1991 Denny's x2: 18
1991 Score: 238
1991 Studio: 82

Bo didn't bother asking for anything in return, but last time he sent cards he mentioned he was looking for a 1983 Clyde Drexler Police Card.  It's pictured below, and if you have one you'd be willing to part with, you can reach Bo on twitter at @BoLane to see if he's still in the market for one.

Victoria, MN

These four cards were sent by Dan of Victoria, Minnesota.  By my count it's the third time Dan has sent cards.  They were nicely packaged in an '88 Topps wrapper, which has since found its way to my refrigerator door.  Dan mentioned in a note that a friend had opened a box of '87 Leaf, if it was just one box, I think that's what kids today would call a "hot box" (I don't speak insert) given it's great return on Wallachs.  Could also be that the Leaf sets were smaller, similar to O-Pee-Chee, I've never looked into it.  The '71 style is a cut out from an old price guide, and only my 3rd copy of it.  Thanks for the cards Dan, I'll take a look at your list.

Updated Totals:

1987 Leaf x3: 53
1991 BB Card Price Guide Monthly: 3

Citrus Heights, CA

Collectively, in the three photos above, there are 267 Wallach cards pictured.  That brings the posted total for my collection up to an even 22,600 cards.  This massive contribution was made by "Big Shep" of Big Shep's Sportscards (see the business card below) and TBS Sports Cards (@TBSSportsCards).  It's the second time he's sent cards my way.  Seven 1983 Topps a rather large number to be sent at once, and always a bit of an exciting event for me.  There were also 17 '84 Topps in the mix, which also at the high end for a reader contribution.  I love all the cards, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a slight preference for cards from '85 and earlier, a demographic that is well represented here.

Thanks for the cards, they're greatly appreciated.

Updated Totals:

1982 Topps x2: 1,197
1983 Fleer x6: 129
1983 Topps x7: 270
1984 Donruss x2: 153
1984 Fleer x3: 123
1984 Topps x17: 334
1985 Topps: 303
1986 Donruss: 146
1986 Topps All-Star x2: 631
1987 Donruss: 429
1987 Donruss Opening Day x3: 39
1987 Fleer: 224
1987 Topps x2: 924
1988 Donruss x7: 782
1988 Donruss Baseball's Best: 34
1988 Fleer: 293
1988 Score x4: 267
1988 Topps x6: 713
1988 Topps All-Star x5: 717
1989 Donruss: 394
1989 Fleer x5: 401
1989 K-Mart x2: 58
1989 Score: 183
1989 Topps x5: 750
1989 Upper Deck x3: 197
1990 Donruss x5: 437
1990 Fleer x6: 375
1990 Score: 302
1990 Topps x4: 516
1990 Upper Deck x2: 312
1991 Donruss x12: 280
1991 Donruss MVP x12: 260
1991 Fleer x5: 194
1991 Leaf: 160
1991 Score x7: 237
1991 Score The Franchise x4: 199
1991 Score Super Star x2: 16
1991 Stadium Club x2: 125
1991 Studio x2: 81
1991 Topps: 262
1991 Ultra: 84
1991 Upper Deck x12: 295
1991 Upper Deck Checklist x7: 227
1992 Fleer x3: 142
1992 Leaf x14: 111
1992 Pinnacle x5: 107
1992 Score x2: 85
1992 Stadium Club x7: 68
1992 Topps: 215
1992 Topps Kids: 42
1992 Triple Play x4: 99
1992 Ultra x2: 141
1992 Upper Deck x2: 281
1993 Donruss x3: 106
1993 Fleer x5: 68
1993 Leaf x3: 86
1993 Pinnacle x2: 42
1993 Score x2: 29
1993 Score Select x4: 52
1993 Stadium Club: 71
1993 Topps x6: 214
1993 Ultra x2: 43
1993 Upper Deck: 146
1994 Donruss: 37
1994 Pacific: 14
1994 SP x2: 42
1994 Topps: 122
1994 Ultra: 37
1995 Donruss: 47
1995 Leaf Limited x2: 10
1995 Score: 45
1995 Stadium Club: 23
1995 Topps: 58
1995 Ultra x3: 45
1995 Upper Deck x2: 39
1995 Upper Deck Silver: 19
1996 Collector's Choice: 24
1996 Pinnacle x2: 52
1996 Ultra: 9

Sunday Edition

Sportlots "Box Shipping"

Sportlots has long been my preferred online card retailer.  Given the nature of my collecting habits, to wit, hoarding mass quantities of Wallach's and set building, Sportlots is the best suited for my needs.  "Card Barrel" (formerly known as "Just Commons") is another site I use often for filling out set needs, and I much prefer eBay to COMC for higher dollar needs.  Sportslots however, by no small margin, is my website of choice.

For years, the biggest draw back I've found with Sportslot is shipping cost.  I try to stick to one or two sellers per order to keep those cost down, and often pass on cards I would otherwise buy.  But recently they've added a feature called "Box Shipping."  It's a process in which sellers ship your order to Sportlots, who then holds your orders until you choose to ship them as a result.  Sort of a COMC on demand type system.  I found it to have mixed results.

The initial shipping, at least with a good number of sellers (and subsequently the ones I stuck with) was much cheaper.  A few even offered free shipping to get the cards to Sportlots.  However, Sportlots shipping wasn't exactly cheap.  I suspect once you hit a price point it'll level off, but I couldn't find any posted rates on their site.  In the future, I may need to just let some cards pile up for awhile before having them shipped my way.  Which is to say, I plan on using the option again, imperfect as it may be, it's still an improvement.

Sportlots sent the cards in a large flat rate box, that was full of envelopes and packages from the individual sellers, which were left intact.  Sportlots doesn't open them or anything to ensure the contents, or make any effort to compress them for more efficient shipping.  I'd prefer they did, but I'm sympathetic to the time and effort that would require on their end.  Here's a look at what was in the box.

I cut my 1974 need list down by nine cards with this group.  I'm down to about two dozen holdouts to complete the set.  There weren't any big names in this group, although there were a couple of interesting ones.  "Clarence" is not how I would choose to address Mr. Gaston were I ever to met him, and Ray Fosse is a somewhat exciting card by my own subjective standards.

Those are 1975 mini's, in case it's not obvious from the photo.  Worth mentioning, I'm working with an old phone and inferior camera, as I broke the screen on my current phone and have been too cheap/lazy to have it fixed, opting instead to just plug the sim card into an older model.  I'm about 150 or so cards short of completing this mini set, but most of the high dollar cards are already in hand, so the end is within sight.

These '76 and '77's round out the vintage portion of the order.  I'm probably 30 cards short of crossing off the '76 set, and maybe 75 cards short of completing '77.  The rookies and HOF'ers are all in hand for the most part, though that subset of "All-Time All-Stars" in the '76 set is pretty thin, and demands prices that feel unnaturally high to me.  The Cobb above, which is one of those, was a nice find for me at a price that didn't make me squirm.

Without fail, whenever I try to knock off more than maybe 5 or 6 cards to finish off a set, I find myself short a card or two.  Such was the case with those 2018's above.  While sleeving them, believing the set now complete, I discovered card #351 to be missing.  Nothings easy.  I've harped on this before, but I felt like the retail collation in packs last year was particularly bad.  I bought enough product to complete the set three times over and was still well short of even one full set.  So far in 2019 I've had better luck.

That "surprise you're short a card" feeling repeated for me with 2017.  I thought the four above would cross the 2017 base set monstrosity off my list (worst Topps set of the last 15 years), but of course, it didn't.  Cards #13 and #596 are still missing.

Finally a few more stray needs.  My 2008 need list is now down to five cards, or at least, that's what I believe it to be.  When I order those five, I'm sure I'll discover a couple more I'm missing.   I also took the liberty of picking up some Wallach cards from the seller's I was buying the above set needs from.  Here's a look at what I added:

Updated Totals:

1983 Donruss: 134
1984 Fleer: 120
1985 Donruss x2: 121
1986 Donruss x2: 145
1988 Fleer Glossy: 11
1988 Fleer MVP: 20
1988 Kay Bee: 32
1988 Revco: 42
1989 K-Mart: 56
1989 Upper Deck: 194
1994 Pacific: 13

And before I sign off, here's  a look at three recent vintage eBay pickups.  1968 is a set I've been making some strides on, albeit slowly, and I continued my trend of impulse vintage Hockey buys.

There are over a 1,000 home runs documented on the back of those two cards.  Some misguided collector's may wince at the condition of the two cards, but they of course would be wrong.  Any 1968 Topps card that says "Willie Mays" or "Ed Mathews" on the front is just fine the way it is.

One more "Pocket Rocket" Richard card, this one with some strong 1974 baseball vibes.