Saturday, February 24, 2024

Watertown, NY



These 15 cards were sent by regular contributor The Nightowl, of "Night Owl Cards."  As always, it was a Dodger heavy offering.  It's a nice batch of cards with a good number of inserts and what I would loosely describe as "odd-ball" sets from the mid-90's.  My apologies to the Leaf Limited and Flair enthusiasts who may still be out there.  Somehow it's the first copies of '94 Score Select and '94 Studio I've added in four years.  That's a bit of an anomaly.

Thanks for the cards Greg!

Updated Totals:





Visit Night Owl Cards by clicking the image below:



Wednesday, January 31, 2024

Eden Prairie, Minnesota


These 10 Wallach cards, 1988 Topps Sticker Book and Sega Genesis RBI Baseball '93 instruction manual were sent by Dan of Eden Prairie, Minnesota.  It's at least the fourth time Dan has sent cards in the last three years.  The Sticker Book is blank, but Dan was nice enough to tab what pages Wallach is mentioned on, same with the RBI Baseball instruction book.  The wrappers were what the cards were packed in, which is always a nice touch that a few readers make a point to do.

Also mentioned was that a few of the Topps were "Glow Backs."  I've probably have about 3,000 1991 Topps cards, and I'd say half of them are glow backs.  I'm more inclined to consider the "Bold" logo on the back a scarcity, but as I know, I count all of the "variations" as the same in my official tally.

Thanks for the cards Dan!

Updated Totals:




 

Monday, January 29, 2024

Eldersburg, Maryland



These 5 cards were sent by "KB" of Eldersburg, Maryland.  Eldersburg is located a little west of Baltimore and it's the first time I've received cards from there.  Included was a '92 Bowman base card.  That's one I don't see very many of.  Oddly, I do receive a good number of the gold foil Team USA '92 Bowman's in the mail from readers, far more than I do of the base card.  I'm not sure why it works out that way, as far I know they were printed in equal numbers.  1992 Bowman and 1984 Donruss are two sets that I think still carry the reputation of scarcity, though in my experience, they don't seem to be any harder to find than 1991 Bowman or '85 Donruss.  Probably just residual rookie card and Mattingly frenzy that hasn't quite worn off.  

Thanks for the cards "KB!"  

Updated Totals:



Friday, January 26, 2024

Portland, Oregon



These 4 cards were sent by Kerry of Portland, Oregon.  This is (by my count) the fifth time Kerry has sent cards going back to 2016.  Perhaps I'm biased, but I think the '88 Donruss Wallach is one of the better looking cards in the set.  I consider '88 Donruss to be maybe the ugliest design of the 1980's, but within the set, this Wallach stands out.  That's not something I say about every Wallach card.  For instance, I consider the 1990 Fleer Wallach to be perhaps the worst looking card in an otherwise decent looking set.  It's out of focus, sun bleached, and blue on the card design clashes with the blue on the uniform. (I've put it below for reference, though it wasn't sent with these)


Thanks for the cards Kerry!

Updated Totals:





Thursday, January 18, 2024

Pleasanton, CA



These 46 cards were sent by James of Pleasanton, California.  James previously sent cards in April of 2017 and December of 2020.  Included were 13 copies of 1995 Collector's Choice SE.  That's actually the most copies of that card that I have ever added at once, or in a single year.

Tuesday, January 16, 2024

Baltimore, MD



"KB" was one of the last people to send my cards in 2023, and he's the first to do so in 2024.  Baltimore, after not making an appearance on the map of where cards have been sent in the first 12 years of this blog, has now shown up twice in a matter of months.  These 9 cards are nice mix to start the year off with.

Thanks for the cards "KB!"

Updated Totals:



Friday, January 12, 2024

2023 Year in Review


2023 Year in Review

There were no new Wallach cards released in 2023.  Neither Tim nor Chad made it into any sets.  Topps in their infinite wisdom opted not to include Chad Wallach in the base set or update set, despite Chad setting career highs in nearly every statistical category this past season.  Chad ended up hitting 7 home runs while playing in 65 games for the Angels, and established himself as Shohei Ohtani's preffered catcher.  Chad Wallach has now played seven straight MLB seasons and has only 2 Topps cards to show for it.  Someone over at player selection is asleep at the wheel.

On a personal level, my season started in Arizona with Spring Training in March and ended in New York in August when I returned to Yankee Stadium for the first time in nearly a decade.  There was time when I was an undergraduate student that I would regulary ride the Metro North down to the city and sit in the $8 center field seats at the old Yankee Stadium.  It doesn't feel that long ago, but somehow it's been more than 20 years.  A friend from those days was getting married, and that's what brought me back to the city, and by extension, Yankee Stadium.  I don't hate the new Stadium (can we still call it "new?") but it feels pretty clear to me that it's now safe to say that it was a terrible mistake to tear down the real one and build this replacement (I can't say the same for Shea, as much as loved it with all of it's flaws).  Still, brown bagging a beer on the 6 train surrounded by other Yankee fans doing the same has a charm that is unique to the Yankees.  My partner, who did her undergrad in Manhattan, but somehow never went to Yankee Stadium in her college days, and unbiased by a lifetime of memories of going to the real Stadium, found this new one to be wonderful.  So perhaps I judge too harshly.  Hopefully it won't be another decade before I get back.  Once a year, I like to post some non-hobby pictures, so my apologies if you're just here for the cards.

(Camel Back Ranch, Dodgers/A's)

(Salt River Fields, Rockies/Dodgers)

(Yankee Stadium, Yankees/Red Sox)



A final note on my trip to New York.  When I was in undergrad, and for a period of time after graduating and before going to law school, I played in a band.  We played a lot shows, opened for some bands that you may have heard of if you were in the scene in 2003, and even had our name appear on Ticketmaster tickets a couple of times (though never sniffed a record deal).  A story that always does well when it comes up, is we played a show at CBGB's once.  It's no longer there, but since it was near our hotel, and out of some sense of morbid curiosity, we went down to see what had replaced it. It's a high end men's fashion store now, one that specializes in the rock & roll look (irony is dead).  The type of place where a large security guard on the inside looks you up and down before deciding whether to open the door for you.  They let us in, and we pretended to browse while I pointed to racks of $5K jackets and quietly said "that's where the backstage rooms used to be," and things of that nature.  It was a more emotional experience than I expected to be.  Somewhere I have a high 8 video of our performance at CBGB's.  If I ever dig it up, maybe I'll post a song on a Sunday Edition post of this blog.  For now, here's a picture of what used to be something nice.




....And now to the Cards:



Current cards in the Collection: 33,147 
Cards acquired in 2023: 1,457 
Collection grew by: 4.6%

Top Fifteen Most Abundant Cards in the Collection



1.(tie) 1982 Topps .................................. 1,269      
1.(tie) 1984 Topps ...................................1,269      
3. 1988 Donruss ......................................1,120      
4. 1987 Topps ..........................................1,080      
5. 1983 Fleer ............................................1,063     
6. 1989 Topps ................................. 1,000
7. 1988 Topps All-Star .............................. 953
8. 1988 Topps .................................... 938
9. 1986 Topps All-Star .............................. 790
10. 1990 Topps .......................................... 743
11. 1990 Fleer ............................................ 662
12. 1990 Donruss ...................................... 592
13. 1989 Donruss ...................................... 589
14. 1986 Topps .......................................... 574
15. 1989 Fleer ............................................ 546

For the first time since I started posting this list on annual basis back in 2015, there is a tie at the #1 spot.  I don't know what the odds of that are, but they have to be small. 1989 Topps landed on exactly 1,000 copies, making it the 6th member of the the 1,000 card club.  I'll probably never do it, but I like the idea of filling empty factory set boxes from a given year with 792 copies of the Wallach from the set.


Top 10 most added cards in 2023


 

1. 1990 Fleer ..................................... 113
2. 1989 Score ..................................... 69
3. 1988 Topps ..................................... 63
4. 1989 Fleer ....................................... 56
5. 1988 Fleer ....................................... 53
6. 1991 Fleer ....................................... 52
7. 1988 Donruss ................................. 46
8. (tie) 1989 Donruss .......................... 40
8. (tie) 1989 Topps .............................. 40
10. (tie) 1991 Score ............................. 39
10. (tie) 1990 Topps ............................ 39

1990 Fleer ran away with this category this past year.  It's the first time it's topped this list.  A few ff the usual suspects, notably 1987 Topps and both 1986 Topps didn't show up in the numbers they usually do.  Perhaps I've started to exhaust the supply?


Notable No-Shows, zero acquired  




For the 2nd year in a row, I'm ranking 1987 Leaf (with 58 copies in my collection) as the most notable no-show.  It's now been over two years since I've added a copy of that card.  Other "notable" no-shows include 1992 Topps Kids (50 copies), 1985 Leaf (50), 1993 Pinnacle (49), 1994 Leaf (48), and 1995 Upper Deck (46). Oddly enough,  I often end up receiving a few of these cards days after this post goes up, and theres been a few instances where I've already received cards on this list in early January before I even get a chance to post it.  Tune in to see if that trend continues.

Welcome Back




Most of the cards on this list were sent by a very generous reader.  Dave from Williamsburg sent me one of the more unique packages I've ever received, loaded with rarely seen cards, including the '93 Refractor, a pair of Desert Shield Topps, and others.  A lot of the cards listed below are the first one's I've received since their initial post in the early days of this blog.  I started this blog in 2011, and it took about two years for me to work my way down to the more obscure cards.

1st since 2012
1991 Topps Desert Shield

1st since 2013
1989 O-Pee-Chee Stickers
1990 Bowman Tiffany
1993 Topps Finest Refractor
1995 Topps Finest Refractor

1st since 2014
2014 Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Card


Top Card Added Each Year

This is a new list I decided to add this year.  Below is the card I added the most copies of each year since I started tracking in 2015.  I think of it as sort of a list of World Series Winners.

2023: 1990 Fleer (113 copies added)

2022: 1983 Fleer (832)

2021: 1985 Topps (92)

2020: 1987 Indiana Blue Sox (325)

2019: 1982 Fleer (134)

2018: 1987 Topps (100)

2017: 1982 Topps (163)

2016: 1982 Topps (312)

2015: 1982 Topps (407)

2014: 1986 Topps All-Star (97)



Top 15 All-Time Most Sent Cards




Finally, my favorite list of all the numbers I track.  The all-time tally for copies of cards that have been sent to me by generous readers.  I mention this every year, but I feel like this list offers the best insights into the junk wax era and what people were buying, and to some extant the production numbers.  It's obviously not perfect, or all that scientific (as evidenced by the 1987 Blue Sox card that a reader was nice enough to send me 325 copies of a few years ago), but I still find it to be a useful tool, or at least, an interesting list to track.

1. 1989 Topps .................................. 451
2. 1987 Topps .................................. 445
3. 1988 Donruss............................... 427
4. 1988 Topps All-Star .................... 404
5. 1988 Topps .................................. 392
6. 1990 Fleer ...…….....................…  375
7. 1990 Topps .................................. 344
8. 1990 Donruss .............................. 341
9. 1991 Upper Deck ......................... 326
10. 1987 Indiana Blue Sox .............. 325
11. 1986 Topps All-Star ................... 321
12. 1986 Topps ................................ 293
13. 1989 Donruss............................. 279
14. 1991 Donurss MVP ................... 273
15. 1991 Donruss............................. 267



Finally, thank you to everyone who continues to send cards, or even just continues to occasionally check in on this blog.  It's now been up for over a decade, which really blows my mind. 








Saturday, January 6, 2024

Newburgh, IN



These 30 Wallach cards were sent by "Kurvach" of Newburgh, Indiana.  I believe this is the 2nd time that "Kurvach" has sent me cards, last in 2020.   If not, a very close neighbor in Newburgh sent cards in 2020.  

Included in the mix were four rookie cards (2 Fleer & 2 Topps), as well as a couple of other early 80's Wallach's.  1985 and earlier is definitely my favorite period of Wallach cards.  Understandably, I don't see many 1982 Wallach rookie cards in envelopes.  I'm not sure the extent to which modern collector's still use price guides, but in my most recent one (which is a few decades old), the '82 Wallach is still listed and the Topps is north of a dollar.  That's well short of the peaks it was hitting in the fall of '82 and '87, but still enough to separate it from about 775 of the 792 other cards in the set as far as its junk wax pedigree goes.

I also need to point out the incredible care in which these cards were sent.  Each and everyone of them was sent their own penny sleeve and "semi-rigid" top loader.  I felt guilty taking them all out, but for purposes of my storage/catalogue system I sort of had to.  Needless to say, all the cards arrived in incredibly nice condition.   

Thanks for the cards!

Updated Totals:


Friday, January 5, 2024

Baltimore, MD



These 5 cards were sent by "KB" of Baltimore, Maryland.  It's one of my last remaining mailings to get posted from 2023 before I can get to putting together the year's numbers for my end of the year post.

Thanks for the cards "KB"

Updated Totals:





Thursday, January 4, 2024

Wayne, NJ



These 8 cards were sent by "Vic" of Wayne, New Jersey.  I've been a little slow in getting them posted.  I have a couple more mailings after this one to post from the end of 2023.  I hope to have them completed shortly, so that I can get to posting my annual "Year in Review" post before we get too far into 2024.  Vic sells cards on eBay under the seller name "pavichi-48" if you're interested in checking out his listings.

Thanks for the cards Vic.

Updated Totals:


Saturday, December 16, 2023

McKinney, TX


 This large box was sent by fellow Wallach super fan and regular contributor Nick in McKinney, Texas.  Nick has been sending cards to me for a decade now, and the numbers are well into the thousands.  This box alone had 425 cards inside it.  And while this blog exists to document baseball cards, that's not to say I'm not interested in non-card Wallach collectibles as well.  As you can see in the photo above, this box also included a Tim Wallach bobble head, and an autographed Expos Pennant.  It's the first time I've been sent a bobble head or pennant.  Needless to say, it's a very generous offering.  



While the Pennant and Bobblehead are certainly nice to receive, ultimately this blog is about the cards, and there were a lot of them in this box, including a few I haven't seen for awhile.  Included was an 1983 Stuart, the first I've added since 2018, a 1984 Topps Sticker (first since 2019) and what is only my 3rd copy of a 1995 Upper Deck Electric Diamond Gold.  Also included were a pair of 1991 Panini Stickers.  I don't view them as "rare," probably due to the fact that I had a good number of them back in 1991, back when more than 3 or 4 copies was deemed "a lot."  But since I did the initial post for that card back in 2012, this is only the 2nd time I've added new ones.  Which makes them one of the less frequently seen cards.

 Speaking of scene cards, heres a better look at all the cards sent, with the updated totals below.


Thank for the cards Nick!






Updated Totals: