Monthly Wrap - July

Note: Ben’s Additions are on the left, Matt’s are on the right!

Exciting Addition

2022 Topps Lando Norris memorabilia /1999

This has become the exciting addition this month, not because it was something I was looking for but my wife and I pulled this from a box I got to try to sell her on the hobby since she’s become a big F1 fan. These are only about 2 per case from this product, and have a long checklist and wouldn’t you know with beginner’s luck she pulled her favorite driver! An awesome moment we got to share that I think has pushed her into collecting.

1999 Upper Deck Century Legends Epic Signatures Gold /100 Alex Rodriguez

So many times when I was first collection A-Rod from 2016-2020, I had chances at this card but never really went after it. I was so focused on the inserts that this one was sent by the wayside. It was the ONE autograph that I found myself thinking about more than any other auto of Alex. The design is simple, yet elegant. The photo has the sunglasses which everyone knows I dig. The auto is also big and bold! What else can you hope for when it comes to an autographed card?

Long Awaited Addition

1998 Fleer Ultra Diamond Producers

This card is long awaited because I’ve continued to put it off. Of course as I waited the price continued to climb so then I had to hold out for a copy that was both still raw and didn’t have any major defects that would bug me. This one has some edge wear, but that allowed me to get it for circa 2017 pricing so I’m happy to have a copy.

2024-25 Upper Deck Extended High Gloss Marc-Andre Fleury /10

While this is a 2024-25 card, imagine knowing that your guy’s final active High Gloss parallel isn’t going to come out until the Summer time while starting in September. There was a lot of waiting involved before this card made it into the market…but man am I glad I was able to find a copy a week into the release! I still don’t have the 2023-24 High Gloss so this one is extra sweet!

Captivating Addition

2004 Upper Deck SP Game Used Patch MVP /25

This to me is the height of Upper Deck’s powers when it came to patches. This is an incredible product with very meticulous design elements. I love this photo of Ichiro, and the patch is fantastic. As a bonus it’s always cool to have the 1/x when it’s a card this nice.

2001 Donruss Season Stat Line 1998 Alex Rodriguez /42

Ben came through with an incredible gift when we hung out in San Diego. Not only is this card beautiful, but it’s serial #d to the number of homeruns he hit in 1998! I am such a big fan of thematically serial #ing inserts!

‘Overpaid but stoked’ Addition

2002 Upper Deck Game-Used Base Ichiro

I’m not actually sure that I overpaid for this one - they just aren’t that rare, you’ll see this card on eBay pretty frequently. What makes it special is I was able to look at it in person while hanging out with Matt in SoCal at a shop and Matt stumbled upon this one in a box. It is a really clean copy, and when you take a closer look the photos chosen for this card are everything early Ichiro: throwing in the field, Mariners logo hat, Juliette sunglasses. It’s perfect and presented on a nice clean white minimal design.

2000 Upper Deck Game Jersey Patch SSP Alex Rodriguez

When it comes to patch cards, everyone tends to be a fan…but do they know where they started? Right here on this card. Coming in at a whopping 1:2500 packs, these monsters were the first patch cards to be created! I was very fortunate that Kevin from the 90’s group was willing to let this thing go. As a lifelong Mariners fan, these colors will forever be etched into my memory. This right here is a perfect card!

‘Cheap but fun’ Addition

1954 Topps Joe Black

I love the images of Joe here, and most folks don’t even know who he was - the 1952 NL MVP as a pitcher for the Dodgers. An incredible feat and I love the 1954 design. I’ll add this to the PC for $10 10/10 times.

1999 Aurora Kings of the Major Leagues Alex Rodriguez

Coming in a 1:360 packs, these inserts were extremely tough to find, and very expensive back when they came out. In the days when inserts rules and game used were rarely seen, cards like this were major chases for collectors. I still love finding Pacific case hits for affordable prices.

Month in Review

Ben: Fun month introducing my wife to cards via F1, I’d suspect some of those will sprinkle in these monthly reviews moving forward. Due to travel and a different schedule for July, I didn’t spend as much time doing my Saros research, but was really happy with the cards I picked up. Fully expect me to come back with a flurry of hockey since I’ve been having so much fun discovering the Upper Deck hockey products that are so different from baseball/Topps.

Matt: First off, getting to hang out with Ben here in San Diego was a real treat. As I’m sure some of you have seen on our Podcast, we have the same passion and energy for trading cards. Being able to share that passion for a few hours was awesome. Now that things are getting busier at Upper Deck, I am having to be intentional with my time spent looking through my collection. Thankfully I added a scanner to the office to help bring the shiny cards to life. I am very much looking forward to rescanning my collection over the rest of the year and putting together an up to date website of the entire collection. It’s off to a good start so far! See you on Sunday everyone.