Last week I made my first SportLots purchase of the year. This one came about mainly because I owed a fellow trader some cards (which should be going out today or tomorrow!) and had some great luck finding them. While I was at it I decided to try to get out of the rut some of my older sets were in and attack those as well. Finally, I picked up a trio Michigan player collection cards, which you can see over on TMM. Did I mention that these all came from the same seller? Well, they did, which is the way to play the game when it comes to SportLots.
I spent around $30 this time, but considering what I ended up with, I think I did just fine, especially when it comes to sets from 2002:
Card #1 is this 2002 Bowman base of Chin-Feng Chen. Why did I start off with this one? It officially closes the book on that set for me. At some point during my previous SportLots pickups, I failed to realize that I needed this one, and then I think a seller sent me the wrong card, so I was still left needing the Chen. This particular seller had it, and I jumped all over it. Make that another set done and another box that'll get a big old check mark on it when I get around to putting these away (I'm terrible about that).
Next up I grabbed a total of 42 2002 Topps Total base cards. This set was a bit of a catch-22 for me--I didn't feel motivated to work on it because I still needed so many, and I needed so many because I don't make the effort to pick them up. Well, I grabbed every card I needed that this seller had, and now I'm down to a slightly more manageable 44 cards needed. These will be fun for me to put away because I store them in a binder, just one of two sets ('03 Topps Total) I do that with because otherwise I'd be up to my eyeballs in binders.
I highlighted a few interesting players here, including the retiring Mo, a trio of former Tigers, and a few throwbacks. Remember former 20-game winner Pat Hentgen? Remember his ridiculous mustache as a member of the Orioles too? How about Kaz Sasaki, proof that closers are often a dime a dozen? As always, this set is a lot of fun, and shame on Topps for killing it and replacing it with more and more of their shitty, overpriced products. How many guys do you think made this set that wouldn't have otherwise appeared on a baseball card? BRING IT BACK, TOPPS!
These next two sets were part of a 2002 Upper Deck Update product, which included updated runs of a few of their 2002 products. Unlike Topps Total, I'd really done VERY little with these since I'd opened them, so I needed quite a few. Fortunately, this guy had a pretty good number of them for me. We'll start with 2002 Honor Roll Update, of which I grabbed 14 cards (leaving me needing just four!). This set included some more season highlights and prospects, finishing off the job of the main set. In my scan I included some more fun highlights, including former legend-in-the-making Mark Prior, Chicago White Sox megabust Joe Borchard ("2001 Top-Rated White Sox Prospect," LOL Jeff), a pair of Tigers (including Tim Kalita #2) and one of a pair of Jason Simontacchis (remember HIM?). Hopefully I'll get this one completed before much longer.
Finally, I nabbed 23 cards from 2002 UD Victory Update. Victory was sort of like UD's answer to Topps' lower-priced entries, and therefore a large set, but UD added to it just like their other products that year. I'm now 16 cards away from finishing this update set, which is fantastic news.
I highlighted a few traded players, plus most of the rookies I picked up. Phillips and Colon, of course, were both involved in that ill-fated deal for Montreal that brought Cleveland many of its better young players for a few years. I included Durham because how can you hate a guy like Ray-Ray? Hey Eckenstahler, what happened to the logo on your hat? And there's Simontacchi #2.
As I often like to do, I'll show off the damage to my wantlist this purchase did, before:
and after:
Sweet! As I find money in my monthly budget the rest of the year, I'll see if I can't make even more headway on my baseball set wantlists, which are getting ridiculously small considering where I was at just a couple years ago. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some cards to put away!
When Borchard made contact, that ball would fly. The problem is he thought he could make contact with every single ball thrown at him, no matter how high, low or outside. And for some reason, we hung on to him for years.
ReplyDeleteWell, sometimes you've gotta throw bad money after bad, trying to justify that signing bonus!
DeleteI also did my 1st purchase from Sportlots last week, finish off 3 hockey sets that were missing a few cards, & got a few cards towards finishing off a set from the early 90's.
ReplyDeleteThere's one of the best reasons for using SportLots: cards from sets that are that old! Good luck finding those at reasonable prices, if at all, elsewhere.
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