2017 Sportlots purchases: I was told there would be no Matheny

I promised to get on with showing off recent trade packages in my last post here, and I've done just that--it's just that the first one I posted was all Wolverines (from SCFtDS's Doug), and can therefore be found on TMM this evening.

So I can hopefully drive some traffic that way I thought I'd put up a companion post here, which means it's back to my huge Sportlots haul once again.

Today's subject is Mike Matheny, a former Brewer, Cardinal, and Giant (and Blue Jay, though I don't believe he appeared on any cards with them).  I realize he's not terribly popular with St. Louis fans as their manager, and as the fan of a team that finally dumped their former MLB catcher-turned-overmatched, inexperienced manager I get it.  But I still like the guy and am happy to have the former Wolverine among my PC guys, and as a supercollection at that!

So here's four scans worth of my Matheny pickups from Sportlots this time:

Scan #1 quickly spans seven years since Mike didn't appear on a ton of cardboard from this period (or overall, really).  We begin in 1994 with his Bowman RC, meaning I now own all four of his first-years and am short an Artist's Proof from Sportflics Rookie/Traded to finish the year's checklist.  Just one entry from 1996 too in the form of another Donruss set design I like.  1998 is represented (out of order) by a Pacific Invincible Gems of the Diamond insert (fairly subtle by Pacific Standards) and Collector's Choice.  One of Pacific's best base designs, 1999, is our lone representative for that year, then we skip a year that didn't include any Matheny cards at all.  Then 2001 begins with the quartet of Bowman Heritage, MLB Showdown Unlimited (which I didn't include in my PC checklist), Pacific (quite possibly my favorite base design from that manufacturer) and Topps Chrome.

2001 wasn't Matheny's high water mark for appearances--I just had good luck landing stuff from that year, including the top row of this scan that finishes off the year in Upper Deck style:  Gold Glove, MVP (one of my least favorite looks for the otherwise solid product) and Victory.  Sticking with the trio theme for a second, 2002 is an all Topps affair in the middle row thanks to Heritage, Limited, and Opening Day, with that first set offering a strong showing.  UD then rules the roost for the following year with its 2003 base set as well as 40-Man, the design of which I don't quite like as much as its predecessor.  A very cool and colorful 2004 Donruss base card closes out this scan.

One other '04 Donruss product, Team Heroes, begins this scan by closing out that year.  Then I have a pair of cards from his career-high 57 offerings in 2005:  another appearance in Bowman Heritage, then the Giants version of his Topps Cracker Jack base (as opposed to the St. Louis variation).  A Topps Heritage trio from 2006, 2014, and 2015 (oops, already had it!) end the run of the regular sized vertical cards.  They're joined by a couple 2005 Topps Cracker Jack inserts.  On the left is a Red Mini while a Sticker Mini sits to its right; both of these once again are the Giants versions where Cardinals variations do appear.

Last up is a group of horizontal additions, led by a trio of Stadium Club offerings.  The first two are Mike's base and Silver parallel from 1996 (uh, they might need to build a bigger stadium) and another base example from 1998 that includes a play at the plate, sans 2/3 of the sliding baserunner.  That feat is largely repeated on base and Warning Track parallels from 1999 Fleer Tradition on which about 20% of that player trying to score appears to be getting tagged by the Brewers catcher.

By my count that's 30 new cards for my Matheny collection, including 29 that go toward his supercollection checklist for a new total of 89/217 and 91 overall.  Not a bad bit of progress, really.

Ok, now you can look forward to a trade package right here in my very next post, though it's a two-parter that'll spill over into TMM as well!