C.A.: 2003 Upper Deck 40-Man Adrian Beltre Red, White & Blue parallel

(Happy Independence Day! Remind those who may question why you need all those baseball cards that it is your right as a U.S. citizen to collect baseball cards! You have the FREEDOM to collect baseball cards! Life, liberty and the pursuit of baseball cards!!! It's time for Cardboard Appreciation. This is the 304th in a series):

I am sure some of you figured I'd be posting another 1976 Hostess card on this occasion. But I don't have any new ones to show at the moment.

If I had myself together, I would've had the entire completed set ready to display on this holiday. But it's a bit more challenging of a set than that. I'll display it when it's good and ready.

However, I have used this holiday to pick up a few more '76 Hostess cards. They are in transit. I've also used this holiday to add a handful of 2003 Upper Deck 40-Man red, white & blue parallels.

Just as I've maintained that Upper Deck 40-Man is a much nicer-looking set than Topps Total when comparing all-inclusive card sets, I believe that the 40-Man "flag" parallels are probably the greatest looking patriotic cards that have ever been made.

Yes, I'm partial to the '70s Kelloggs and Hostess Spirit of '76 sets, but credit where credit is due.

The 40-Man parallels are so magnificent that I could barely believe my eyes when I saw this Adrian Beltre parallel for mere quarters. I snapped it up immediately. Then I looked for what other red, white & blue Dodgers I could find and snapped up those few as well.

And, then, what the heck, I probably should own all the base Dodgers from the '03 40-Man set, too. So those are all on my way to me now as well.

It's really a great-looking set, and another one of those signs from the 2000-09 era that cards were coming out of that foil-obsessed, metallic malaise of the late '90s.

So, happy 4th of July all! Enjoy all of those barbecues and hot dogs and water slides. I will, too. And maybe I'll have a baseball card by my side at the picnic table.