I finally received a sportlots order today. It's my second order of the year from the site and this time I went with the box shipment to save myself some money.
I was questioning myself for doing it while waiting because gosh does it take awhile. It was only a month, it turns out, but it certainly seemed longer. I know I've been through this before (and written about it) but the saving sometimes don't seem worth it during the wait.
I usually reserve sportlots orders for plugging a few team set needs or set needs in general, but not for super-vintage cards in most cases. Sportlots isn't great for knowing what the cards look like when you buy them (it seems to have cut back even more on the pictures in fact). So stuff like Kellogg's cards is out.
I don't know how much these arrivals will interest people but who cares? This blog thing is here for showing my cards, nobody else needs to like them but me.
Here we go, I mean, why all the 2021 Stadium Club Chrome, night owl? Zack McKinstry and Mitch White? But team collectors understand. I got in a yank at some point and wanted all those SC Chrome cards that have different pictures on them than the chrome parallels in the regular Stadium Club set. Stupid, really. I can't be doing that every time Topps pulls this nonsense, but it seemed like a good plan at the time.
Speaking of Stadium Club Chrome how about a couple of cards from 25 years earlier? And also a Chrome Update card of Paul LoDuca from 2001. The Ben Diggins and Shawn Green are feeble attempts to complete a couple of 2001 team sets. Still need cards for both pursuits.
Also, I know it's been bugging you ever since you saw the Raul Mondesi SC Chrome card at the top of the post. Yes, I thought that was going to be a Dodgers card. Sportlots needs more pictures, I tell you!
These two cards made their arrival thanks to the Corey Seager rookie card from this set. I hunted that down a few weeks ago and realized I had done virtually nothing with the team set that year.
Mookies!!! Good to see Betts acting like his normal self for the past month. It got concerning. Both of these are long overdue cards from a couple of years ago.
That does it for the shiny cards in the package. Not much else left but very old-school.
When I posted this card on BlueSky shortly after the passing of both of these Special SuperStars, it got more likes than just about anything I've ever posted. Then I realized, dummy, this is in your night card binder but you need one for the 1987 Fleer set, too!
Did you know this 1985 TCMA Home Run Champions set contains two Duke Sniders -- one of him kneeling and one of him standing? I didn't. Mid-'80s TCMA sets are so weird. Also you have to cut them into cards, which we never had to do in the '70s. This is less-than-expertly cut, but it'll do.
OK ... I didn't listen to myself about avoiding sportlots for cards that need visual confirmation. All three of these were attempts to upgrade cards. I still have a few 1974 Topps cards that I bought way back 20 years ago when I was chasing the set that are diamond cut or whatever. The Kurt Bevacqua is a suitable replacement. The Walt Williams is not -- too many printing defects on it.
I was hoping for better with the 1980 Bill Russell, too. I freaked out when I recently discovered that the Russell I had in the team binder had a faint-yet-sizeable crease in the upper right. How did I miss that all these years? I went to the dupes box for a replacement but THERE WEREN'T ANY. So I ordered this. It's not great. May have to check ebay.
One more for the 1978 TCMA 1941 Brooklyn Dodgers set. Ten more to go!
And finally, this:
Working on the Beckett Vintage Collector story about misspelled names on cards prompted me to get this card. As I wrote about, this card is often considered to be incorrect two ways -- his first name and him appearing as a lefthander in the picture. Joke's on you both ways -- Burdette preferred the name "Lou" over "Lew" and signed it thusly and he purposely posed as a lefty because hijinks!
So had to get this one. And this listing supplied a picture. It's a terrific copy.
It's always interesting to see the packaging of sellers. One seller used this Roger Clemens Baseball Aces card as -- I think? -- a way to obscure the card I had ordered in the top loader? Maybe to protect it? A Baseball Aces card is as thin as it gets. Also they put tape marks on a Clemens card, but they're all on the back so I guess I'll keep it.
That's it for what's probably my last sportlots order of 2025. Neither have been sensational. More like methodical, I would say. Which is just fine.
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