2017 Vladimir Guerrero Angels HOF Induction Card

Found this card in a box of stuff my sister brought on her recent visit. There's usually some baseball and Angels stuff for me, and a bunch of clothes for my girls to dig through. Always fun.

She's thoughtful that way.

I don't know if she was actually at the game, but chances are good she was. My family lives close to Anaheim Stadium, and often the Angels stuff she brings was picked up at a giveaway night by one of my siblings.

Vladdy was inducted into the Angels Hall of Fame during a ceremony prior to the game on August 26, 2017. This card was a handout at the gate that night, I believe.

Vladdy Strikes Again

So I added Vladdy to my PCs earlier this year, meaning I'm hunting his non-Angels cards. When I did that I scoured by boxes and pulled all the cards I could find. Months later, as I mentioned in a recent post, I found a small cache in my Superstars box that I had forgotten about. This was just after I had picked up a few at an "antique" mall. Just now I was putting some new cards in my Angels Relics box and came across this:

1998 Pinnacle Mint #27 Brass Coin

I guess I'm not as thorough as I'd like to think.

Why he was hiding in the Angels Relics box I can only guess.

Must Be Vladdy Week

The other day I stopped at an "antique" mall. In the same booth I found the Oscar Mayer discs, there were several boxes of dollar cards. They were having a sale, 25% off, but even at that, most of the cards would typically be 25-cents in the LCS. I flipped through a bunch and pulled 4 cards, mostly of Vladdy.

1998 Donruss Dominators #25

 Nice insert card, I'd probably normally pay a buck for this card.

1997 Pinnacle Inside #129

 It's a rookie card, although in rough shape, so again, I think a buck is reasonable.

2010 Bowman Chrome #172

To me this is definitely a quarter card and no more.

2008 Upper Deck X, Xponential 2, X2-KG

 I'm willing to spend a buck on Xponentials since they were inserts, with the X2s, 3s, and 4s being tougher pulls, and since I'm collecting this big set.

A couple days after the "antique" mall Vladdy finds, I was going through my Superstars box of traders pulling some cards, and came across a small stack of Vladdy that I had completely forgotten about. I had added him to my Player Collections earlier this year, so this as a nice discovery for me.

So, I've officially designated this week, Vladdy Week.

May Listia Winnings

Here's what I won this month.
I was a short on available credits the first half of the month so I was a little conservative in bidding. After selling some stuff for a good chunk of credits I was able to bid, and win, more often in the second half.

1981 Fleer #656

Need a few more to complete this big checklist set (641a, 641b, 644a, 644b, 650, 652a, 652b, 653, 655, 659a, 660a, 660b)

1999 Topps Finest #110

1998 Topps Finest #273

I won the 1984 stub, but had to send a reminder after 2 weeks (Listia rules says you can request a refund after 7 days) that I hadn't received it yet (it hadn't even been marked "shipped" yet). The seller responded with apologies, and included the 1985 stub as a sorry. I wasn't worried about it, wasn't asking for a refund, just wanted them to know, but it's nice they went the extra step.

Oh, and I looked these games up on Retrosheet...nothing remarkable happened in either.

1996 Topps #435

1995 SP Top 10 Prospects #7

1998 Topps Reprint #23

1971 Topps #499

Won this lot for the 1990 Leaf Checklist #444.

I have this card already as a part of my #444 Baseball Card Collection.

Needed it for the checklist set.

1980 Fleer Baseball Stickers lot.

Pretty happy with Mays winnings.

A Card So Cool I Couldn't Wait

I started a new PC for Vladimir Guerrero. I already have many Angels cards of him as part of the team sets, but I decided I'd open it up, add him to the PCs, and start getting his "other team" cards (Expos, Rangers and Orioles). I've been picking them up slowly on Listia, I'm not a get-all-I-can-now, throw-a-hundred-bucks-at-sportlots and purchase-a-huge-bulk-of-cards-all-at-once kinda guy.

So this card I recently won on sportlots is one of the coolest cards I've ever seen, and I had never seen it before. So cool in fact that I decided to give it it's own post rather than wait and include it on the end-of-month Listia report post, like I usually do with my Listia winnings.

Here it is:

1997 SP Inside Info #14

 Lots of shiny foil caught my eye.

Here's the back:

More shiny foil and great action shots.

But wait till you see what it does:

 You grab the little notch with your thumb and pointer finger and pull out the info card!

How cool is that!

One of my favorite things as a kid, and still are now actually, are pop-up books.

I especially liked the ones with a tab you would pull to make something move on the page.

This card is right up that alley.

The card is little worn, but that's okay with me.

This is the first time I've had one of these and I'm very happy to have it.

Shout Out - UPDATE (I Cried)

BIG DADDY!!!

UPDATE

Vlad announced that he'll be going into the Hall wearing an Angels hat on his plaque!

I cried.

Those of you with hats already in the Hall might not understand.

Those with no hats in the Hall, you will understand someday, if not now.

The closest the Angels came to getting represented on a HOF plaque was with Nolan Ryan who ended up choosing to go in wearing a Rangers hat (even though his primary team is listed as the Angels).

And if that were anyone other than Ryan I'd never forgive them for the snub.

But now the long wait is over.

This team has made me cry tears of joy in the past:

1. Making their first (and only so far) World Series.

2. Tim Salmon hitting his first World Series Home run.

3. Winning the World Series.

(2002 was an emotional year!)

It's such a bid deal, after a lifetime of cheering for the same team, to get represented in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Thank you Vladdy.

Thank you.

(Where's that damn box of tissues.)

Big Daddy Vladdy

Newest member of the Angels Hall of Fame.

Next stop Cooperstown.

After missing by just 15 votes earlier this year, should be a shoe-in in 2018.

I won this PSA graded card on Listia, of all places, a while back.