Awesome Relic Card Reminds Me I Don't Like Relic Cards

From the recent pick-ups pile, a card, that if you suspend disbelief, is an awesome card. I collect catchers in gear, and bat cards of the top home run hitting catchers of all-time, which Dickey sits 14th by my count. It is Panini, but the pose and the gear make no logo airbrushing necessary. A nice photo of a Hall of Famer on a super thick high end card with a piece of bat that may or may not have hit one of his 202 career MLB home runs, and I only paid $8.00. What's not to like?

More Recent Pickups

Another show-off/empty the scan folder post. Starting things off is a part of a project that I have been working on for quite a while, getting a bat relic of the top home run hitting catchers. Lance Parrish sits 6th on that list with 299 homers as a catcher (324 overall) and this is his only bat relic I know of, so it nice to cross this one off the list.

Last of the Denver Loot.

Along with catching a few Rockies games while in Denver, I managed to find my way down to Bill's Sports Collectibles, and picked up a few things. The big score for me was a couple Rockies magazines, these are full of photos of old obscure Rockies that make for some good custom card material. With some time to kill I dug through a few boxes of 10 cards for $20 and while probably overpaying at $2.00, it was fun to spend some time in a big store dedicated to something other than hockey.

Biggest Zistle Trade Yet

Completed a while ago, but just getting around to posting, a pretty large stack of cards from mkruger743 on zistle.com. Staring off with a nice bat relic of Vinny Castilla from 2005 bazooka. This is from Vinny's second stint with Colorado when he lead the National League with 131 RBI.

Check Out My Rockies

Another load of Rockies cards from COMC. While not being a fan of unlicensed cards, they usually have nice catcher cards as the equipment makes editing the photo unnecessary. This card of Wilin Rosario is instantly one of my favorite Rockies catchers cards.

The Eddie Butler autograph an on-card auto which is nice, but it is kind of an ugly card, but I got it for cheap and Butler has been the best pitcher in the Rockies system this season. The Ben Petrick is also on-card and a nice addition to the catcher collection.

More catchers with Rogelio Arias, a Charles Johnson bat card, and two more Ramon Hernandez cards for the rainbow attempt. Joe Kennedy set a then Rockies record with a 3.66 ERA in 2004 before sadly passing away in 2007. The Pomeranz is limited to 199 and this one is #1. The Helton is an acetate and will be in an upcoming acetate appreciation and the Gary Wayne was the second the last card I needed for the Rockies frankenset.

2013 Gypsy Queen Johnny Bench Bat Relic

Updating an almost forgotten project, collecting bat relics of the top home run hitting catchers of all time. Johnny Bench held the record with 327 until it was broken by Carlton Fisk and later by Mike Piazza. Bench does have more total career home runs than Fisk, but I am going by home runs hit as a catcher. This pick-up puts me at 7 of the top 10, with Yogi Berra next on the list.

Carlton Fisk Mailday

A couple cards from a recent COMC order, a project that I have been ignoring is trying to get a bat relic card of the top 10 home run hitting catchers. The 1977 Topps Carlton Fisk is one of my favorite cards of all time so when I saw this card from the 2002 Topps Archives Reserve Bat Relics set, I knew I needed it. I also added the 2012 Gypsy Queen jersey relic as part of a larger offer as I am always a sucker for GQ cards.

Roy Campanella Bat Card

Another entry in the still needing a better name "All-Time Home Run Hitting Catchers Bat Cards" project. This time we have a 2011 Topps 60 Relic of Roy Campanella. By my list Campy sits at 10th all-time in home runs by a catcher with 239, not including 3 hit as a pinch hitter. In his short ten year career Campanella was an All-Star 8 times and the N.L. MVP 3 times. In 1953 he hit 40 home runs as a catcher, a record for the position that would last until 1996 when Todd Hundley hit 41 for the Mets. Campanella would be inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1969.

Trade with Arpsmith

Trades are really starting to heat up for me, another arrival today this time from ARPSmith's Sportscard Obsession. This trade turned a Tim Linceum Gypsy Queen Relic into a Larry Walker Bat card. I prefer bat cards to jersey cards and turning a Giant into a Rockie is a good deal for me. Also coming my was was a pile of 1992 Pinnacle needs for some Giants. I will avoid a pile of scans in fear of turning this into a full time 1992 Pinnacle blog, just another Thanks for the Trade post.

COMC Mailday, Pt I, Catcher Bat cards

Life has suddenly got stupidly busy, so I am going to try and spread out the contents of the newest COMC package into a few smaller posts rather than one huge one. The first few cards help fill out the new "All-Time Catcher Home Run Bat Cards" project, with a Jorge Posada, Mike Piazza, and Ivan Rodriguez. The Posada and the Pudge feature catching gear which is nice, and the Piazza is not a Dodger making it awesome. Along with the Gary Carter from a previous mailday this gives me 4 of the top 10 home run hitting catcher bat cards.

Gary Carter and the Start of a New Project

This recently acquired Gary Carter bat card marks the first step in a new collecting goal, getting bat cards of the top home run hitting catchers of all time. Carter sits at 7th on the home runs by a catcher list with 298, he did have 324 career, but I am going by home runs hit while playing catcher, so my list doesn't include time spend at DH, pinch hitting or playing anywhere else. Of the 13 players with over 200 home runs as a catcher only Gabby Hartnett doesn't have a bat card and the other 12 are fairly easy to find, so this isn't a huge goal, but the tricky part is going to find the photo on the card showing them catching which is what I prefer. This Carter card fits all my criteria and is on what looks like a buyback 1987, and I love the '87 design and the Carter card is one of the nicer cards in the set. From what I can find in Beckett this should be a 2005 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites Originals Relics #GC Gary Carter Bat Card numbered to 50, from what I can tell this is a "buyback" set in that Topps used old cards, die cut one and sandwiched them to create a mem card. Back of card after the jump.