On the Radar - 2019 Topps Tier One Yount Checklist

Robin has two cards in this year's Tier One product.  Literally two cards, both cards area serial numbered to one.  So all you high end Yount collectors take note.

2019 Topps Tier One Limited Lumber #T1LL-RY #/1
2019 Topps Tier One Bat Knobs #T1BK-RY #/1

If either of these cards show up I'll archive the images here.

2008 Upper Deck Baseball Heroes Charcoal Parallel

Year: 2008

Manufacturer: Upper Deck

Set: Baseball Heroes

Card Number: 99

Card Type: Base Parallel

Parallel Set: Charcoal

Card Attributes: Serial Numbered

Serial Number: 295/399

The 2008 Upper Deck Baseball Heroes set is the poster child for parallels.  Much like the insane sets put out by Donruss earlier the set pretty much centers around the base checklist and then just parallels it to death.  There are 10 base color parallels alone for this set and then 20 auto, relic, and auto relic parallels.  Although not every player is in every parallel set.  Robin's card here is the Charcoal parallel, or gray.  Besides the coloring, which is also featured on the back, each parallel, except for the Black parallel, is serial numbered.  The Charcoal just happen to be numbered out of 399, with just the Emerald, numbered to 499, and the unnumbered Black parallels being less rare.

2005 Fleer Cooperstown Tribute

Year: 2005

Manufacturer: Fleer

Set: Tradition

Card Type: Insert

Insert Set: Cooperstown Tribute

Card Number: 4CT

Card Attributes: Serial Numbered

Serial Number: 1100/1999

Nothing like a shiny foilboard card to get the day off right.  I'm a big fan of Cooperstown tribute sets and cards.  The scan really doesn't do the card justice on just how shiny it is.

These Cooperstown Tribute cards were inserted into the Fleer Tradition set.  Tradition had become Fleers flagship set for the most part and the base set was suppose to be 750 cards, but Fleer's bankruptcy meant only Series 1 was release.  It's very possible that the 10 card Tribute set would have been much larger, but at least we got Robin included before the Fleer brand got sold to Upper Deck.  The cards are serial numbered to the year of induction, so Robin's is out of 1999.  There is an unnumbered gold parallel which was the retail insert for this set and there are two relic parallels to chase.

2019 Panini Diamond Kings Yount Checklist

Robin is featured in one of the insert auto relic sets.  I'll update the card numbering once the cards start showing up.  Also the base cards are not listed as numbered in the checklist.

2019 Panini Diamond Kings DK Jumbo Material Signatures #1
2019 Panini Diamond Kings DK Jumbo Material Signatures #1 Holo Blue #/25
2019 Panini Diamond Kings DK Jumbo Material Signatures #1 Purple #/10
2019 Panini Diamond Kings DK Jumbo Material Signatures #1 Masterpiece #/1

2019 Topps Series 1 Cactus League Legends

Year: 2019

Manufacturer: Topps

Set: Flagship, Series 1

Card Type: Insert

Insert Set: Cactus League Legends

Card Number: CLL-29

This card was almost free.  Almost it literally cost me one cent.  Last month ebay was offering a $3 dollar off coupon, but the purchase had to be at least $3.01.  I saw lots of great pick ups all over twitter and after some careful deliberation I decided to try and pick up this card.  After scouring the ebay listings for Robin's 2019 cards I found a seller who had this card discounted to $2.58 with free shipping.  So I politely asked if they would be willing to raise the price to $3.01 so I could take advantage of the coupon, which they graciously did.  And about a week later I have Robin's 2019 Topps Series 1 Cactus League Legends insert card.  This set and it's cousin the Grapefruit League Greats are retail only inserts and I'm done buying Series 1 packs and I have yet to see an example show up at COMC.  It's a cool looking card and I wasn't sure if it was shiny, like foil board, or not.  It's not, but I think these would look great on foilboard, or even better chromed. 

1995 Michael Bolton - George Teague Charity Softball

Year: 1995

Manufacturer: ???

Set: Michael Bolton/George Teague Charity Softball 

Card Number: NNO

I am continually inspired by the generosity of our collecting community.  Friend of the blog Alex T, who you may remember from the other Yount Teague League post from last year surprised me recently (well actually not that recently anymore) with an email saying he had something coming for me.  He had found a copy of Robin's 1995 Michael Bolton - George Teague Charity Softball Game card for me.  This is a pretty insane oddball and not that easy to find.  I've even seen this listed as a 1992 card.

That brings up another point of contention with the card sets.  The Bolton-Teague Charity softball events were held for 5 years in the mid to late 90's, with the last game in 1998.  As far as I can tell on only 3 card sets were produced.  Beckett lists the last set as a 1997 set, it does not have the other two sets.  General consensus is that the first set the 1995 set, which features the 1995 team was made available at the 1996 charity game. Either as a giveaway, donation premium, or just for purchase.  The 1996 featured the 1996 available at the 1997 game and the 1997 set featuring 1997 team available at the 1998 game.  But the wrappers aren't much help either and it's possible that the first two sets were available at the same time.  However when looking at the cards that progression from the 1995 set, featured here, to the 1996 which featured a foil name to the 1997 which featured even more foil on the cards.

Regardless it's a great oddball to add to the collection.  

Thanks again Alex!  

2008 Playoff Prime Cuts Icons MVP Triple Relic

Year: 2008

Manufacturer: Donruss

Set: Playoff Prime Cuts

Card Number: 22

Card Type: Insert Relic Parallel

Insert Set: Icons 

Parallel Set: Materials MVP

Card Attributes: Relic, Serial Numbered

Relic Type: Jersey

Serial Number: 13/15

Donruss put out a couple unlicensed sets in 2008.  The one I remember best was the Donruss Threads set, but they also put out a couple last gasp Playoff brand sets.  The Prime Cuts was a mix of active, rookie, veteran retired, and hall of famers.  The set itself was not licensed by the MLB or MLBPA, but rather Donruss contracted directly with the player to use their likeness for the set.  Donruss also skirted the legality of using partial logos and team colors and in doing so the set isn't half bad.  There are also a ton of inserts, parallels, relic and autograph parallels, and just lot of variations to sort through.  It's a homage to the crazy sets Playoff put out in the mid-2000s.  

The card featured to day is part of the Icons insert.  The set is called the Icons Material MVP relic set.  The MVP part comes from the die-cut MVP relic windows on the card.  For an unlicensed card it's a nice looker.  The plain gray swatches aren't much to look at, but it's a fairly rare card being numbered to just 15.