Showoff: FINAL DAY

NUMBER 1

Scott Baker ‘06 UD Artifacts Rare Apparel 1/1

Here it is. The absolute centerpiece of my card collection. This card. Right here. S-I-C-K. Wait. Scott who? Come on, now. Surely this guy’s card isn’t number one on your list, right? I mean, it’s not like it’s Derek Jeter, or Albert Pujols, or Ken Griffey Jr., or even Ichiro for that matter.

You’re right, I’ll give you that. He’s nowhere near that kind of level of baseball royalty. So, instead of discussing the subject of photography on this collectible, let’s first discuss the card itself.

GIMMICK CITY, GIMMICKSOTA
Of all of the cards in my top ten list, this one by far has the most going on with it. Yeah, I have manufactured patches, chunks of leather posed as pieces of baseball, bat carvings, autographs… the whole 9-yards (or the whole 60.5 ft, as it were). This 1-of-1 sucker, however, is tricked out complete with a button from Mr. Baker’s game-used jersey, the MLB logo from the same or another jersey, as well as a jersey swatch–WITH STRIPE! (insert *big ol’ eye roll* here) Throw in the stickered signature, and you’ve got yourself a gimmick geek’s wet dream!

That aside, this card really is a looker. The design is simple, concise, balanced, and no element detracts from any of the others featured on/in the card. It’s not flashy, and with all of its gimmicky features, it’s not overdone. I mean, Upper Deck’s logo wasn’t even foil stamped on this card! That’s the kind of detail that helps drive home the important elements to a card of this type. The only flaw I see here is the signature wasn’t hard signed (on card).

BEAM ME UP, SCOTTY
You may think me a liar for saying so, but I didn’t rank this card at the very top of my list just because of what kind of card it is. Sure, it helps that the player featured works for my team. Aside from those facts, another big reason I rank this card so high is because of who is on this card.

Scott Baker.

He’s the Twins number one… (deep inhale)… guy*. He’s the 2009 Opening Game starter. That’s saying a lot considering Francisco "Franchise" Liriano is in the rotation and is EN FUEGO (thanks for that, SportsCenter). The man took a perfect game to the ninth inning. He struck out all FOUR batters he faced in ONE INNING last year. This guy is gonna be an Ace some day.

RARITY v SCARCITY
Don’t you just hate when Beckett won’t give their version of market information on a given set of cards and just slap on the term "scarcity?" It’s because the cards supposedly have very little movement on the secondary market. I guarantee that most of every single card ever produced in the 80s have very little movement on the 2M. Believe me. They ain’t scarce. I will let their general terminology slide in the case of this Baker "mojo," though. That’s because this thing is a true, honest-to-blog, genuine rarity. In fact, up until this past Wednesday, mine was the only other card of this type I had ever seen. Ever. The only one I’ve ever seen was happened across on needmomorneau.com where Dusty is sadly selling his ‘07 Morneau Rare Apparel. Sorry, Dusty. Even though your card features Mr. MVP, I think my card looks nicer. Now, don’t kill me with bad publicity**.

That’s what it has taken so far to be considered the best card in my collection. A combination of a semi-unique gimmick, an autograph, and a fantastic design which features a great player from my favorite team. It makes me wonder what it will take to top this card.

TELL IT TO ME, BABY
What’s your number one most favoritist card currently in your collection? Why has it earned that honorable distinction? What will it take to dethrone it?

*Anyone who correctly guesses this reference will be my friend today
**Anyone who correctly guesses this reference will be my friend tomorrow

Showoff: Day 9

NUMBER 2

Kirby Puckett ‘03 UD Sweet Spot Classic AU

This is a butt-friggin-ugly card, but I LOVE it. Puck was my childhood hero. He was the be-all end-all in baseball in my world. Everything I wanted to aspire to when I was in Pee Wee’s and Little League was influenced and inspired by the amazing Minnesota center fielder. My childhood, though, afforded me no opportunities to meet this man, let alone acquire his autograph.

Kirby passed on just a few short years ago, just before I reacquainted myself with card collecting. This, to me, meant that all hope of finally connecting in some small way with that hero had vanished. Number 34 had gone to a better place.

FAST FORWARD
One of the many small reasons I got back into collecting was the fact that Kirby had passed away. In a moment of reminiscing, I dug up my old cards just to find my modest Puckett collection. That, of course, lead me to making the decision to return to the hobby.

Part of my return included my discovery of certified autographed baseball cards. Do you know whose autograph I went hunting for first? That’s right. Kirby Puckett. I searched for months and months with no luck. Sure, I could have gone for the signed balls, bats, helmets, photos, and IP cards. However, there just seemed to be something extraordinarily special about making that small personal connection with my childhood hero through my rekindled childhood hobby. I had to keep trying.

And so I did for what seemed like an eternity. I had almost given up when I finally found something. A Sweet Spot card from 2003. A Kirby Puckett Sweet Spot card. A certified Kirby Puckett Sweet Spot autograph card. Puck himself wrote in ballpoint pen right on that card (and not on a sticker in sharpie). Sure, he didn’t do it for me personally, but at this point, this was the closest thing I would ever get. Finally, that small connection was made. There was still hope after all.

AESTHETICS v EMOTION
The set in which this card resides is, in a word, hellalame. That’s right. I Cartman-ized. I DO WHAT I WANT! (ahem) I’m not sure I’ve seen a more mailed-in design. I realize this set was produced in 2003, but… wait, no, that’s not even a real excuse, Upper Deck. Correct me if I’m wrong, but this is a mid-high end Hobby-Only product, right? Shouldn’t you make it look like it? If it weren’t for Kirby’s outstanding signature, this could actually end up being the ugliest card I have in my collection. That’s saying a lot. But this card is number two on my list of all time favorite cards! That says a lot, too, I think. The emotional connection I have with Kirby Puckett combined with my renewed passion for card collecting all wrapped up in one hardly perfect card is nothing short of incredible in my eyes. It’s that combination that has dug this stinker of a card up and lifted it all the way up to the second spot.

Showoff: Day 8

NUMBER 3

Liriano/Nathan ‘06 UD Sweet Spot Dual AU 05/35

Giants fans all over the world are still sobbing. I would be, too, if my team gave up two premier hurlers (and Boof Bonser) for A.J. Pierzynski. I’d say that the Twins fared pretty well. A.J.’s replacement seems to be doing okay for himself. Liriano went, like, 12-3 in his rookie season. And that Nathan kid? He’s not just closing the door, he’s locking it up, deadbolting it, boarding it, bracing it, and posting rottweilers at the guard.

If things had worked out differently, this card would say Giants on it, Nathan and "Franchise" would be wearing orange and brown, and I wouldn’t own this card. If I did, though, I guarantee it would still at least be sitting in my top ten.

As Sweet Spot cards go, this, in my opinion, has to be one of the best out there. You’ve got two of the best pitchers currently playing the game featured on one card, with both of their signatures hard signed directly on the "sweet spot" leather strip, and it was kindly done in pen so that there is and shall be no fading. Not only that, but Joe Nathan has one of the best and most interesting signatures out there (next to Pat Neshek’s, of course).

The design is well-known and fairly solid for the most part. I’m not digging the faded red photos of each player hovering above their smaller full color headshots, but everything else looks clean and crisp. It’s not an overdone clustermuck of design blech, and it’s not a boring snoozefest. I’m glad to showcase it in my personal collection.

I ASK OF YOU
What is your opinion on the Sweet Spot product? Will you miss it if the rumors are true of its 2009 cancellation?

P.S.
Just a reminder to all you… uhh… Wax Crackers… out there… that tomorrow is the first official Crackin Wax contest entry date. It runs from 12:00am until 11:59pm. Please check back here tomorrow during that time for rules, information, and to enter the contest!

Showoff: Day 7

NUMBER 4

Joe Mauer ‘02 Bowman Chrome RC AU

As of right now, this may or may not be the most valuable card in my collection. However, when this man makes it to the Hall, it may well end up being the most valuable card that I’ll ever own. The last ungraded version of this card went for just a little over $80 on the ‘bay. I purchased mine at just a little under $80. Beckett would have me believe that I got a steal with its high value currently set at $120.

So why, besides the fact that it’s JOE FRIGGIN’ MAUER’S AUTOGRAPHED ROOKIE CARD, is this card ranked so high? I’ll tell you right now, it’s not for its looks. The pubescent Mauer looking sternly into a cornfield with nothing but a big ol’ tree behind him is not the stuff of legends. The boring box-y, stripe-y blue border with some kind of Star Trek yellow font is pretty much the definition of the opposite of interesting. Okay, okay, so maybe it is because it’s JOE FRIGGIN’ MAUER’S AUTOGRAPHED ROOKIE CARD.

Most of you player collectors out there would agree with me that the absolute holy grail of a player collection would typically be that player’s RC AU–so long as it’s their TRUE rookie card, anyway. For instance, Francisco Liriano’s true rookie card is also from the ‘02 Bowman set, but Topps released a RC AU for him in the ‘06 Topps Chrome set. It even has the "Rookie Card" logo on it. Even though Topps would tell you that his ‘06 card was his RC, his ‘02 beat it out by four years. But Mauer put his little blue sharpie directly on that card (and NOT on a sticker, thank you), and as fate would have it, he turned out to be already one of the greatest catchers this game may ever see.

Even if I weren’t a fan of the Twins, I would still recognize the value in this card, and would still consider it one of the centerpieces of my current collection.

Showoff: Day 6

NUMBER 5

Joe Mauer ‘07 UD SP Authentic By The Letter Signatures "U" 25/25

You’ll notice that the middle of the lineup here is very Mauer-centric. Well, why not? He’s a hell of a player, and he’s the hometown hero.

Number five on my list is the first (and so far only) Mauer BTL that I own. I always knew that these cards were manufactured and were not game used or game worn or any other superfluous term card companies like to bandy about in order to boost sales, but I was still in awe. For one, that’s a giant swatch–manufactured or not. Secondly, it has Joe Mauer’s signature on it. Also, Mauer’s ‘07 BTLs were redemption exchanged only and not found in packs, boxes, or cases. That, to me, adds up to a pretty special card. The only thing that would make it more special is if that letter patch were from an actual jersey that Joe actually wore. Guess I’ll have to look to Topps Sterling for that sort of coolness.

That’s not to say that this card isn’t its own type of cool. The moment I got this card in-hand, I knew that it had to become my mission to complete this set. This set is set A. The letters in this set spell out M-A-U-E-R. Set B spells out M-I-N-N-E-S-O-T-A. I’m not terribly concerned with spelling the name of the state for which he plays. I’d rather see his signature on the letters that make up the name found on the back of his jersey. Perhaps if the back of his shirt said "MINNESOTA" I might consider going after that set.

I paid just a little bit over "book value" for it, which I normally wouldn’t do. Cards like this, however, sometimes warrant that type of spending. As you can see, I don’t like to spend that kind of money on single cards that often. Though I am on a mission to complete his name, I am still stuck on one letter. I’m not sure I would ever pay more than book value on any of the other cards, though. I suppose it would all depend on such factors as my mood, my wallet, and if that poor old "U" starts to tell me that it’s lonely. I did see on eBay once that someone was auctioning off the entire set for $300. That’s $50 more than book. Obviously, I passed. I guess I would rather try to trade for the rest of the letters. Or, ya know, receive them as gifts. *wink wink, nudge nudge*

What do you think of the By The Letter sets? Do you collect them? Do you feel they’re an affordable and suitable substitute for actual game used letter patches?