Card #108: Another Big Relic

I planned on getting back on track with posting on this blog 3 times a week (Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday).  Since that commitment I have been doing a fairly good job with it.  I missed a Monday post last week and the previous week.  (Evidently Monday deadlines are tough for me)

I currently have over 300 Clemente cards in my collection so I should be good for showing off my old cards while still acquiring new cards.  I am hoping that in July I will have some free time to actually get caught up and update my haves list.

When it comes to Clemente I don't have much of the modern parallel cards.  There's literally hundreds of his cards produced each year.

The current total of Clemente cards produced according to TCDB is 4,969 cards.

In the year 2020 there has already been 77 cards produced.  In 2019 there was 365 cards produced.

I have plenty of options to continue this life long goal.

My first options are always cards that feature Clemente with McCutchen.  These two players are my two main PCs so if I can get a card featuring both them it is an automatic "I need that card."

Such was the case with this 2015 Topps Heritage High Numbers quad relic featuring Clemente, Stargell, Marte, and McCutchen.

Had Marte and McCutchen won a World Series for the franchise in the 2013-2015 stretch I could certainly see them both being long remembered in future tales of All-Time Great Pirates in the way that Wagner, Mazeroski, Clemente, Stargell, and the Waner Brothers are remembered.  McCutchen might still fall into that category despite not winning a Championship for the Steel City.

I showed off a similar card back in February 2019 when I posted this card.

I like that Topps used different photos for all the players involved between the quad relic and triple relics.

Card #107: It's only Naturel

Last month I showed off the first of the Project 2020 cards of Roberto Clemente.  It was done by an artist known as Mister Cartoon.  Since that post there have been four more cards produced of Clemente.

However since that late April post the prices on Project 2020 cards have skyrocketed.  That $20 card that was available through Topps.com for 48 hours is now selling in upwards of $500.  The card was one of the earliest cards printed and had a low print run of "only" 1,844 copies. 

I say "only" because in terms of low print runs that is actually kind of high compared to some others on the early releases.  However, the card with the highest print run was just announced.  The Keith Shore artist interpretation of the 1989 Ken Griffey Jr card sold nearly 100,000 copies equating to almost $1.98M in sales for Topps.

Strange things are happening with this card project and I am contemplating about selling my Clemente cards. 

This card is done by the artist Naturel.

I am contemplating the value of these cards long term and doubt that this can be sustainable. 

Would you sell any of your early low print run Project 2020 cards if you had them?

Card #106: Spring Has Sprung

The weather today is beautiful. 
It is a sunny and breezy 60 degrees. 

Spring has sprung

Let's hope baseball is back soon. 

Card #105: Only The Select

I recently picked up another of the 1994 All-Star Game cards featuring Roberto Clemente.

Attendants at the All-Star Game could receive cards from Topps, Select, Donruss, and Upper Deck.

This is card #3 in the 5 card set.

I really like the look of this card.  It has some etching and a nice shine to it.

Card # 104: A View To A Thrill

I decided to show off this 2002 Topps Super Teams Forbes Seat Relic card because it relates to the last card I showed on this blog.

These relic cards were found in the now defunct Topps Super Teams card release.  The relics were part of a set of old stadium benches and seats purchased by Topps and subsequently cut up for multiple card releases.  I have a few different Forbes Field relics, but the image used on this card is what I really like about this "A View To A Thrill"

The image matches Roberto Clemente's 1972 card release image (his last LIVING release) and was also used in the 1987 Turn Back The Clock release.


A lot of these old stadium seat relics can be had very cheaply compared to other style relics of the same player.

Now granted all Clemente did was sit his butt down on the bench in the dugout, but the presentation of this card looks awesome!

Do you have any stadium seat or clubhouse bench relics in your collection?

Card #103: My Very First Clemente Card

Back in 1987 I began baseball card collecting with my parents.  They would help me organize my cards, learn about the stats on the back, and figure out what cards I needed to complete my set.

It was during this time that I acquired a lot of 1987 Topps.

This is my very first Roberto Clemente card in my collection.  I plucked it from the many that were stuffed inside a 9 pocket page. 

I remember not liking this card as a kid for a couple of reasons. 

The first was that it looked a lot different than the rest of the cards in the set.

The other is that it didn't have stats on the back. 

My dad eventually told me about how great Clemente was and how he was one of the game's best players and how he made it into the Hall of Fame. 

Over time I began to like this card more.

Card #102: A 3rd Year Clemente

I am getting close to completing the Topps Flagship run from Clemente's playing days.  There was recently a 5% eBay bucks, no minimum purchase, off that I took advantage of to grab this

1957 Topps Roberto Clemente
The colors are strong. There is some corner fuzzing and it is off center, but man am I happy to grab this card.

Card #101: International Affair

Short on time, but wanted to keep the trend of posting 3 times a week on this blog.

This 2018 Topps International Affair was picked up as part of a COMC package I got late last year.

Card #100: The Force is Strong With This One

Today is National Star Wars Day

One of my favorite Yoda quotes is
"The Force is Strong With This One"

The same can be said for this card.

2006 Triple Threads gold parallel featuring Barry Bonds, Roberto Clemente, and Willie Stargell (all in Pirates uniforms).

This is one of my favorite cards in my collection as it features three of the game's greatest to ever wear a Pirates uniform.

Cards 98 & 99: Stone 1 and Stone 2

The 1990s had a lot of brands that offered nice looking sets featuring former players.  I wish that Topps would make a set similar to what the Ted Williams Company of cards was doing back in 1993.

Way back in January 2018, for card post #17, I showed off a card from the Ted Williams Company insert series called Etched in Stone.  You can revisit that post here

It has been quite some time since that post, but I am ready to show off the first two cards of that set.

This particular card (ES1) discusses Roberto's youth and growing up.

This card is the second in the series.

The back of this card talks of how the Dodgers signed Clemente as a teenager and how Clemente used his nickname of Momen when initially asked by the scout who he was.