Ryan Braun and 2011 Gypsy Queen

The saga with Ryan Braun today was revealing in one aspect. There is a vehement disagreement about what transpired. It doesn't say definitively whether he used a PED or didn't or also didn't reveal whether the testing process and chain of custody is sound. The process is what it is though, and the fact that MLB disagrees with the decision doesn't reveal anything either. They also disagreed with the dissolving of the reserve clause in 1974. The worst part of the saga is probably the leaking of confidential information...again, raising the issue of trust...There's more to the story in some way, but it won't be revealed anymore. The record will show that Ryan Braun was cleared of using PEDs and was not suspended...as consumers of information, we'll have to stand by this as the state of being until proven otherwise. (wow, that was a serious paragraph)

Speaking of Ryan Braun, I was lucky enough to snag a retail box of the Gypsy Queen after the craze for a reasonable price.  I signed up without hesitation for 24 packs of the elusive set. And I pulled this amazing card numbered 01/10.



Yes, that is a stamp card of Ryan Braun, and the stamp is especially meaningful for me because I love going to Yosemite (though I don't see the connection to the player at first glance).

What other excellent cards did the box reveal besides the usual assortment of base and inserts?

Minis!! of great players with different borders. I do love me some GQ minis (not the magazine in mini form).

Also, this sepia mini of Ichiro /99.  This was in the first pack, and I thought that it would have already been a great box if I pulled nothing else.

There were also a couple of the parallel set of 2011 in Al Kaline and Mariano Rivera, that was pleasing too.

Lastly, in the final pack of the box, I pulled a full sized relic of the Greek God of Walks (why, I did see Moneyball recently, how did you know?) of Kevin Youkilis.  I wasn't sure if there was a relic per retail box, but this one had one.

This may have been the best box I have ever opened....until the next best box I opened....

The Discovery of Forgotten Cards from the Collection

Card collections are of themselves, by definition, difficult to define.  It's a sprawling mass of purchases, trades, and discoveries put together in a way for you, as the collector, to keep track of or hide from view.   As with most of this ilk, I seem to have accumulated boxes beyond count, binders beyond reckoning, and enough plastic team bags to fill a landfill.   Sometimes cards are put there for years without being noticed or acknowledged as being important enough to be counted.  Other times, they were part of a set collection that never got its act together.  And other times, they are from boxes that were discovered after many years of hibernation in another state.  Below are those examples.

2002 Bowman Jose Bautista:   This is the rookie of the Jose Bautista that is on the Blue Jays.  I honestly had no idea that there was any connection between the two, mostly because of the lack of goatee.  What actually brought this card to my attention was an up arrow in a Beckett of all places, while browsing through one at the local CVS.    I dug through my boxes of many Bowmans and there it was.  I do like to have rookie cards of known players.  It's nice to know I didn;t overlook one, even if I did at first.

2001 Upper Deck Ichiro: No excuse for this one.  I love Ichiro cards.  It simply got wedged between two 1959 Topps cards' toploaders and only became unstuck recently.  That was a nice surprise to find.

1991 Stadium Club Jeff Bagwell:  This card I chased forever.   I have no count of how many 1991 Stadium Club series 2 packs I opened in search of this card.  I thought Jeff Bagwell was awesome in 1994.  One thing is certain from opening those packs, either this card was shortprinted or the Jeff Conine rookie was triple printed because that's all I ever got.  While going back through my '90s cards recently, I noticed I had two of these; I don't know how they got there....so I would like to thank the nostalgia elves for dredging them up for me.

So as we take account into this new collecting year, remember to reflect upon what used to be important (diamonds and Bryce Harper) from the recent past and strive to look even further back and take stock of that  which may not be treasured immediately upon arrival. You might find something that would astound you.