1985 The Topps Vault 4-Color Negative One-of-One

I've had a couple other Topps Vault items but this is the sweetest one to date by far. 1985 Topps was a huge set for me when I was a kid. I collected the hell out of it and it was really the last year I was serious about cards for about 15 years. So I love this '85 Fisk. As a player, he hit his second peak, cranking 37 homers at 38 years old. The next season I saw him hit a game-winning homer at Oakland Colleseium that was - and still is - my best baseball moment of all time. So to have THE negative of this card is huge. It's holding a piece of history in your hand. It's not the most beautiful piece to look at, but to know that Topps workers held this in their hands as they created the '85 is beauty in itself.

2013 Panini America's Pastime Trading Swatches Gold Parallel #19/25

As a certified Fisk obsessive, I check eBay and COMC daily and have many searches set up to email me daily as a backstop. In spite of that I wasn't even aware that the 2013 Panini America's Pastime even HAD a Gold parallel until this bad boy showed up on eBay a couple weeks back. The base card is # /125 and I thought that was pretty good - and all there was. So imagine my pleasant surprise when a # /25 parallel pops up! Anyway, it's the only one I've ever seen for sale and now it's all mine!! Panini is starting to impress me and I'm getting hopeful as they've now out maneuvered Topps in the NFL deal and started cranking out some sick sets. The hallmark that made Upper Deck great that Panini is picking up is the creativity: they've made the basic memorabilia card fun again by offering a card with a swatch from each of two teams thusly "Trading Swatches". I don't know, maybe I'm just easily entertained. However, I recently listened to a Cardboard Connection podcast interview with a Panini designer who was actually discussing what Panini is doing to keep the memo cards fresh, like batting glove cards and leather fielding glove cards. We're pulling for you Panini, cause Topps sure ain't goin anywhere....

2005 Upper Deck Hall of Fame Hall Worthy Gold Parallel #/5

Again with the Upper Deck you say. But it's my blog I can say what I want. Yes, Upper Deck's demise is a source of great woe for me. Go back and look at the product description of this 2005 high end release. UD put it out in metal tins with 4 cards per tin (!!!) for $150. The HOF auto were the real chase cards and they still bring big money on eBay but the Hall Worthy, Essential Enshrinement, and Class of Cooperstown inserts all came in /50, /15 and /5 parallels that are really fun to chase and look at even today. They don't come up for sale very often. In fact this is the first /5 Fisk I've ever seen on eBay. Snagged it for $14 and got it last night. Very sharp corners, very happy with this sweet baby.