The Fisk Obsession

Friday, July 27, 2018

2001 Upper Deck Decade 1970's Quad Bats

Up to three of these now. Anybody know of any others?

Wednesday, July 25, 2018

2007 Topps Triple Threads Relics Autographs Gold Parallel Relic Auto #2/9

The latest in my series of Triple Threads Gold Parallels. This is the oldest one I've been able to get so far, with Triple Threads having started in 2006. Those 2006 cards seem to really hold their value. Anyway, the 2007 to me seems to say "old school" Triple Threads when it was THE hot high end product. I like the simple 3-letter patch, big and bold. These days they're getting into complete sentences with little tiny relic pieces! Anything numbered to single digits is still super cool to me. Finally, I would love to have the White Sox version of this card.

2008 Donruss Threads Baseball Americana Gold Parallel Auto #24/50

From 2007 to 2009, the Donruss brand name - owned at that time by the Playoff Corporation - decided to produce cards without an MLB license. That being the desperate cash grab that it sounds like, you get these type of cards as a result. Cheap, uninteresting design. Player not in uniform, with no MLB team logos. And a sticker slapped on for good measure. This card really sucks. On the flip side, the photograph of Fisk on this card is taken from an on-field celebration event. Fisk is actually holding his arm surreptitiously by his side and subtly "flipping the bird" to a former rival. Explains the playful look on his face I guess. The Donruss/Playoff designers simply cropped off the "one finger salute" and ran with it. It's fun to think about the kind of hard-nosed baseball, rivalries and plain of good times that led to a moment like this one. Cool photo if you know the back story. Other than that, just another auto off my checklist.

Monday, July 23, 2018

2007 Upper Deck Premier Stitchings Green Monster Manufactured Patch Auto #16/25

Here's another sweet auto I got for the price of a nice base card. Forget the haters, I like the manu patches. Something different.

2008 Upper Deck SP Legendary Cuts Memorable Moments #1/1

I think this is year I've gotten my first one-of-one Fisk cards. I have a few now and boy are they addictive. This one isn't that great but I couldn't hold back from having that "Juan de Juan" in my hand. What is lame is that UD just changes the little indented story, the text in the "memorable moments" box, then calls that card "1 of 1" also. So there's no telling how many of these "1 of 1" cards are out there. There are 2 on COMC right now.

2017 Panini National Treasures Legends Cuts Booklet Material Quad Relic Auto #1/5

For the third Panini card in a row, this one is a whopper. Still nothing like Upper Deck, but pretty sweet. It actually looks to me like they paid Fisk to sign slips of paper so they could call them "cuts" but I can't be sure. Who doesn't love a booklet numbered to 5?

2012 Panini Signature Series Lumber Cuts Jersey/Auto #01/10

Not sure what material this auto in on, but it looks like "lumber" for the Lumber Cuts line. Pretty cool.

2016 Panini Pantheon Scripted Rudiarius Auto/Bat #02/15

Probably the cheapest Fisk auto I've ever picked up. Not sure why, the 3D effect is pretty OK. Alright, it's a bad card. Gotta work on your game Panini.

2006 Upper Deck Epic Endorsements #04/30

Another not so great photo. This card really looks fantastic in-hand. For the 97th time, Upper Deck's quality is way past everyone else. The sheen on this card is amazing and somehow makes up for the sticker auto jammed right in the middle of the card. Older low-numbered cards like this don't come up for auction very often. Really sweet pick up.

2016 Topps Triple Threads Autographed Relics Jersey/Bat/Auto Gold Parallel #3/9

Another day, another 10-piece relic auto numbered to 9. This time, "Wave It Fair". Just got this in the mail last week. Sa-weet!

2012 Topps Triple Threads Autographed Relics #02/18

Your basic Triple Threads. Sticker is off-center. Something just catches me about the different relic spellings they put out. Makes me wanna click "place bid".

1977 Topps Venezuelan

Boy I could write a book about these. As everyone knows, Topps tried to make an extra buck by licensing card images to a Venezuelan printer, who then turned them into stickers in 1977. Kids pasted them into books by the hundreds so all the backs are destroyed. Extremely tough to get in decent condition. I've seen a PSA 4 as a best condition card and it's worth several hundred bucks. I got this one for a song, I think due to the mis-cut (MC) qualifier which is very common on these stickers. Cool card history.

2003 Donruss Diamond Kings Team Timeline - Hawaii Conference Embossed #37/50

I actually think event-based embossed cards could make a comeback. It's cheezy but hey, we all love a chase. The concept could easily be overdone, but every few years a special event tag would be cool. I don't know the story of this particular card or conference other than it is very rare and took me a decade to find one. Didn't cost much but really glad I have it.

2010 Topps Series 1 Manufactured Hat Relic #30/99

I can see alot of collectors scoffing at a blog post for this card. Don't care. Was the first manufactured logo patch I ever got and I loved it at the time. Numbered to 99 ain't bad. I paid a lot for it back then too!

2007 Upper Deck Goudey 1941 Double Play and Diamond Stars both hand-numbered to /15

I had these cards on my want list for years. I love the long, patient chase for rare cards. When it pays off it really is fulfilling and rewarding. Writing this post just makes me re-live it all over again. Never thought I would have one of these cards, but now I have three! Only two in the photo for now. One of the oldest cards I've ever seen hand-numbered. Very, very basic throwback card but just super sweet and rare.

2012 Panini Playoff Prime Cuts Icons Patch Auto #14/25

Your basic Panini sticker auto. Numbering is on the back.

2009 Topps Sterling Career Chronicles Quad Bat Relic #11/25

I get the impression that Sterling was a really high-end release back in the day. I was collecting base cards only in 2009 so I may never know. One great thing about most cards going down in value, is if you're patient you can get these cool scores for your collection.

2011 Topps Triple Threads Autographed Relics Gold Parallel Jersey Auto #1/9

Even a few years ago cards like this were outside my budget. It's nice to show these cards to my kids who totally freak out at a five piece, two color patch with auto paralleled to 9! It's just fun to look at.

2012 Topps Museum Collection Signature Swatches Triple Jersey Auto #15/25

This seemed so super sick when it came out six years ago. Seems a bit meh in 2018 with the sticker auto, even though the gold border is a very nice way to present the auto. Also not a big fan of very late-stage Fisk photos from 92-93. But hey, it's a sweet card.

2012 Topps Series 1 Classic Walk-Offs Autographed Relic #08/10

I can still remember how completely geeked I was in the early 2012 when this card was actually featured on the Topps "sell sheet" that they use to market their releases to the hobby shops. I drooled over it. Obsessed over it. And totally and completely KNEW that it was out of reach. Nobody EVER really gets these cards. So I ended up paying way more than it's worth now, but I don't care. It makes me smile and that's why I collect.

2005 Upper Deck Ultimate Signature Edition Signature Supremacy #05/25

Once again, I am constantly amazed at how good UD cards were back in the day. For 2005 this is still better than most Topps products coming out now. BTW, did I mention this is an ON-CARD auto? No sticker. Makes such a difference. In-hand this card really pops. The purple has a great sheen and really flows with the grey nameplates and the auto. The horizontal theme on the left is a great contrast to the vertical swoosh element on the right, tied together by the hitting Fisk. Just a really beautiful card overall.

Sunday, December 31, 2017

2002 Topps Archives Reserve Game Used Bat

Here's another old school 2002 Topps that doesn't scream "wow" compared to today's cards. But in person this is a really pretty card and the 1977 feel brings back memories.

2002 Topps Gold Label

I picked this up for three bucks back in 2013. Not a crazy hit to show off, but in person it really looks great. For an older card, it really looks great. Love the '73 Topps shadow in the background and the see-thru window for the game used bat.

2004 Fleer National Pastime Signature Swings # /36

There seem to be less Fleer cards out there than Topps or UD. And when I see autos of Fleer they don't seem to be as nice as those other companies. This one is definitely an exception. Gold Parallel with a low # /36 and a very clean auto.

2004 Upper Deck SP Legendary Cuts Marks of Greatness On Card Auto #08/50

Got this for half of what it's worth. The white circle auto area is great and Fisk put a good looking auto in there. The low print run is cool also.

Thursday, September 24, 2015

2008 Upper Deck Ultimate Collection Barrel Autographs Bat Barrel On-Card Auto #04/15

It is difficult to come up with appropriate words for how great this card is. To say I am completely stoked to own it is an understatement. When it came up for auction, it was one of those cards that I had never seen an example of before - ever - and I've looked at several auction sites for Fisk cards every single day for fifteen years. With only 15 ever made and no telling how many actually in circulation, for this to come up for sale is a very rare event. Which is to say I thought I had absolutely no chance to own it. I put in my max bid, sighed a longing, woeful sigh, and moved on with my life. On the day the auction closed I was stunned that I had won it.

As I've said over and over (and many of you collectors agree with me), the Upper Deck designs around this period are unparalleled. This card is no exception. Graphically, all the elements just work. The horizontal orientation of the card combined with the vertical graphics is the foundation of it. Then throw in a few contrasting horizontal lines in a matching gold color. All of that draws your eye to the centerpiece gigantic on-barrel autograph :) And numbered to 15? Any collector would just say "wow".

My only knock on this card would apply to many others - the photography. All of the companies use and re-use the same couple dozen old photographs of Fisk over and over and over. I realize there are not an unlimited number of quality Fisk images from the 1970's. But it sure seems as if UD and Topps especially are not going out of their way to uncover or discover any more of them. Seems like a cost saving move to me. Especially on high-end cards, collectors expect better. One suggestion would be to use action shots rather than posed photos. There would be a great deal more of them and acquiring rights to a handful of old press photos can't be that cost prohibitive.

In the case of this 2008 card, I immediately noticed that the photo is the exact same shot, albeit cropped differently, that Upper Deck used just two years later on another high-end Fisk card in the Exquisite line. Here's a side-by-side:

2010 UD Exquisite

2008 UD Ultimate

The Exquisite is from the waist-up and this Ultimate card is head-to-toe. But still, guys, at least put six or seven years between using the same exact file photo on a high end card. OK, gripe over. I'm a happy owner of this card and will display it around the house for years with pride and happiness.

Sunday, September 20, 2015

2015 Topps Tribute Tribute Autographs Gold Parallel On-Card Auto #17/75 - Recalled!

When I heard about the recall of 2015 Topps Tribute I just had to have one. For one, just for the freak show factor of owning an item that was recalled. Two, over time they might be considered rare. For example, it is quite possible that far fewer than 75 of this series of autographs was packed out and opened. Some were never shipped from Topps, others were returned to Topps unopened and exchanged for other products. No telling at this juncture how many of these exist. I would think less than 20.

As you probably know, the issue was the coating on the cards. Topps went for an ultra-glossy look on these cards, and they do look highly glossy and really great. Issue is that the high gloss chemical did not react well with the Sharpie ink, which resulted in smearing and poor appearing autographs. You can see how this example had smudges on it. Will be interesting to see if it degrades over time, although I suspect that the initial smearing is all that will happen.

I saw this one up for sale at TNT Sportscards, one of the bigger sellers on eBay. Given that it was smudged, it didn't bring a huge price and I was able to grab it for a reasonable amount - and below what a Fisk auto in the current year would normally bring. Fun card to own, we'll see what happens!

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

2015 Topps Tier One Game Used Jersey Rainbow

I haven't been able to snag a 2015 Tier One autograph yet. Patience is the key there. However, I always try to grab the mem cards as they come out. And for a couple years now, I've tried to get the single / double / triple mem patch rainbow. The triple is always the tough get. Grabbed that one on eBay and it showed up at the house a couple days ago. Pretty sweet design this year. The single is #58/199, the dual is #3/50 and the triple is #3/25.

2008 Topps Triple Threads Jersey-Bat-Jersey Triple Relic 2,226 Games #11/36

What to say about this little gem? It doesn't jump up and say "wow" right away. I think we've all gotten more than a little bored with memorabilia cards. Eight years ago, however, I bet this card brought a lot more money than I just paid :) I've always had a soft spot for Triple Threads and am glad to have one of the 2008's in my type collection for Fisk.

Sunday, June 21, 2015

1996 Illinois State Lottery Ticket

At one point in the Fisk Obsession, I decided to be a completist. I needed a collecting goal. And for my sins, they gave me one. That's many years ago when I discovered Bob Lemke's Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards and the Beckett Price Guide Checklists. Both of those resources catalog, index and price all manner of non-card collectible items. You guys know what I mean: 7-11 Slurpee cups, pinback badges, pennants, postcards, Matchbox cars, sew-on patches, coaster discs, dessert box bottoms, pencils, notepads, placemats, light switch covers, drinking glasses, shot glasses, etc, etc, ad infinitum.....

At one point, I actually had all of the Fisk stuff in the Standard Catalog and Beckett Guide. All....of....it. Not all the cards mind you, just this gigantic collection of chotchkies that had overrun my entire closet. Except one item. Sitting there on the "needs list" spreadsheet, mocking me for 15 years - the 1996 lottery ticket.

You see, there was *very* little Fisk material produced between his retirement from baseball in 1993 and his election to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000. While playing: lots of cards. After induction: an avalanche of cards! In between: bubkus. Literally all 7 of those years are covered by about 10 items. One of them, listed in the Becket Guide, was simply "1996 Illinois Lottery". That's all I had to go on. Nobody had ever heard of it, no photos, no eBay listing, nothing in the chat rooms. It took me many years of pecking around to even figure out that it was an actual lottery play ticket with Fisk's image on it! Great, I'm spending my free time searching for a ten-year-old used scratch-off. Loser. So after many years of looking and hoping, I setup a couple of eBay Followed Searches with things as broad as "Fisk (Illinois, Lottery)" and let it go at that. Figured it was just one of those items I would never get.

Last week I crawled out of bed, grabbed a cup of coffee and sat down with my iPhone to check messages as I do every day. Buried in the spam was an eBay message with results from my Lottery search. I thought, "yeah, this is probably a false positive" and clicked on it. And there it was: a listing for a lot of 5 Illinois lottery cards, all well-known Chicago Hall of Famers. I was stunned. Something to the effect of "no effing way" escaped my lips as I grabbed my laptop to double check this. Sure enough, it looked to be the genuine article. The seller wanted $8.95 on a Buy It Now with Free Ship for all 5 tickets!! I slammed down those keys so hard my wife asked me "what's the matter?". "Nothin'", I said. "Card stuff," as a I completed the PayPal transaction in record time.

It showed up a couple days ago. It's definitely not going to compete for most beautiful item in the collection. In the end, it's a $1 scratcher ticket that somebody threw in a drawer because it had a baseball guy on it. It's nothing special. But to us fellow collectors out there, that feeling of snagging the rare item you've been hunting for - and hoping for - for 15 years. Well, I guess you have to be a collector to understand. You're all mine, 1996 Illinois Lottery. All mine....

1984 Topps Glossy Send-Ins 4-Color Mask Film Negative w/ Topps Vault COA 1 of 1

Ya know kids, I loved cards in the 1970's and 1980's. I spent countless hours sorting, stacking, counting, organizing, imagining and playing with my cards. In 1984 Topps did a promo where you sent in some prize card I think and you got back in the mail a pack of glossy cards with no logo. They were plain front cards, but the printing was so nice and that gloss!! Wow, they seemed really high end and special 30 years ago. So having access to some 1 of 1 Topps production items that actually produced all of these cards is extraordinarily special. This is my fourth Topps Vault Fisk item and while not the most attractive to look at or monetarily valuable, they are like holding a little piece of Topps history in your hand. Very cool.

2015 Panini Diamond Kings Hall of Fame Heroes Bat Jersey Auto # /15

This is the second or third recent post on a Panini product where, once again, I'm going to say that I like this stuff. To be fair, the only cards going on the Fisk Obsession blog are the sweet hits, the cards good enough to share. I have plenty of Panini base cards, parallels and inserts that are total crap - box filler that makes Topps base look high end. But the beautiful art work on this Hall of Fame Heroes card just takes the cake. Simply stunning imagery. Of course, it helps to have a bat relic, a 2-color jersey relic, a sticker auto, and a serial number to 15! :) But I would be happy to own and display this as a base card just because of the art.

2010 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection #19/75

If I'm not mistaken, this is only the second one of these I've ever seen on eBay. The first one I believe the guy was asking ~$200. I was stunned when I first saw because, at first glance, it just appears like a fancy base card numbered to /75. However, after a little looking around I found out that 2010 Upper Deck Exquisite was never actually a released set. The base cards were seeded into packs of Upper Deck Series 1 as case hits. This is where it gets interesting. In March of 2010 as part of a settlement with MLB, Upper Deck agreed not to release any more baseball cards. So the patch and auto versions of Exquisite were never released and the /75 base cards that would have been threaded into product all year until December, stopped its release before Opening Day in March. So, no telling how many of these cards are out there in the market. So when I saw this one on eBay, I made the owner a reasonable Best Offer and grabbed it. It's a beautiful card in-hand, which is what Upper Deck was best at. It's also the thickest base card I've ever held. It took a 180-point top loader to hold it. All in all, stoked to have this (rare?) card in my collection. I can't say much for the art, though. Fisk's face looks like an alien. Interesting choice in art for such a high end product.

2004 Upper Deck SP Chirography - Hall of Famers - On Card Auto #08/25

I love when people put up nice autos with a $0.99 starting bid :) I'm not saying they're getting ripped *at all* it's just that I get tired of seeing every nice auto go up with a 5 million dollar Buy It Now and not accepting best offers. That stuff sits there and sits there, twarting the hopes of the owner who obviously is not real motivated to sell. In this case, I was able to finally pick up this very nice 2004 SP Chirography auto for a reasonable price. I do think I got a good deal because of the "HOF 2000" inscription which adds value. Having Bob Gibson, Tom Seaver and Yogi Berra on the card doesn't hurt either. Having it be numbered to /25 isn't awful at that. It's on-card and the blue sharpie looks really crisp against the white background. All in all, a very sharp auto card in my opinion :)

2015 Topps Finest - Finest Greats On Card Auto

Finally a blog post about a current release! Rarely can I afford to grab an on-card auto card during the initial release. Prices for cards these days seem to just go up and up. Lucky for a Fisk obsessive, the 2015 Topps Finest release is littered with un-numbered autos seemingly by the dozen. A few weeks after release, could grab this one within my price range. Of course, the numbered and parallels are way out in the stratosphere price-wise, but these base un-numbered jobs make it reasonable to own an auto of a current release. This is something like auto number 54 in the Fisk collection. And a pretty sweet looking design to boot.

2010 Topps Series 1 Peak Performance Game Used Bat Relic

As an officially obsessed Fisk player collector, I'm scanning and searching for new cards everyday....um OK, several times per day. Somehow this one had gone right past me in 2010 and it has been *very* rarely been seen on eBay. One came up about a month or so ago and sold for waaay more than I was winning to pay. That, at least, confirmed its rarity to me as other collectors saw it as having value. I was bummed to miss it; then, pleasantly, another one came up this month! It's funny how that happens with rare cards, they come up in bunches. So I ended up snagging this one for a much more reasonable price. Happy collector :)

2014 Panini Classics Legendary Players Bat Auto #08/10

I am generally too lazy to use the scanner. Like many of you, I'm too damn busy working and raising kids to take alot of time for cards. Wish I had more time, but ya gotta have priorities. But it's Father's Day and I'm feeling decadent, so here's a scanned card. As I said in my previous post, Panini is pretty spotty and I thought the Classics release sucked. Didn't even know this card was in the release until I saw it this year on eBay (in 2015, it's a 2014 card). It's a sticker auto which drops it down in my view, but the overall design really works and looks sharp IMHO. Being numbered to /10 really adds alot to it. Paid alot for this card, but am very happy with it. Happy Father's Day!!

2014 Panini National Treasures Silhouette Patch Auto #05/49

Panini is pretty hit-and-miss as far as I'm concerned. They either knock it out of the park or totally suck. NT is one of their better releases. I like the silhouette concept and its on-card.

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

2005 Leaf Certified Materials Fabric of the Game Dual Game-Used Jerseys w Johnny Bench

Cool card.

2012 Leaf Legends of Sport Inscriptions On-Card Auto

Another creative idea from Brian Gray at Leaf. Loved this when it came out, and like a lot of releases you have to wait until they're no longer hot to get one at an affordable price. It's not the most amazing looking card. A lot of white space and Fisk left-justified the auto, but still love to see the big 11X All-Star.

2011 Topps Triple Threads #TTFR-17 Double-Sided Game Bat - Sepia Parallel #05/27

Not a huge fan of Triple Threads but like this double sided jobbie as it is White Sox on front and Red Sox on back. Fisk is a rare Hall of Famer that is equally popular on two different teams, so pretty rare to see both on one card.