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.

1997 Donruss Significant Signatures On-Card Auto # /2000

This is the granddaddy of them all as far as I know. For Fisk, pretty sure this is the first on-card auto ever issued. Sure, there's 2,000 of them out there so they're now worth $10-15 and probably dropping, but a great looking card even now.

2014 Panini National Treasures Flawless On-Card Diamond #19/20

Well I have to say this is a first for me. A real diamond inserted into a card. I waited and got this a lot cheaper than I originally would have expected....IF the diamonds are real :)

2014 Leaf 'Q' 2-Color Patch Auto

Leaf did well with the Q issue this year. Great practice-worn jersey patch and on-card auto for reasonable prices.

2014 Topps Supreme Simply Supreme Auto #13/15

This...is...sick

2014 Topps Five Star Dual Legends Relic #09/10

Amazing. I overpaid but I love this card. 

2009 Rawlings Official Major League Baseball (Selig) Single Signed on Sweet Spot w PSA/DNA COA

This is a pretty standard item in any player collection I would imagine.  You gotta have the ROMLB single signed with the PSA.  Shown here in the Ultra Pro UV protective case.  Very cool to hold in the hand. I won't put a lot of non-card stuff on TFO but this one was too sweet to pass up.

2014 Topps High Tek Fisk Rainbow

Lately I've been rambling on about how I love parallels.  Topps High Tek was the pinnacle of 2014 in this regard with 15 different parallels of each player available (by my count).  Added to that, they have a cool throwback feel to them being made from clear acetate.

Part of the fun was that it was confusing as hell to even figure out what cards where IN this release, much less how to get them.  Ryan Cracknell over at Cardboard Connection headed up an awesome and very helpful visual guide.  The initial information online was that EACH pattern was available in all the numbered parallels.  As Ryan's guide pointed out, the parallels are only available for the BASE pattern.  In the case of all American League players, that is the WAVE pattern.

As always, the collectors that contribute to Baseball Card Pedia created a great article on this set that helped immensely in solving the puzzle.

I am holding out a sliver of hope for getting the #/15 Black & White Diffractor and the #/5 Blue Dots Diffractor.  Have seen no copies of the B&W on eBay and only one Blue Dots which sold for crazy money.

So along the top row of this image you see the Wave pattern parallels.  The second row are the other five available patterns, from left to right is more rare to less rare.  Bottom row is, left to right, the base card, the National Sports Card Collector Convention dealer-only Promo card, and the on-card auto.

Top Row, left to right: Red Storm Diffractor #06/10, Clouds Diffractor #23/25, Disco Diffractor #42/50, Ice Diffractor #40/75, Gold Diffractor #83/99
Middle Row, left to right: Stripes pattern, Cracked Ice pattern, Circuit Board pattern, Laser Ice pattern, Spirals pattern
Bottom Row, left to right: Base card, 2014 National Show Exclusive Promo card, Wave pattern on-card autograph 

2012 Topps Tribute Fisk Rainbow

Call me crazy, but I thought 2012 Topps Tribute was a nice looking set of higher end cards.  As I've said numerous times, I really love the chase of getting lots of low numbered parallels, so this set is always perfect for me.  After spending an arm and a leg to get the /5 red, this rainbow is finally complete.  This one was fun and I don't care who you are - that's a pretty rainbow!

Left to Right, Top to Bottom: Red Parallel #5/5, Gold Parallel #09/25, Orange Parallel #22/50, Green Parallel #54/75, Bronze Parallel #071/299, Blue Parallel #070/199, Black Parallel #08/60, and Base.

2012 Topps Triple Threads Fisk Rainbow

Not as sexy as the Tribute design and colors, the Triple Threads base cards are still an interesting chase. In addition to the always hot multiple swatch cards and autos, the Rainbow fanatic in me was juiced by the challenge of getting all seven Fisk cards. If you own the 1/1 Ruby, the contact button is on the bottom right :)

Left to Right, Top to Bottom: Sapphire Parallel #21/25, Onyx Parallel #41/50, Gold Parallel #48/99, Amber Parallel # 066/125, Emerald Parallel #118/250, Sepia Parallel #028/625, and Base.

2014 Topps High Tek - Wave Pattern On Card Auto

The old 70's and 80's collector in me likes these cheesy see-through plastic jobbies Topps re-introduced this year.  Kind of reminds me of collecting Kellogg's 3-D from cereal boxes.  We know that they're schmaltzy but we like them anyway.  Also, I hear A LOT of guys online griping about the number of parallels being produced but here is one man's vote for MORE parallels!  As a player collector, the wide number of parallels is part of the chase.  Trying to get all the variations of a release is A LOT of fun for me every year.  In that spirit, my next few posts will be rainbows of my recent Fisk acquisitions.  Semper Parallelis!

2010 Topps Triple Threads - Triple Game Used Bat Relics #36/36 BGS 9.5

I won't rub it in by telling you how cheap I picked this up on The Bay.  I have to say from an investment point of view, the nice Triple Threads seems to hold it's value over time.  More so than almost any other relic card.  I didn't have any 2010 Triple Threads in the Fisk Collection so I grabbed this BGS-graded 9.5 when I had the chance.  Pretty sweet.

2011 Topps Tier One - Top Tier On Card Auto - Gold Parallel #06/10

Three years on, I still think this is a beautiful card - even for Topps.  I bought off eBay shortly after the release and sent to PSA myself.  A little bummed it came back only an 8 which is why the manufacturers should NOT be putting this level of card into packs raw - EVER.  But a beautiful on card signature in blue sharpie with a great looking gold card.  It stays in The Shrine so I can see it every day.  :)

2014 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions Goudey On Card Auto

Crummy card, but hey an On Card auto for less than ten bucks? Every time...

1981 Chicago Tribune Original Wire Photo

Not a baseball card, but a sweet oddball item.  You can find these all over eBay and I have a few of them.  The downer is that, although it IS the original art that appeared in the newspaper, it does NOT come with the copyright to the image.  MMG Archive sends them out with a COA in a sturdy, good looking folder.  On the back are the little handmade marks that the file clerk used to file the image in the Tribune photo archive.  On the front are the handmade crop marks that the art department made for the pre-press folks.  Having said all that the reason I pulled the trigger on this one is it's one of the coolest Fisk images I've ever seen (and I've seen almost all of them!).  A truly great photograph. Photo by Ed Wagner, Jr and copyright held by The Tribune Company.

From the Chicago Tribune April 14, 1981

2008 Upper Deck Premier Trios #25/33

Pretty sweet low numbered mem card for $11 bucks with a Bench and Berra swatch. These days - unfortunately - I look at this card and seriously wonder if these patches are real. Still a cool card I could probably double my money on someday.

2009 Upper Deck Icons Immortal Lettermen "PUDGE" Series # /45

Well, it took me three years but I finally completed the # /45 "PUDGE" from 2009 UD Icons. When I finally saw the letters all together on the kitchen table, was quite satisfying. Being numbered to 45 I wonder how many guys have this one completed? What got me started was getting the letter "D" for $3.50 on eBay in December 2011. Couldn't pass up that smokin price. $50 and three years later I've got my first ever Fisk "name" series. Stoked!!

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.

2003 Topps Tribute Memorable Matchup #MM-BF Dual Game Used Bat w JohnnyBench #115/150

Here's a recent pickup where Topps had a rare hit amongst their frequent misses. The early 2000's Tribute stuff is among their best, and this card might be the best of all those. Low numbered, dual Hall of Famers, dual game used, exquisite refractor coating, sweet old-school All-Star logo. I just love to look at this card.

2001 Upper Deck Decade 1970's Quad GU Bat

As part of the Fisk Obsession, I absolutely love the 2001 Decade issue. This quad bat is the 9th different Fisk card I have from that set. I love the throwback color scheme, the old school UD logo, and the pop of the design. I really never thought I would grab this quad bat version though because of its high price. I had put it out of mind. Then I found this one that had an erroneous listing and a low starting bid. Ended up grabbing it for eleven bucks which I thought was at least half of what I would value it at. It's in good shape too. One last great thing about this card is that the bat pieces aren't under the card like most game used, but sit up above the paper where you can rub it! Hey, it's the little things that make card collecting fun to me!

2010 Topps Update Series Manufactured Bat Barrel #55/99

I have been trying to find this card at a reasonable price for a couple years now. I've had the more rare black bat parallel since 2012 but could never get this one. Finally checked this one off the list recently. It's a bit dinged up but got it delivered for under ten bucks. 

Even though I know it's manufactured, I just love the look and feel of this card! When you see it in person it's almost like looking into a shadow box. That is because this card is it is in unbelievably thick. It is one of the few cards I own that require a 360 point magnetic to store it!!

2014 Historic Autographs 1941 Mini Auto #88/100

Update: sold this card in 2017....

The Historic Autographs offering this year is interesting. On the one hand, it's a PSA graded autograph in an attractive presentation. After receiving the card however, I noticed that the manufacturing is done so cheaply that it really detracts from the eye appeal. Both the red card backing and the 1941 Mini framed inside it are cut waaaaay off center. My 7 year old son could have done better. Since the PSA grade is for the auto only, there's no great way to see this when viewing the card online. Come on HA. You can do better. 

2005 Donruss Elite Passing the Torch Double-Sided GU Bat w Mags Ordonez #196/250

I have several parallels of these base cards, some of them fairly low numbered. The refractor/gloss coating is really sweet on this issue. But I've never seen a game-used bat version of this sweet baby. Grabbed it on The Bay last week for super cheap. 

 

2003 Upper Deck Sweet Spot GU Jersey #138/150

Got this sweet baby last week. Love the early-days manu patch and especially the hand numbering. UD led the way. 

2005 Leaf Limited Trademarks Auto /50

Another value pick up on the auto front this month. It's a sticker auto, yes, but it looks really good in person. The photo is actually good which seems rare these days. The metallic card stock gives a nice throwback 90's feel. The most interesting aspect is the embossed seal that Leaf used with the sticker auto. It is impressed halfway on the auto sticker and halfway on the card, validating that Leaf actually put *that* sticker on that card. Neat little touch I haven't seen from other companies.

2004 Fleer Hot Prospects MLB draft triple Auto

Recently picked this up for a reasonable $15 bid. I believe it's my first triple auto card. Certainly first on this white Fleer material. Ryan Meaux never became anybody I heard about but Josh Fields played a bit with the big club which is cool to me. It's low numbered to 33 on the back. Pretty sweet!

2011 In The Game Heroes and Prospects Auto

Well getting pretty spotty at posting as I suspected I would. Holidays are officially over. Here's a few sweet Fisk cards I've picked up this month.

This isn't my favorite card ever in terms of looks. But I like the "rebel" aspects of In The Game cards - a small guy trying to make it against the big boys. I imagine that's why he's used the paper cut autos on this release. As I don't have any cards with paper cut autos, I thought this was pretty cool, and I got it for for a $6.99.

2013 Topps Triple Theads Unity Relic Bat Green Parallel #2/18

2006 Upper Deck Epic Pairings Dual Jersey #26/99

2006 Upper Deck Legendary Material Silver Parallel #172/199

Stunning low numbered game used parallel. The silver foil is incredible in person.

2005 Upper Deck Hall of Fame Hall Worthy #22/50

Photo doesn't do justice to this sick low-numbered parallel. 2005 may have been the best year ever for cards.

2009 Sweet Spot Bat Barrel Auto #08/25

I've had some exciting moments in the 35 years I've been collecting. I have to say that seeing this card when it came out of the package ranks pretty high on the list. My first ever bat barrel auto. A lot of times a card looks really sick online or in photos then in person it's a bit of a letdown. It rarely happens the other way. This was one of those cards that just blew me away. A week or so later it's just as sick. The shadow box presentation is part of it. Makes the card seem really thick. The crisp-ness of the blue sharpie against the lacquered wood. The curve of the bat piece. The low print run. All I can say is I'm in love with this card. Sa-weet!

The Shrine

Located in a small corner of Casa Fisk resides The Shrine. It's a small shelf where I keep my latest and/or favorite acquisitions. In there you can see several on-card autos, a single signed ball, a white sox team signed ball, the 2013 U.S. Cellular Field giveaway trophy, 1986 Donruss Pop-Up, 1976 Papa Gino's drinking glass. Baseball cards take up a lot of room, so most all are stashed in storage boxes in the closet. The Shrine gives me a way to show off my collection and remind me of what makes me happy. Every time I walk by The Shrine I get a little smile.

2004 Upper Deck SP Legendary Cuts All-Time Autos #28/50

Got this sweet 2004 on-card auto this week. I've been wanting to find this card at an affordable price for a while now due to its attractive design. I like the old school black and white photo juxtaposed with the gold foil/red/black/white border. Again, Upper Deck was way ahead of all the other card companies. I'm not even sure that Topps had on-card autos for several years after this. Would be a perfect card if Fisk hadn't left-aligned his sig.

On another note, the blue tape on top of the card is blue painters tape. Steve Gierman at White Sox Cards turned me on to this idea. It secures the card as well as scotch or packing tape, but can be removed without leaving glue on the top loader. IMHO every collector should start doing this. The glue ends up sticking the top loaders together, can get onto the cards themselves, and looks unsightly.

2004 Leaf Fabric of the Game

Just to illustrate what keeps happening to card prices, I picked up these three Leaf Fabric of the Game cards on eBay the other day for 2 bucks apiece. All three from the same guy. They're all authentic game used and they're numbered to 100 or less!! Seems like all cards, no matter how sweet, ultimately end up being a dollar on eBay.

2003 Upper Deck Sweet Spot

You could put 20 guys from Topps in a room for a year and they would never come up with this idea. I wish I knew more about the creative team behind the great innovations at Upper Deck. They revolutionized the hobby. I'd bet big money they were card collectors as kids and big fans of the hobby 'cause these are the kind of cards we would design and produce if the fans were in charge! A piece of real baseball with a ball-point on-card auto layed out flat inside a baseball card! It's like a friggin' dream to a fan. Good on 'ya Upper Deck.

2003 Upper Deck SP Chirography #79/200

Sweet early on-card. I miss Upper Deck.

2008 Upper Deck Baseball Heroes Dual w/ Yaz Purple Parallel #14/25

Not such a great card but the purple parallels are tough to find. Took me 3 years to find this one and I'm still looking for the single and triple versions of Fisk. Fun find.


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2011 Topps Triple Theads Relic Combos - Sepia Parallel #14/27

Just friggin' sweet...

2011 Topps 60th Anniversary Reprint Relics #33/60

The peak of my kid collecting years was 1980-1985 so I had a *TON* of 1985 Topps. Like a lotta guys in the hobby I'm a sucker for retro/throwback stuff from the era of "the cards my mom through out". Also in 2011 these seemed a lot more rare than the /60 indicates. They were like eye teeth and very expensive. Getting this card really made me smile. So it's a double hit: retro memories plus the current chase. Love the bright orange gloss too. Great back of the card too!!

2011 Panini Playoff Prime Cuts Emblems of the Hall Auto #07/25

Going thru some of the Obsession boxes today doing some organizing. I love that moment when you look at a card you don't remember getting and saying "Wow!". I don't think much of a lot of the recent Panini stuff but this one really pops. If it was on-card instead of a sticker auto it would really be perfect. Something about the brown/black fade in the background makes it look old.


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2005 Topps Retired Black Parallel #44/54

In tonight's mail: beautiful black sparkle low numbered parallel. Not a fancy patch or auto, but a great card nonetheless. The photo is priceless: circa 1983 Fisk in full "Commander" mode. These kind of cards are why I got into collecting in the first place. Sweet parallel in NM shape! I've wanted this particular Fisk for the collection for years now but could never get it at a good price - they can get pretty spendy.

I also have the base card and the Gold parallel #/500. This is item number 1,327 in the Fisk Obsession collection.



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