2011 Topps 60 Years of Topps - Johnny Cueto

Here at My 2008 Topps Set Blog we enjoy all things 2008 Topps. Even though I find it a little odd that Topps has already started reprinting cards from just a few years ago, I'm glad to have "new" 2008 Topps cards to add to our collection. Plus I like Johnny Cueto so this card is definitely a keeper.

We don't have Johnny's base card signed yet. If we ever get that, maybe this one will be next in line.

# 60YOT-57 - Johnny Cueto - 2008 Topps

Luis Aparicio Collection - 2006 Fleer Greats of the Game

Okay this card's awesome. I've wanted it for awhile and we finally grabbed one for a buck shipped off eBay.

This Luis Aparicio card is from the 2006 Fller Greats of the Game Nickname Greats insert set. Everything about this card is great. Great picture, great design. I especially like how "Little Louie" is largely displayed in the lower right corner.

# RR-FL - Fred Lewis - Relic Card

It's Free Shipping Friday! Here's another nice card we got off eBay for super cheap and free shipping.

We grabbed this 08 Topps Fred Lewis jersey card for $1 shipped. Not a bad deal at all.
 
# RR-FL - Fred Lewis - Relic Card

# 43 - Aaron Hill - Chrome Printing Plate

I noticed a lot of our recent posts have been on cards for our Diamondbacks Collection so I figured it was time for an 2008 Topps related post... of a current Diamondback!

I got this Aaron Hill 2008 Topps Chrome Printing Plate off eBay a few weeks ago. It's our first Chrome Printing Plate. I got it for a pretty good deal and ended up using only eBay bucks to pay for it. That made it even better.

Aaron's having a pretty good year this year. He's already hit for the cycle twice. That Kelly Johnson trade from last year looks like it's turning out well for us.

# 43 - Aaron Hill - Chrome Printing Plate

  

2012 Allen & Ginter - Justin Upton Relic Cards

I'm finally jumping aboard the Allen & Ginter train. Here are two Justin Upton relic cards we picked up for our Diamondbacks collection. He has a bat card and a jersey card in the 2012 set. I like the black border on these. They look pretty slick.
 

Too Many D-Backs from Too Many Verlanders

Dennis from one of our favorite blogs, Too Many Verlanders, sent over a HUGE stack of Diamondbacks cards. There was so much great stuff in there, I had a hard time picking a few random ones to scan.

I went with some older stuff. Most of these early 2000's D-Backs cards are new to me. Back then I was just getting back into baseball cards and I spent most of my time searching dime boxes for stuff to get autographed during Spring Training. Most of the local dealers always pulled out the Diamondbacks to sell for a little bit more. Because of that I missed out on a lot of nice cards of guys like Curt Schilling, Travis Lee, and Tony Womack.

After I sort through everything Dennis sent, I'll probably do a few more player-specific posts for my favorite retired D-Backs.

Thanks again, Dennis! These totally made my day!

Daniel Hudson Collection - 2012 Topps Archives Gold Rainbow Foil Parallel

Yes! Another puke green 2012 Topps Archives parallel! I really like these cards. They look great in person. Much better than the weird color that comes across when scanned.

This one's for our Daniel Hudson collection. We have the base card too but that probably won't be getting it's own post. 

2011 Topps All-Star Jersey Card - Justin Upton

Score! We finally found a 2011 Topps Diamond Anniversary parallel All-Star Jersey Card of Justin Upton. This has been on my want list for some time so it's good to finally have it.

When these first came out, the Upton cards were selling for more than I wanted to pay. Back around the beginning of summer I found this one for a pretty good price so I grabbed it.

Justin is struggling a bit this season and there are plenty of trade rumors out there. Hopefully he's still on our team for Justin Upton bobblehead day on July 28th.

On a side note, I've created a new label for our collection of 2011 Topps All-Star Jersey Cards.

# 238 - Evan Meek - Chrome Blue Refractor

I love these Blue Refractor Certified Autographs. They're super colorful and numbered to only 200. I saw this Evan Meek for a few bucks and grabbed it. 

# 55 - Andre Dawson - Team Gift Set

Growing up, I was a Chicago Cubs fan. I remember watching games on WGN every summer with my dad. There was nothing better than falling asleep on the couch while listening to Harry Carey and Steve Stone.

While I was in high school, Arizona was awarded the Diamondbacks franchise. I still like the Cubbies, they're just not my number one team any longer.

One of my favorite Cubs from the late 80s and early 90s was Andre Dawson. I was picking up a bunch of Dawson's certified autographs for awhile about ten years ago. I guess you could say I had a player collection going.

Since I have family in Chicago, I've been fortunate to go to a few games at Wrigley Field. When I bought the 2008 Topps Chicago Cubs 55 card team set, I was excited to get the stadium card. It's got a nice shot of the coolest baseball stadium I've ever been to.

I procrastinated on sending this one off to Andre Dawson for awhile. I finally threw it in the mail with a donation to his foundation. A few days later it came back signed in beautiful, blue Sharpie. Thanks, Andre! This one's awesome!

# 55 - Andre Dawson - Team Gift Set 

# 86-DS - Darryl Strawberry - Team Gift Set

Good news! We added another 1986 Mets certified autograph to our 2008 Topps collection. These were inserted into the Mets 55 card team gift sets. You may remember that we already have Dwight Gooden and Keith Hernandez. Now we've added Darryl Strawberry to go along with them. I'm still on the lookout for the Gary Carter.

# 86-DS - Darryl Strawberry 

2012 All-Star Game

Time for our fourth annual All-Star Game post. This year we have signed 2008 Topps cards from twenty players on the All-Star game rosters. This is down one from the 2011 All-Star Game. Pretty amazing considering there's a lot of players who didn't even have a card in the 2008 Topps set.




         

2011 Topps All-Star Jersey Card - C.J. Wilson

I'm still collecting the All-Star jersey cards from the 2011 Topps Update set. It's just been awhile since we've picked up a new one.

I was a pretty big fan of C.J. Wilson's during his time with the Texas Rangers. I was happy to see him make his first All-Star appearance in 2011. I wasn't as happy to watch him go to the Angels during the off-season.

Daniel Hudson Collection - 2012 Gypsy Queen Certified Auto & Relic

Here's another HUGE score for our Daniel Hudson player collection. There's nothing not to like about this card from the 2012 Topps Gypsy Queen set. It has an on-card autograph. It has a piece of one of Dan's jerseys and it's numbered to only 25. This is probably my favorite card in our DHuddy collection.
 

2012 Topps Retired Rings - Justin Upton

Topps brought back the ring design in Series Two. This time instead of retired players, they focused on current stars. That's good because it brought us this awesome Justin Upton card. I really like these. It's a concept that might get old fast if they keep making them but for now I'm still a fan. I did notice that unlike the one's from Series One, these aren't numbered.

Another great addition to our Diamondbacks collection.
 

# 136 - Robinson Cano

We've got a good one today. Check out this signed card of Robinson Cano. It's a great additon to our set.

Robinson is getting ready to play in his fourth All-Star game. I'll never forget watching him win the Home Run Derby last year. I was rooting for Adrian Gonzalez but whatever it was still cool.

There's a guy who posts on one of the autograph websites I visit who goes down to the Dominican Republic to get autographs. I picked this one up from him. I probably won't see Cano any time soon, so I'm glad I did.

# 136 - Robinson Cano

Progress: 492/990
 

Luis Aparicio Collection - 2012 Topps Tribute Certified Auto

We hunted this one for awhile and we now own a Luis Aparicio certified autograph from the 2012 Topps Tribute set. I've got a few cards from this set now and I'd like them better if they weren't encased. Despite that, this card has a lot of good factors. It has a nice color photo of Lil Luis, it has a refractor effect, and it's an on-card signature. Those three things combined with the fact it's numbered to 99 make for another great card for our collection.
 

Daniel Hudson Collection - 2012 Bowman International

There are a whole bunch of parallels from this year's Bowman set. We're working on the rainbow for our Daniel Hudson player collection.

I have a feeling we won't be the only one's doing a post on a 2012 Bowman International card today. I always liked the flag design on these and was glad to see these back after a few year absence.

 Happy Fourth of July, everybody!
 

# 429 - Billy Butler

A friend on SportsGraphing.com sent us this signed 2008 Topps card of Billy Butler for our set. It was announced yesterday that Billy has been chosen to be an All-Star for the first time. What's even more exciting is that he'll get to represent his home club since the game will be in Kansas City this year. Congrats, Billy! Hope you do well.

# 429 - Billy Butler

Progress: 491/990
 

Daniel Hudson Player Collection - 2012 Topps Tier One

I'm sure you've heard by now that 2012 Topps Tier One is out. I liked last year's set but I think I like this year's even more. The silver and white parallel autographs are pretty cool. While I haven't tracked one of those down yet, I have added this nice Daniel Hudson to our player collection.

Unfortunately, Daniel got some bad news this past week and it looks like he'll be having Tommy John surgery soon. He'll miss the rest of this season and most if not all of 2013.

While it's more exciting to be collecting a player who is playing well, we're in this Daniel Hudson thing for the long haul. Our player collection won't stop. Hopefully, he's able to come back strong and continue to put up big numbers like he did last year.