2013 Finest Cherry Picking

I wouldn't say I would NEVER buy a box of Topps Finest, but I don't see the point.  With a little patience, you can pick up the base cards very cheaply off sportlots.com, even some of the refractors.  I know the same can be said about pretty much all sets, but Finest seems to have a really pronounced  gap between retail price, and secondary market prices per card. 

I am a fan of Finest in general, but not sure if the 2013 set does it for me.  There are a couple of neat insert sets this year, and I may get the Rangers that are on those cards.  Otherwise, I find the base set a little boring.  It's just a scroll of dots across the card with FINEST at the top.  No logos or anything.  Maybe some will like the simplicity of the design, and maybe I will too after some time to pontificate on the matter.

Anyway, I ordered a handful of cheap base cards off sportlots.com and they arrived Saturday.  The Beltres above are all different- the one on the left is an x-fractor, the center is the base and the right is the standard refractor.  I may chase the red and green and other color versions of the Beltre card too, and make a cool rainbow page in my Rangers binder.  Below are the other cards I got, just because.

A Pack Of Spring Fever Cards

In my recent Topps 13 Hobby box, I had one of those Spring Fever cards that can be redeemed at participating hobby stores.  Thankfully, Cleve's is a participating store and I got a pack:

Ohhh, the mystery!  What's inside I wonder?

Wish I had gotten a Ranger in here, but not bad overall.  Still debating if I want to trade these or not.

Cleve's Auction: A Quick Double Dip

Not much to report back from last week's auction.  Only a couple of pickups again, but good ones.

1958 Topps Curt Flood Rookie $4  A+  I'm an admirer of Flood and what he did for the game.  I'll let me hero George Will tell you more if you are interested.  This card is in very nice shape (and not mis-cut like the scan indicates)  and is a great addition to my sampler album.

Miguel Cabrera Jersey Card  $2  A:  Easy call to get a Cabrera relic for $2 whenever I get the chance.

Cleve's Auction Night: Have I Mentioned What A Great Guy Cleve Is?

Family, kid's soccer, work and life in general has kept me pretty busy lately, and I've been absent from Cleve's Tuesday night auctions for quite a while.  I miss it.  I've been putting in write in bids, but it's pretty hard to go to battle for what you want when you're not present at the auction.  This past week I put in several write in bids, but only came away with one win:

I think I bid only $2 or $3 and I guess no one else wanted it.  I'm more than happy to take home a relic card, fake as it may be, of the only Triple Crown winner in my lifetime. 

I say I "think" I bid $2 or $3 because when I pulled out my wallet to pay for it, Cleve waived me off and said "nah, just take it."  My guilty conscious wouldn't let me and I tried to convince him to let me pay, even if it was just a small amount.  He wouldn't have it, so I got this nice little gem for free.   I can add this to the other displays of generosity from Cleve, here and here (my first tweet). 

Not only that, as I was walking out, Cleve was sorting a 1988 Fleer Tiffany set out by teams and handed me a Rangers team set:

These are 4 of my favorite players from that team.  If you've never seen the Tiffany's version of these junk era cards, the glossy "Tiffany" finish really adds another dimension to them.  They are absolutely beautiful, and make me want to reach out and pinch Pete Incaviglia's chubby widdle cheeks.

Grades:

Grades?  What grades?  This is an A+ auction all the way.  I wonder where the hobby would be if every town had a dealer like Cleve?