Have you visited our store? Click here.During a recent review of my team box, I located a bunch of pack-inserted autographed cards of common players or prospects that have yet to attend The Show. I even found a press plate from a 2010 Bowman Prospect. What I didn’t find was any excitement from owning these cards. Nothing against the players or the brands, they just weren’t cards that I had any desire to keep in my collection. So what did I do? I traded them.
I think I had somewhere in the ballpark of 15 cards total. On December 8, 2012, I took them to Frank and Son Collectible Show and traded them for the cards you see below. The value of the trade was $12, which sounded great to me. After about an hour of going through cards, I cherry picked the following cards. The dealer even gave me $2 in addition to these cards because the sell value of these 7 cards was just $10! Ha! Go figure! Let’s have a look at the acquisition roster.
Mickey Mantle 1994 Upper Deck Heroes #72
The 1994 Upper Deck Hero’s set features the Mick. I have always enjoyed this release. I prefer it as an insert set instead of a stand alone which is what it became in more recent years. I particularly enjoy this card because it features a great artist’s rendition of Mick at the plate as well as a portrait in the background. This was a nice idea and a great way to finish off the set.
Barry Bonds 1995 Upper Deck #103 Electric Diamond Gold
While Barry Bonds takes a lot of heat in the hobby and his RC’s can be had at nominal rates in comparison to years ago, I still enjoy a good Bonds pickup when the price is right. In this case, the Electric Diamond Gold parallel spoke to me. I had to have it. These golds are very difficult to locate in any condition. They aren’t even recognized in the monthly Beckett.
Mark McGwire 1996 Stadium Club #104 Extreme Players Silver
The Extreme Players cards are a bit tough to track down. These cards are available in three different tiers: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. Each respectively rarer and more valuable than the last. These are (were) redeemable cards to be sent in after some understanding of a very commonly ultra-complex redemption program.
Barry Larkin 1996 Stadium Club Extreme Winners #EW6
This is what was returned to you when you redeemed your players Extreme Players card, like the McGwire you see above. These cards are designed beautifully and have a gorgeous refractor finish. These cards are surprisingly hard to find but can usually be had for pretty reasonable prices. This is the silver version.
Derek Jeter 1996 Studio #33 Bronze Press Proof /2000
There are some reason’s why I love this card:
- Derek Jeter is one of baseball’s best active players (in my opinion)
- It’s from Studio
- It’s a parallel
- It features holo-foil
- It’s from the ’90’s
Chipper Jones 2001 Donruss Diamond Kings #DK-10 Studio Series /250
This card is really nice. During the late ’90’s, Donruss released parallels to their renowned Diamond Kings insert set. Instead of being printed on cardboard with a limited print run to 10,000 or 5,000, these scarce parallels were printed on canvas and serial numbered to just 250 copies. Later on, Donruss changed the parallel name from Canvas to Studio Series, which is what you see here.
To view the current eBay auctions for Derek Jeter baseball cards, click here.
