Do "White Whales" travel in pods? (12-11-18 update)
TNP777
Posts: 5,711 ✭✭✭
Many of you guys might remember that I'm a player collector, too. Brett Butler is one of my favorite modern players, and somehow I got on this quest to collect every card any company has ever issued of him. Beckett has 534 unique Butler cards catalogued - I've got 521 of them, plus several hundred uncatalogued variations and oddball cards that 80s & 90s player collectors recognize but Beckett doesn't
For years I'd check eBay for new Butler cards several times a day, but for the past few years I've needed the same 13 cards (8 of which are numbered 1/1), so now I only check maybe once a week - if I even remember to. Hits to my wantlist have been so infrequent that I've been giving a ghost of a thought to actually getting rid of it.
So late last week I figured I'd see if anything new had popped up, which usually only happens if the Topps Vault released something. Scroll scroll scroll... wait a damn minute... WHAT'S THIS??? Well, how 'bout that - a card I've literally never seen before is sitting right there with a $25 BIN/BO + $3 shipping. So what does my dumb ass do? Offer the seller $15. And the whole damn time I'm waiting for a response I'm mentally kicking my own ass for not just grabbing it up. Patience won out, though - the seller accepted my offer around midnight and I paid immediately.
Some of you guys may have seen this incredibly weird and not-very-popular issue: Pinnacle Inside. There was a pack of cards inside a can that you literally had to open with a standard can opener.
It was a 150-card base set with two parallels: Club Edition and Diamond Edition. And because it was such an incredibly popular idea (eye roll), there are hundreds of the base cards floating around, maybe dozens of the Club Edition, and damn near none of the Diamond Editions. Guess which one I've been looking for?
So here it is, kids - the 1997 Pinnacle Inside Diamond Edition Brett Butler, a card that's been on my wantlist for 21 years. I'm decently stoked.
Sorry for the cruddy scan, btw - these foil fronts just don't scan very well.
Here's the base and Club Edition:
Comments
That is really exciting. I am happy for you. Congrats
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
Congratulations! I love 90's parallels, perfect addition to your Butler collection.
Hiya Geordie
Congratulations buddy!
I'm one of those who always believe the "Butler" did it.
Awesome- Congrats Mike!
Curious about the rare, mysterious and beautiful 1951 Wheaties Premium Photos?
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/987963/1951-wheaties-premium-photos-set-registry#latest
Great story. Congrats and thanks for sharing.
It says wrestling on it. I'd like one! :-)
Looking to BUY n332 1889 SF Hess cards and high grade cards from 19th century especially. "Once you have wrestled everything else in life is easy" Dan Gable
It was on your wantlist for 21 freakin' years... Then it pops up at a $25 BIN... and you offer $15??
Just out of morbid curiosity, what would you have done if someone else had bought it after you made the offer?? Would we be on here reading your obituary?
DesertIceSports.Com
congrats, ballsy move to save $10!
I know, right?
I said earlier that I had been kinda kicking around the idea of parting ways with my Butler collection. Guys that have been around a while know how much time and effort I've put into it. Letting it go would be a pretty big deal. Saying that, it definitely crossed my mind that if someone had grabbed that thing, it might have helped tip me over the edge! I can't tell you how many times I almost cracked and bought it at the BIN price. If it had still been there in the morning, I almost certainly would have done just that.
Dodgers collection scans | Brett Butler registry | 1978 Dodgers - straight 9s, homie
Haven't posted much lately and I only peek in every now and then but when I saw your post a big smile came across my face because its great to see you add to that awesome collection of yours and it still gives me hope that the few cards I've been looking for for my Gary Carter collection may pop up here and there but then my jaw hit the ground when I saw that you were thinking about parting ways with your collection
let me talk you off the ledge
please don't !!!!!!!!
keep it going
hang in there there's still some more that you need to go after
Cool pickup. Congrats!!! I honestly had no idea this set even existed.
Congratulations. Patience paid off. I still have a Pinnacle display stand with sealed cans packed away. Wonder if anything is good in those sealed cans.
Got the Juan Gonzalez ( why isn't he a HOF candidate?).
Tuff One Indeed Congrats!!
Congrats
Its always nice to finally find a card after a long ime.
I feel hat way about a ny yankees card that may not even cost $10
1948-76 Topps FB Sets
FB & BB HOF Player sets
1948-1993 NY Yankee Team Sets
Congrats, Geordie! Great to find one of the few you're missing. I hope to get to that point someday.
Yep, I busted a few of these earlier this year that came with a collection purchase from several years back. There was no way to ship them for what they're worth. I had to run to the kitchen before ripping one of these and I think a Jordan (UD Choice?) set that was issued similarly.
Klesko, yes. Nolan, no (no retired players in the set).
No distinct smell, either. IIRC, the cards were sealed in a foil pack.
Dodgers collection scans | Brett Butler registry | 1978 Dodgers - straight 9s, homie
Hiya Geordie
If I missed?
What are some of the "whales" you're missing in the Butler run?
Merry Christmas buddy!
Geez Glerbie, I know you were excited, but did you really have to bite the card 4 times?
The Pinnacle cans were neat. So were the ones that came in the little metal tins...
He would be a very unusual candidate. If I were to name the top fifty eligible players not in, he wouldn't make my list.
Alex Relyea
More good news!
There's a line on my wantlist that has driven me crazy for years. I was actually giving serious thought to just admitting defeat and removing that line. But yesterday I was in the middle of comparing my haves & wants to TradingCardDB's list and was trolling around on Google and stumbled across this listing on Worthpoint:
LOT OF 30 1992 LOS ANGELES DODGERS SMOKEY THE BEAR FIRE SAFETY POST CARDS
https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/lot-30-1992-los-angeles-dodgers-1758275390
Postcards!
So I jumped on eBay and trolled some more. Jackpot! https://www.ebay.com/itm/202504909921
The seller had a 6-card lot, all autographed no less, so I made a deal to pick up two of them.
One bummer, though. I noticed that I neglected to add four 1/1s from 2012 (Archives printing plates) to my list. UGH!
Dodgers collection scans | Brett Butler registry | 1978 Dodgers - straight 9s, homie
LMAO LMAO LMAO LMAO
YEa thats me
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Major_League_Baseball_players_from_Panama
Love posts like this. Congrats on your new pickup! This is an awesome hobby indeed.
Always looking for tougher PSA 10's of Nolan Arenado, Alex Bregman, Mookie Betts, Francisco Lindor, and Mike Trout.
Congrats Geordie!
Great score! Player collections are such a labor of love!!! Keep the faith and happy you landed that whale.
www.questfortherookiecup.com
Congratulations! By the way there is NO WAY I would have made an offer! I remember buying a large lot to get a 2001 Topps Chrome Retrofractor Fernando Tatis. I had looked for several years for this card and a lot was listed for (I think) $150. I paid it to get a $5 card.... I sold the remaining cards and got my money back!
Shane
"He would be a very unusual candidate. If I were to name the top fifty eligible players not in, he wouldn't make my list."
Ouch. Top 50?
3-time All-Star (1993, 1998, 2001)
2-time American League MVP (1996, 1998)
3-time Top 10 MVP (9th, 1997; 4th, 1993; 5th, 2001)
His 434 career home runs ranks 47th on the all-time list
6 Silver Slugger awards (1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001)
2-time American League Home Run Champion (1992, 1993)
5 40+ HR Seasons (1992, 43; 1993, 46; 1996, 47; 1997, 42; 1998, 45)
Finished Top 5 in RBI 6 times. (1993, 4th, 118; 1996, 2nd, 144; 1997, 3rd, 131; 1998, 1st, 157; 1999, 5th, 128; 2001, 2nd, 140)
Finished Top 5 in slugging percentage 7 times. (1992, 5th, .561%; 1993, 1st, .632%; 1996, 2nd, .643%; 1997, 4th, .589%; 1998, 2nd, .630%; 1999, 4th, .601%; 2001, 5th, .590)
Became just the 2nd player in major league history to have at least 100 RBI before the All-Star Break. (101 in 1998, second to Hank Greenberg who had 103)
Holds all-time record for RBI in the month of April (35 in 1998.)
Ranks 4th all-time in plate appearance/HR with 16.49 (#1 Mark McGwire – 13.14 No. 2 Babe Ruth – 14.87 No. 3 Sammy Sosa – 16.25)
Ranks 7th all-time in RBI/game with .831.
Ranks 15th all-time in AB per HR with 15.1 AB/HR.
Ranks 16th all-time in slugging percentage with .561%
Hit his 300th home run in the fewest games in American League history (1,096)
9th Youngest ever to hit 300 Career HR (28 years, 334 days)
Tied for 1st in postseason history in home runs in a single Division Series with Ken Griffey, Jr. (Gonzalez – 5 HR in 4 games 1996, Griffey – 5 HR in 5 games in 1995)
Tied for 2nd in most HR in a single playoff series with 5 HR in just 4 games in 1996. (Reggie Jackson 1977, 5 HR in 6 Games, Chase Utley 2009, 5 HR in 6 Games, Ken Griffey, Jr. 1995, 5 HR in 5 Games) Nelson Cruz is 1st with 6 HR in 6 games in 2011.
Ranks 2nd in postseason history in slugging percentage in a single playoff series (1.375% in 1996)[28]
Ranks 2nd in postseason history in OPS in a single Division Series (1.901 in 1996)
Ranks 5th in postseason history in OPS in a single playoff series among qualified leaders (1.901 in 1996)
Tied for 2nd with 10 other players in extra base hits in a single Division Series (5 in 1996 & 2001)
Ranks 3rd in postseason history in total bases in a single Division Series (22 in 1996)
Ranks 7th in postseason history in RBI in a single Division Series (9 in 1996)
Tied for 2nd in postseason history in career HR in the Division Series (8 HR)
Ranks 4th in postseason history in career slugging percentage in the Division Series (.742)
Ranks 7th in postseason history in career extra base hits in the Division Series (12)
Ranks 8th in postseason history in career OPS in the Division Series (1.075
Yep. I stand by my words. Gonzalez was great for a couple of years, but that's not enough. The fact that he was only a three-time all-star says it all, doesn't it. All that said, he ranks far ahead of Harold Baines.
So check this out.
Last Tuesday brought that terrific White Whale mailday. I shared my exciting pickup on five different message board, including Blowout. A guy over there says that TradingCardDB shows a different number of available Butler cards than Beckett does, so I spent a chunk of Wednesday comparing my list to theirs, plus having a fresh look at Beckett's list.
So there are three other "cards" on my list - I've got them listed under "Oddball".
* 1992 Dodgers Smokey 4292 (is how Beckett had it listed - and isn't 4292 an odd card number???)
* 1995 Mets Colla (again, how Beckett had it listed)
* 2005 Diamondbacks Team Issue
For years I've never seen or heard a glimpse of any of those sets, so Wednesday I was finally going to delete them and assume they'd never been issued. I'd done probably dozens of Google searches, endless eBay searches, trolled message boards - nothing. I'm starting to think someone fed Beckett bogus info.
And then I came across this listing on Worthpoint: https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/lot-30-1992-los-angeles-dodgers-1758275390
Well, how about that. I think I've got a lead. It turns out that weird "4292" card number means that it's actually postcard #42, and the set was produced in 1992 - hence the 4292 designation.
Okay, cool. The card (or postcard) actually exists. It still doesn't mean I've ever seen one. That is, until later that day when I hit up the bright idea of searching ebay for Butler (postcard,postcards,"post card","post cards") and effing found a seller who effing had six of the Butlers in one BIN/BO lot!
So what does my dumb ass do? You're damn right - I make an offer! lolololol!! I don't need six of them - two will do. So I fire off a message to the seller, and he agrees to part the lot for me. I buy two, today's mail arrives - and he sent three of them.
Oh, did I mention that they were all autographed? They weren't issued that way, so the autographs are a nice bonus.
So here it is - White Whale #2 in the last eight days.
Dodgers collection scans | Brett Butler registry | 1978 Dodgers - straight 9s, homie
ever find one of those 1989 20th Ann buybacks?
Congrats - now that is a December to remember.
Cards in cans was a bad idea, almost as bad as tomato sauce in cans, but not quite. Nice collection.