2013 Topps Opening Day Miami Marlins Team Set

2013 Topps Opening Day Miami Marlins Team Set

The 2013 collecting year has allowed for me to go after some great looking, and rather small, Marlins team sets for my collection.

One of my non-published goals was to stay on top of the new releases as they came out so I didn’t have to chase them down years later.

This set is from the 2013 Topps Opening Day set. 

Have a peek:

 

I was lucky enough to pull the base cards of the Marlins from some of the rack packs that I scooped up when the set launched a few months ago.

The hardest card for me to nab was the ‘Superstar Celebration’ card that commemorates Giancarlo Stanton.  There are a handful always available on Ebay, but I did not want to overpay.  So, I patiently waited and finally nailed one for $1.00.

I’m glad that I waited to this 4-card set did not cost me that much extra money.  And I’m really happy to add another set to my album too!

2011 Topps Chrome Florida Marlins Team Set

2011 Topps Chrome Florida Marlins Team Set

I always enjoy hauling in team sets of the Marlins in which I have never seen them before. 

And the 2011 Topps Chrome set fits that bill.

Sure, I have seen and own the base Topps team set from the same year, but this new Chrome version is new to me and my collection.

Have a look:

The main differences between the Chrome set and the base set is the cardstock used for the cards and the ultra-high glossy finish.  The Chrome set is nice, and I like the fact that it complements the base set so well.

My lone issue with the set is that the Mike (Giancarlo) Stanton card on the Chrome set does not feature the Topps All-Star Rookie logo like the card from the base set does.

Other than that, a GREAT looking set!!!

2013 Topps Series 1 Miami Marlins Team Set – The Emerald Version!!!

2013 Topps Series 1 Miami Marlins Team Set – The Emerald Version!!!

Thanks to the generosity of some great ’30-YOC’ readers and some sleuth shopping by yours truly, I have been able to piece together another Marlins team set.

And this one may be one of the more unique and challenging ones I have assembled thus far.

This team set comes from the 2013 Topps Series One set.  The cards are the Emerald Green parallel versions of the base card – and they are as Green and Shiny as any baseball card that I have ever seen!

Have a look at the completed set:

This one took me quite a long time to complete - but I have to admit that it was a lot of fun to hunt down.

I have a little bit of organizing to do – but I am hoping that I can complete a few more of the colored parallel sets from this year’s Topps set.

I am certainly up to the challenge!!!

Baseball Card Show Purchase #8 – A Few Colored Parallels For My 2013 Miami Marlins Master Team Set

Baseball Card Show Purchase #8 – A Few Colored Parallels For My 2013 Miami Marlins Master Team Set

I have been trying very hard to work on the colored versions of the 2013 Miami Marlins team set.

It has been a bit rough finding the cards that I am still missing as I work to knock off a few of these, but I did end up grabbing four cards for my sets that I was seeking.

One card from the Red set, one card from the Blue Sparkle set, and two from the Gold set.

I still have a long way to go to get these sets completed but it did feel good to be able to fill four voids with these finds.

If anyone has any of these cards that they can spare, please let me know.  I am sure that we can work something out!!!

Thanks.

Florida Marlins 2002 Upper Deck ’40 Man’ Team Set

Florida Marlins 2002 Upper Deck ’40 Man’ Team Set

You may recall that the Marlins team set that I showed off last week was donated by one of my longtime readers and fellow bloggers, Unclemoe.

Well, Moe actually sent me two new team sets for my collection.

And while the first one I showed off featured what can be tagged as a standard sized set, this one here is definitely not in that category.

In McDonald’s terms – this one is ‘Super Sized’.

The set is 40 cards deep!!!

It took me a while to get all of the scanning done, but I had to show off the entire 40-card set to properly do the set justice.

So, here goes:

I told you – it is as full as a team set could be!!!

As you can see above, the set is primarily built with posed, studio portraits of the team.  And with the exception of a few former Cubs that had not yet had shots done in their Marlins gear, the set offers a very nice flow to it.

And then just for kicks, there are a few action-packed subset cards included to help round out the set and get the count up to forty cards.

Thank you Unclemoe - A fantastically grand addition to my ‘Marlins Team Set’ project.

2000 Topps Stadium Club Chrome Florida Marlins Team Set

2000 Topps Stadium Club Chrome Florida Marlins Team Set

This set was sent to me as a gift from blogger, unlcemoe.  We pretty much have a deal going where I send him any Diamondbacks that I get and he reciprocates with Marlins cards for me.

Well, unclemoe recently did some team set shopping and secured two Marlins team sets for me.

This set is from the 2000 Topps Stadium Club Chrome set.  There were 7 Marlins cards in that set and they are as shiny as any baseball card in my collection.

I really tried to capture the shininess of the cards with my scan, but it really did not do the cards justice.

Have a look:

The seven players selected by Stadium Club for this set is a bit odd, but I like that some of the picks are unique.  And as usual, the photos selected for this set by Stadium Club are fantastic – my favorite is the one of Alex Gonzalez going to his right deep in the infield.

Thank you unlcemoe!!  I’ll show off the other team set next week!!

Miami Marlins 2012 Topps Archives Team – What Could Have Been…

Miami Marlins 2012 Topps Archives Team Set

The 2012 Topps Archives team set is a harsh reminder of ‘What Could Have Been’.

The six is just six cards deep, but it features five players that are no longer calling Miami their home team.

Here is the full 6-card set.

Heath Bell is eating burgers in Arizona.

Josh Johnson is allowing tons of runs in Toronto.

Hanley Ramirez is rehabbing in Los Angeles.

Jose Reyes is getting hurt stealing bases north of the border.

Anibal Sanchez is making millions on his way to another World Series.

And then there is Giancarlo Stanton – the Last Man Standing!!!

 

Florida Marlins 2000 Upper Deck Victory Team Set

Florida Marlins 2000 Upper Deck Victory Team Set

Normally, when a baseball card’s graphic design takes up 40% of the card surface, I am not a fan.

My personal preference is to have the photo used on the card be the main attraction and then the graphics should be deployed as complementary accents.

With this Marlins team set from 2000 Upper Deck Victory, I think that UD did a good job of selling the large graphics because they used a lot of vertical, action packed images.

Have a look at the full set: 

The vertical images allow for an image of a player either hitting or pitching to be featured.  And Upper Deck did a very solid job of selecting photos that worked with this design.

Nice work, UD!!

Giancarlo Stanton 2013 Topps Series 1 ‘Marlins Park’ Commemorative Patch

Giancarlo Stanton 2013 Topps Series 1 ‘Marlins Park’ Commemorative Patch

This is a pretty neat card, and I did not even know that it was available until I mis-keyed a search on Ebay’s home page.

In retrospect, I am glad that the error occurred.  Otherwise, I would not have found and bought this:

The card features a commemorative manufactured path of Marlins Park.  The patch is well made and it is a nice tribute to the new baseball stadium in Miami.

I paid less than $5.00 to bring this bad-boy home, and I will immediately add it to my 2013 Topps Series 1 Marlins team set.

YES!!!!

Baseball Card Show Purchase #1 – Gaincarlo Stanton & Nathan Eovaldi 2013 Topps Gypsy Queen Cards

Baseball Card Show Purchase #1 – Gaincarlo Stanton & Nathan Eovaldi 2013 Topps Gypsy Queen Cards

When arriving at the card show, the first thing that I did was a quick circle to see which dealers were already selling singles of 2013 Topps Gypsy Queen cards.  What I wanted to do was check their prices so I knew which one of them I would spend the most time with.

Two guys were offering singles for a quarter each, and the third dealer was selling them for fifty cents.

Of course, I drifted to the two guys selling them at the best price.

And of course, neither of them had any Marlins in their assortments.

So, I picked up these two cards for $1.00.

These are the base cards of Giancarlo Stanton and Nathan Eovaldi.  This leaves me with just one base card to go after - Rob Brantly.

As for the team set, I think I will go after the base, Blue Frame, and mini and then call it a day.