Follow that Bird!

I don’t hate the whole rainbow. There are some parallels that I like from 2014 Topps Series 1 Baseball.

I have always been a fan of blue, but this color works so much better on chrome cards (really, all the colors do). For the base set Gold, Black, Red, Clear (those look awesome) and Blue would be my colors of choice for me the parallel game. However, the Red and Blue are exclusive to the retail outlets they are sold in.

But there is one parallel I like this year – Big Bird.

I didn’t make up the term. I saw it on Twitter a couple of days ago and that’s what I plan on calling them.

The Big Bird parallels look sharp, perhaps reminding me of 1991 Fleer (one of the first packs of cards I remember opening).

However, they are tough pulls. There are just two in every hanger box, which costs $10.  The Derek Jeter Big Bird parallel has been selling between $30-$40 on eBay and there are some players I haven’t even seen posted there yet.

(FYI, the Green parallel is similar in they only come in retail rack packs, but I don’t like those as much.)

I keep thinking about venturing back to Target to pick up a couple of boxes simply for the Big Bird parallels. But spending $10 for just two cards is holding me back – and the fact I have grown a rather fond attachment to my money lately.

The only way to rationalize this is by looking at the cards I have gotten and seeing what they sell for on eBay to see if I could make my money back.

Here are the four Big Bird parallels that are in the house (Dan also bought a hanger box):

A dinged-corner Rajai Davis: negligible … no one wants a card with a banged-up corner, but one sold on eBay for under $5

Bronson Arroyo: under $5

Heath Hembree: five sales averaging $18.40 with a $2 outlier on day of release.

Brian Dozier: Three sales $1, $3 and $12

That didn’t help – only that I should sell my Hembree card right now.

I guess like the rest of opening cards, it’s all just a gamble. 

How I learned to hate rainbows

Spring has sprung … eh, not really.

Even though Spring Training is in the air with pitchers and catchers reporting, spring is nowhere in sight especially in the northeast. We’re expected another several inches of snow coming our way to go on top of piles and piles of slush we have right now.

But there are signs that spring is getting closer since The Weather Channel looks to be running out of names for its winter storms.

Topps Series 1 Baseball hit the shelves last week and I received my first order of Derek Jeter cards.

No one will ever accuse me of being a set collector, so I don’t tend to look at those elements when chasing cards. Therefore I have no opinion – at this time – of 2014 Topps Series 1 as a set.

I do, however, have new Derek Jeter cards to add to my collection.

This mail day added seven new Jeters to the ever-growing collection, and the first 2014 cards.

The Class of ’96 card was interesting. Topps has jumped from manu-patches to creating manu-relics in recent years. This card included what is considered a “class ring.” Pssh, my high school ring looked better than that – and, sadly, was around the same time. However, I do like the card and adds an interesting aspect to my collection.

The “Before They Were Great” card is a neat looking card. I got the gold version numbered to 99 in my lot of Jeter cards, but don’t have the regular one. It’s nothing special. I’m indifferent toward the card, and it reminds me of one of the inserts from last year.

Another insert included with “50 Years of the Draft.” Clearly, there is a theme here with Topps as it seems to be getting nostalgic with this year’s set.

I also received the Topps All-Rookie Cup Team (which I didn’t care for the design), the base, Gold and Red Foil parallels.

That’s seven cards … and here is the problem.

Not counting 1-of-1s from 2014 Topps Series 1 Baseball, there are 33 different Jeter cards from the set. Parallels include: Gold, Camo, Black, Pink, Red Foil, Clear, Wal-Mart Blue, Green, Yellow, Target Red Border and Toys R Us Purple Border.

Eleven parallels.

I’m going to collect as many Jeter cards as I can, but the parallel explosion is usually why I make just one order of Jeter cards when the set first comes out and don’t go crazy chasing down the rainbow. If I happen to come across the cards I don’t have a card show, I might buy them for the right price, but 11 parallels is way, way too many in my opinion.

Were Green and Yellow really necessary?