January has been a pretty good month for me. I was able to add 29 more cards that I needed to the collection. If I keep up this pace, I'll surpass 3,000 unique cards sooner rather than later!
Back in December of last year, fellow collector, Jesse Obas (IG: barrybondscardcollector05) reached out to me and asked if I wanted his Rolen collection. After some messages back and forth, a fair deal was struck, and I was able to acquire his Rolen collection. After waiting some time for the Holiday season to pass, I received the cards. I was able to add 14 new cards to my collection and one card that I already had, but the foil treatment was different.
From the Jesse Obas Collection:
1998 Flair Showcase - Legacy Collection Row 2 #20, SN100
This card doesn't need much of an introduction. Collectors of this era know the Legacy cards well. They are nearly identical to the base versions, with the exception of the beautiful blue foil and the serial numbering. Limited to just 100 copies back in 98 was a BIG deal and that still rings true to this day for these cards. I surmise that most of these are locked up in collections at this point.
1999 SkyBox Premium - Soul of the Game #6SG
This is the card that I already had. What makes this one different enough for me to add it to my collection is the position of the color foil in the background. The one I already had goes from blue foil at the top to red foil on the bottom. This one goes from red foil at the top to green foil on the bottom. Now I just need to find one with the green foil on the top.
2000 Pacific - Copper #331a POR, SN99
A classic Pacific parallel. The copper being limited to 99 copies isn't much different than the base other than the color of the foil and the serial number stamping on the front of the card.
2000 Pacific Aurora - Premiere Date #111, SN52
Another Pacific parallel, these Premiere Date cards can demand substantially more money than the others due to the scarcity.
2000 Upper Deck - Exclusives Silver #457, SN100
This card has proven tough to track down. I can't recall ever seeing another one offered for sale. I'm not sure if that is due to the limited availability, or if people just toss these into their commons boxes. It's very similar to the base card aside from the serial numbering on the front and the pink area near the bottom of the card.
2000 Upper Deck - Statitude Die Cuts #S22, SN100
Who doesn't love a good die cut card? Especially when it's limited to 100 copies from an era where that actually meant something.
2001 Pacific Private Stock - Gold Portraits #91, SN75
Pacific is back at it with their parallels here. This parallel does add quite a bit more foil to the front of the card though!
2002 Topps Traded & Rookies - Chrome Refractors #T72
A beautiful refractor card of Scott in his new uniform, yes please! As with a lot of refractor cards, this one looks far better in-hand as opposed to the scan.
2003 Donruss Elite - Aspirations #157, SN73
These cards are some of my favorites. It has a relatively low serial number, it is die cut, and the shiny blue surface really makes this card POP!
2003 Fleer Patchworks - Star Ruby #80, SN100
Star Rubies used to be so much more visually appealing. By 2003, it seems like the card companies had kind of given up. This version differs from the base by having the background of the photo covered in red along with the foil serial number stamp on the back.
2004 Donruss - Production Line OPS Die Cut #PL-OPS-5, SN100
By this time in the hobby, Donruss had really ramped up their parallel game. It seems like there were at least a half dozen parallels of everything. This card is gorgeous though! I love the die cut treatment along with the overall finish of the card - a nice shiny surface!
2004 Donruss Elite - Passing the Torch Black #PT-24, SN100
Very shiny, serial numbered, and one of a handful of parallels. The picture they chose for this card is kind of awkward - like Scott is thinking about stealing a base but hadn't quite committed just yet.
2004 Fleer E-X - Essential Credentials Future #33, SN33
This card is...ugly! I'm not sure who was in charge of designing these, but whoever thought this foil treatment was the way to go for a set that had historically been beautiful and revered, should have been fired. There is so much happening on the front of these I'm not sure how one could even get a surface grade if they were to send it off for grading.
2004 Fleer Showcase - Legacy #79, SN99
Another instance where a company is hanging onto a set name. By 2004, the Legacy legacy had kind of been killed. I do still enjoy the overall design of this card though. And I love the image they used of Scott in his throwback uniform.
2005 Donruss - Production Line Slugging Die Cut #PL-9, SN100
Cool card. Shiny. Serial numbered. Die cut. But Donruss completely flooded things by 2005. Scott had nearly 1,400 cards produced in 2005. Half of those were made by Donruss.
1998 Flair Showcase - Legacy Collection Row 1 #20, SN100. This card completed the "rainbow" of the 98 Flair Legacy cards for me. These cards are so visually stunning in-hand and even in photographs. Scans just don't do them justice.
1998 Studio - Gold Studio Proofs #15, SN300. The serial numbering on these is quite deceiving. They just don't show up for sale very often. So when I was able to pick this one up, I jumped at the chance to add it to the collection. Donruss must have been experiencing some quality control issues with these though, as most of them that I've seen are cut smaller than your standard sized card.
1997 New Pinnacle - Museum Collection #200. Another card from Rolen's hometown of Jasper, IN! This one comes to my collection from Mr. Waddell. He reached out to me and said he noticed that I didn't have this one posted on my site and said he would sent it to me for free if I still needed it. Thank you, Bob! I don't know a single collector of cards from this era that doesn't like DUFEX! These cards are stunning to look at. And with the addition of this particular card, that completes the run of 1997 New Pinnacle Rolen cards for me. I would really love to add a printing plate or two from this set, but I've never seen one offered for sale in all the years I've been collecting.
1998 Donruss Signature - Proofs #17, PR150. These were limited to just 150 non-serialized copies. The beautiful holo-foil used on the front of these cards save them from being just another boring parallel of the base cards. This is one of the many cards I've passed over throughout the years due to me not wanting to spend too much money on it. This one was the right price at the right time though, and now it's part of my permanent collection.
1998 Pinnacle - Epix Season Purple #E11. With the addition of this card to my collection, I'm down to needing just three more to complete the run of the released versions of the Epix cards. I'd love to add the "Play" versions of the un-released cards as well, but they are currently priced way too high for my taste. I pick these up whenever I see them cheap enough because they look that good!
Here are the other cards I added to my collection this month:
That wraps up the new additions for January. Be sure to check back next month as I already have more cards en route that will be featured in the February edition of Monthly Mailbag.
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