Sweet Like A Chic-A-Cherry Cola

Let's look at the title for a moment.  My last post was part one of a want list and the title if anyone noticed was in reference to a Rolling Stones song (Thank Goodness Smithers hasn't killed them yet).  Today's is in reference to a Savage Garden song.  Both are songs with "Want" in the title.  I didn't directly use the titles because that would be rather boring.  So instead I used other lyrics from the song.  Both also seem to fit the posts as well.  "But if you try sometimes" is a good mantra when trying to find cards from you list.  "Sweet like a..." also works as its a success when you do find cards you don't have.  With all that being said, I really need to figure out what is the consensus genre my readers listen to in music.  I'm all over the map, as evidenced by a recent post.  I just don't want to alienate my readers because they have no idea what I'm talking about, but at the same time don't want to, in the words of Scott Steiner- dumb myself down, making everything so obvious that it takes all the enjoyment out of it when you do notice the references.  At any rate, as I type this I'm listening to Poison, and I think that will make this post even better since I'll be having nothing.... BUT A GOOD TIME... HOW CAN I RESIST?

Today's blog is the rest of my Top 25 Wanted cards.  I planned on doing it last night, but nothing caught my attention on TV so I put in the movie The Blues Brothers and for some reason watched it like I've never seen it before.  By the time it ended it was too late to work on a blog, so here we are.  So let's dig in with the rest of the cards on my list, which by the way is more of a reference for me and not a solicitation for cards.  I'm not a good trader, so until I work on that I'm not seeking any trades.

Phil Rirruto?  The amazing thing is I don't believe I have any cards of Rizzuto (don't worry Billy Madison, I couldn't write z's in cursive either, but these days not many kids write cursive period).  It's not that I don't like him, but he doesn't fit into my collection.  This card however does.  This is a Kansas City Blues card and there aren't many cards depicting the team, so this might be my best chance at getting one.  I still need to see what teams I do have from Missouri and work on getting the rest, but that's one goal I likely won't finish this year.  As for this card, I'm watching it on COMC and will likely get it in the next couple weeks, especially if I keep doing a lot of challenges and earning cash.  2009 TRISTAR Obak

Many times I've said that Robin Yount had a career parallel to George Brett and it always fascinated me.  Brett seemed to get more of the attention, but any team would be so lucky to have a Yount on their team.  When I got the George Brett rookie earlier this year a few thoughts crossed my mind.  One though was that despite I wouldn't put them together, I still would really like to get the Yount rookie as well.  This 1975 Topps isn't a high priority right now, but it is one I would like to get more than other cards I want.  I think its possible to get it within a couple years, but I'm not going to be sleeping next to a computer with an alert every time a good deal for it pops up.  If I want it on a random day and have the money, I'll get it, if not, oh well.

Speaking of George Brett... hold that though, the song "We're An American Band" just popped up on my playlist, and its a cover by Poison.  That is interesting...  Anyways, speaking of Brett, this is a card I've always wanted.  In fact I might even chase the entire set sooner than later and already found a few good prices on a few.  I remember having one when they originally came out, but when I sold my collection, it went with it.  While I miss a lot a cards I got rid of, that one seems to stick out a bit.  This is a 2000 Fleer 3000 Club card, and the set came in a variety of Fleer packs that year, so the set was spread out.  That probably explains why I never got any of the others.  By then I wasn't buying as much anyways, but putting them in 3 different sets seems annoying at best.

I loved the Topps Kids set.  Probably because I was a kid when they came out.  But this 1992 Topps Kids card is one of the last I need to finish the team set, and on top of that, its a cool card.  This would be a set that one day I would like to build if I had the extra money, but I don't think it will happen.  Instead I will settle for a few here and there.

In a similar vein is this 1993 Upper Deck Fun Pack insert card of David Cone.  I never had many Fun Packs as a kid, but if I did I would have liked them, but maybe not as much as the Topps Kids cards.  This is a Glow Stars card, and it might be the only Royals insert, or one of the only ones at least.  I still say if Panini went a similar route as these two sets with their recent redo of the Triple Play cards, they wouldn't have been panned as badly.  I'd be happy if they made cards specifically for kids, just don't make them cartoonish, use real photos.

Before I talk about this card, I need to add more music to my playlist and I think I'll listen to some Lucinda Williams.  I love her, but this might not be a good choice, we'll see.

Anyways, this card is from 2012 Panini Cooperstown Voices of Summer set.  Denny Matthews has been the radio announcer for the Royals since their inception.  I don't expect him to be calling games much longer, so I listen to as many as I can.  Denny is the reason I think I stayed a fan through the bad years, he always kept me entertained.  Some of my most memorable calls he's done involves most recently when late in August in 2014 when the Royals were fighting for the playoffs.  As Alex Gordon stepped up to bat with runners on and down by one he said, "this is when championship teams find a way to win".  Gordon proceeded to hit the game winning RBI to give them a hard fought win and really proved to be a catalyst for the rest of the season moving them into the wild card game and eventually the AL Champs.

In 2015 when calling the World Series, just after they won the title some of the fans started chanting Let's Go Royals.  He mentioned it on the radio broadcast and then replied "there's nowhere else to go, they're there."  I will be saddened when he finally retires but will always have the memories of one of my favorite announcers and am glad a card company made a card for him.  I still say there needs to an insert set dedicated to announcers around the league.

I liked the 2001 Topps set.  However it was around the time I wasn't collecting as much, so by the time this 2001 Topps Traded card of Albert Pujols came out, I was into other things.  Plus I had no idea how big El Hombre would hit.  I hope he has a few more solid years even though I don't keep up with him as much after he became an Angel, but its not that I lost interest, its just because he was featured so much in St. Louis that if he went to any other team I would get less coverage.  I hope to build upon my Pujols collection to a point it match Damon or Maddux, but for now I'm happy with what I have.

2007 KC Life Insurance St. Louis Cardinals- Yadier Molina  (NO PHOTO AVAILABLE) - This card isn't because I'm a big fan, its because I only need two or so cards to finish the set, and this is the biggest name, which could make it easier to locate.

I remember in the 90's Tombstone Pizza had a commercial set in the Wild West and one cowboy asked the other "What do you want on your Tombstone?"  I remember that because my friend and I would randomly ask that to each other because of the commercial.  Looking back it was a good ad, but I wish I knew they had baseball cards too then I would have actually tried to get some of the pizzas.  I'm an odd cat when it comes to pizza, for the most part, I prefer what is referred to as cardboard pizzas, or ones you find in stores.  Sure I like almost any kind of pizza, but since my choices are limited where I live (I have the option of Casey's Pizza which is good but can got boring after a while), I choose Jack's or Tony's pizza or other brands.  Anyways, this 1994 Score Tombstone Pizza card of Greg Maddux is one I don't have.  It's one that I know off the top of my head I know I don't have so its an easy want, and one I'll likely pick up by the end of the month.

If I ever became more than a team builder, the HoloGrFx set will be one I build.  It was one of the last sets I remember buying packs of and one I really loved.  If they made this set today I doubt I would enjoy it as much since I don't care for shiny or chrome or anything, but at the time I loved it.  1999 Upper Deck HoloGrFX Future Frame of Greg Maddux is an insert I don't really remember, but its one I'm keeping an eye out for.  As you can tell, I'm watching it on COMC which I only used pictures of if they weren't listed on Trading Card Database.

Okay so these last two are part pipe dream, and part I really want them but no desire to pay much for them.  One is readily available and the other I don't see too much.  One transcends collecting, the other was a mistake that I really wish I got my hands on before it was noticed.  Let's start with the cheaper card.

HE HAS FRANK PLACE'S BAT!  IT SAYS RIGHT ON THE BARREL FRANK PLA... wait that doesn't say that, it says something else.... HIDE YOUR KIDS, DON'T LET THEM SEE!  THE HORROR!  Yeah it's "That Card" the 1989 Fleer of Billy Ripken.  As a kid I never knew about this card, and really it wasn't until the internet age I heard about it, but since then, its been one I've wanted.  Even the variations I want too, but this is the one I want the most.  It's not priced too high, but since I'm not a fan of the design, and never much of a fan of Billy, it makes it one card I can wait a while longer to actually buy.  Could I find a great deal on it and already have it, sure, and I bet if I kept my collection before I would likely have the card by now, but oh well.

So one card left, and its not cheap.  Is it a Clemente rookie?  A Nolan rookie?  A card from the 70's or before?  The answer is no on all accounts.  It's from this century and it is a Royals card.

At first glance most people would think, I have a dozen of them in a shoebox you can have.  First off, I never saw the appeal of putting cards in shoeboxes, but I do still put cards in cheese boxes, so to each their own.  Second, you are a liar if you say you have a dozen of these 2006 Topps Alex Gordon rookie cards.  This card could be considered a game changer.  Topps released this card expecting Gordon to make the roster in 2006 but the Royals decided to send him to AAA after Spring Training and as a result this card shouldn't really exist.  Topps was frantic to get the cards back and there are many variation of the card all of which I would also like, but this is the main card I want.  After this happened, I believe is when it was decided that Topps wouldn't release cards of players until AFTER the made their MLB debut.  At least that is the story I heard.  I don't really care, I just want the card.  It's not cheap, and this version I don't see much, but still its a dream to have this card.

So that wraps up my Top 25 Wanted list, I hope you liked it.  I know within a year's time its possible I have 1/3rd to a half of these cards, but I made some easier than others so it was realistic and gave me more reason to jump on them if I see a good deal.  With Black Friday coming up and COMC having sales, I'm hoping to knock a few out.  I've also been checking out Just Commons for some too.  I know there are other sites, but I've used those two before and trust them more than others.  I might check out Sportlots or whatever its called and nab a couple, but I just haven't done it yet.

So with that, thus completes another blog.  This week I hope to do 2-3 more and might even top load the front half of the month just so I can enjoy a brief break from blogging around Thanksgiving.  I'm on pace to break last years post count (another goal) and if I have a really good month I can lay low a bit in December, so I might do that.  At this pace I needed about 10 or 11 posts these last two months to beat my goal, but as I stated before I choose quality over quantity, so unless I have absolutely nothing to write about and within a few posts of breaking the record, I won't post crap posts.

Thanks for reading and I hope everyone has a great week!