This card was right near the top of the stack, and it was a huge surprise to me. In all honesty, I had no idea that the Great Lambino (like it?) had made the checklist.
Why? Because he only has 30 major league at-bats. I'm not complaining, merely surpirsed. There's a lot of hope in Pittsburgh that Lambo will be able to adequately fill the gaping holes at both first base and in right field. In 2013 between AA and AAA, he amassed 31 dingers, which was tops in Pirates farm system by far. Because of the hype, I picked up a sick auto of him way back in September.
Above is the rest of the inserts and parallels. Nothing to write home about. For a minute, I thought the gold parallel was Kevin MILLAR, which got me really excited that he had made ANOTHER comeback. He did play for the Jays in 2010, so there was a ton of foolery here. Wikipedia even agrees with me!
Moving on:
Lastly is possibly the most interesting pull I've ever had. This came from one of the regular hobby packs, not the jumbo. What I believe we have here is an original Dave Ricketts card from 1970 Topps. The card itself looks old, feels old, and is terribly beat up- there's a complete fold running diagonally through the left side. The stamp on the top left corner is clearly modern, but the back of the card has no indication of it being a reprint.
Also, I can't see a situation where Topps would make a reprint and then take the time to physically damage the card. Doesn't make sense.
This was really cool to see, mostly because it's a Pirate. Ricketts was a lifetime back-up, amassing a gargantuan ONE career homerun.
My question to you is, have you seen vintage cards inserted into 2014 S1? Which ones? Is this some type of promotion? I'd love to hear what's out there.
Thanks for reading.
The vintage cards seem to fall about 2/box. Lots of 70's and early 80's cards, though there is a good mix of 60's and some early 50's as well. I'm guessing these were leftovers from the Million Card Giveaway promotion that were unredeemed or never shipped.
ReplyDeleteI certainly wouldn't complain if I pulled one, but to me they're pretty much just low grade commons with a stamp. Without the stamp most of these card would be destined for the dime box at a show. But it is pretty cool that you managed to pull a Pirate.
Mark, after doing some research, I'll bet you're spot on. I knew very very little about Ricketts, but this pull has inspired me to look into his career- gotta love the local talent!
DeleteThere are quite a few vintage "buybacks" turning up from various years and conditions, they seem to fall about 2 per box.
ReplyDeleteThat seems to be the case. Not a terrible idea from Topps, but I bet Mark was right; these cards are probably left-overs from a previous giveaway.
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