"Set" Complete - 2017 Topps Chrome Purple Rookies

A long time coming. When I returned to blogging in July of last year, I set out several collecting goals -one of which was to put together a complete set of 2017 Topps Chrome Purple Parallels. These particular parallels are numbered #/299.

I actively pursued the set throughout the summer last year. I targeted rookies first as they're usually the toughest to find and most expensive. By October, I was feeling a little fatigue from chasing down the cards and decided to pivot and chase only the rookies.

Also last year, I wrote about chasing and eventually completing the 220 card 2013 Topps Chrome Blue Parallel set, with all cards #/199. Completing that set is, by far, my biggest collecting accomplishment to date. 2013 Topps Chrome is my favorite set ever. 2013 was the first year I got deep into collecting and the set has become sort of keepsake for me and a symbol of my love for this hobby.

As fun as it was... here's the rub: The 2013 project took me six years (granted, I had 219 out 220 cards in hand for over a year while I waited for the last card to surface).

Now, while I don't pursue these projects as an "investment," (HOBBY JAIL WORD!!) I'd be lying to if I said there isn't a degree of "prospecting" involved with this. By no means I am building these sets with the intention letting them appreciate and then selling. However - if one of these guys is the next Mike Trout, that would be awesome, and might help pay for my kids' tuition some day. Who knows. The point I'm making is, I'm more eager to collect the rookies than the vets, as those could really hold some value some day. For example, the 2013 set has rookie cards of Gerrit Cole, Nolan Arenado and Manny Machado. It also has Topps Rookie All-Star Gold Cup cards for Mike Trout and Bryce Harper. All short printed to 199. The Trout one is particularly valuable. 

I remembered collecting the 2013 set, and how I shelled out at least a dollar or two for every card. It was usually more than a few dollars, even the vets and no-name rookies. Alfredo Marte, Mike Kickham, Donald Lutz, Paco Rodrguez - any of these ring a bell? I probably paid $10 total for those four cards for the 2013 set. Multiply that across a 220 card set... that's a lot of money. Hence my decision to target just the rookies for the 2017 set.  Out of the 200 cards, only 44 are rookies. Much more doable!

I think setbuilders would agree that there's always that one elusive card. That was certainly the case for me - I have been sitting on 43 out of 44 cards for a year, almost to the day. I was able to gobble up a bunch of these quickly through COMC. But for damn reason, #59, Kyle Freeland, was no where to be found. Maybe there's a Kyle Freeland super-collector group that I don't know about. Nothing against him - he's put together an average-at-worst MLB career thus far - but not seeing his card surface for 365 straight days drove me bananas. 

Thanks to an eBay saved search, my heart skipped a beat when I finally laid eyes on the unicorn last week:

I was a little nervous because it was a .99 cent auction. But I set an alarm, dropped in with 30 seconds left in the auction, and dropped a max bid that was absurdly over market value. The card itself is probably worth a dollar or two, so the seller was probably pumped to get $6 for it. Paying 3-6x value isn't a habit of mine, but this card has quite literally become priceless to me.

Before checking out the cards, let's discuss the motivation behind the set:

Why Topps Chrome? It just happens to be my favorite release every year. I like that it's flagship but with a smaller checklist and a shiny finish.

Why 2017? *I'm going to sound like the dreaded card investor again for a minute* I really believe in this rookie class. Furthermore, I believe the timing is perfect. It seems that there is always a big lull in value somewhere between one to three years after a product release. The product launches, people pay crazy prices to jump all over the hot new rookies and the next Babe Ruth (whomever it might be that year), and then the price starts to slowly and steadily decline. Then, five or so years after the release, the players that actually pan out are getting into their late 20's, the prime years for a baseball player, and values jump again as they become perennial all-stars. 

Why Purple? This may surprise you a bit - but aside from orange (gross) and canary yellow, I don't think there's a worse color parallel for a baseball card. Give me red, blue, black, gold, pink, hell, even green - but purple usually looks silly unless it's a Rockies card. 

The draw for me is the short print to 299. The notion of knowing exactly how many copies of a card are in existence is such a fun concept to me. The purple #/299's are the highest short print that was offered in 2017, so I rolled with it. I looked into the blue #/150's, but they're a little too rich for my blood. What I'd really love is for standard refractors to be numbered #/500, or even #/1,000 and I'd go for those, but I don't make the rules.

Here's a look at the 44 card "complete set." Straight from my phone camera because I'm too lazy to scan them all:

And now let's talk about some highlights. When looking through each of the cards, I separated them into two different tiers:

Tier 1: Potential Hall of Famers:

#169 Aaron Judge

#79 Cody Bellinger

#9 Alex Bregman

Relax - I said potential Hall of Famers. I know it's early, but the tools are there.

Tier 2: Potential perennial All-Stars:

#47 Trey Mancini

#8 Dansby Swanson

#75 Yoan Moncada

#100 Benintendi

There's definitely room for debate here. Trey Mancini had a huge year last year, and flew largely under the radar because he plays in Baltimore. He was gearing up for another big year this year before being diagnosed with colon cancer in March. He recently finished chemotherapy and is expected to make a full recovery and be ready for the 2021 season. God bless! If there's a lesson to be learned here - his cancer was discovered due to low iron levels found during a routine physicals. Get a damn physical!

Dansby Swanson, I think, has highest ceiling out of anyone in the group due to his offensive presence and gold-glove caliber defense. Moncada's ceiling is right there with him, but his strikeout problem is, well, a problem. After setting an MLB record for strikeouts in 2018, he progressed beautifully in 2019 and hit .315, before taking another step back in 2020. Next year will be very telling for him.

Speaking of regression, how about Benintendi's 2020? Sheesh. He was awful for 14 games and then ended up injured. He'll need to have a big year in 2021 to remain relevant, but the raw talent is there.

#158 Josh Bell

#189 Tyler Glasnow

Of course you can't stop by The Bucs Stop Here without some Bucs stopping here. Both of these cards probably belong in Tier 2. Glasnow is, in my opinion, the single most exciting young pitcher in the MLB. He's 6'8, built like a catapult, throws 100+ and has a curveball that falls off a cliff. Sadly, because he plays in Tampa, he's terribly under-appreciated. There is a handful of of former Pirates that I still collect. He and his teammate Austin Meadows are part of that handful.

Josh Bell is also in the regression category, having a pretty weak 2020 after an getting an All-Star nod in 2019. I could go on about his poor mechanics, lack of defensive ability and so on, but I'll spare you today. I'll hope he returns to form in 2021 and all will be right in the world.

There you have it. 44 cards, each with their own story. It was fun to build a set with my own rules - now I see why so many bloggers love Frankensets. I don't have any immediate plans for another parallel set, but I'll wager I get another one rolling soon. 

I had a blast building this set, and I hope you enjoyed reading about it. 

Mini Mistake

Have you ever been shopping for clothes in a hurry an accidentally grabbed a Youth size when you meant to get an adult size? I'll admit it. I have. More than once in fact! And apparently, I'm prone to same mistake when it comes to baseball cards.

One type of card that I seek to collect - maybe more than any other - is Pirates gold refractors. They're so pretty.

I went hunting online the other day seeing if any new gold refractors had turned up on eBay for a decent price. Then I came across this:

I mean WOW! That gold background really pops with this card. Numbered #50/50 (eBay 1/1!). I had to have it.

Keller is the Pirates top pitching prospect, and one of the top pitching prospects in baseball. He pitched 11 games in the bigs this year and he was... brutal. There were flashes but overall... brutal. Which makes for a great buy-low! And I've been doing a lot of that with him.

I was absolutely pumped to get this card for a good price. But when it showed up in my mailbox...

It shrunk! 

Yep, I accidentally purchased a mini. I have no problems at all with minis, but they're just not for me. I prefer full-sized cards. It was right in the title of the listing too, so shame on me. 

Either way it makes a nice addition to the PC.

How do you feel about minis? Love 'em? Hate 'em? Indifferent?

Holding Oneself Accountable

When I returned to blogging four months ago, I wrote a "back from hiatus post" and laid out several collecting goals. At the time I felt like this would be an important way to hold myself accountable. Like any hobby, collecting cards has to be meaningful and it has to have a purpose. That’s something that we can never lose sight of. We’re all guilty of chasing hits and hoping to rip a pack and pull the card that’s going to net us $1,000 on eBay, but we need to remember the score reasons about why we collect and cling to those principles.

Coming back to the hobby in July was kind of a “reset” for me, and I put my goals down in writing. Let’s revisit those goals and see how I’ve done:

Goal 1: Continue to grow the Pirates PC, specifically certified autographs:

I’ve done pretty well here. I’ve put a focus on collecting the team I cheer for and my Pirates PC has continued to grow. Some highlights are adding two Kevin Newman autos, my first Oneil Cruz SP /50, a Kevin Kramer Gold Wave /50, a Kramer Auto, and Nick Burdi Auto. I’ve also picked up lots of base cards and parallels through trades.

I’d be remiss to not mention the monster trade with Brian over at Collecting Cutch, who sent me a massive haul of Pirates autos and memorabilia cards (small sample below).

Goal 2: Get a Twitter up and running:

Done! Authored my first tweet on 9/11. Follow me @BucsHere.

Goal 3: Post at least once monthly:

Two posts in July, six in August, five in September, and this is my third in October. Maybe I should have shot higher.

Goal 4: Build a set of 2017 Topps Chrome Purple Parallels #/299:

I happened to casually slip in this goal of collecting 200 short printed parallels. Since I wrote that in July, I’ve altered that goal quite a bit. Rather than shooting for the entire set of 200 cards, I decided to pivot and collect only the Rookies which total 44 cards. I’m excited to say that I’m just ONE (very elusive) card away from completing the Rookie set. Hopefully I can run that final card down soon and have post up showcasing my newest completed set. This is one that I’m really excited for. A lot of chasing involved with this set and there are some awesome names in here.

Goal 5: Send some trade packages out:

"I Got My Eleanor" - Trade with Collecting Cutch

"Trade with The Bucs Stop Here" - Trade with Topps Cards That Never Were

"Delivery Time! The Bucs Stop Here!" - Trade with Nachos Grande

The Snake Stops Here - Trade with Sport Card Collectors

Goal 6: Connect with some new collectors:

We’re getting there for sure. The trades with Sport Card Collectors, Topps That Never Were, and Collecting Cutch were all firsts. I imagine my venture into the Twitterverse will open some new doors, although building a following has been slow going so far. I’m hoping to continue to slowly build a following and drop a contest at a certain point. Maybe 100 followers or a similar milestone.

Thanks for reading!