Relics I Don't Hate (Part Eye)

It has been long documented in the books of lore that I am opposed to "relics", or the tiny pieces of fabric that might have been worn by the actual player in an actual game at some point in his career. Much like Santa Claus, you just need to put doubt aside and just believe. as much as baseball card companies would like to make these their promised "hits" in each box, for the most part I believe that they are pretty gimmicky with little to no value other than sentimental (Ebay prices will confirm this, as will the "relic bin" that Joe often refers to in his blog).

Their are certain factors that make a relic worth owning, and I do have a small handful from my 2009 collecting that I enjoy viewing occasionally. There are certain factors that will make me want to collect a relic. First, it helps if they are on my favorite team, or are a favorite player. Secondly, it's all about the design. Some are very creative (Topps Flagship) and some just mailed it in (Bowman Heritage), and some are just crazy over-the-top (Upper Deck Ballpark) with octo-swatches of various players that have no theme whatsoever.

So, for fun, I decided to go through the ol' swatch box and share some of my favorites with you. Verrry nice!

Carlton Fisk - SP Legendary Cuts #/50. For obvious reasons this card is a desirable add to my collection. Catchers add so much value to an organization (otherwise the ball would just hit the fence after every pitch) and I would have loved to have been around to see Fisk in his prime.

Ernie Banks #/125. Another classy shot of a classy player. I also love the dot in the middle of the swatch, though I have yet to determine what it might be. Probably just came off the shirt of the guy packing the card.

Ryne Sandberg #/125. Yet another brilliant SP Legendary Cut of a legend. I fell pretty hard for this product and had delusions of completing 1-200 (came within 40 cards), but fell short and ended up with a few relics, autos and 1-100.

Mark DeRosa silk #/50. This remains my one and only silk pull and was one of the "surprise" hits from Flagship that still make me drool in anticipation of the 2010 set. If there is a Cubs fan out there that really wants this silk and has a silk in exchange of a desirable player, I would be happy to swap.

The following three cards are courtesy of Topps blasters. What a great idea to add a guaranteed patch to each box. Yes, they are manufactured, but I still love the design, the recessed (I think that is the word I need) silver platform with the patch attached. This one came out of my first-ever blaster where I didn't read the stinkin UPC label and came up with a bunch of throwback borders. Great patch though.

This Jimmie Fox came out of Topps Update and Highlights...and believe me, the only highlight of the box was this patch. Other than that, just a bunch of smelly base cards (seriously...did anybody else notice the distinctive smell of this set?) Even when I get these in the mail, you can SMELL what product it is. Very odd.

The last of the patches is an obvious choice. Yaz in the 71 summer classic. I received this in trade from Crackin' Wax, who has not posted in several months. Hopefully he comes back in the spring because it was a heckuva site.

One more for today. Believe it or not, this is one of only two relics from Allen and Ginter in my collection. I don't even have any autographs from this set. Because I am a Lincecum nut, this is a nice fit. I still don't get the Jimmy Buffet-esque borders on this set, but bordered mini's in general are pretty sweet.

More relic fun tomorrow! Off to see Avatar and gotta take my Dramamine first!