2008 Topps Heritage High Numbers Frank Robinson

Who is this? Reds and Orioles legend Frank Robinson

What is this? An autograph card from 2008 Topps Baseball Updates & Highlights Presents 2008 Topps Heritage High Number Series, card number ROA-FR

Where'd I get it? I stopped into my local card shop to pick up a new super jumbo card box that I will be using in the course of my collection reorganization. I picked up three loose packs of Heritage High Numbers and this was in my second pack. And that kiddies is why I buy hobby.

How much did it cost? $3 for the pack

Why is this so special? It's Frank Robinson! Robinson retired with 586 home runs, behind only Mays, Ruth and Aaron at the time. He is the only person to win the MVP in both leagues and he won the Triple Crown and the World Series MVP in 1966. He also won the NL ROY in 1956. He was the first black manager in the majors and won the AL Manager of the Year Award in 1989. He was a first ballot Hall of Famer, being selected in 1982.

Here's the original 1959 Topps card, swiped from eBay:

Topps made a few changes to the card for the Heritage version. Gone is the McCarthy era "Redlegs" replaced with the proper Reds. Topps replaced Robinson's position with the words Topps Certified Autograph Issue and added the Heritage logo in the top right corner. Topps also removed the facsimile auto to make room for the real deal. Finally, the Heritage version is a much tighter version of the same photo, which has made the photo a little blurry, particularly on Robinson's face.

This is just a tremendous card and far and away the best autograph on the Heritage High Numbers checklist. Robinson is one of the greatest players of all time and this is certainly the best autograph I've ever pulled out of a loose pack. It also probably nudges out the Ernie Banks I pulled out of a box back in 2001. This pull also makes up for the two hitless boxes of 2006 Heritage I recently opened.

The auto itself is great - legible, noticeable on the card. The signature is also on-card, which is always a plus. Robinson's auto reminds me of a lot of the autographs of players from that era. It looks like handwriting as opposed to the illegible scrawls of many of today's players. Here's to you, Mr. Robinson.

2005 Sweet Spot Classic Phil Niekro

Who is this? Philip Henry Niekro, the finest knuckleballer to ever knuck a ball.

What is this? An autograph card from 2005 Sweet Spot Classic, card number PN.

Where'd I get it? Champion Sports Cards.

How much did it cost? $16.

Why is this so special? The scan sucks, but the card looks great. That's supposed to be copper foil on the front but after three scans I gave up on it looking like anything but mud. The ball is white, the stitches are red and there's a nice blue ballpoint signature right on the sweet spot of course. The ballpoint is key here as anyone who has ever watched their hero sign on a leather ball with a sharpie can attest. This is my third Knucksie auto on a ball, One is on an American League ball and the other was signed in blue sharpie in person so I don't mind the smudge. Phil was my favorite pitcher when I was a kid so Knucksie autos always welcome in my house.

I got this at the local card shop today. There wasn't anything I was really looking for, if I wasn't out running errands in the area already I probably wouldn't have gone. I found a Chipper card I didn't have, picked up the Trading Card History giveaway cards for the week an looked through the wax. Topps series 2 - meh. UD series 2 - I like retail better. SPX - $19 a pack, oh joy. They had Chrome packs for three bucks each or 6 for $17. The box of Chrome was was sitting on the autograph case so I absentmindedly looked in the case. They had a Brooks Robinson auto card for $18. Shameful, concidering the Chrome autographs of nobody prospects hiding in the box will book for at least that. I saw Phil and did a double take. Knucksie apparently got promoted from the Braves ghetto into the top shelf of 'good' autograph cards. the price tag said $20 and there was a 20% off sale. Sooo... I could get a pack of SPX or a handful of Chrome and chase an auto of God knows who, or get the signature of my childhood hero. Tough choice.

2005 Flair Steve Carlton

Who is this? Hall of Fame pitcher Steve Carlton.

What is this? An autograph card from 2005 Flair, number SS-SC. It is serial numbered 53/59.

Where'd I get it? Half-off bin from the local dealer.

How much did it cost? $15.

Why is this so special? Carlton has been a favorite of mine since the early 80's. I liked the Phillies and Mike Schmidt and I followed Carlton's chase for the home run record closely. I was really bummed when Lefty's career fizzled out with the Twins and Ryan blew past him. The resulting bitterness is probably why I never got all that into the Nolanmania of the early nineties. This card was in the half-off display case with a $30 sticker on it and I couldn't pass it up. The card itself is pretty blah, but it works well enough for an autograph card. Lots of nice, blank space for the autograph sticker. The autograph is pretty slick and it has a low, meaningless serial number. Who buys autograph cards for the serial number anyway?

1980 Topps Bruce Sutter

Who is this? Hall of Fame pitcher Bruce Sutter.

What is this? An autographed 1980 Topps card, number 17.

Where'd I get it? A card show in the late 80s.

How much did it cost? Two dollars.

Why is this so special? This is one of my first autographed cards, I got it from a dealer at a card show when I was a teenager. He had a binder full of autographed cards and was selling them for two bucks each. I picked Sutter because he had played for the Braves (albeit not very well). Now he's in the Hall of Fame, imagine that? The autograph on the card is remarkably like Sutter's actual signature.

1988 Topps Sparky Anderson

Who is this? Tigers manager Sparky Anderson.

What is this? An autographed 1988 Topps card, number 14.

Where'd I get it? In a repack tin from Target.

How much did it cost? Twenty bucks for the tin.

Why is this so special? A few years back Target had these tins filled with baseball cards they were selling alongside the blasters. They advertised one graded card, one autograph card and something like 200 cards for twenty bucks. I decided to try one out and bought it. The 200 cards were utter rubbish, mostly late 80's, early nineties junk if I recall correctly. The graded card was a Cal Ripken Ultra Gold Medallion card graded 10. Not too shabby. This card was the autographed card. When I pulled it I was a little confused, I expected a minor league autograph from Best or Just Minors since they were selling a lot of those at the time. This was really sweet, an auto of a Hall of Fame manager. This is one of his greatest cards too, featuring Sparky in full blown Jedi Mind Trick Mode. I can hear the conversation on the mound now:

Gassed Pitcher: Dammit coach! Don't pull me! I can get this guy out!
Sparky: (waves hand) You haven't got anything left...
Gassed Pitcher: i havent got anything left....
Sparky: (waves hand) It's time to go to the showers...
Gassed Pitcher: its time to go to the showers... (hands Sparky the ball)

Sparky went all out on this autograph too, he used every bit of that card. The card has a little COA sticker on the back, which looks odd on a 1988 Topps card. Still a great card, and completely unexpected from a repack box.