Contested Shots 26: A Game at Johnny's Trading Spot

There was a game recently over at Johnny's Trading Spot, a game whose origins predate my time in the trading card blogger community. But these games have made a comeback recently, with a couple already finished and one currently running over at All Trade Bait, All the Time. The main idea of the game is that there are a number of hidden prizes equal to the number of participants. The participants take turns selecting a prize number, revealing the prizes one at a time. After the prizes start being revealed, later people can pick a new number or steal a previous prize. Most of the time there is a limit to the number of times a particular prize can be stolen.

Pick stealing came into play for me in the Johnny's Trading Spot game, as my original selection was a 1964 Topps Buyback of Dean Chance. Bo came next and stole a different pick from Tom, then Tom stole my pick, and I stole this 2013 Topps Kyle Kendrick error card from Bo. It was the 2nd time this card had been stolen in the game, so I was able to lock it up as my prize. This is apparently a fairly hard-to-find item, as they were only released in early printings of the 2013 Topps factory sets. I plan on keeping this one, as it is just the kind of oddball error that appeals to me. You can't even see his face! I felt moderately bad about stealing such a plum prize, but the game is designed to encourage those shenanigans, and with one more steal available on it, someone else probably would have locked it up eventually.

Also included in the prize package was this Kyle Hendricks Programs insert from 2017 Topps Bunt. Kyle Kendrick and Kyle Hendricks have similar names, and might even be the same person. We'll never know, as we don't actually know what Kyle Kendricks' face looks like. We're pretty familiar with his beltline, though.

Thanks for the game, John! It was pretty fun!

Rainbow in the Dark 36: Josh Reddick 2013 Topps Printing Plate

I've been working on a Josh Reddick 2013 Topps 'Super Rainbow' for a long time. I call it a Super Rainbow because Topps used the same picture for his 2013 Topps Series 1 card, his 2013 Topps Opening Day card, his 2013 Topps Chrome card, and his 2013 Topps Mini card. I've been trying to track down all of the different variations, and I have everything except for a number of 1 / 1 variations. The last time I added to this collection was in November 2014, when I got the Magenta Printing Plate out of 2013 Topps Chrome. That post I linked to also has a big row of scans showing everything I'd collected for the Super Rainbow to that point.

That Magenta plate was the 38th variation in my collection, and this Cyan Printing Plate from 2013 Topps Series 1 is the 39th. The blue plate was up on eBay for quite a while at a price that I thought was about 3x what my top-end for it would be. After a couple of months the seller dropped the price gradually down to about 2x my top-end price and then never came down any further. Eventually I broke down and paid up for the card because I 'needed' it for this Super Rainbow. It's interesting that you can see ghost images of other card fronts on here, including a recognizable Braves logo.

After this addition I am down to needing just four cards from 2013 Topps Series 1 (Platinum 1 / 1, Black PP, Magenta PP, Yellow PP), four cards from 2013 Topps Opening Day (all four PPs), three cards from 2013 Topps Chrome (Magenta PP, Cyan PP, Yellow PP), and five from 2013 Topps Mini (Platinum 1 / 1 and all four PPs). There also may be some Blank Back Topps Vault cards out there, but they were sold on eBay as opposed to being sold in packs, so I won't count those unless I am able to acquire them. Every card I need is a 1 / 1, so I am kind of at the mercy of fate as far as when or if those individual copies pop up. I guess that means there are still 16 pack-inserted variations out there, which seems like a lot, but when you consider that only one copy of each exists it makes sense to consider the rainbow pretty much completed. I will still keep an eye out for the rest of the cards, and I especially hope to grab at least one 1 / 1 card from Opening Day and Topps Mini so that I can have a 1 / 1 representative from each set.

Click Here to View Cart 8: R.A. Dickey 2013 Topps Factory Set Orange

Here is another card I picked up for my R.A. Dickey player collection a while ago. It's the Orange Factory Set parallel from 2013 Topps. These cards are deceptively hard to find, as most are locked away in their factory sets, either sitting on shelves unpurchased or kept sealed by collectors. It took me a long time to obtain one for my Josh Reddick 2013 Super Rainbow. From what I understand, each special factory set contains a pack with five of these cards. I bought this one from an online shop that seemed to have busted a few of these sets open. I think I actually bought this from the same place that sold me the Reddick card. I am not 100% sure, and confirming it would mean going through a bunch of old e-mails. Ain't nobody got time for that. The border design and Mets logo kind of blend in with the orange border. At least Dickey's photo is interesting enough to carry the card regardless of the border color, with the photo taken at an interesting angle that shows off his delivery, the mound, the Mets logo, and the rosin bag.

This isn't Dickey's standard base card in the set; instead it is the card that shows off his 2012 NL Cy Young campaign, so the back is dominated by the stats that helped him get there. My copy of the card carries the serial number # 012 / 230, but again, these factory set parallels are a lot more rare than that numbering suggests. I'm glad I tracked one down for my R.A. Dickey collection.