2001 Bowman Chrome

Arguably the card of the decade and the best modern card ever produced. I used to own # 188/500 which was a PSA 9 but I sold it during Albert's huge surge in 2006. It's crazy that despite the numbers Albert has put up between then and now, I still got this card for less than I originally paid for mine back in 2004. It's already enroute to BGS.

Big Post Coming Soon

Recently made a big acquisition. I'm sending it to BGS ASAP so I may wait to post it when it comes back.

2001 Absolute Home Openers Souvenirs Home Run

This has long been one of the top cards on my wantlist. I missed the last one that was listed in June and closed for about 250, so when I saw this with a 300 BIN, I used the bing.com and an eBay coupon discount to get a nice deal. These cards are beautiful and I would not hesitate to purchase another copy if the opportunity presents itself in the future.

Pujols Figures

Outside of cards, I also enjoy collecting sports figurines. I have numerous SGA items (bobbleheads, statues, etc), but McFarlane Sportspicks are my favorite. They are very detailed and some of them (Griffey Wall Catch) are incredible poses. Here's what I have of Pujols. I have some holes to fill in terms of SGAs and variations on the McFarlanes.



This was Albert's first SGA at Busch Stadium.



Albert's first (Rookie) McFarlane figure. Terrible pose, but they didn't have much to go on in 2001.



I think this was released in 2004. They made a special edition 2 pack with Curt Schiling that featured a WS patch. This is the regular version.



This is my favorite because it shows Albert in his signature fielding pose. There is an Ultra rare version that has 2006 ASG emblems.

2001 Absolute

I love the look of this card. If it weren't a multi colored piece, I doubt I would have picked it up though. There are 700 of these cards and I have only seen 2 (including mine) that have multi-colored pieces. According to the back of this card, the base pieces used are from 2001 Opening Day bases. The Absolute Home Opener HR parallel has similar pieces and there are only 25 of those. I would estimate there are 15-20 multi-colored base set cards. I paid a 50% premium for mine.

Other Pickups

I love cards produced for special events like the Fanfest or National. After picking up this 2006 National promo, I believe I am only missing the 2006 Topps Fanfest card, 2001 Bowman Heritage National Promo and the 2003 Playoff Portraits Fanfest Green variation to have each card of Albert produced for these shows.


I picked up this bat RC for under $20, which is a steal considering they normally go for around $50. It's nothing special and I wasn't looking for it, but for $20 I couldn't pass.





These were dirt cheap and they are really nice. I'm not sure how many variations there are, but these are really attractive cards.

Finished 2009 Fanfest Set

I'll space a couple postings out over the next several days. I was recently able to complete the 2009 All Star Fanfest set. The last cards I needed were the exclusive Cardinal cards found in the Topps Factory Sets available at the Fanfest. I did not think passing up on the $50 I could get from these by flipping them on eBay was worth keeping the cards from mine, so I waited. At first, the cards spiked, especially the Pujols, but I was able to pick these up for around $20-25 total.