Yadi Card or Cards of the week #2

This week I choose the 2002 Just Prospects Yadi (Johnson City Cardinals of the Appalachian League). The 2002 Just Prospects contained 6 Yadi cards; a base, a gold, a black , a gold auto # to 300, a base auto # to 200, and a black auto # to 25.  Another rookie in this set, and which it may be more famous for is Joe Mauer. The only information I could find on boxes for this product was for the Just Prospects Gold. Each box of Just Prospects Gold came with 1 autographed mini helmet, 1 complete gold set, 2 #ed auto cards,  and one short printed rookie card.

The cards are not what one would call attractive, matter of fact they look like mediocre paintings.

Below is the auto base, gold, and black cards. Each of these has an auto version. The base and gold cards are easier to find than the black. The base auto, which I have, is  easy to pick up on Ebay for about $20.

The holiday season kicks off today.......

pitchers and catchers report today, although most did already, it feels great to know the crack of bats is here! Growing up in the STL and then living in Michigan this day was always a reminder winter will indeed end. Living in this part of California there isn't much change in the seasons so the beginning of Spring Training for me now means the boys are back!

The 2014 Topps Series 1 parallel gold rush is on. The 21st century version of tulipomania?

I have been bidding on Yadi’s 2014 Series 1 parallels; the red hot foil, yellow and green retail versions,  and the black and camo. But prices seem to be off the charts for these cards. The yellow and green parallels are going for about $10 with shipping and the black for almost $20, ditto for the Camo . Yesterday I even spotted a Toys R Us purple on Ebay for $9.99 buy it now.

I am taken aback by the $$ these are going for now. As I have said before I have been bidding on these for our collection but I am only throwing bids out there for what I am certain they will be selling for in 6 months when the hoopla calms down and other sets are out there to track down.

I know the green and yellow parallels have been the most popular and I can see why as they really frame Yadi well. Look for these cards to posted here but it doesn’t look like this will be any time soon.

Licensed or unlicensed that is the question.

I know that many collectors collect Panini baseball issues. While I believe the Panini Yadi cards I have come across are attractive I just can’t buy in to the unlicensed product. I love to see the Birds on the Bat on Yadi’s uni and the STL on his catchers mask.  This is not to say we don’t collect unlicensed oddball issues such as Hostess and 7-11, but these bring back memories of buying Hostess Cupcakes and cutting the cards of the bottom of the box. So for now we will not be collecting Panini. What do you think?

A Few Yadi pick ups from Ebay this week.

First up is the 2006 #540 Turkey Red Black.  I checked BaseballCardPedia and Cardboard Connection and they don’t have details on this set and the odds and distribution of the black parallels. I have seen a number of white versions for sale but no black ones.

The next two cards I am excited to have because they are limited Christian Day SGA issues, and I think the design of both cards is very good. The first card is the 2006 card. The front of the 2006 card has Yadi with his mask off daring a runner to try and steal off him. As with the other Christian Day cards there is a short bio on the back with a biblical passage. The 2008 card shows Yadi throwing the ball on the front and batting on the back.

I really like these designs and hope to get all of them for our collection. We have the 2007 card but are missing 2009 and there is a possible a 2005 issue too. Also at least one year has a Spanish version.

Funny story from one of our visits to San Francisco to see the Cards play. We attended a Cardinals-Giants Game at AT&T Park about 5 years ago and it was Jewish Heritage night. It was a great experience highlighted by a Rabbi blowing the rally ram’s horn. Too bad for them it didn’t work because the Cards won.  As an FYI San Francisco in the summer is cold. We needed blankets, coats, and gloves for the night game.

2014 Topps isn't that bad, heck it is a pretty attractive flagship issue.

Everyone has thoughts on the flagship 2014 Topps issue. So here is mine, I like the design it is simple, straight to the point and I like the team’s logo and name on the card. I hope next year they get away from the white but in comparison to the 2009, 2010, and the 2011 flagship sets I will take the 2014 set all day long.

I pre-ordered a jumbo box and had a good time busting it open. I was able to complete the first series only missing #86 Wilmer Flores RC, #285 Jonathan Lucroy, and #330 Evan Longoria all which I will get through Sportslots, Just Commons, etc.

I had some excellent hits; first off I did pull the base Yadier and the gold parallel which is the first time I have pulled any Yadi but the base card. I also pulled a silk Miggy Cabrera and a Miggy Printing Plate. I seem to pull more Miggy hits than any other player. For example last year I pulled a dual Al Kaline and Miggy relic from a Hot Rack Pack of 2013 Topps Heritage I picked up on Ebay,  perhaps I should PC Miggy?  Class Ring Gold Babe Ruth # to 99, Framed Rookie Reprint # to 199 of Tony Gwynn, Tony was my wife’s favorite player growing up in San Diego , a keeper for sure. We also pulled a Trajectory Auto of Christian Yelich.

I pulled some of the other inserts but for a Cardinals fan like us we pulled not only the two Yadi cards but the jumbo box also yielded an All Rookie Cup Team Albert Pujols, two of the three Shelby Miller Future is Now  insets, the base set of Cardinals, and last but not least a Trajectory Bruce Sutter Relic. This is my first Cardinals relic I have pulled and I have only pulled one Cardinals auto in the past and this was Colby Rasmus, still a Cardinal hit.

All in all this was an excellent box of cards and I plan to purchase another Jumbo later in the year when the prices drop. Any one who wants to trade a Yadi Printing Plate or Silk for a Miggy one please let me know.

Introduction

Why Yadier Molina Baseball Cards as a blog? Well it is simple, my wife and I are diehard STL Cardinals fans, and our favorite player is Yadier Molina. While we do collect other Cardinals cards we focus on Yadi cards as a way to enjoy our favorite player more and to have a collecting goal that is reasonable.

Cheers
Brady