Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Just Commons for President!


Today is Election Day, and there's not much I can say that hasn't already been said, so let's look at some baseball cards.

Ever since I discovered Just Commons a couple years ago, it's been my go-to destination whenever I've needed to waste time and/or be distracted from other things, and lord knows I've needed a lot of that with how crazy 2016 has been.

I've yet to find a better site for low-end collectors such as myself on the 'net. Though I've noticed their prices rising just a bit in the past few months, there's still no better place for finding commons on the cheap, and the sheer volume and diversity of their inventory is second-to-none.

The best thing about the site is that orders of $15 and up are eligible for free shipping. I often take ten minutes here, fifteen minutes there before school or work to prowl the inventory and stock up on singles. Once I hit the $15 threshold, I hit the checkout button, boom, and they're at my door like that.

I've added over 2,000 cards to my collection via at least a dozen different orders on Just Commons, and the latest batch arrived just last week.




Just Commons lists the newer sets they've added and/or restocked on their home page, so I make it a point to go through those whenever I get a chance.

I noticed 1995 Pacific on that list one morning and added a whole bunch of cards from the set to my cart since I always have a weak spot for anything Pacific.

This was a few years before Pacific got all crazy and started making ornament cards and kangaroo cards, but it's still a quietly elegant and clean design.




Here's another set that mostly went unnoticed by yours truly until now: 1993 Score Select.

I'm not quite sure what's going on with those borders, but the photography is spectacular enough to make it one of the more unheralded efforts of the overproduction era.




I caught a little matte fever from the mid '90s years of Fleer with Eck and Shooter here.

I still seem to be one of the extreme few who enjoyed Fleer's short-lived matte years, but I'm okay with that.




Every Just Commons order is good for a few cards that are just plain fun, even if they don't fit snugly into any of my many collections.




Here's a couple new sunset cards for the binders.

I thought I had all of Goose's painfully unfamiliar cards as a Seattle Mariner up until now.




I'm always on the hunt for new Short Term Stops, and it doesn't get much better than Darryl Strawberry's 29-game stint as a Giant.

Also, I'm fairly certain that's the only card ever produced of Roger "The Second Spitter" McDowell as a Texas Ranger, which earns it hallowed status in my collection.




I feel a lot better collecting Corey Kluber since he kind of opened the door for the Cubs in Game 7 of this year's Fall Classic.

Kluber is one of the more unlikely aces in baseball these days -- he was a middling 26-year-old in Triple-A just a few seasons ago -- and I didn't know he had a zero-year card as a Padre to his credit (complete with a misspelled first name) until recently. And my, that sure looks like Wrigley Field ivy behind him here.

Oh, the irony.




Now that this 2016 Cubs squad will forever be enshrined in the record books, I've decided to start collecting some of the guys on the roster who weren't previously in my binders.

Recent player collection adds have been Ben Zobrist, Kyle Hendricks, David Ross, and as you see here, Dexter Fowler. This is another thing I love about Just Commons. Just days after I decided to start chasing Fowler cards, I had over two dozen on their way to my door.

Ta-da: instant player collection!




These two "Now & Then" inserts from Heritage High Numbers very nearly flew under my radar.

I found out about them by accident during a random Internet search, and I'm infinitely glad I did because Bartolo at the plate and Ichiro tipping his cap need to be in my collection.




I'm kind of surprised I haven't dried up the mini-collection well on Just Commons by now.

Even over 2,000 cards later, I'm still finding new ones for the archives.




And here's some more.

Dig the '70s Giants throwback (as well as a '70s A's throwback lurking in the background) and a new hit for my eclectic "behind the camera" mini-collection with the Jason Schmidt.

Zistle tells me that's the 39th "behind the camera" card I own, and I'm amazed that many exist in the first place.




Finally, we've come to what might be the best card of the order: or the worst, depending on how you want to look at it.

Chuck Finley here is an extremely rare hit to my sparse "Turn Ahead the Clock" mini-collection...and if you don't know the whole "Turn Ahead the Clock" story, do yourself a favor and read up on it immediately.

Not many cards exist commemorating the promotion -- for obvious reasons -- but a few did manage to slip their way into the market. These Angels jerseys were actually among the more tame examples of the futuristic fiasco, which should tell you something.

I had no idea this card existed, and it probably would've stayed that way had Just Commons not come along.

Now please excuse me while I try to ignore this election coverage loading up for my next Just Commons order.

3 comments:

  1. Love Just Commons. In fact I need to pay for what's sitting in my cart.

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  2. I can start setting aside some Fowler cards for you.

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  3. I don't have a whole lot of 1995 Pacific cards, but I think they're easily one of the best sets released that year (Full disclosure: I view 1995 as one of the worst years for baseball cards).

    Andre Dawson looks so freakin' strange in a Marlins uniform...

    How did I miss that Kluber started off in the Padres organization???

    Love that Bartolo Colon! I'll most definitely be chasing that one down if I don't pull it from the High #'s blaster I'm slowly opening.

    I really need to check out Just Commons... I'm thinking I could probably finish off a whole bunch of 1980's and 1990's Mets team sets, if nothing else.

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