Coming off of a great January, I wasn't really expecting much for the shortest month of the year. Boy was I wrong! This month turned out to be amazing! Check out what I was able to add to the collection this month:
2023 Leaf Trinity - Base Autograph Printing Plate Cyan #BA-SR1, SN1. I don't typically chase printing plates. Especially plates from unlicensed products. And you know I have an aversion to sticker autographs. But, for the price I paid for this card, coupled with the fact that I already have the black printing plate from this card, I figured I'd pick up the cyan plate as well. Rolen has a ton of autographs in newer product, and I'll always add them to the collection when I can pick them up for the cost of a good lunch.
2023 Leaf Trinity - Clear Auto Gold #CA-SR2, SN1. Yes, it's an unlicensed Leaf product. And yes, it is another sticker autograph. But there is just something about a baseball card on clear acetate that draws me in. This scan doesn't really do this card much justice because of the clear nature of the card. In person though, it's a really sharp looking card. The gold foil looks great against the clear background and the fact that it's a 1/1 is a nice addition!
2024 Topps Archives Signature Series Retired Player Edition - 2007 Bowman #148, SN10. You know I had to add another Topps Archives Signature Series card this month since I didn't pick one up last month. I've said it before but I think it bears repeating, I'll always pick up on-card autographed cards of my favorite Hall of Fame third baseman! The Bowman cards are some of my favorite base cards. Mostly because of the generally clean designs and the consistency of the product over the years. They're not exactly the best for on-card autographs in my opinion. Mostly because they feature a facsimile signature built into the design. But I do like that this autograph is clearly visible on the card.
2023 Topps Gilded Collection - Gold Framed Hall of Famers Autograph Ruby #HAFA-SR, SN5. This is a great looking card that was released a while ago. But, as you may well know, I love saving money on cards that I add to my collection. I was able to pick this one up this month at a fraction of the price they were going for upon initial release. The difference between this Ruby parallel and the Rose Gold parallel numbered to 50 is very slight. I personally almost can't even see a difference in the color between the two unless I'm holding them right next to each other. Nevertheless, I really like the red team color match on this one. And of course it's sporting that beautiful bold on-card autograph.
2004 Leaf Limited - Moniker Jersey Number Prime #183, SN1. This card is part of a recent liquidation from a fellow Rolen collector. He had several really tough to find cards listed on ebay and as soon as I saw this one, I knew I wanted it in my collection! The foil board they used on the front of these cards really makes the light dance off the surface. Add to that the signature (which is one of my favorite versions of Rolen's signature) and the big chunky Phillies patch, and you've got yourself a beautiful card! 2004 was a big year for Rolen and as such, the card manufacturers added him to a lot of sets and within those sets were a lot of different parallels. I'm not so delusional to think I'll ever acquire every single card of his from 2004, but when I see cards like this one surface for sale, I'll certainly try everything I can to add them to my collection!
2005 Donruss Timeless Treasures - Rookie Year Materials Signature Year #RYM-32, SN25. This is another card from the Rolen liquidation I wrote about up above. The thing that really drew me to this card is the autograph. It's not technically an on-card autograph, but it is built into the overall design of the card. And the flowing, swooping signature comes from my favorite time of Rolen's career. The rest of the card is rather boring and doesn't really evoke much in the way of feelings for the card. It is bland, the photo they used is not very prominent, and the overall design seems kind of clunky. But look at that auto!
2024 Panini Impeccable - Impeccable Cooperstown Signatures #6, SN23. I've wanted this card since the first time I saw it. The problem is, the first couple copies that came up for sale went for quite a bit more than I was willing to pay at the time. As luck would have it, patience paid off once again. This card surfaced and didn't seem to get much attention. I placed a bid on the card before looking over the auction with a fine toothed comb and I didn't realize that the card was actually located in China. After I won the auction (for much less than the first couple sold for), I immediately paid and the seller quickly got it in the mail. The crazy thing is, it took less time to get this card than a couple of other cards I won that are shipping from within the US! The design of this card is a winner. The '23' on the front of the card is decorated with some holofoil that bends light in all different directions as you look at it. It is a nod to Rolen being inducted to the Hall of Fame in 2023. The autograph is a bold blue on-card signature. And even the photo they used obscures the fact that there are no team logos on this unlicensed card.
2003 Upper Deck 40-Man - Rainbow #457, SN40. I'm not sure what the odds were to pull a Rainbow parallel from 2004 Upper Deck 40-Man, but whatever those odds were, you'd have to multiply it by 990 to figure out the odds of pulling this Rolen copy from this massive set! Upper Deck really knew how to foil a card just right to make it feel extra special in-hand. There isn't an overwhelming amount of foil on the front of this card, but what is there really shines! With these cards being limited and serial numbered to just 40 copies, they don't come up for sale very often. I am really excited about being able to add this one to the collection this month!
2001 Fleer Authority #40 (Miscut). This is a fun little pick up. It probably doesn't have a place in any other collection than that of a player collector. It's not a valuable card by any means, but an example of a quality control issue that ran rampant through the card industry (and is still present today.) I was able to get this card for next to nothing this month as a toss in with another card I purchased. And, a fun little fact, the other player on this card is Al Leiter (Card #96) of the New York Mets. Rolen batted a career .282 versus Leiter with 11 hits and five RBIs.
2023 Leaf Trinity - Base Autograph Purple #BA-SR1, SN10. This card looks absolutely amazing in-hand! Yes, I know it is unlicensed. And yes, I know it features a sticker autograph. But the purple foil they used for these cards looks incredible. It has a holofoil effect and shifts from purple to a nice blue hue. Because it is unlicensed and a sticker auto, I was able to save a little bit of money picking this card up this month. As it turns out, I guess there aren't a lot of collectors chasing cards like this one.
2020 Topps Rip - Mini Cards Blue #M-7, SN10. There weren't very many Rolen cards produced back in 2020. Topps Rip had 14 different flavors for us though. This blue parallel, serial numbered to just 10 copies, is one of those cards. I was excited to see this card surface this month, so I snapped it up quickly. With the addition of this card, my total unique card count increased to just 6 for 2020. I really like the photo on the front of this card. It is a younger Rolen in his classic batting stance with that fierce look in his eye!
1998 Leaf Rookies & Stars - Longevity #42, SN50, PR49. I picked this card up this month as a replacement for a copy that I already own. So, while it isn't a "new" card for the collection, it is an upgraded copy. The foil on my first copy is misaligned around Rolen on the front of the card. Being from 1998, and being serial numbered to just 50 copies, makes these cards pretty tough to track down. Fun fact about these, the card that is serial numbered 01/50 is actually a 1/1 because the foil they used on the fronts of the first cards is a holofoil as opposed to this flat foil.
2022 Topps Black & White - Background Color #42, SN49. As a guy who used to own a photography company, I really do not like selective coloring in photographs. So, while this card doesn't really visually appeal to me due to the selective coloration of the background, I do appreciate that a card company was trying something a little different. And, on top of that, they limited these to just 49 copies. So they aren't out there flooding the market with this nonsense. When these were first released, there were a couple of these cards that surfaced on ebay. I didn't pick one up back then because I figured the prices would drop considerably, and boy did they! I was able to pick this one up for a fraction of the price they were originally selling for.
2024 Panini Donruss - Pink Laser #12, SN50. The cards I need for this rainbow are getting tougher and tougher to find. That's why I was really excited to see this Pink Laser parallel pop up for sale this month. I really like the Laser effect, most likely because it reminds me so much of the inserts I love from the 90s. The card just dances in-hand as it bounces light off of the foil front. I only need three more parallels (not counting printing plates) to complete this entire run!
2005 Playoff Prestige - Playoff Champions Combos Division #PC-6. I'm not exactly sure why these cards are so tough to track down, but it may be partially because it's a "throwaway" card. It is a redemption card that was inserted at a rate of 1:93 packs. If the Cardinals won the Division Championship in 2005, one could redeem this card for a set of specially marked cards from 2005 Playoff Prestige. As it turned out, the Cardinals did win the NLDS, so the holder of these cards could have redeemed them for the full special set (only 21 of these cards were redeemed.) I also have the Rolen National League Central Division Champions parallel card that came from that set in my collection.
2024 Panini Prizm #40
I'm still chipping away at collecting as many of these parallels as I can find. I do see a nice trend in the prices coming down for these. I may have to pay a little more for the parallels that I'm missing though as I fear they may actually be relatively scarce so they're not coming up for sale as often as some of the other parallels.
1999 Topps Tek - Gold
This is a MASSIVE addition to The Rolen Collection! These 1999 Topps Tek Gold cards are each serial numbered to just 10 copies and they don't come up for sale too often. Recently, there was a seller on ebay who had a number of them listed all at the same time. And, as they say, I struck while the iron was hot. I did miss out on a few of them he had listed. But I was able to pick these up this month. There are 60 different patterns from 1999 (30 home, and 30 away.) I still have a long way to go to have them all, but this recent acquisition certainly gives me a great push towards finding them all.
This short month has been a rather active month. Adding nearly one card per day is a big win for The Rolen Collection! I especially love being able to add all of these Gold Tek cards to the collection. I'm cooking up something pretty big for next month, so be sure to check back then to see what else I pick up!
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