Monthly Mailbag - May 2025

After adding over 150 new unique Rolen cards to my collection over the past couple of months, I figured it would be a little while before I was able to find anything else to add to my collection. I was quickly proven wrong and May has turned out to be a pretty incredible month. Here is what I was able to add this month:

1999 Upper Deck Century Legends - Century Collection #104 21CP, SN100. If I've said it once, I've said it a hundred times...I miss Upper Deck. I know they're still around in hockey, but I really miss what they were doing for baseball back in the day. This card has lots of 90s flair. The holofoil that was used on the front of this card really shines. And the die-cut, while not much more than a deckled edge, I thoroughly enjoy it! And, if you know, you know, but a card numbered to just 100 copies back in the 90s to early 2000s, that actually meant something - rare!

2000 Upper Deck - Faces of the Game Die Cuts #F9, SN100. Another great example of how a little die-cutting goes a long way. Just the corners clipped from this card elevates it enough to make it seem like something special. The serial numbering on these cards hasn't really stood the test of time, and many of the old dot matrix style serial numbers have started to "smear" over the years. That is ok by me, as long as it is still legible. I really enjoy the photo Upper Deck used for this card, aptly named Faces of the Game. Rolen really looks like he is enjoying what he is payed to do - play a kid's game!

2001 Fleer Genuine - Final Cut #NNO. While this card isn't technically a new one to my collection, and I don't include it in my unique card count, it is unique enough that I wanted to add it to the collection. The game used pieces used on these cards can run anywhere from plain gray, to multi-colored patch pieces. This copy is my fourth copy from the Final Cut lineup solely because of the sweet patch piece. I don't believe Fleer anticipated the overall thickness of these patches, so they didn't adjust anything in the manufacturing process. As such, this card is the same thickness as the copies that have just a plain piece of jersey. The thickness of the patch has made the card susceptible to some slight damage, but I'm not over here collecting Gem Mint 10s anyway.

2003 Upper Deck 40-Man - Rainbow #810 AS, SN40. A card serial numbered to 40 copies doesn't really sound all that rare these days. But once you consider the fact that there are 990 cards in this checklist, you can see just how difficult it might be to find one of these Rainbow cards of your favorite player! I'm not sure what the exact odds were to pull a Rainbow parallel, but I can assure you, I haven't seen very many of these come up for sale over the years. When this card was offered to me this month, I knew I had to have it for my collection. Especially since I recently picked up Scott's other card in this set this year. It's nice to have them both in the collection now!

2005 Donruss Diamond Kings - Signature Bronze #419, SN5. 2005 is such a bloated year for Rolen cards. Coming off of an incredible 2004 season, card manufacturers went crazy adding him to sets. Not only that, but Donruss was losing their licensing, so they really ramped up production. There are a mind numbing number of parallels and versions of these Diamond Kings cards. It's nearly impossible to keep up with without a checklist. One thing I know for certain is I don't have a lot of these (yet). I knew I wanted this card in my collection the moment I saw it. I have big dreams to one day complete the entire run of Diamond Kings cards from 2005. Minus the 1/1s of course.

2005 Donruss Elite - Passing the Torch Autographs #PT-45, SN25. This is such a great card! The foil they used for these Elite cards simply looks incredible in-hand. Not to mention the fact that this card features autographs from two of the best to ever man the hot corner! If I had to nitpick this card, just a little, I would have liked to see them use a black ink auto from Rolen just to solidify the black theme of the card. The blue auto looks great, don't get me wrong. I just think black would have tied everything together a little better.

2005 Donruss Throwback Threads - Generations Material Prime #G-20, SN10. Talk about an all-star cast of third basemen! These three right here, all on one card, is amazing! The overall design of the card could have been done a little better in my opinion. It's almost as boring as some of the stuff Leaf puts out these days with the thumbnail images of the players. But at least this is an officially licensed product and is able to show team logos! And look at those patches! While they are a bit on the small side, they had to squeeze three of them on the card, so I'll forgive the size this time. I'm not sure why they opted to put the serial number running along the left side of the back of the card when they have a spot near the top where most serial numbers would go. Regardless, it's a great looking card that I'm glad to add to the collection this month!

2007 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection Rookie Signatures - Game Dated Debut Signatures #GDD-SR, SN20. Remember how I was just talking about missing Upper Deck? This is why. While it is true that I'm not typically a fan of landscape oriented cards, I will generally forgive that if the design of the card has eye appeal. And this card has that in my opinion! The image they chose of Rolen is a very early image (quite possibly from his actual debut game as the card's theme would indicate). As such, Rolen is wearing jersey number 68 in the photo. Most Rolen or Phillies fans know Rolen to have worn jersey number 17 though, and this card happens to be 17/20. There is one letdown with this card though. Coming from a product like Upper Deck Exquisite, I would have much rather this card be an on-card auto. What we have here is a sticker auto. It is almost hidden by the area where they applied the sticker though, so it's not an ugly bandaid type sticker auto.

2021 Topps Chrome Platinum Anniversary Autographs - Black Refractors #PA-SR, SN10. Just as I had suspected, these cards are becoming increasingly difficult to track down. Most likely because it's a really old product by today's standards, so it's not being opened as frequently as it had been upon initial release. I was able to get a really great deal on this card this month. And while it looks pretty flat here in this scan, I can assure you, it looks great in-person! The refractor shine really shines. And I love that the autograph is on-card.

2025 Leaf Seasons In The Sun - Signature Souvenir Holo Pattern Dots #SSO-SR1, SN6. The foil used on this card makes it kind of tough to read the text on the card in this scan, but I can assure you, it looks great in-hand! Once again, the photo Leaf used camouflages the fact that they can't use team logos really well. The jersey swatch on this card comes from a 2002 All-Star game warm-up jersey, which is pretty cool. This card features a sticker auto, but for the price I paid for the card, I can't complain much!

Here are several other cards I was able to add to the collection this month:

As you can see, it's been another busy month! I'm not sure what the next couple of months will bring. But I can assure you of one thing, I'll be on the lookout for some more unique Rolen cards to add to the collection!