Ryne Sandberg (1,000 @ $9.50)

It is fitting that eTopps concludes the unretired baseball classics 2005 series of five cards with Ryne Sandberg for at least three reasons. First, Sandberg adds a second Cubs player to the classics series shortly before the eCon 3.0 gathering in Chicago in association with the National Sports Collectors Convention. (Wish I could be there!) Second, Sandberg will be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, along with Wade Boggs, on July 31. Finally, Sandberg topped off his career, adding to his stats to bolster his hall-of-fame credentials, by unretiring to play in 1996 and 1997; eTopps unretired the baseball classics series to add the five cards IPOed through this week. Whether eTopps will continue to add to the series remains to be seen—eTopps is nothing if unpredictable and unreliable. (Where is the Palmeiro 3000 hit event card?). Despite the timing, I expect this card to hover a bit below IPO price. Buy it to re-complete your classics set, but flip a coin as to whether to buy it at IPO or via CardTarget Market or eBay. I flipped my coin, and will be trading for it on the Trade Post is a few weeks—I recommend DO NOT buy this card at IPO.

Josh Gibson - 84 Home Runs (1,000 @ $9.50)

1936. Kudos to eTopps for commemorating Josh Gibson’s all-time Negro league season home run record—outpacing Barry Bond’s Major League Baseball record by eleven. But demerits to eTopps for the lack of originality in duplicating Gibson’s classics card’s picture. Despite the poor design, I believe that this card will be sought after as Bonds’ resumes his march to career home run records and nostalgia of prior home run hitters extends beyond Aaron and Ruth. I expect this card to not sell out, but will not predict this or others as a short print. Nonetheless, I will buy this one at IPO because I expect a relatively low print run, a small but dedicated following for Gibson as a fitting tribute to the events of the Negro Leagues, and an educational opportunity for newer baseball history admirers. BUY this card at IPO, but do not expect a big profit.

Dwight Gooden: 20-Year-Old Doc Puts Young Into Cy (1,000 @ $9.50)

1985. In the mid 1980s, in college in Minnesota, I debated with my friends as to who was the best of our favorite players. I chose Eric Davis of the Reds, who had two half seasons of nearly unequaled brilliance followed by an injury and health-curtailed career. My Minnesota friend was loyal to Kirby Puckett, whose career was similarly curtailed by injury, while my New York friend loved Dr. K—Doc Gooden. He seemed so sensational at the time, so young and refreshing. Perhaps the closest comparison today would be Dontrelle Willis, though my perhaps still youthful naïve expectations for Gooden were much higher than my more jaded middle-aged current thoughts on Willis. Unfortunately, Gooden’s career apparently was hindered by drugs and he never lived up to the early expectations. But in 1985, Gooden won 24 games (with only 4 losses!). Whereas the stereotype is for a rookie to fade in his sophomore year, Gooden matured quickly, not quite matching his rookie strikeout total of 276 in 1984 but greatly improving his win percentage. Unfortunately, he would never again win 20 games in a year (winning 19 in 1990). I argue with eTopps as to whether Gooden’s 1985 season is an “event” in the same manner as Denny McClain winning more than 30 games in a season or Barry Bonds’ and Josh Gibson’s home run records, but I’m glad to have a Gooden card for nostalgia in my collection. (My Minnesota friend won the debate as Puckett was the only player of our three favorites to make the hall of fame, and would have been more deserving as a classic event in this series for his 1991 World Series performance). I recommend DO NOT buy this card at IPO.

Mookie Wilson - Miracle Mookie Extends “Curse” (1,000 @ $9.50)

1986. Mookie and Doc Gooden IPOed on the same week—if anything confirms a New York-centric view in eTopps, this must be it. Further, Mookie’s “hit” was not the true historic moment—it was Bill Buckner’s failure to stop the ball that dribbled through his legs to win game 6 of the World Series for the Mets over the ill-fated (until 2004) Red Sox that this play is remembered. Of course, it would be ill-advised of eTopps to promote a negative moment that has evidently haunted Buckner ever since, but promoting Mookie Wilson is only slightly less tactless. I would use the opportunity of dual Mookie Wilson/Dwight Gooden IPOs to entice my former college roommate, who adored the Mets in the mid-1980s, to eTopps if I could only recommend these cards. But I cannot recommend them to you or to him. DO NOT buy this card at IPO.

Nolan Ryan Express Rolls to 7th Career No No (1,000 @ $9.50)

May 1, 1991. While Ryan will be long remembered for a blazing fastball and 5,714 career strikeouts, his seven career no hitters will stand out as perhaps his most notable accomplishment. He started quickly, pitching his first two no-hitters in 1973 and a third in 1974. He tied Sandy Koufax’s record of 4 career no-hitters in 1975, then broke the record with his fifth in 1981. He would have held the career no-hitter record even if he retired in the 1980s, but nearly a decade later in 1990 he pitched his sixth. Again, a hall-of-fame, nearly unbreakable record was achieved, but at the age of 44 Ryan amazingly pitched a seventh no-hitter. Ryan, backed by the Rangers (he also had no-hitters for the Astros and Angels), no hit the Blue Jays and eTopps’ commemorates the moment when Ryan was lifted by his teammates in a jubilant celebration of a baseball legend. This card beautifully rounds out this series of 20 baseball classic events, a very enjoyable set even if many of the cards are not investment winners. This card may be not only a great collectible but a good investment opportunity—I recommend BUY this card at IPO.