Shutting Her Down, BUT WAIT!

The time has come for me to finally shut this blog down guys.


It is a sad day. I have enjoyed everyday I have had with every one of my readers since I was twelve. I will still be around, but not in the same way.


But it has to be done.


I do not have the money to keep purchasing cards like I used to and that means I really do not have much to talk about in this spectrum of the blogosphere


BUT....



My friend and I, Andrew, are starting a new blog that we will run together.


And we are very excited. As we have gotten older, Andrew and I have enjoyed visiting new ballparks in our area and getting autographs in person at these games.

Thus we are making a new blog called.....

Drum roll please....

Baseball Ballpark Breakdown


Check it out when you get the chance! Tell your friends, neighbors, even your cat! We will do reviews of ballparks we attend, and the players we meet and get autographs from.

It will be fun and I hope you choose to join us on the ride.

Anyways, I love you guys and everything this place has done for me, but it is time to move on. Peace out everybody. Superduperman out.

Going Green

2015 Bowman. That is some crazy stuff right there. Especially the retail. Both myself and my best friend Andrew can attest to that claim.



Before I get too ahead of myself, welcome back to Fantastic Catch. Thank you for stopping by. I really do appreciate everybody who does stop by and gives me a read. I do not tell you guys and gals that enough. I truly do appreciate your support and readership.


Now back to the original insight behind this post, the wackiness of 2015 Bowman.


Walmart, the root of most retail baseball cards and root of many evils. Let me just first say, that any time you have cards on sale, you have my attention. And these boxes that were on sale were a steal. Normally $10 hanger boxes of 2015 Bowman were now $6 for a yippy and giddy me.

I do not like to admit this but there may have been about say 10-15 of these boxes laying around. And Andrew and I may have bought every single one. It was my cheat day. Just kidding.

Either way every last one of these boxes was a complete blast to open and you shall soon find out why. And it may have to do with the title as you might suspect.

BOOM!!!

2015 Bowman Chrome Green Refractor Jordan Luplow Auto 80/99

Ranked as the 26th best prospect in the Pirates system per MLB.com, Jordan has started out the year modestly. The 2014 3rd Round Pick has a .231 average with 8 RBI's and 7 Walks in 39 Plate Appearances. Not too shabby. A lot better than I could do. 

If anybody is interested, this card is for trade.

But that is not all.

DOUBLE BOOM!!!

Another one. I was just beating every pack odds on these discounted hanger packs. 

2015 Bowman Chrome Green Refractor Adrian Rondon Autograph 71/99

Not going to lie, I did not know anything about this kid before I looked him up. Turns out he was the number one ranked prospect in all of the 2014 International Signing Class. I was pretty stoked after I read that. 

Not going to lie again either, but he sucked in his first season. In GCL ball last year, he batted .166. Granted he is only 17, (I wish I had gotten a 2.95 million signing bonus on my 16th birthday) Adrian has plenty of time to figure it out and become a top notch prospect. 

As of right now I think I am going to keep this card. We will see how impatient I get as I hold onto it.

But there you have it. Absolutely insane if you ask me. Both Andrew and I had a blast busting all of these and seeing what we got. I cannot wait for 2016 Bowman to come out.

And yes we did recycle the boxes, for those of you who were wondering.

Thanks so much for stopping by everybody and giving my blog a read. It means so much to me that you guys stick around and read. God Bless. Super Duper...out.

Silly Topps, You Can't Trick Us Collectors

I do not know how well that title works, but it is supposed to be a play on words from the ole Trix are kids jingle if anybody caught it.


Us collectors, especially us bloggers, are quite wary when it comes to Topps' tricks and continuous laziness. I cannot name how many times I have seen the same photo in a different set, yet just cropped differently. You would think with all the advancements in technology, we could at least find a way to find a different photo of some of the most famous athletes in America.


Bowman should be no different, yet as I was going through my cards the other day, I discovered Mr. Roman Quinn in two different products. With the same EXACT photo.

2015 Bowman Prospects #BP7

2015 Bowman Draft #102

First off, the fact that Bowman Draft contains prospects that were not drafted from that year is counter-intuitive of the products name. 

And secondly, I do not know why you could not just use a different photo. Pretty lazy/crazy if you ask me. 

I found this one with a quick search on google and all ya got to do is airbrush the helmet, which is what Topps does with everything.

Oh well. Maybe Topps will learn a thing or two from us collectors some day. But until that day comes, I'll still be here collecting 3 different cards of Roman Quinn with the same photo.

I hope everybody has a super duper day and God Bless!

Hello? Anybody Home?

Wow, where do I start? Soccer. Job. School. Church. Girlfriend. Dang. Life has me busy, but have no fear, I have not forgotten about you guys.

I know I try to do this every year and I may not be able to fully commit to again to it this year, but I am trying to kick off the dust with the 'ole blog.


It is crazy but it feels like I never left.


I know that is hard to imagine, but the blogging community is amazing. I have continued to receive generous care packages from fellow bloggers while I remained nonexistent. Shout out to my good buddy Will on that last part.


And while my blog remained dormant, my collecting has not. It has just sort of evolved to fit my ever busy lifestyle. Although I still do love my beloved Redbirds, my collection has dwindled of present cards. In their place, I have amped up my passion for following minor league baseball.


I guess I just have an infatuation with the future.


Being a teenager today, I am all always looking forward just like my fellow millennials. It may just come with the age. I don't know, but I can say this. I love the next best thing and that includes prospects in minor league baseball.


This has changed my approach to TTMing with sports cards as well. I want to acquire a minor league card of every minor league guy out there and get it signed. Hopefully inspiring with the word of Christ in the meantime.


And although many of those autographs will be worthless, there will always be the players that are the diamonds in the rough. Which are my favorite of all the minor leaguers out there.


To this day I continue on my quest in my Rookie Card Challenge. Do not think I have given up on that yet like my Cardinals collecting. The basic principle of acquiring a rookie card of every player since my first year of collection in 2010 is nostalgic to me.



I get the chance to look back and creepily realize how old I have become and see the maturation of these players into the players they are today. See who survived and who did not. And realize how much the game and collecting has changed.


And I guess you could say that is an accurate representation of my blog too. I can look back on my writings from when I was 12 and see how much, I would not say matured, but none the less say I have changed to the 17 year old I am today.


So thank you rookie cards. Thank you minor leaguers. And most importantly thank you bloggers. I am (hopefully) on my way back. God Bless!

(P.S) Sorry about not having any pictures pictures in this post. Next one should have plenty.

Finally Off Hiatus

           Geez where do I start? Laziness, poor use of time, family matters. I don't know. I guess none of that hatters though because I am finally back.... With a revised me. I'll explain, don't worry.

            This feels so weird. It's been way too long. I have won contests, made trades, and all sorts of things I've never taken the time to post about. What a shame. I'm telling ya. I'll (hopefully) get to it though.

             Anyway enough with the nostalgic rambling. Revised me. Got to stay on task here. As I was away, I was still in the hobby, but in a different way. I gave myself a different perspective on how I collect and what I do. To get to the point, what I have decided to do now with my collection is focus on my rookie cards and my TTM's. Something that I have always loved the most out of collecting sports cards.

              Although you the reader don't get to view my TTM's visually (which I need to get fix at some point) that is a prevalent part of my collecting "lifestyle" so to speak. I have a massive binder dedicated to guys I have yet to send out to. And they are all cards of minor leaguers!

               Since this has become more relevant to my collecting style now, I would surely like to reach out to every minor leaguer I could. That calls for some desperate measures. That is one reason why I am cutting down on most of my Cardinals cards collecting and putting up a want list of minor league cards I need instead.

              Building upon that, I would continue to also look more in depth to my rookie card collection. It's a tough project I have going on here considering I've all but halted trying to set collect. The only product I've actually bought a pack of this year is Bowman. Yikes! I know.

              I'll have to rejuvenate the blog with some new life I suppose now that I've returned. Get a new picture at the top, update the good 'ole tabs. Man, it's nice to be back.

               And yeah that's about it. I haven't done too much more while I've been away. Card related that is. Sorry I don't have any pictures for you. Makes for a boring post. Sorry!

              I hope everybody has been soakin up to summer weather! I know I have. I'll be back tomorrow with a trade post of sorts so stay tuned!

Minor League Want List

Minor League Baseball Want List:

As you guys might know already, I am really into the TTM side of the hobby.

If you don't know what TTM. Basically you send letters to some of your favorite athletes asking for their autograph and if you're lucky they will open your letter and sign whatever you sent them.

Getting back on track, I am making a want list for minor leaguers that I don't have cards of yet.

Another way to look at is that I'm taking those cards of minor leaguers that won't pan out and give you cards that you actually want in return.

I'm excited to get this up and going. I hope it helps me reach an even larger radius of players while giving you cards that you hopefully need.

Now your next step. Click that tab above and check and see if you can't help me out.

Then after that comment here or in the tab or email at Superduperman99@yahoo.com and we can see if we can't work something out.

Thanks so much for stopping by and reading. Stay safe and God Bless!

Book Review: Odd Man Out

Truthfully this is probably one of the best books I've ever read. It was everything I love in baseball.

Minor league baseball. Quirkiness. The challenges of making the big leagues. And the  characters associated with the big business we know as sports.

To give you a bit more information about the book. I'll of course have to start from the beginning.

Matt McCarthy was a left handed pitcher coming out of Yale.

Threw a 92 mph fastball and other typical stuff. But as you might expect he isn't your typical hot shot prospect.

Drafted in the 21st round of the 2001 MLB Draft by the Los Angeles Angels, Matt gives you a great view of what a minor leaguer deals with throughout their career.

Assigned to Rookie level ball with the now extinct Provo Angels, Matt was in the heart of Mormon country.

You can only imagine what stories came from that.

Since he went to Yale, Matt was a pretty smart cookie. Basically just trying to continue his dream of playing baseball for a living.

Yet what he runs into in the Angels minor league system is your key to the deep dark depths of the minor leagues and the heart of the steroid era.

Inside stories on current and former major leaguers such as Joe Saunders, Bobby Jenks, Joe Blanton and many more.

I can't tell all about the story though. So I'll leave the rest for you to read if you decide to pick up a copy of your own

Thanks for stopping by and reading. Hope everybody has a great rest of their week and God Bless!