Donuts from Johnny's Trading Spot

Several weeks ago, I read a post at Johnny's Trading Spot titled Instant mini collections up for grabs. "Up for Grabs" always gets my attention, so I threw my name into the mix. They were supposed to be randomly assigned, but through a lucky draw and one trade, each of the winners wound up with exactly what they originally wanted most. For me, that was cards with batting donuts.

In a lot of the photos, I wouldn't have even noticed the donut right away. Luckily the ones featuring a donut only on the back side were flipped appropriately when they arrived.

1998 Fleer Tradition #169 Ray Lankford
1998 Fleer Tradition #234 Bobby Higginson
1998 Fleer Ultra #267 FP Santangelo
1999 Skybox Thunder - Rant #191 Bobby Higginson
1999 Skybox Metal Universe #87 Bobby Higginson
2000 Upper Deck Victory #122 Todd Hollandsworth
2003 Topps #175 Terrence Long
2006 Upper Deck #192 Jeff Conine
2009 Topps #331 Luke Scott

1996 Fleer Ultra #463 Hal Morris
1997 Donruss #29 Rondell White

I've got more to scan and post. I like to sort things logically, so I split them up by year. These are the latest cards from the package, and I've got about another 20 years backwards to cover.

eBay Wins #37

37 happens to be my favorite number. When choosing a jersey number, I always go for it. Casey Stengel has 37 retired for him by both New York teams. Stephen Strasburg wears it. But, this post is about a #23. Eric Karros. I won a 9 card lot of Karros cards for just a dime. I think I'll show them to you in order from least to most favorite, based mostly on my kneejerk reactions while writing up this post.

1994 Donruss #338 Eric Karros

At least on the card in my hand, the photo looks very flat and dull. Also the Donruss logo is too big and regal-looking. It's just Donruss, not a superpremium set.

1993 Upper Deck #490 Eric Karros

This one has a nice action shot, but it's a little awkward-looking. I'm assuming this is a pickoff throw if he's playing first base.

1999 Upper Deck MVP #106 Eric Karros

This is a better action shot, but it's a bit logo-heavy on the left side, especially for a base card. It was 1999 after all.

1992 Fleer Ultra - All-Rookies #1 Eric Karros

I've got a soft spot for Fleer Ultra, so this one comes in at #6.

1998 Collector's Choice #395 Eric Karros

I've always thought subtle red accents go well with the Dodgers because of their lone red uniform element, the front number. So the border earns this card the #5 slot.

1997 Circa #186 Eric Karros

Ah 1997, when the special effects just started getting silly. Luckily, I'm a fan of silliness most of the time.

1998 Fleer Tradition #483 Eric Karros

I like the full bleed photo with minimal logo and subtly colored text on this one.

1999 Skybox Thunder #107 Eric Karros

THUNDER! It's just fun to say. And the background's all gold. THUNDER!

1993 Topps - Gold #11 Eric Karros

Of course, one of my favorite sets, 1993 Topps Gold, is going to take the #1 slot. This could be pretty much anyone from Bip Roberts to Mario Mendoza, and it'd still be #1 in this bunch. The rookie cup is a nice touch too.

It looks like I crossed another little milestone in my eBay purchasing, over 2000 cards now. Not bad for under $40 I guess.

eBay Bargain Tracker
Total Cards Bought	2001
Total Spent	$38.28
Per Card	1.913 cents

eBay Wins #18

Another 1 card for 1 cent I couldn't pass up. At least is was a Cardinal this time.

1999 Skybox Thunder #177 Matt Morris

I really enjoyed Matt Morris with the Cardinals, probably at least somewhat because we shared a first name. I was kind of sad to see his career end so badly with the Pirates. For a few years here, he was the best pitcher we had seen in quite some time.

This hasn't changed much of course; 1 card in a pile of nearly 1800 can't change the average too much.

eBay Bargain Tracker
Total Cards Bought	1793
Total Spent	$33.24
Per Card	1.85 cents