1887 Tobin Color Lithographs

Many early examples of baseball cards are actually advertisements for different retail shops. The Tobin Color Lithographs stand out from others that came out in the era because of the detailed caricatures. It's a small set of ten cards, but the lineup is very impressive.

Mike "King" Kelly of the Boston Beaneaters

Cap Anson of the Chicago White Stockings

Dan Brouthers of the Detroit Wolverines

Jack Glasscock of the Indianapolis Hoosiers

Tim Keefe of the New York Giants

Mickey Welch of the New York Giants

Ed Andrews of the Philadelphia Athletics

Charlie Ferguson of the Philadelphia Athletics

Jim McCormick of the Pittsburgh Alleghenys

Paul Hines of the Washington Senators

I can't even decide which I like the most. They all have a strange appeal. The cards remind me of the illustrations in a Humpty Dumpty storybook I read when I was very young.

I would be hard pressed to find them in my collection because my team did not exist yet, but I would never say no to having them in my collection. I love all the oddities you can find and the great artwork out there, if you just dig a little. This set is definitely out of Topps' comfort zone.

Rally Squirrel

Keep this in mind, when you are struggling to find cards of your favorite common player...

The Rally Squirrel has not one, not two, but five cards out there.

On cardboard, it started with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2012.

Wanting to explore the league a bit, Rally Squirrel found itself in Philadelphia in 2015.

But Rally Squirrel had had enough of the transient life. It longed for its first home. By 2018, he ended back with the St. Louis Cardinals. All is right with the world again. Rally Squirrel had come home.

Rally Monkey could not be reached for comment.

Bryce Harper Autograph And Laundry Tag Card

2018 Topps Dynasty Autographed Patch Gold #AP-BH5 - Bryce Harper (1/1)

While there are some stupid relic cards out in the collecting world (pens anyone?), this "relic" at least is part of a uniform. The tag off of a uniform.

Topps Dynasty is for the collector that likes to blow "stupid money", as the Phillies like to say. So maybe the Phillies management will go in for this Bryce Harper autographed card with laundry tag relic that is a one of one. I mean it's only $3,999.99 plus $29.99 shipping on eBay. That's a bargain! Especially if you open a PayPal credit card account. That way it's only $167 per month for twenty-four months! Interested yet? Me either.

While I have the lofty, never attainable goal of getting a copy of every card ever made of my favorite team, I would never be able to get a card like this. Nor would I necessarily want it. The concept seems gaudy. The execution looks like it came from the mind of a five year old. My apologies to all five year olds out there. Also, my apologies if this card is your cup of tea. It's just not mine.

This card is a nice dream perhaps, but as a realistic goal... not so much.

Hey. You know who could afford this card? I heard Bryce Harper just got a boat load of cash. Manny Machado did too. Maybe they could buy it and hand it out to a random fan. That sounds nicest of all.