sammy sosa

eBay – 1990 Topps 89 M.L. Debut Sammy Sosa

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It’s obvious now that I have to complete the 8-card Sammy Sosa rookie set. While I was looking for the true rookie cards, I stumbled across this card. Since I’m cheap, I don’t want to spend the extra bucks on the PSA 10 so I have been getting PSA 9 cards. This is the 1990 Topps ’89 Major League Debut Sammy Sosa card.

I like the border around the card for some reason. For $7.75 shipped, it met my criteria of spending less than $10 for the card. I was able to add it to a different PSA set but definitely one I have no chance of ever completing. I wish non-graded cards could count towards your set goal but not a big deal. I’m just having fun and that’s all that matters.

Cards in this order:
1990 Topps ’89 M.L. Debut Sammy Sosa #120

eBay – Sammy Sosa graded rookie cards

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I was not thrilled with a batch of Sosa cards I got last month that had every Bowman RC with too much damage for my taste. I went to eBay in search of a better card. As I was looking at them, I found a graded PSA 9 version of the Bowman card for $2.99 plus shipping. I figured that going with a graded card would be better than taking my chances with a raw one especially at this low price. The same seller wanted $11 for the PSA 10. Now an $8 difference between PSA 9 and PSA 10 isn’t really that bad when you see the crazy amounts for other cards out there.

However, I didn’t want to spend that much so I opted to go with the PSA 9. Just for kicks, I looked in their store to see if they had any other Sosa cards and they also had the O-Pee-Chee RC in PSA 9 for $2.99. I couldn’t pass that up, so I bought both of them for $5.98 + $4 shipping. So instead of getting one PSA 10 card for $11 I got 2 PSA 9 cards for $6 + shipping. I’ll take that thank you very much! 🙂

I went to the PSA website and added my newly acquired cards to my inventory. They allow you to register the cards to various sets and to see what other collectors have in their collection. I joined the Sammy Sosa Rookie Card set since there are only 8 cards needed to complete the set. Since my cards are PSA 9, I fall towards the end of the list.

I’m not really trying to compete with anyone as I don’t have the money to buy all the PSA 10 cards. It’s sort of fun though to see what cards you need to complete the set. I like that it also tells you how many they’ve graded at a certain ranking. The O-Pee-Chee card has 89 cards at PSA 9 and only 8 at PSA 10. The Bowman has a lot more at PSA 9 (1,649) but only 107 at PSA 10. I’m pretty happy with my PSA 9’s right now.

I know I can’t buy graded cards all the time, but if I can find some this cheap I will pick them up. I just wish it didn’t cost so much to get your own cards graded. I’m looking forward to finding more deals on some PSA 9 cards. 🙂

1990 Bowman Sammy Sosa RC #312 PSA 9

1990 O-Pee-Chee Sammy Sosa RC #692 PSA 9

Cards in this order:
1990 Bowman Sammy Sosa RC #312 PSA 9
1990 O-Pee-Chee Sammy Sosa RC #692 PSA 9

eBay – Sammy Sosa 50-card lot

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I ran across a Sammy Sosa 50 card lot on eBay the other day. I put a bid of $5.50 on it just for kicks as it had not only rookie cards but many cards I don’t have in my collection. I had no thoughts I’d actually win the auction but darn it if I wasn’t the highest bidder. Shipping was another $5, but I was getting 50 cards so not a bad deal.

They arrived today in a small bubble mailer with 2 hard shell plastic cases. I don’t mind duplicates of some cards, especially rookie cards. I was a bit frustrated by the condition of some of the cards. There was a decent amount of corner damage on the Topps and Bowman rookie cards. There were 9 – 1990 Bowman RCs and every darn one of them has multiple corners that are damaged. I know I could buy a lot these RCs PSA 10 graded for around $10-$25, but I’m sticking to raw cards for now.

The seller never stated the condition of the cards nor did I ask, so it’s not worth complaining about. There are still a lot of cards in better shape that came in the package. The only Sosa rookie cards I need now are the Leaf and O-Pee-Chee. (I suppose a nice mint Bowman would be nice since these aren’t very good!) One card I wanted that I didn’t know would be in the lot was the 1990 Star Charlotte Rangers card. Not only did I get 1, but I got 6 of them and most are in decent shape.

Here’s a few of the other cards that came in the package.

For some reason I really like these Sportflix/Sportflics cards that show different images as you tilt the card. (hard to capture on camera)

This final card is a 2004 Playoff Honors Prime Signature Insert #21. It has serial #2197/2500. That’s the only Sosa card I have that has a serial #. Oddly, despite it being called a signature card there is no signature. Still nice to have a ‘limited’ card though.

Here’s the full list of cards I got.

6 – 1990 Star Sammy Sosa #61 Charlotte Rangers
1 – 1990 Donruss Sammy Sosa #489 RC
3 – 1990 Topps Sammy Sosa #692 RC
9 – 1990 Bowman Sammy Sosa #312 RC
3 – 1990 Fleer Sammy Sosa #548 RC
3 – 1990 Score Sammy Sosa #558 RC
2 – 1990 Upper Deck Sammy Sosa #17 RC
1 – 1990 Score Sammy Sosa Rising Stars #35
1 – 1990 Sportflics Sammy Sosa #81
1 – 1991 Upper Deck Sammy Sosa #265
1 – 1993 Flair Sammy Sosa #22
1 – 1994 Sportflics Sammy Sosa Movers #MM7
1 – 1995 Stadium Club Sammy Sosa Extreme Corps #497
3 – 1996 Sportflix Sammy Sosa UC3 #104
1 – 1997 Upper Deck Predictor Sammy Sosa P9
1 – 1998 Pacific Invincible Team Checklist #5 Sosa/Grace/Sandberg/J. Gonzalez
1 – 1998 Topps Gold Label Class 1 Sammy Sosa #83
1 – 1999 Fleer Tradition Going Yard Sammy Sosa #13 (fold out card)
1 – 1999 Topps Sammy Sosa HR 39 #461
1 – 1999 Upper Deck MVP Power Surge Sammy Sosa #P2
1 – 2000 Bowman’s Best Sammy Sosa Best Performers #90
1 – 2000 Metal Heavy Metal Sammy Sosa #GS1
1 – 2000 Paramount Double Vision #23
1 – 2001 Fleer Tradition Diamond Tributes Sammy Sosa #DT21
1 – 2001 Upper Deck Ovation Superstar Theatre Sammy Sosa #ST6
1 – 2004 Leather and Lumber Sammy Sosa #34
1 – 2004 Playoff Honors Prime Signature Insert Sammy Sosa #21 #2197/2500
1 – 2005 Throwback Threads Generations Duke Snider/Reggie Jackson/Sammy Sosa #G1