Bat Cards

I really debated about getting these or not, but in the end I did.

In series one and two, Topps put out the manufactured hat logo cards. There were four Cubs in series one and a whopping eight in series two. I was a bit relieved when I saw that there weren't going to be any more hats in the update series.

Instead, they were replaced with bat barrels, which seem just as contrived as the hat logos. But when I saw that there were only four Cubs on the checklist, I figured I would go after them. Then I saw a picture of the Derrek Lee card and it featured him as a Cub, even though he had a Braves card in the update series. So now the Cubs were up to five. I still continued the chase.

The main reason I got the bat cards is because they are only numbered up to 99. To me, that makes it a pretty collectible item. And if I was going to get them, now was the time. My experience with the hat logos is that they are plentiful within the first few weeks of release, and then they get pretty scare. A check of ebay found very few for sale. So I fired up the Bid-o-matic software and was able to get all four.

I'll start with the old and the new.



Ryne Sandberg, the old.....



....and Starlin Castro, the new.

And then there were two declining veterans....



Aramis Ramirez



and Alfonso Soriano.



and the ex Cub, Derrek Lee.


Now that I have the cards, the next question is how do I store them. The cards are really thick, 3/16" thick. That's the same thickness as 12 base cards. They are way too thick for the album pages, and even too thick for any toploaders that I've got. Any thoughts?