tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31973723506961490612024-03-14T12:06:06.401-07:00A BLOG TO BE NAMED LATERMy attempt to share and stream conscious about my card collecting hobby and what for. Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02202727432530654097noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3197372350696149061.post-16293906553947374632016-03-04T18:45:00.000-08:002016-03-04T18:45:41.869-08:00A trade, and it didn't even smell like a shoe!! As I navigate between writing and reading about baseball cards, and add in sorting!! I found a guy who lived relatively close to me by the name of Shane at <a href="http://shoeboxlegends.blogspot.com/">Shoebox Legends</a> What stood out was he was the last of a dying breed, a Hartford Whalers fan! The long exiled team from Insurance City had long been a thorn in the side of Bruin fans for a long, long time. Ron Francis and Kevin Dineen were never liked up here because of the damage they could do on the ice, but guys like "The Little Ball of Hate" Pat Vebeek (or VerGeek as we called him) and public enemy number 1, Ulf Samuelsson were two others that were despised by Bs fans. On the other side, Hartford fans hated when Bs fans would flood their home arena to cheer on the Bruins! Now it seems, Shane is a Bruins fan as well, whether that is lack of options or he finally decided to come over to the Black and Gold side it makes for a interesting mix. A while back, I bought a collection that had a LOT of hockey cards in it, and I am not a hockey card guy. This presented me a chance to set up a trade and put some cards that would sit in a box, with a collector that would enjoy them. ( You can see his end of the deal <a href="http://shoeboxlegends.blogspot.com/2016/03/a-whopper-of-trade.html">here</a>) It also gave me the opportunity to add some Heritage, Archives and All-Time Fan Favorite cards to the collection as I decided to go back and put these sets together after years of not bothering with them. I received a bubble mailer from Shane and it was stuffed with vintage inspired goodness that he dug out of his shoebox. This is just a sample of the cards I received.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD9SBys-z-xtQkzuj8VifhWOc34w8KUp7nx4heouCziHrYH5k5k7BF1emIf8px4gZxu-356mtObtS2EAXto2XQXrP-4gyBR1j19oPmb1jts_80fun9Wxc8Tz25tQ3O1wWHI7MpsE24W8A/s1600/Diaz-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD9SBys-z-xtQkzuj8VifhWOc34w8KUp7nx4heouCziHrYH5k5k7BF1emIf8px4gZxu-356mtObtS2EAXto2XQXrP-4gyBR1j19oPmb1jts_80fun9Wxc8Tz25tQ3O1wWHI7MpsE24W8A/s320/Diaz-1.jpg" width="232" /></a></div>
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Men without Hats! It is amazing how many of the 2014 Heritage had the players pose without their hats. It certainly was common practice back in the 60s, but it became a lost art years later, so I can see the modern baseball player probably a little weirded out when a photographer clicking aways starts to ask them to doff their cap. It looks like Shin Soo Choo must have gotten the memo that hatless photos were being taken as he made sure he had his hair styled and blow dried. On the opposite side, Nate McLouth looks like he has perpetual "helmet head."<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx0uxzgTxNBfiLJh7Cgiw9uwpDQATA4VFk6mk2t9OnlNZrHPyI6WT_3L1nrpRmKjrOQZm3_y1HK5ew97VdhH_zMhwsIOYWS7NRomouKMmb4a6dSRqMdNA440woS1FkkQMnhd1uHvxtI2Q/s1600/Diaz-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx0uxzgTxNBfiLJh7Cgiw9uwpDQATA4VFk6mk2t9OnlNZrHPyI6WT_3L1nrpRmKjrOQZm3_y1HK5ew97VdhH_zMhwsIOYWS7NRomouKMmb4a6dSRqMdNA440woS1FkkQMnhd1uHvxtI2Q/s320/Diaz-2.jpg" width="233" /></a></div>
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It makes me feel old that not only do I remember when a current manager was not only a player, and not only their rookie season, but remembering them when they played college ball. That is the case with Robin Ventura whom was a stand out with Oklahoma State back in the mid 80s. Loved adding a premier player like Mike Trout to the 2014 pile. Leonys martin is such an enigma, he has great tools but hasn't seemed to have the chance to put it all together. Hopefully he gets a fresh breath of life in Seattle. Two cards that just echo the feel of those 60s vintage posed shots: Kendry Morales and Paul Konerko. Kendry is a great shot with a great background of the sky and the posed home run swing like something out of The Actor's Studio. Konerko is about to play his final season of a great career. This pose and angle of shot gives a bit of majesty to the Shane's fellow statesman. <br />
Love the dual rookie cards. Marisnick has found a nice little home in Houston, while highly regarded Michael Choice has seemed to flame out in Texas. Then a former and future former Red Sox. Adrian Gonzalez never found his groove in Boston and was packaged with high priced Carl Crawford, and malcontent Josh Beckett and shipped to the Dodgers in one of the greatest dump deals ever. Nick Punto drove everyone to Dodgertown too. Wade Miley was seemingly coming into his own when the Red Sox peddled off two of the key prospects they netted in the Dodger deal to acquire Miley. His one season in Boston was up and down but he ended up about right where he was the prior two years. During the offseason, Boston, having a wealth of starters dealt Miley to Seattle for the underrated Carson Smith.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLaUllBNN4GN1scuKq9pV2wVhYqCwedIJFWZ-wQiSheoxHTeXnyeE_JoqOcTeJrkbE-p0hzmIukEToCymkH4hX1dVW2v7LjUloXjQIJ-ZlomOtNewmTFqhcSZ2qEJc6EaN8v0B8mEaZVA/s1600/Dia-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLaUllBNN4GN1scuKq9pV2wVhYqCwedIJFWZ-wQiSheoxHTeXnyeE_JoqOcTeJrkbE-p0hzmIukEToCymkH4hX1dVW2v7LjUloXjQIJ-ZlomOtNewmTFqhcSZ2qEJc6EaN8v0B8mEaZVA/s320/Dia-3.jpg" width="230" /></a></div>
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Shane sent over a few from past years that are certainly needed and appreciated. The 2012 homage to the 1963 set is a nice clean set. It is fun to see the old "Topps Rookie" trophy in its mega size on the Revere card. Danny Duffy looks less than thrilled with a bad fake smile. The 2009 Heritage (1959) is a nice lesson in primary colors, and a bad one in capitalization. Corey Hart was a solid player that I felt never got to fully blossom due to chronic injuries. Verlander, after the Kate Upton photo leak, I can never look at this guy the same way. (Once you see it, you can't unsee it!) The Frank Robinson comparison to Ryan Howard looks silly now, but back when this came out, the trajectories were similar. Ruben Sierra was a fantastic player when he debuted. He was a lean 5 tool player, but he bulked up to the point he was so muscular he could not quite turn on pitches as quickly as he once did, and faded into journeyman status, but did play for quite a long career. Same can be said for Benny Santiago. This card of Santiago reminded me of Johnny Damn. or if Hollywood ever wanted to make a movie called "The Benito Santiago Story" the perfect guy to play him in his later years is Luis Guzman.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoF9dPLz496JBGs3hpniFhHLUVgNxGeaSFwGTXS3TevmgZ7jclblJACXIVIbMl79H6mzFhqctMYgra0Iim2lZKiY4wSIHJ_gBbVo3beoP0IYcB6LdMkJST1HiV7TfdxflzqLcHVssOzjc/s1600/Santiaguzman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoF9dPLz496JBGs3hpniFhHLUVgNxGeaSFwGTXS3TevmgZ7jclblJACXIVIbMl79H6mzFhqctMYgra0Iim2lZKiY4wSIHJ_gBbVo3beoP0IYcB6LdMkJST1HiV7TfdxflzqLcHVssOzjc/s320/Santiaguzman.jpg" width="226" /></a></div>
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To wrap it up, here are some Archives<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Lf-jGt0h8t3OmhzQW2y9cPUmjLgWrkokIdJiuPfzUS9diXkbR0S27XTlijkMNMSflX7olPfFYcFvUxNGla0d8ZQKqfFOL15ie-6vAvzz0SA7ZGqMZLe6ye5uLwygbtnZuwAXbkC-6FU/s1600/Diaz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Lf-jGt0h8t3OmhzQW2y9cPUmjLgWrkokIdJiuPfzUS9diXkbR0S27XTlijkMNMSflX7olPfFYcFvUxNGla0d8ZQKqfFOL15ie-6vAvzz0SA7ZGqMZLe6ye5uLwygbtnZuwAXbkC-6FU/s320/Diaz.jpg" width="232" /></a></div>
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The Adam Eaton card looks off due to the White Sox changing their color scheme. Back in 1976, the red was part of the WHite Sox uniforms. Jay Hey looks right at home in a 1990 style card ready to team with a pair of young Jones boys for a great run. Wei Yin looks way pissed that his hatless hot was not used for a Heritage set, but stuck on a 1985 inspired card. Sal Perez has really blossomed in KC and is a huge part of that teams current run of dominance. I really liked the 1982 design, and it is great to see current players and their facsimile signatures done in this style. Topp it off with the beloved 1972 style card. (Anyone else looking forward to 2021 Heritage??!) Love getting one of baseball's great modern legends in Derek Jeter. Design wise, A-Gone closes out this post with an exit stage right.<br />
Thank you Shane, I appreciate your generosity. I have another package set aside for you.<br />
<br />Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02202727432530654097noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3197372350696149061.post-87897842748889662302016-02-29T13:35:00.000-08:002016-02-29T13:35:40.661-08:00February Card Show Recap pt 2 of 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD9D3i_6dk577EFopEFoj0ZRFeg36DCMVrAUciC9IP_VLis3IK3WiF1nTG8RxSxndO5a7LYeTL3SEq4vIP_-oIeo8ArJMk_xi2c-RyN6PSde6pWZ6Ixoa_LR7IVuQaJyKKgB4yo1sbD1s/s1600/Card_show.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD9D3i_6dk577EFopEFoj0ZRFeg36DCMVrAUciC9IP_VLis3IK3WiF1nTG8RxSxndO5a7LYeTL3SEq4vIP_-oIeo8ArJMk_xi2c-RyN6PSde6pWZ6Ixoa_LR7IVuQaJyKKgB4yo1sbD1s/s400/Card_show.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The best part of arriving as early as I do, along with a few others is the opportunity to see the newest stuff right away, whether that be from the $0.20 cards. $0.50 cards, relics, or the Ask For Price items. This show, he did not have any new vintage stock, but I dug into his $3 box and the ask for price box. Within a few moments I made 2 stacks, the ones I wanted for certain, and then the possible. Needless to say the value when he packages the cards is beyond reproach. This is the nice little stack of quality I walked away with...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_fnB4ac_8_MrFzz8QAEV4VNBLiO5AxFLTBQaQSTWrCtz42PoAE9q4De-AnGsJv2f5aS0lJItklAiOe_6OlMDCf6hYw310zQZSWpEl_A9IxdRd5fo4cwq30ii8CK-uqYMn8H8ylPh6a-4/s1600/Auto-Stanton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_fnB4ac_8_MrFzz8QAEV4VNBLiO5AxFLTBQaQSTWrCtz42PoAE9q4De-AnGsJv2f5aS0lJItklAiOe_6OlMDCf6hYw310zQZSWpEl_A9IxdRd5fo4cwq30ii8CK-uqYMn8H8ylPh6a-4/s320/Auto-Stanton.jpg" width="225" /></a></div>
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Before he was Giancarlo, he was "Mike" - This is the first of two name change players. I am not a big Chrome fan, but I could not pass up adding a Stanton certified auto to my PC. Sadly, my scanner does not give this card justice. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgedTXBrfZIt_TqyuCRAcUydFbAToI_ZvkLLFi0vrwH8j00P6IwcMS5v-_VG97rVHa9p4no3-FxXK4avSR-QFrHx-7UCOPELOC7eO8UtOoB4bDs48Fi3bfLdTNzbji8IAqk1EoUa4BC46Q/s1600/Auto-Madlock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgedTXBrfZIt_TqyuCRAcUydFbAToI_ZvkLLFi0vrwH8j00P6IwcMS5v-_VG97rVHa9p4no3-FxXK4avSR-QFrHx-7UCOPELOC7eO8UtOoB4bDs48Fi3bfLdTNzbji8IAqk1EoUa4BC46Q/s320/Auto-Madlock.jpg" width="232" /></a></div>
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Bill "Mad Dog" Madlock is honestly one of the most under-rated players from the 70s-early 80s. A 3 times All-Star Third Baseman, Madlock won 4 National League batting titles (1975, 1976, 1981, 1983) Very happy to the fiery Mad Dog to my collection.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoOShwIALkyMS8AIbHnzxbscBjlkBDLeD0cfyrRAR2BfRBh8oKEvQZN29lHZw5umrUc18WxcMZzh_xmjGMioWy8zsG1JpborXJ7G-JizO0Tt8jl9zylt7zKHzSQkGlq2tHhUh5XhqIvjU/s1600/Auto-Trammell.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoOShwIALkyMS8AIbHnzxbscBjlkBDLeD0cfyrRAR2BfRBh8oKEvQZN29lHZw5umrUc18WxcMZzh_xmjGMioWy8zsG1JpborXJ7G-JizO0Tt8jl9zylt7zKHzSQkGlq2tHhUh5XhqIvjU/s320/Auto-Trammell.jpg" width="230" /></a></div>
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I've always been an Alan Trammell fan. He was always a thorn in the side of my beloved Red Sox, but man was he a player (He and his double play partner and heterosexual life mate of 19 years, Lou Whitaker) The xix time all-star won 4 Gold Glove awards while manning the shortstop position for the Tigers. It is a travesty that he is not in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Put his stats up against most of the enshrined shortstops and he is right up there or even better than a good many of them. Who else happens to be an Alan Trammell fan? This guy...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5m7yG_eRq1rLK5Om49liArnWK5SLooOUvsALXw2OwW4PBVPD3brLuXFJP7sxvmPbJ9w5R-wlVTJhH2g9UUDeh9Ij8LqVwRLm6hayJ_1hts-jGGSggAZjw-kbm7Rv9sZArqDm7aZ99axA/s1600/IMG_0323.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5m7yG_eRq1rLK5Om49liArnWK5SLooOUvsALXw2OwW4PBVPD3brLuXFJP7sxvmPbJ9w5R-wlVTJhH2g9UUDeh9Ij8LqVwRLm6hayJ_1hts-jGGSggAZjw-kbm7Rv9sZArqDm7aZ99axA/s320/IMG_0323.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Trammell also happens to be the favorite player of Steven Yeun (Glenn Rhee on "The Walking Dead") My wife and I had the chance to meet Steven in 2014 and while many people wanted to talk all thing \s Walking Dead, I was more than happy to talk some baseball with Steven. That mid 80s Tigers team was something special from the criminally ignored Jack Morris, to Lance Parrish, Sweet Lou, Steve Kemp, Glen Wilson, Kirk Gibson, Dan Petry, and of course, Trammell.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6JVHjGGdED_7-cd1r0Nzx0BO7Rd7MOg2nsME0eZmaNesxOj4o6fJN3szkhpxukqiXITMl9qjgD27SgBSudYXgiiYzUeqK57vIYqx2kG86s-CgFkIdXx8425f__vP5fQASW5zyYEI5LX8/s1600/Auto-Helton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6JVHjGGdED_7-cd1r0Nzx0BO7Rd7MOg2nsME0eZmaNesxOj4o6fJN3szkhpxukqiXITMl9qjgD27SgBSudYXgiiYzUeqK57vIYqx2kG86s-CgFkIdXx8425f__vP5fQASW5zyYEI5LX8/s320/Auto-Helton.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Last auto was from the $3 box is this SP Chirography of Todd Helton. Say what you want about the air in COlorado, but Helton was a damn good player. He might not be the prototypical slugging first baseman type player if you take him away from Coors Field but Helton was a "ballplayer" and found ways to win games for the Rocks. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDb1tT_k19Jbz8QNVrXIxaiYWq88eldG0Jsq4jNtl5zsGzwFzAULbL4to9q_LEsfLU3X0EhSIesfnQ2BUkgBrtlRVSWcUX8hRfYvzRx_hAEhgqejpyGXI7mpKmHMmJGKvaPNNDT8DHA3k/s1600/Marichal67.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDb1tT_k19Jbz8QNVrXIxaiYWq88eldG0Jsq4jNtl5zsGzwFzAULbL4to9q_LEsfLU3X0EhSIesfnQ2BUkgBrtlRVSWcUX8hRfYvzRx_hAEhgqejpyGXI7mpKmHMmJGKvaPNNDT8DHA3k/s320/Marichal67.jpg" width="228" /></a></div>
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I could go on and on about how good and dominant Juan Marichal was in his hey day. Overshadowed by two guys named Koufax and Gibson, Marichal was an amazing pitcher that dominated his league for most of his career. This 1967 set me back $2.50.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaXtR3aS5ElFwgK-6kQbidE4Ng6xLhCd7fUBwljUYKD9CuwZZvKkFf6AQ4r31mgnEO9qGEzXwdNbjTLKCLQV6TWONL1fxrwcrc_dIt4oMI_0vx3jGP4koQq8yhil2mUHlFM6iMypiwYEw/s1600/Cloth-Yaz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaXtR3aS5ElFwgK-6kQbidE4Ng6xLhCd7fUBwljUYKD9CuwZZvKkFf6AQ4r31mgnEO9qGEzXwdNbjTLKCLQV6TWONL1fxrwcrc_dIt4oMI_0vx3jGP4koQq8yhil2mUHlFM6iMypiwYEw/s320/Cloth-Yaz.jpg" width="228" /></a></div>
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Please ignore the shadow of the screw on this 1977 Topps cloth card of Captain Carl. I don't run into this test issue often, so I was quite pleased to add a Hall of Famer and Red Sock. I would love to put this set together, but I have so much going on that it will have to wait for another day. Maybe once I run into a nice lot of the cloth cards, then I will make the plunge, but for now, happy with Yaz.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGcmZLlDlojXNFK-5uZ35yc2KcPpk2bGuzDCprwv_1sNSCBbeNBFmTE4f9amQQFI7BGkg_6k2H2XGsc9Fe6cftf3PtbLbH45_duPwoz1qLfjipbUyYeKgsbeDPcxhkfUC1T36h_L-V784/s1600/Ortiz-Rookie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGcmZLlDlojXNFK-5uZ35yc2KcPpk2bGuzDCprwv_1sNSCBbeNBFmTE4f9amQQFI7BGkg_6k2H2XGsc9Fe6cftf3PtbLbH45_duPwoz1qLfjipbUyYeKgsbeDPcxhkfUC1T36h_L-V784/s320/Ortiz-Rookie.jpg" width="216" /></a></div>
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The second guy that went through a name change, David "Big Papi" Arias. While Papi was Arias, you could grab this card for pennies. Ortiz only netted 58 homers during his 6 seasons with the Twins. Once things clicked with the Red Sox, the most recent member of the 500 Home Run Club has seen this card jump in value. Luckily, I netted Papi in a package deal for what his card alone sells for.<br />
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Finally, a stack of relics. I have stated before, Carlton Fisk was one of my childhood idols growing up, and I am looking to collect any and all cards of him only as a member of the BOSTON RED SOX. The Sox should never had let him get away in 1981. </div>
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Finally a few more relics. Another guy I cannot talk highly enough is the amazing Davy Lopes. Lopes was a late bloomer, but was pretty productive into his 40s. (He was also born and raised about 30 minutes South of where I live.) The other guys are pretty good in their own right. and the oddball serial numbered non-relic of Brooks Robinson. So I thought I did pretty well with this show, and it is only a week away before the next one. I hope I fare just as well. Thanks for reading.Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02202727432530654097noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3197372350696149061.post-49355157673573727922016-02-27T17:09:00.002-08:002016-02-27T17:09:56.402-08:00February Card Show Recap pt 1 of 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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My somewhat local card show made its month appearance at the Holiday Inn, and as usual, I took the opportunity to beat the majority of the crowd and meet my favorite dealer there hours before the show's actual opening. Is it insane, yes, but truth be told, I would be up and about an hour later anyways at the behest of my cats whom would want to be fed their breakfast, so I just got an earlier jump on this President's day.<br />
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Yes, that is the correct time in the car, and I was not the first one there. That is the price you pay for the executive peak at what new stock he has brought to the show. I arrived around 4:30 AM and immediately looked over some of his Newer $3 boxes as well as his "Ask for Price" box. The deal I got from him on that stuff was worth the early arrival. I will show those a bit later. However, for a change, I want to show some stuff from his cheaper boxes. As I mentioned before, this gentleman has loads of boxes marked at certain price points. $3, $2, $1, $0.75, $0.50, 3/$1, $0.20, $0.10, $0.07, and $0.05. I often end up walking out with damn near a monster box of cards each time. I have posted a few cards from these boxes, but the wealth of cardboard goodness is amazing, and it is easy to lose track of how much you accumulate. The shear amount of inserts and other fun cards makes it worth it. I like to grab stuff as potential trade bait and gift packages. Especially the inserts,; I figure someone is working on the set, so why not grab them in case it can go to fill someone's need. So here is some of the random goodness that ranged from $0.5 and up to $0.10-$0.20 cents.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguepsziAb7oZwRP21tzXZCsROc66hC8OVVA4ZybHXHV-ytoivoRLLFEFUFwRlm2QHS9bS5fJyNEu20qhvwqcLzFCfdYjwfUVjdGm1MiIzAVgVNHKwuINx7S-jJxVluhCSDE3NHnwHQTaQ/s1600/dime-21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguepsziAb7oZwRP21tzXZCsROc66hC8OVVA4ZybHXHV-ytoivoRLLFEFUFwRlm2QHS9bS5fJyNEu20qhvwqcLzFCfdYjwfUVjdGm1MiIzAVgVNHKwuINx7S-jJxVluhCSDE3NHnwHQTaQ/s320/dime-21.jpg" width="232" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi34A9WZNst_IK3dXUD-cfTN_OWPk9WSYHSg4NDuptmp8rOzBA8uULARgqM1LdZQH9F_AP6i3NEpVuea_tbrt9qbOIWFboDtpYIBHWfSL7S9QbhR9a1PeWwqOZyw_vkd-yrZWEa5_7nbbM/s1600/dime-22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi34A9WZNst_IK3dXUD-cfTN_OWPk9WSYHSg4NDuptmp8rOzBA8uULARgqM1LdZQH9F_AP6i3NEpVuea_tbrt9qbOIWFboDtpYIBHWfSL7S9QbhR9a1PeWwqOZyw_vkd-yrZWEa5_7nbbM/s320/dime-22.jpg" width="232" /></a></div>
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A small stack of Fleer's New Horizons and Rookie Sensation inserts. I recall most of the interest in these guys, and now looking at how many busts there were among the ones that had solid careers just reinforces my dislike for rookie prospecting. The Fleer 3000 Club cards are new to me, and I love them!! I will definitely be seeking out the remaining ones for this set. The Ultra World Premiere must be one of the most condition sensitive card with those sharp die cut edges. These are the second batch I picked up, got a bunch from the previous show. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgTtIYlABla2dij7Nv1K0F6CcQxStGMj8CFALZ08F_WNuMgx2qQRMVJQbmT4AKciKdBobkrw6ImCQXh7GHI70ZIsP2Y30qIib5B_OoYPTrS9kOcC17BwgYWK3DvfRD4TpWJv49Q9H36WY/s1600/dime-8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgTtIYlABla2dij7Nv1K0F6CcQxStGMj8CFALZ08F_WNuMgx2qQRMVJQbmT4AKciKdBobkrw6ImCQXh7GHI70ZIsP2Y30qIib5B_OoYPTrS9kOcC17BwgYWK3DvfRD4TpWJv49Q9H36WY/s320/dime-8.jpg" width="232" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS7D4l0KS7SdgSQ-SiIrRmsniNoblpIdrMzJ2z7AK2XDULD5RXVQ8W6g_LbB7G1cuXqC99oEdZxSmEBtnQbpIvcq9vMIzXK06_M3WLOmoEjSD71jNIMpQWA6vVECmQEEi3L6Df_EeYb1Y/s1600/dime-9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS7D4l0KS7SdgSQ-SiIrRmsniNoblpIdrMzJ2z7AK2XDULD5RXVQ8W6g_LbB7G1cuXqC99oEdZxSmEBtnQbpIvcq9vMIzXK06_M3WLOmoEjSD71jNIMpQWA6vVECmQEEi3L6Df_EeYb1Y/s320/dime-9.jpg" width="232" /></a></div>
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1999 SP Home Run Chronicle inserts -Not bad little cards for $0.05-$0.07 each. The Topps Upper Class set looks like something Upper Deck would pump out. Sportflics Cyclone Squad subset. Then a bunch of various Fleer inserts from the 90s. Topps Total inserts <br />
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I love promo cards. They range from common throw in to incredibly scarce. They are also highly welcome items for player and team collectors. Here is a range of cards I found at the show.<br />
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Another condition sensitive insert set, the Bart Simpson inspired Lords of the Diamond. Once upon a time, the Team Pinnacles were hot cards and commanded big money. Overproduction of the product flooded the market and they are far cries from what they used to be. Select Team Nucleus were cards that were not too easy to pull. Select packs sold for around $3 a pop which was a premium back in the 90s. Grabbed the psychedelic Rookie Surge cards along with the other dufex style Pinnacle cards. I am not a huge fan of shiny cards and chrome cards, but I do like the dufex look. Another odd insert set, must have been a time when companies were going crazy with die cut cards. RBI Kings was always hit or miss with Ultra, this particular year was one of the better ones.<br />
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Classic auto /numbered cards as well as a signed Charles Johnson card. I always like Johnson, always thought he would end up with a bigger career than he had. A few more promo cards (Pre-Production I-Rod, Promo for Stone Cold Steve Austin and 3 SPectrum promos. Some die cuts found in the cheap boxes, and Topps Gold Futures inserts.<br />
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I always pull random cards of premier players when mining these boxes. Since I did not bother getting them when they came out, and after a long hiatus, this presented an opportunity to catch up as well. THis is a small capsule of what I grabbed of Greg Maddux, The Big Hurt, and Piazza. Others that I have pulled lots of range from Griffey, Chipper, Juan-Gone, Larkin, Bagwell, Biggio, Ozzie, Bonds, Pedro, etc. If anyone is ever interested in any of them, just check my Zistle account for an inventory of what I have acquired. That is just a very small taste of the couple thousand I walked away with from the "cheap seats" I couldn't do better on eBay in acquiring the loads of cards at the prices I paid. Next show is only a week away, and my guy has new stock from a store he bought out, so I am chomping at the bit to see what he has added. Stay tuned for part 2 featuring the cards that were not in the bargain boxes!! <br />
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Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02202727432530654097noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3197372350696149061.post-46597690284573361942016-02-07T23:51:00.003-08:002016-02-07T23:51:32.384-08:00Dipping my Toe in the 2016 Topps release. This week has been a mass of various thoughts and reviews of the first baseball card release for 2016, the Topps traditional flagship series 1 release. I made a decision not to bother with this release, but I decided to play 1 $25 scratch ticket, that being in the form of 1 retail blaster box and 1 jumbo rack pack.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIZtmIJKv5tP3ioNR2ifTiH02HinVtYrJKg-A0jYsfCYWOFBFslADsnmsGf8eZHvYMq6zAuFQcOErF_uSP9SfvJWwV_9MuPkHh99csNywbkkBt1S-TThWpwmZ2twaeLiOeHRXcR5bPqow/s1600/IMG_4767.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifmaemGROmSyCDGnapehkHoOnls5xpQW-dVrfIak1U_lm74zYL5LqgPSbL9kVxDsAFtYmqUdjxOXPAjFfUydfSEUEiHSLVBDX0TxXYWTSFFMgGdDU2syIrC_xbKYNMszLF99b1SMZLhYo/s200/IMG_4766.JPG" width="200" /><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIZtmIJKv5tP3ioNR2ifTiH02HinVtYrJKg-A0jYsfCYWOFBFslADsnmsGf8eZHvYMq6zAuFQcOErF_uSP9SfvJWwV_9MuPkHh99csNywbkkBt1S-TThWpwmZ2twaeLiOeHRXcR5bPqow/s200/IMG_4767.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
So the two current golden boys of baseball have been given proper marketing with reigning National League MVP the product cover boy, and Mike Trout taking the honorary card #1. The blaster box includes 1 pack that contains a "gold medallion" card, as well as 10 standard packs.<br />
This years set includes 5 different parallel versions of the set. Rainbow Foil (1:10), Gold (1:14), Vintage Stock (1:270), Pink (1:535), and Platinum (1:26,699) Not to mention the base set includes 2 variations the now traditional "short print" (1:125), and the "SUPER short print" (1:1,247) Of course there is a litany of insert sets MLB Debut (1;2), Berger's Best (1:4), Perspectives (1:4), The Greatest Streaks (1:4), 100 Years of Wrigley Field (1:8), Walk Off Wins (1:8), Back-to-Back (1;8), Pressed into Service (1:8), First Pitch (1:8), 2016 Presidential Candidates (1:12), Bunt Code Card (1:19), and Bunt Player Card (1:3,741) Topps certainly wanted to make their release something collectors will chew up for the next couple months before their premium releases. So here is how I fared with my blaster box. My first card of the year was....<br />
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Giancarlo Stanton! Not a bad first card The one thing that stands out with this years design is how processed the cards look. It is like they sent these photos to a graphic design school and told them to create and polish and use as many filters as possible. The photos border in illustrativeand the descision to go borderless on the set is not one I care for. This is the base product, the product that was release 65 years ago, and has been collected year, after year, after year. This line has been around long before the Stadium Clubs, Finests, revamped Bowman, and the other various lines Topps produces, and I feel this should be one of the truly traditional ones including their design, so I would like to see borders and clean photos. The name plate looks like a drop from a television broadcast, and I am not necessarily 100% against this design, even with the sponged look of the color within the bar, but I really do not like the "logo stripe." I do not care for the way they render the logo somewhat "unreadable." I know that they feel the buyer is familiar with the team logos enough that they will even recognize even a portion of the logo, but I feel that the logo is heritage of each team, and it should be clearly viewed and respected. It also seems that the designer did not know what to do with the lower corner space, so they just added lines, To ensure the team name is legible, the designers decided to blur and erase the photo creating a faded look with the image in opposite corners. - I don't get it? If you are going borderless, then would the photo not bleed? Why go through all this trouble when you can just add a border? Did the designers think that it would look cool that all the players played in a low lying fog? Sorry Topps, I think you overworked this product.<br />
So what else did pack #1 unveil?<br />
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I guess this would be what they call their "rainbow foil" - It is certainly foil, but rainbow? I was not sure and only identified it because it is the only parallel that is not serial numbered.<br />
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Needless to say, the drop rate of 1;2 for the MLB Debut insert played true as I pulled this Pujols card. The design is nothing extrodinary, and looks like so many other subsets/inserts we have seen for many years. The 1996 Upper Deck Predictor set comes to mind when looking at this design.<br />
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Here are the rest of the cards from pack #1 Nothing too exciting, though I still find the acknowledgement of the WHIP statistic with a WHIP leader card a bit funny, seems to be very fantasy baseball oriented. I just like tradition, and would have been happy with Win, ERA, K, and Fireman leader cards like they have been doing for over a half century.<br />
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I will admit, this is a cool shot. Though the typeface looks like something out of a "Baseball Tonight" graphic. I can literally see the words "perspective" and "Ryan Braun" moving on the screen. The actual shot itself is excellent. This is certainly the best insert of the set and will be in high demand. Fortunately, the seeding of 1:4 makes it a set that will be plentiful.<br />
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This next insert is from the "First Pitch" collection. Honestly, I had no idea who this awkward bean was and had to look him up. Come to find out it is a future NBA bust. This shot makes Porzingis look like he throws like an nonathletic girl. Perhaps he threw a perfect pitch to the cathcer, I don't know, and I don't care, but from this shot, it looks like he will throw it like a two year old and shout in a broken English accent "Ball go far!!" (Okay, I am being a dick, but generally, I say a lot of nice things about people in my write ups.)<br />
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The other card in this pack was this propaganda piece from Topps. Here I am asked to "Rediscover" their product. Well, considering I have been away from the hobby for quite a bit, I guess I am rediscovering it, and just like when my cats turn in their litter box and "discover" what they left behind, I want to quickly cover this in sand. This card hits all the current social media nomenclatures, give your Facebook links, Twitter handles, web addresses, all the current business card offerings. Speaking of offerings, I am rewarded with a $0.50 discount for any of their products for the upcoming year. I plan to buy Heritage for sure, so I guess I can expect to pay $79.50 for a box rather than $80. Sweet 1/2 percent discount!! Thanks Topps! Who am I kidding, I will constantly forget this card and never even redeem it, only finding it after it expires.<br />
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The rest of pack #2. The Matt Holliday horizontal card is a nice shot, and it appears Alex Gordon agrees as he looks up to check it out, <br />
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This card is one of Topp's promotional efforts to revive their "Wacky Package" sticker line. For anyone that is not familiar with Wacky Packages, these were cartoon style cards of familiar products that are parodied in some rather silly or disgusting manner. The artwork was great, and they were always fun cards to get as a kid. I am not sure how I feel about these. Part of me likes that they are bringing them back, and this card certainly represents the style and spirit of the old Wacky Packages, but the fact that Topps is trying to insert the now standard marketing of "autographs" or "relics" to the cards makes my eyes roll a bit. I guess I will reserve my thoughts until I see the actual product.<br />
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This is one of the "Greatest Streak" insert cards. The card certainly follows the feel of the set with the ESPN bumper style typeface, and the bleeding the image borders. The photo again looks more illustrative than actual photography. The background looks like the wake of a starship that just hit warp speed.<br />
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The rest of pack #3<br />
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My one "100 Years of Wrigley Field" cards. Sadly, I got Mark Prior rather than a Maddux or Ernie Banks card. This is probably the second best set behind "Perspectives" The use of the brick and ivy is a no brainer, and modifying the Wrigley Field sign to showcase the theme of the set is excellent. If I were a Cubs fan, collecting this set would be high on the 2016 agenda. I would like to see some of the other cards in the set. The night shot of this card mutes the ivy on the card.<br />
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Time for the reprint cards. These are part of the "Berger's Best" insert set. So I guess that means glossy coated versions of 1960s and 70s star cards. Meh.<br />
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The rest of pack #4. Two standout cards are the Grandy and the Ben Revere cards. Both cards are great shots. The Revere shot is really cool and I think would have been a candidate for the "Perspectives" set except that Revere is not a big enough name for that set, so they settled to include it as his base card. Revere will never have a more brilliant looking card. The Granderson card is also tremendous, a great leaping catch shot and one of the better vertical cards in this collection.<br />
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My first "Back to Back" insert. I always liked Edgar, and I think he is a Hall of Famer, but I doubt the media will allow him enshrinement. Junior was pretty good too. The pixelated dissolve in the middle seems like they had no idea how to solve blending the two players together. I would think they would have had numerous shots of the two players together that they could have used rather than force the images together in this crappy method. This design has a late 80s Fleer feel to it.<br />
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Another MLB Debut card and still looking the bastard child of 96 Upper Deck Predictor and an Gypsy Queen card. <br />
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The rest of pack #5 - The Puig card makes me wonder if he actually catches the ball or if it drops. The look on his face is not reassuring. Future Star Kole Calhoun seems a bit of a reach, but I guess you have to pimp somebody. Calhoun had a strong debut, but he regressed last year, and I see him more like Marty Cordova.<br />
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My next "Perspectives" card is Jung Ho Kang leaping over Kolton Wong. Part of me wishes they photoshopped old Royals second baseman, Frank White in the shot, then when you pick your favorite you can say any answer would be "White" or "Wong."<br />
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My first insert from the "Walk Off Wins" insert set, of former Red and current ChiSox third baseman, Todd Frazier. This card would bewilder Forrest Gump,. ("Todd Frazier, you are missing your legs!!!") Pretty bland insert set IMO.<br />
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The rest of pack #6 and it is becoming apparent the horizontal shots out class the vertical shots by miles. Kaleb Cowart looks like he is wearing David Bowie's pants from "Labyrinth."<br />
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Two more inserts one of a great pitcher, and one of a pitcher that could have been great. Despite Gooden's flameout, I still really want copies of his 1984 Topps Traded and 1984 Fleer Update cards. They were so pricey and unattainable as a kid, that I feel like I really want to get them now that they do not cost that much. When Doc was on, he was incredible.<br />
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Another parallel, this time a "gold" variant of Russell Martin. Not a fan of how they laid on the gold in the grate look, but at least you know it is gold as Topps has had points where you could not distinguish what type of parallel a card was. This one is also numbered on the back to 2016 (Naturally) I wonder how many people attempt to put full sets of these parallels together?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhLtX63ZCXNCSZjx617IbfyDYLPzLhHgOy-EaluKzMHfoBBBHYt3C1YlvdI7zOE8-s7l0mFuX5xsh2Ag5TmeCS2cwBZvSQe-CTWdRVjF13_PuB2n7mY1YN0_jYdwZ5tovZ5TwQKK45GS4/s1600/IMG_4797.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhLtX63ZCXNCSZjx617IbfyDYLPzLhHgOy-EaluKzMHfoBBBHYt3C1YlvdI7zOE8-s7l0mFuX5xsh2Ag5TmeCS2cwBZvSQe-CTWdRVjF13_PuB2n7mY1YN0_jYdwZ5tovZ5TwQKK45GS4/s320/IMG_4797.JPG" width="320" /> </a><br />
The rest of pack #7 - Kaleb Cowart looks like he stole David Bowie's pants from "Labyrinth." <br />
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More inserts, an interesting choice with Josh Hamilton as his off field
problems have tarnished his career as well as his cardboard interests.
A nice card theme with the "Pressed into Service" of position players
that had to pitch. I wish they expanded it to players manning a
position you would never think to find them, such as the time Kirby
Puckett played second base.<br />
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The rest of pack #8 - The Nick Hundley card looks like he
is receiving a soft underhand lob from that beanstalk basketball player
from earlier. <br />
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"Agent Carter" Haley Atwell throws a first pitch during a cold April game at Kansas City. Based on that form, she looks like she did a 200% better job than the human light pole. Bernie Williams rounds the bases in his Tyler Durden cosplay costume. look at those glasses!! The first rule of MLB Debut set, is we don't talk about MLB Debut set!!<br />
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The rest of pack #9 - The checklist card with Papi and Pujols looks like Pujols is looking for a simple handshake, but Papi is about to give him the 5 minute version with 62 different types of shakes and grips.<br />
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Another "Perspective" card, this time of Robinson Cano walking through the dugout wondering why he ever left New York for Seattle. A nice pull of The Babe and one of his milestone records.<br />
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The rest of pack #10 -<br />
The ten acks offered nothing extraordinary, the inserts came at the standard seeding. No great hit, but there would not be great hits if you got one in every box, so onto the bonus pack with the gold medallion card, and the pull was.....<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfR6xUsyIfI6aWOMceSgVoYkFlsVvf2BobyhQeN7QbHbw1I5xshpoc_Fsd2CgJWfA5m0UTe58Yfcc2gF9vjtt66xCqICvM_Y92idVy7bWnQN9zHDdHQeLZmDxfx1X97e8v9gmFIoOI9BQ/s1600/IMG_4815.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfR6xUsyIfI6aWOMceSgVoYkFlsVvf2BobyhQeN7QbHbw1I5xshpoc_Fsd2CgJWfA5m0UTe58Yfcc2gF9vjtt66xCqICvM_Y92idVy7bWnQN9zHDdHQeLZmDxfx1X97e8v9gmFIoOI9BQ/s320/IMG_4815.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Again, nothing major. The medallion looks plastic, and the card is really thick. Myabe I can recoup some of my money on these boxes by tossing them on eBay while the product is fresh and people are scrambling to acquire cards from the series.<br />
The final open was the jumbo pack which offered a lot of duplication. Card came in 3-4 card runs that I had seen in the blaster box. THe inserts were:<br />
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Another card from a set that will not be discussed. (See rule #1) A First Pitch card of a U.S. Women's Soccer player who looks remarkably like Mickey Mantle. A Back to Back insert and my first Kris Bryant card, believe it or not. That is right, aside from this card, I don't own a single Kris Bryant card!!! A sick Cutch "Perspectives" card. I really like back shots if they are pulled off effectively, and this one is in that wheelhouse!!!<br />
Here are the great horizontal cards from the series, just emphasizing how strong they are compared to eh base vertical cards. Topps really should have done all the cards in this format.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMWF2brEnySj8blVC-PHDyB1H3GcIhSbANHscv5fwFevDL0Zhn6ETkDfG4-YyYdK3Lt8g_xEMXPesLlBdvvp_ITYvtgqtgUsaULm-6pXFbMUGATXBQmOBpwhmRXfig1D3a0jW1h4BvIco/s1600/IMG_4818.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMWF2brEnySj8blVC-PHDyB1H3GcIhSbANHscv5fwFevDL0Zhn6ETkDfG4-YyYdK3Lt8g_xEMXPesLlBdvvp_ITYvtgqtgUsaULm-6pXFbMUGATXBQmOBpwhmRXfig1D3a0jW1h4BvIco/s320/IMG_4818.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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So I will say that the experience of ripping this blaster and jumbo was rather underwhelming, and that is not a bad thing, as it just affirmed my intent NOT to bother with this set. Maybe I will grab a single card or two of a player that ends up on my 2016 fantasy baseball team, but other than that, I will just flip what I can and send out the rest to collectors that can use the cards. I give this set a C- with the Perspectives and 100 Years of Wrigley the only saving graces from a lower mark.<br />
<br />Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02202727432530654097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3197372350696149061.post-53369284485486547152016-02-04T15:28:00.001-08:002016-02-04T15:28:06.297-08:00Oh look, a stack of cheap cards off of eBay!! Pt 1I hate paying for shipping!! Let me rephrase that, I hate to pay shipping on one rinky dink card. I spot a card on ebay that I want, I have no problem laying $1 down, but then you have to pay $3 more to have it shipped?!! Now that card is a $4 card, and probably not worth it. So my way to get over that hump is to spend more money!! I will look if there are any additional cards of interest from that seller, and what he might offer in combined shipping, and then really make it worth my wild. I will spend time just perusing with no formal agenda until I spot a seller who might be doing a set break, and I will just grab cards that happen to tickle my fancy. I recently did this with a batch of 1974 cards. I always liked the set. I felt it generally had some decent photography and though not the most dynamic design, it is still a clean designed card. I know that I will eventually build this set after I complete my 1970 and 1975 sets, so no harm in grabbing cards to start that “nest egg.” When 1974 cards came out, I was really young and was just on the cusp of being a collector. I recall buying packs of 1974 cards, but it was the year before I became a huge baseball fan. I recently received my package of random buys, so I wanted to take a look and even a bit of a dive into some of the players I opted to buy. (For simplicity, I tried to keep them in 3 card batches.)<br />
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<b>Tony Perez</b> - Okay, so this is my second post in a row that Tony makes an appearance. Even Cincinnati Red blogs probably do not feature Tony in back to back posts, but I swear, I am not a Tony Perez fan. I question his enshrinement in the Baseball Hall of Fame. I respect Tony, and all the guys in the Big Red Machine era. They gave us some entertaining baseball, but in the big picture, he is not even in my top 5 favorite 70s Reds players. But he was for a good stretch one of the most professional and dominant hitters. I often opine that had he hung up his cleats 4 years earlier, his numbers would look much stronger. I think Tony had intangible that made him the leader of the Big Red Machine, and a member of multiple Halls of Fame. Maybe I am too critical. </div>
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<b> Why buy it?</b>: I have an affinity for the Big Red machine. It was one of the most dominating teams for a 6 year period and is right up there with the 20s Yankees. <b>Cost</b>: $1.05</div>
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<b>Juan Beniquez</b> - Beniquez had a lengthy career as a journeyman defensive specialist. He never offered much in the way of power or speed, and even in his formative years was not a very good batter. As he got older he became a better hitter. He learned bat control and could slap the ball around to become a Rey Sanchez type of hollow .300 hitter. Beniquez made his bones as a defensive replacement and spot starter in the outfield. He even won a Gold Glove. I remember a young Juan with the Red Sox, he was around for a couple seasons before being dealt to Texas for future Hall of Famer, Ferguson Jenkins. In 1974, with his bushy afro and “almostasche” he is looking like a young father positioned to catch a wobbly toddler during their first walk down a hallway. <b> </b></div>
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<b> Why buy it? </b> Its a Red Sox card, and despite being a retired team collector, I will still grab players from the home team if I plan to set build. <b>Cost</b>: $0.49</div>
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<b>George Foster </b>- Now there is a mug that I would not want to meet up with in a dark alley!! Actually, I would, as George was one of my favorite Reds back in the day. I was always pumped when I opened a pack of cards and saw a Foster. Most of my friends never knew why. Foster was not even a super big guy. Tony Perez was a much larger guy. Foster was lean, and all muscle. Not the fleetest on the base paths, but he did have one double digit steal season. In 1974, George and I were just getting our footing with major league baseball. I was just getting an appreciation for it and George was getting more time as a platoon player after spending the previous year toiling in the minors In 1975, that is when I became aware of George! In the 1975 World Series, game 6, he made an outstanding catch on a Fred Lynn ball right along the foul line, then with a rocket of an arm, he fired the ball in to Johnny Bench to nail Denny Doyle who had tagged up and was trying to score. His big season were 1976 and 1977 where he won the MVP award. In an era before hypodermic needles, Foster clubbed 50 HRs and 149 RBIs, 124 runs, 388 total bases, along with a .320 batting average and 1.013 OPS. </div>
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As the Big Red Machine disbanded, Foster was still the thump in the Cincinnati line up until his contract was expiring, and the Reds dealt him to the New York Mets who quickly inked Foster to a 5 year 10 Mil deal. Foster had an up down career with the Mets. He did have this silly moment towards the end of his tenure. Mets manager Davey Johnson decided to replace Foster as the every day left fielder. It did not settle well with Foster and he started spouting off about it being a racially motivated decision. Uh, George, the guy that replaced you, Kevin Mitchell, he is African American as well! Foster ended up getting released in 1986 and was picked up by the Chicago White Sox. I don't even remember him suiting up for the Chisox. I may not be the only one, he lasted only 15 games on the SOuth Side before his career as a major leaguer came to an end.</div>
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<b>Why buy it?</b>: Aside from my aforementioned appreciation of the BRM, I was intimidated into buying it. Look at that card, its like George is glaring at me and thinking "What the hell, kid; you are going to buy Beniquez and not me?? Don't make me furrow my brow at you more than I already have!! " Yes Sir, Mr. Foster, Sir. <b>Cost</b>: $0.49</div>
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Mike Epstein - Look!!! Up at bat, it's a man, it's a beast, it's SUPERJEW!! (Honestly, that was his nickname!!!) I wonder if Al Campanis gave him that nickname. Still, what is there not to like about Epstein. He had swagger, he had charm, and he always had an excuse note signed by his "Mom!" - Oh, wait, wrong Epstein.</div>
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Mike Epstein made no excuses, he was what he was, a big man that hit the ball, very, very hard. He also struck out quite a bit, but he also knew how to take a walk, which lead to some nice on-base totals. Billy Bean would have loved this guy. Epstein did one thing really well, he got hit by the pitch. He was usually among the leaders in HBP every year. Hell, in 1969, he had as many HBPs as he did HRs! Epstein played for five ball clubs in his 9 year big league career. This was his swansong card as he was released very early in the 1974 season. Epstein has since gone on to open his own hitting school which has been very popular. </div>
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<b> Why buy it?</b>: Like I mentioned, the 1974 set had some great photography and this horizontal gem is one of them. The frozen moment of time gives the feel of two of the four Mike Epstein outcomes, and based on the reaction or the lack there of from the team and the crowd, I inagine the ball did not leave the yard. <b>Cost:</b> $0.49</div>
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Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02202727432530654097noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3197372350696149061.post-38096628282697190542016-02-01T04:36:00.000-08:002016-02-01T07:28:36.460-08:00Martin Luther King Card Show<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I am a little bit late in recounting this show, as it happened on Martin Luther King day. This is the monthly show set up at the Holiday Inn. This month fatured guests such as Bruins legend Johnny "The Chief" Bucyk, Heisman trophy winner Charlies White, former New England Patriot quarterback, Steve Grogan, current (and on injured reserve Patriot running back, Dion Lewis, and WWE Hall of Famer Junior "Rikishi" Fatu. (Not that I would be getting any of their autographs, but still a nice line up for a tiny local show. </div>
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As I have been doing lately, I have been showing up several hours before the official show opening, due to the fact that my favorite dealer generally gets there sometime after 4 AM. There is a loyal group of collectors that meet him there and help him cart in his stuff for first crack at what he may have that is new. On this day, the weather was not too appealing and it was pretty cold and snowy. I got there around 5:15AM and decided I did not want to be encumbered with a bulky winter jacket so I opted to leave it in the car since I was only several feet from the door. It is a solid move if you are deep within the show itself, but, when your dealer is set up directly near the entrance door, not the smartest move, especially when all the other dealers started to show up around 7:30-8AM. That door was perpetually open!! But enough with the weather and onto my task at hand, and my number 1 and 1A plan was to try to fill in as many of my 1970 and 1975 Topps set needs. My main dealer has a system, his older vintage stuff is 15% of book when the stock is new to a show. The following month, those cards drop to 10%. But since this show was not a traditional month off from the last one, the stock would be 12%. I dug into the boxes of his older card but only managed to find around a dozen 1975 Topps cards the most notable being a Steve Carlton. However, I did far better with the 1970s cards as I found 77 more to add to the growing pile that will one day be a set. I grabbed many commons I was missing, and only a few stars the most notable being Juan Marichal. I can't complain as my stack is getting close to being to the point where I switch form a list of cards I HAVE to the actual list of the cards I NEED!! </div>
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He also has a box that is purely "Ask for Price" These are cards that as he puts it are more than $3. I glanced through out of curiosity when a few cards caught my eye. I love Hall of Fame players. I love debating on who is in the Hall and in my opinion does not deserve to be. I love to debate who is egregiously omitted from the Hall and should be in there. I even like to debate who may not make the Hall but should not have been booted off the ballot acter their first time due to lack of writer votes. I love cards that depict the Hall of Famers. I was not so warm and fuzzy to them when I was younger, but I really dig them now that I am older. Now a days, it seems producing HOF player cards is a regular thing, but when I saw this 1961 Fleer card, I could not say no.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQn-HjhYCfYsgja4CFlTvV6JmYEcbwSgz2BHXyeeZ1Wjchh016bPVCu7dtpN4gTWHtnUmBq9mzL8YXkzvmSw0DabpT0nh6J6LnGjdOsXAQFXtKOSfi3TQKWk4GlL9C4HR7LnJfgYS30Ns/s1600/61F-Gehrig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQn-HjhYCfYsgja4CFlTvV6JmYEcbwSgz2BHXyeeZ1Wjchh016bPVCu7dtpN4gTWHtnUmBq9mzL8YXkzvmSw0DabpT0nh6J6LnGjdOsXAQFXtKOSfi3TQKWk4GlL9C4HR7LnJfgYS30Ns/s320/61F-Gehrig.jpg" width="230" /></a></div>
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I am guessing, unless I find the 1960 Fleer, this might be the oldest Gehrig I will ever have the pleasure of owning. Overall, I am not sure I like the floating in the field of red card style, but I was ot born for Fleer to ask my feedback on the design of the set. The rest of the layout of the card is typical Americana with stars, stripes and a pennant. The condition was great for its age, so I am pretty peased with getting my first 61 Fleer. ONly time will tell if I run into additional cards from this set that fit the budget and make it worth trying to put the set together, but for now, I am happy with my one off.</div>
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Right after this card was another card set that I have never owned a card from, the 1951 Topps. I really liked the condition of this little fella, the parts where you broke the card off looked fresh and not worn down, and the color was great. Even better was the price, a mere $4 to bring a Hall of Fame legend, and recently deceased on at that in Monte Irvin.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOUOLeS5Fe_Og7ml6JT3vSVMiXTUPV90b_MEaf1prAeZ36iV54OtHxn8e66WFMilQbuF6ovwfRGEv-vALzBEU4stZ-aX4IAq181sJ8gPvRZiyzbjQWs7bv5dJ51oihDRau2rhokLpKQns/s1600/51T_Irvin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOUOLeS5Fe_Og7ml6JT3vSVMiXTUPV90b_MEaf1prAeZ36iV54OtHxn8e66WFMilQbuF6ovwfRGEv-vALzBEU4stZ-aX4IAq181sJ8gPvRZiyzbjQWs7bv5dJ51oihDRau2rhokLpKQns/s320/51T_Irvin.jpg" width="251" /></a></div>
Irvin was an amazing player. He played in the Negro Leagues for the Newark Eagles from 1938-1942, then he served in World War II from 43-45 and in 1945 he rejoined the Eagles until 1948. When he was not winning batting titles with the Negro National League, he was crushing it in the Mexican League. Really interesting was that Branch Rickey wanted to add Irvin to the Dodgers, but that move was blocked by the Eagles business manager, Mrs Effa Manley as she insisted on compensation for Irvin after Rickey had signed both Jackie Robinson and Don Newcombe and did not pay any compensation for them. Rickey would not pay, so Irvin did not join the Major Leagues until 1949 when the New York Giants ponied up 5 grand for his rights.He not only starred for the Giants, but was given the task of mentoring Willie Mays when the Giants brought him up in 1951. Irvin retired in 1957 due to a back injury and would end up becoming the first African American executive in MLB when he was hired by Commissioner Bowie Kuhn in 1968 to be a PR specialist for MLB. He was elected to the Hall in 1973 based on his Negro league career.<br />
I came up with an idea of showcasing my Fantasy baseball teams by collecting a card from each player that played for my team in a given year. Francisco Liriano is a guy that long been a frustrating enigma for my team. I picked him up in 2005 and in 2006 he started off having a great year leading the league in ERA and going to the All Star game and was on a roll until he landed on the disabled list in August. He end up having Tommy John surgery in the offseason and spent 2007 recovering when he returned he was erratic and bounced up and down from the majors and minor leagues, though there were times he showed flashes of brilliance. The Twins eventually became frustrated with him and dished him to the White Sox where he was no better. However after signing with the Pirates in 2013, he looks to have regained his form. I snagged this Liriano card to represent his first year on the team. Not the most dynamic looking card, but the sig looks great.<br />
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This next card is an odd buy for me because I no longer collect hockey or any other sport aside from baseball. When I got back to the hobby, I decided to just stick with baseball. I only end up with other sports when I buy a collection and it is a mixed lot. I couldn't tell you who currently are the top 5 hockey players in the NHL. However, this guy played back in my youth and he was a character. The funny thing was my friend and I would pronounce names as we would read them, ignorant to the fact there is an ethnic pronunciation of the name.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwvMfbqINAH45AkisOdX8_XL1zGH9e_Sx_1-JMAL7lc6hYMAQzzErQHvtOoAZFm07grGaHe96Gi_Jfyt3JNti5I5YyhpdNOAtE9gq8UZLL_OmEdnJJWFv-mEKdSgWkpO-6qyQc2_zQdhk/s1600/GilbertAuto.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwvMfbqINAH45AkisOdX8_XL1zGH9e_Sx_1-JMAL7lc6hYMAQzzErQHvtOoAZFm07grGaHe96Gi_Jfyt3JNti5I5YyhpdNOAtE9gq8UZLL_OmEdnJJWFv-mEKdSgWkpO-6qyQc2_zQdhk/s320/GilbertAuto.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
So to me his name was pronounced "Gil Ees Gil Burt." However, when I watched games, I heard a different pronunciation which to me sounded like "Jo-Jo Bear." So did my friend, and we agreed that this must be his nickname; he was Gilles "Jo-Jo Bear" Gilbert. This guy was very good too, but he was a little left of center. Find any video of his interviews, he would have his head down, and would whack his pads with his stick while being interviewed. I added this card for a couple bucks and it was a steal I just wish he signed it "Jo-Jo Bear."<br />
After that, I then worked my way through his multitude of .50 cent, 3/$1.00, .20 cent, .10 cent, .07 cent, and.05 cent boxes. There is always lots of great star cards, 90s inserts, and oddball card in there. Even at the low prices, cards can add up. Here are some of the highlights.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivnxVUCBnC3yPbHd24kRQ5BcrCS9Ua242Xt87XTjZJLHEVV0-yxCRC5w0Jzjn_JNy-t7TYHkPSpxObNMmhmLyFg38KlHu2J4ByePR4zxc-TSgp6BPuGqYwGGmzdsykY_spiP9Truep_Z4/s1600/Delgado_swatch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivnxVUCBnC3yPbHd24kRQ5BcrCS9Ua242Xt87XTjZJLHEVV0-yxCRC5w0Jzjn_JNy-t7TYHkPSpxObNMmhmLyFg38KlHu2J4ByePR4zxc-TSgp6BPuGqYwGGmzdsykY_spiP9Truep_Z4/s320/Delgado_swatch.jpg" width="227" /> </a></div>
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I was always a Delgado guy, and I find myself picking up his cards with the intent of using him as trade fodder with Blue Jay collectors. Sometimes the only way to pry a Joe Carter Blue Jay card from a Blue Jay collector is to offer a multitude of other Blue Jay cards that will outweigh having that particular Carter card. Granted, this card is him as a Marlin, but like I said, I always liked Delgado, and for under a buck, why not.</div>
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This is a card that will not be a part of my "Project Heritage." I want to stay with just base cards and short prints. Just to stay with the vintage card style, so no chromes, auto cards, or relic cards. But I was not going to pass on a pinestripe relic of one of the best shortstops of his era.<br />
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I know Sheffield can be a putz, but he had a great career. 500 home runs is nothing to sneeze about and I thought it would be an automatic entry to the Hall of Fame, but after watching Rafael Palmeiro not even get the minimum 5% vote to remain on the ballot, I wonder if guys like Sheffield, McGriff, Ortiz, et al will even get in. Now I was not a Palmeiro guy, he was never a clutch player in my eyes, but he did have over 3000 hits and 500 home runs, but in the eyes of the current egomaniacs in the BBWA that vote, he is a bum. Knowing how surly Sheff could be in his day, I can see it will be payback time for all the voters when his name comes up. <br />
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I may not keep the Tulo, but I did snag these cards for "Project Heritage" I really regret not bothering with the Heritage and Archive cards. Now I have the task of slowly (and I mean s l o w l y) try to go back and piece together 15 years of sets?? We will see how far along I get, especially with the dreaded short prints and "error" variations. Any collectors interested in trading, I am always looking to add these cards in hopes of eventually putting the sets together. <br />
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What is a bargain box dig without grabbing some Kellogg's cards. I had the 80s sets at my mother's house, but I still can't say no to any of these cards. They are star packed, fun to look at, and they really do not set you back that much. Condition can be an issue as they are prone to curl, and can crack. There is also a great many that have surface scratches from kids scratching their nail across the card to hear the noise it makes. The Dewey is an extra if anyone is interested.<br />
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Snagged these guys for a dime each. Probably not the easiest to come across unless you want the figure as well. These are in that camp of oddball, hard to find, but no real major value to them type of cards. All are available if anyone is interested.<br />
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This card set I think I paid a buck for it. I just loved how it is sponsored by "Advil." It seems appropriate for the "old man" to be backed by this product. It is a nice little set that showcases Nolan's career and achievements. <br />
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These two were last minute grabs. I was helping a buddy sort out some 56 Topps cards and saw this Kell card. FOr $3 for a Hall of Famer, it was a solid grab, and the '66 Perez was a $2.50 grab. I am not sure about Perez being in the HOF, he always seemed more of a Hall of Very Good type guy. I think he hung on too long and that dumbed down his numbers, but I have an affinity for any of the guys that played in the 1975 World Series, and as time has gone on, the adversarial Cincinnati Reds players have become favorites if not for just putting on the greatest World Series ever. <br />
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I of course cannot breakdown every bit of cardboard goodness but I will say I ended up pulling around 50 more Chipper Jones cards, another 33 Griffey Jr, among the plethora of cards I pulled on this day. I also bought a monster box of assorted star cards that my dealer friend said he was not inclined to put in his boxes, but for a ten spot, it was fun to go through. There was a lot of the junk wax era stars, but even more modern ones. Between this box and what I pulled from the other boxes I ended up with nearly 100 assorted Maddux cards, 65 Mattingly, etc, etc. Most of this is found on my Zistle inventory. Also a bunch of Allen & Ginter cards many of the short prints. Some of the "stars" are guys that don't have mass appeal, but more local such as the Berkmans, Boones, Burnitz, Alfonzos, Bonillas of baseball. For $10, I had fun sorting through it and it kept me out of trouble. So that is it. As of this writing, only 2 weeks before the next show. Thanks for reading.<br />
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<br />Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02202727432530654097noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3197372350696149061.post-49762856915295094312016-01-27T16:27:00.001-08:002016-01-27T16:27:21.989-08:00Rivals to Allies Like many collectors, eBay has become the lifeblood for a collector. It can offer you almost anything for your collecting needs. It has become an economic benchmark for hobbyists. Beckett may say a particular card is worth something, but eBay reflects the actual peaks and valleys that we as collectors now dictate. The online auction site has opened up avenues to find some of the most random and obscure cards that one would be hard pressed to locate within 100 miles of LCSs and Card shows. Certainly, this is akin to the treasures found by Ali Baba!! (Even moreso if your password to log into eBay is "Open_Sesame!") However, we are not alone in this auction realm and we have all experienced having the proverbial rug, or card, pulled out from our grasp with mere seconds on the clock or had our hopes of getting a certain gem for short money only to get into the dread "bidding war." I am not a "curse guy," I just tend not to swear. My "F word" tends to be "Friggin." I will admit that I have hollered the non-edited by Walmart word around quite a bit when I lost out on an auction, or I had to go more than the opening bid on an item. <br />
Now as a collector of Joe Carter, one would think there would not be much of a hot bed of interest for his cards. Let me state, that is not the case. I have had to be on my toes if I wanted to acquire some of his cardboard, much to my chagrin. "What type of malcontent would want cards of a long retired .259 career hitter that is not even on the HOF ballot??!! shouts a collector of a long retired .259 hitter that is not even on the HOF ballot. Now as a guy who does not swear to often, my wife has gotten used to the random "F@HQ!!!!!" emanating from my office. "You get outbid again?" she would state with about as much feigned interest as she could. "Who the *#$#*$^ else would want that card beside me??!!!" I know exactly the type, they are the type that have no rhyme or reason, they just want to see the collecting world burn!!! What do these people do when they are not squashing the hopes and dreams of cheap collectors? This...<br />
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They are busy eating their young like Saturn!!! Do they even like cards? Is this something they do when they are not going around elementary school classrooms and stealing all the caps off the markers?? It is easy to villainize a person when they are not playing the role you want them to play in "your sandbox" Even easier when they are a faceless, identity-less username on the internet. <br />
A couple months back, I had pulled out my lantern and began a search for an honest man. Okay, I actually just googled "Joe Carter Collection" in an attempt to see what information I could glean from this search. It lead me to this blog: <a href="http://torontobluejayscollection.blogspot.ca/">http://torontobluejayscollection.blogspot.ca/</a><br />
Here I found Richard, who like myself, has been an on again, off again collector. A guy who as this hobby grew and expanded had to downsize and focus on something in particular, and his was deciding to just collect Joe Carter. Now being from the land of Poutine and Molson, being a Carter guy made a whole lot more sense than some shmoe in the Boston area. I read all his posts saw how pumped he was in starting his collection and his efforts to spread his former collection of Blue Jays to other collectors. Richard without knowing introduced me to Zistle, which has been a fun site for me to catalog my stuff and trade bait. Now as a collector of many things, I know how much I like having stuff that I enjoy. That being said, I also like to find homes for things that will be loved and appreciated. A while back I sold a box full of carded Marvel Comic action figures to a friend of mine whom remarked that I could have gotten more for one figure selling it on eBay than I did selling him the entire lot. I just said, "I like to put things where they belong." I potentially, could have gotten more, but I would rather see then go to a friend who will enjoy and appreciate them (And I know he is not made of money) than just sell them to whomever is the highest bidder on the internet. <br />
So as a Carter collector, I have thousands of duplicates sitting in monster boxes. I took to digging through to find any cards I had that Richard did not, and I reached out to him wanting to send them to him. (How often do you find someone that can appreciate a career .259 hitter??) Over that time, Richard and I have corresponded regularly, keeping each other up to date on how their Carter acquisitions were going. Then it dawned on me when he rambled off the last few card he had gotten, and I realized, "THIS WAS MY SATURN!!!" This was my "nemesis" who I was bidding against so many times. Equally stated, I was his! So many times, as Richard waited to add a Carter card to his collection, only to see HIS hopes dashed as I sniped the card away from him. (And I am sure I did it to him, far more times than he did it to me!!) <br />
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I think we both had a chuckle, as the faceless fiend whose only goal
was to frustrate collectors, watch the world burn and take the last can
of "Who Hash" is revealed to be friendly, generous, and passionate about their love for this hobby. When once we would battle over the same card, we can now communicate on what we are looking at and not bid each other up, we can now maximize our buying to lessen shipping costs. In retrospect, may have lost out on a Carter card, but I am happy knowing it went in the collection of a friend. <br />
This past week has been hell as I suffered a rather traumatic freak accident that required emergency surgery, so I have not done much with cards until today. I had a follow up doctor visit and grabbed my mail as well and found a envelope from Mount Crumpet. Sure enough, my friend Richard sent a package of Carter cards that have long eluded me.<br />
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Part of the awesomeness of living up in the Canada region is access to cards that celebrate your teams World Series victory. This 1993 Donruss card was issued through the culinary wizards known as McDonald's. What I really dig about this card is it is one of the rare carter cards showing him playing first base. It was not rare for Joe to man first base as he did play over 300 games at this position. (Fun fact, he also played 1 game a second base, and one game at third base during the 1985 season for Cleveland)It is rare to see a card of him playing first. I never took a formal count but a majority of his cards are of him A) Batting, B) Smiling (Joe was a happy guy!), C) Running and yelling with his arms in the air as he round the bases. (Naturally) So it is cool to see this card. In 1992 long only 4 games at first base. This was from Game 6 of the World Series and was the final out securing the team's victory.<br />
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A couple more goodies courtesy of the marketing one can do when your team wins the World Series. The one on the left is an issue from Demptser's which is a bakery which apparently has been "Nourishing Canadians one loaf at a time." For a food issue card, this is a nice card with a rather sleek design. The card on the right is also a regional food issue, but only in name only. This is a 1994 Oh Henry card, but Oh Henry was merely a sponsor (The money backer in this case) as this is what called a "Police Safety Set" The idea was that local fire or police could hand these cards out to kids. Early cards would have some sage wisdom printed on the back. In my area, we never had "Police sets" and if a cop approached me as a kid, it certainly was not to hand me some baseball cards. I always like these type of sets. Collecting wise, it said you "arrived" if you were fanatic enough to track down a police set. Like a great blogger once stated, these have everything you want in a regional release. "Low-quality cardboard, low quality-printing, a design that just screams "love me or hate me" - I love regional issues, because they are so exclusive! They are rarely worth much money, but certainly not the easiest things to track down.<br />
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Yet another regional release is this 1993 Post Cereal release. Unlike the earlier one, Post has enough money that they can put out a well made card, they just are not paying for the MLB license, so they happily airbrush out those trademarked logos. The back of the card (left) is just a cool as the front, and even utilized a strategic photo that did not show the trademark logos. The back is perforated so that the player would "break out" in some die cut look. I am certainly not going to try it.<br />
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These two cards I thought I had, but of course were issued when parallel-mania was running wild. The left is a 2001 Topps reprint of their Traded series release 10 years earlier. Now we get the 40 year anniversary logo along with the foil embossed 50 year logo. I am surprised that in 2011, Topps did not "buy back" some of these cards so they can stamp them with a 60th anniversary imprint.<br />
The Upper Deck card I swore I had, but I had the relic version with the jersey swatch, so it is nice to add the base insert. (If it is possible to be a base and insert at the same time.)<br />
This card here might be throwing you off. One would think as a player collector, that I would already have all of the base cards, which I do, but this gem was INCREDIBLY tough to find. <br />
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Here is the reason why...<br />
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This is the super rare 1990 Fleer that was printed in Canada. Even in Canada, I think you can find more of the U.S.A. printed cards. Not sure why, but these cards are super tough to find. They do not command a huge premium, but extremely tough to track down.<br />
Thank you Richard for your generosity and kindness. I look forward to our correspondences and I look forward to working together to build both our collections. I already have a stack of cards that I will be sending to "Mount Crumpet." <br />
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<br />Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02202727432530654097noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3197372350696149061.post-13978330168161547412016-01-16T20:39:00.000-08:002016-01-16T20:39:03.910-08:00Why Joe? I decided to try this blog out to part be a personal journal of my thoughts on collecting and other matters, and to network with others in attempt to find missing cards for my PC collection. Now back in the day, before the age of Finest, Flair, Stadium Club, and Sp Authentic, and before there were 50 parallels of a single card, and cards came with pieces of jersey, pants, gloves, bats, and who knows what is next, it was easy to have all sorts of collections. I was able to put together complete sets, and I was able to have a pretty good Red Sox collection. I also had many players aside from my Red Sox that I collected: Dave Parker, Tony Armas, George Bell, Jesse Barfield, Tony Fernandez, and Joe Carter. As the hobby grew and grew it did, the cost of the hobby jumped and it was not as easy to maintain as diversified portfolio. I slowly retired from collecting each of these things and could only maintain one thing and that turned out to be my Joe Carter collection. <br />
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Now Joe was not necessarily a childhood hero (That went to Carlton Fisk
and Luis Tiant) Joe was a clutch player that always seemed to kill my
Red Sox. He was a guy that took his job seriously, but always seemed to
have fun doing it. He seemed to epitomize the saying of "Do what you
love and you will never work a day in your life." Joe was also not a
superhero type player that everything came naturally. He had his
failures, and his successes. He did it naturally, and with genuine hard
work. For some reason, that really resonated with me as a young guy in
my twenties, and it seemed natural that as more and more of my
collecting habits were put to the wayside, I remained loyal and focused
to my Carter collection. Carter seemed a unqiue name considering some of the big names that were out there at the time. One of my friends was a big Rickey Henderson collector. Another was a Ken Griffey Jr collector, and I met others that collected all your big name guys, yet here I was, collecting Joe. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzlEBEYoBHOzFaExNXJywSc0zMm5kD0sMVH5OtzZ9wNrU2zkNqbgCvWPWwV6umFv0hzTxmg-Yk-TSjwa3EkVvrjmpvCdmNwNFBftFuTQuGc2UF5ZzP7kkE732mM4kZhPJIObi_OJl1Mo8/s1600/04UD_UltSig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzlEBEYoBHOzFaExNXJywSc0zMm5kD0sMVH5OtzZ9wNrU2zkNqbgCvWPWwV6umFv0hzTxmg-Yk-TSjwa3EkVvrjmpvCdmNwNFBftFuTQuGc2UF5ZzP7kkE732mM4kZhPJIObi_OJl1Mo8/s320/04UD_UltSig.jpg" width="232" /></a></div>
Certainly, there was a time when Joe was one of the more dominating
players in the game and every company had him in their various sub-sets. Then the World Series walk off propelled him even further until a few years after that when his production started to wane and like many players, his final active years was a journeyman playing for teams like the Baltimore Orioles and San Francisco Giants. But 1992-1996 were his big years in the card production realm. Now he randomly appears as a "retired great" for some companies and gets more parallels and certified auto cards than it seems he had cards during his actual playing days. I always hoped to be able to attend his enshrinement in the Baseball Hall of Fame and even convinced my wife that if we had a child, I wanted to name him Carter Joseph. ("Twenty Nine" did not roll off the tongue like "Seven.") But like most idealistic thoughts, they do not always pan out. Joe did not even get the required 5% to remain on the ballot. I can understand why, he was shy of 400 home runs and was a career .259 hitter, he wasn't the superhero that would take his place among the other legends in the pantheon in Cooperstown. He was Joe, a solid anchor for the Indians and Blue Jays and his career would be over just 5 years after hitting one of the most memorable home runs in World Series history. There isn't even a little Carter running around wearing a Blue Jays jersey. Hell, none of the three cats even honor his name. But even if things did not end up for Joe like I once thought, there is still that one constant. I am still one of his biggest fans, and I am still feverishly trying to add more of his cards to my collection. I will continue to laud the guy, and maybe the next time I take a trip to Cooperstown, I will make sure I leave one of his cards behind so I can smile knowing that for one day, Joe was in the Hall of Fame.<br />
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Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02202727432530654097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3197372350696149061.post-76331515119016537202016-01-08T18:19:00.003-08:002016-01-08T18:19:37.328-08:00I'd Buy that for a Dollar!! #1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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They say "Idle hands are the Devil's work." The same can be said when you are not quite tired to go to sleep. This often leads me to sit and surf eBay. This gave me the idea of coming up with a game/project. I will try to find the best deal of the night and not spend more than $1. I will do this once a week for an annual budget not to exceed $52. So right out of the gate I break my first rule and have to spend a whole 4 cents more for this beauty. 2001 Fleer Showcase "Sweet Sigs" autograph of Mike Sweeney.</div>
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The Sweet Sig Collection is a 69 card set of 23 players with 3 variants to their card. (A "leather" a "lumber" and a piece of the "wall") Now the actual surface that is signed is not actual a game used item, but was material to simulate the texture of the item. Not that it mattered to me. I rather like having the wood piece signed by the player rather than the standard sticker autograph.</div>
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I categorize my views of the hobby and baseball into 3 periods The 60s and earlier are the "Legends Era" It makes up primarily guys I never had the pleasure to see play, or to see them during their prime years. These guys are the ones I only see highlight footage, or read about in books and magazines. Then there is the 70s & 80s which I will term "The Idol Era" These were players I saw growing up, and into my teen age young adult era. There are players that I love that most people do not realize how good they were as time has faded. Then there is the 90s and beyond, "The Statistics Era" No longer looking at it with childhood admiration, but with a eye towards statistics as I had become a huge Fantasy baseball owner. The time when I care more of of the player will help my team more than their own. I will even hold onto cards of guys who stunk it up on my team just to remind me of some of the awful players I have latched onto.<br />
Mike Sweeney is one of those guys I always liked. He came up as a Catcher, but was no better than average when playing that position. He did not flourish until he was moved to 1B/DH in 1999. The funny thing is the Royals were pretty much done with him after proving to not be a very good catcher. They tried to trade him during spring training and found no takers. So they decided to give him ABs at DH since they really didn't have much of an option. Then they lost Jeff King to retirement and had a hole at first base. They wanted outfield prospect Jeremy Giambi to move to first base but he wasn't keen on the idea so they put Sweeney there and what happened? Sweeney became a natural and not only put up some great numbers leading the league in batting and 20+ homers, he also had the best fielding percentage in the past twenty years!!<br />
I had numerous tenures with Mr Sweeney on my team. Probably the most memorable was in 2002 when I paid up big in our draft for Sweeney and he went on to hit .340 with 24 long balls. He also had a clean steal of home plate against the dread Yankees!!!! This was also the first time he went on the Dl, an event that would become a staple the rest of his career. He finished his career as a journeyman and it seems odd seeing him in a Oakland, Seattle, or Phillies uniform. He signed a ceremonial one day contract with the Royals to retire in March 2011. Sweeney has been inducted into the Royals Hall of Fame, but his first year on the National ballot will also prove to be his only appearance as he yielded just 3 votes. Sweeney was also a guy that did a lot of community work. A simple internet search will yield data of various awards Sweeney has received for his work, as well as events Sweeney would run for the disadvantaged. One other cool thing is he is the nephew-in-law to this guy....<br />
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I don't need a huge binder of Mike Sweeney cards, but this one is a nice reminder of a guy that found his opportunity and turned it into a admirable MLB career and even greater, his legacy in Kansas City. Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02202727432530654097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3197372350696149061.post-24221372647969833032016-01-05T19:28:00.002-08:002016-01-05T19:28:55.211-08:00Post Christmas Card Show Pt. 2After picking out a handful of vintage singles, I hit the masses of price point bargain boxes. This dealer Has boxes ranging from $3 down to $0.10, $0.07, and $0.05. Each show, what did not sell at that show is shifted down one price point for the following show. These boxes are chcok full of tons of base cards and 90s inserts of all the big names. Griffey, Thomas, Maddux, Big Unit, A-Rod, Chipper, Vlad, Pujols, Piazza, Larkin, Bonds, etc, etc. You will find all other sports as well but my primary is baseball. After all was said and done, I believe I walked out with an additional 849 cards from the discount gins. If nothing else, it makes for good trade foddder. But with all boxes, there are all sorts of fun gems....<br />
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These cards came from the higher priced bins, but I think the Bonds double relic was the most expensive at a whopping couple bucks. The Longo swatch was at the last show and had now made its way down to the dollar bin, so I snagged him along with another Delgado. I have amassed quite a Delgado collection. I just wish there were a Toronto Blue Jays fan that wants an instant Carlos collection for a couple Joe Carters I need. The Walker and Big Unit swatches were better than average snags, at least there is a pinstripe. The Chavez is not a relic card, but number to 50 and cost me maybe .50.<br />
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Even graded cards find their way in the box. It would cost me more to ship these cards to a grading service than it cost me to acquire them. <br />
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Any food issue will gain my interest. Not huge stars, but I will take as many Hostess cards for a .10 that I can grab. These are not even cut that badly. So few of these cards survived the jittery hands of a suger-addled kid.<br />
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More dime goodness with a small cache of near mint 1982 Kellogg's cards. No cracking, and no scratches on the surface. 4 Hall of Famers and 2 other big star names. These cards were another one of those smaller issue sets that I like to put together. manageable number, lots of stars, and a novel look. <br />
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I love the look of The Heritage sets, and the All-Time Fan Favorites, and of course the Archives. Certainly it is lazy to rely on reusing old card designs, but no one seems to complain. I will make it a point to pick up as many of the Heritage and Archives that I can to start putting the base sets together (SPs be damned!! I will track you down!!) This 2010 insert set is a perfect example of a fun set. A Jimmie Foxx in 1986 design, or a 1957 Johnny Bench card, love these cards and hope to track down more of them at a discount price. These were either a nickel or 0.07 cents each.<br />
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Found a few odd cards that failed to get their foil stamping. These cards you can se the imprint of the die striking the card, but it failed to leave the ink. I can see all three being unique additions to a player or team collector. I know I love getting misprint Joe Carter cards.<br />
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Front Row was a small company that didn't last too long. Not a real surprise, their designs were pretty mundane but for the price it was worth snagging a few Hall of Famer card sets.<br />
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This 1992 Score set is just an odd item. In 1992, these sets were actually a bit uncommon. How well the distribution of these cards went is beyond me, but it appears over the years hidden caches of the cards continue to pop up thus diminishing any real collectible value other than that of the die hard player or team collector. That was just 36 of the the 849 cards I pulled out of the boxes on that day. I can't wait for the Martin Luther King Day show, jsut to see how well I do then. Any requests??<br />
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<br />Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02202727432530654097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3197372350696149061.post-58446770400734688972016-01-05T18:36:00.004-08:002016-01-05T18:36:38.769-08:00Post Christmas Card Show Pt. 1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha8vNgmK006Zi_7IF_5EI8i66JgDGgtaBzJd5v_1zTJUImpcMYACFm_oa0RlDPb0VPWSxch_WrNRJeGBCDX-u4J2gQnZTMimjaEoYW8DSBGe_dx3IKZ5z4kUnqIeiWZG46S-81s274x6Y/s1600/Card_show.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha8vNgmK006Zi_7IF_5EI8i66JgDGgtaBzJd5v_1zTJUImpcMYACFm_oa0RlDPb0VPWSxch_WrNRJeGBCDX-u4J2gQnZTMimjaEoYW8DSBGe_dx3IKZ5z4kUnqIeiWZG46S-81s274x6Y/s320/Card_show.jpg" width="320" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I could not complain in how to end my extended work break through the holidays by taking in my local card show. This is an old-time,-host-in-a Holiday-Inn-conference-room,-card show. The show brings in the same dealers, whom set up in the same spots, and least 2 local sports team current or alumni player as signing guests. Its that comfortable pair of sneakers you grow to love, The modest $2 entry fee is accompanied with free junk wax era pack of cards, or even a free autograph from a prior show's guest. Hell, they even truck in pizza for all the dealers at the show!! If Norman Rockwell were to ever paint an idealistic grass roots local card show, he could be hard pressed to argue against this little scenario. My teen year collecting buddy, and I would hit this show many a time before we found distractions that kept us from attending regularly.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">When I jumped back in the hobby, this was a no-brainer, only 30 minutes away. Like many people. We all have a "guy." That dealer that you find yourself doing a majority of your business with and he always has access to whatever product you might need. Looking for an unopened case of 1992 Leaf Series 1?? I got a guy that can get one! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So I venture out Sunday morning at a unsightly 4:45 AM! Yup, you read that correctly, 4:45 AM!! The show itself does not officially start until 4 hours later, at 8:45AM, but for "my guy," his day begins at 4:30-5 AM when he arrives to set up. Needless to say, he is rarely alone. Several regulars are there to greet him, as well as help him lug in his stock for the opportunity to get early view at his newest stock, and for what he charges, it is well worth going up early. Vintage cards priced at 15% of book, last month's stock, is down to 10%. Boxes of cardboard goodness marked $3, $2, $1, $.75, $.50, $3/$1, $.20, $.10, $.07, and $.05! Every show, what did not sell, gets moved down a tier, and so on, so on and so on. All sorts of high quality stars at common card prices. Sure some of it is over produced, but for what you can find, there is all sorts of cool stuff. This show, I wanted to try to fill in some of my 1970 and 1975 Topps set needs, and maybe a few 1961s. Then it would be grazing at the boxes for bargain bin goodness. So first the 75s. Now sometimes it pays to be the first to go through a box of fresh new old vintage stock, I hope, to one day be that person. In this case, the key rookies, would be snagged right before my eyes, but I still manged to walk away with a few cards that didn't set me back. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi33T9XCrgSNfN0ykzXFNadrhrroAqz9uu_2mw7H4ddmv3TeNGhw4AdGJMZjuPkmWn-PstUzAdVTz6hUCdUjS9D_93fDLxzTncdLJcfOBSv0-WD9Vtc6vxQvEKcvk_R9AOhZVtDXs-ly5M/s1600/Show12-27-1975Topps-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi33T9XCrgSNfN0ykzXFNadrhrroAqz9uu_2mw7H4ddmv3TeNGhw4AdGJMZjuPkmWn-PstUzAdVTz6hUCdUjS9D_93fDLxzTncdLJcfOBSv0-WD9Vtc6vxQvEKcvk_R9AOhZVtDXs-ly5M/s320/Show12-27-1975Topps-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <br />
Growing up a Red Sox fan, and a Carlton Fisk fan, meant you never liked this guy. However, if I grew up a Yankee fan, he might have been my favorite player. The first of the 3 temples of Nolan Ryan (The Highlight card, The League Leader card, and the player card itself. ) I am happy to get this one out of the way, but really need to find a deal on a #500.<br />
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When I was a kid, these MVP cards were not the most exciting cards. The photos of the cards were tiny, but had some interest in just putting the sub-set together. Today, there is legit value in these cards. The theory of putting Mantle on any piece of cardboard and it is worth money was in full force. These "Mini Mantle" appearances were great to get out of the way, and pay dimes on the dollar was helpful. <br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> I actually prefer the vertical MVP card to the horizontal. Then one of my favorite cards from back in the day, elder statesman, Brooks Robinson: This card had a cool close up of him at bat, that big white star to denote his pedigree, all things that had me buying in as a kid. It also helped that since he played in the American League East Division, I saw him perform a lot more frequently that the West Coast or National League contemporaries. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>1970 Topps:</b> I fared a bit better, though there were a few that the condition was not worth it for me as I know I would just end up upgrading it eventually. This was the haul of the 70s:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRYbpnXc7yp_ZRYBRWNJgn0Dvfvxg82p7l8nK108cRSJuWyXK_HLAH660H0i6lhYQZCKlDwi80M_adra2AZIigbNWdE_LEQygw91o3bwOb7ufcDe8fUpd9pyJ6Dtj0KA_O8jJXtT7bYR4/s1600/Show12-27-1970Topps-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRYbpnXc7yp_ZRYBRWNJgn0Dvfvxg82p7l8nK108cRSJuWyXK_HLAH660H0i6lhYQZCKlDwi80M_adra2AZIigbNWdE_LEQygw91o3bwOb7ufcDe8fUpd9pyJ6Dtj0KA_O8jJXtT7bYR4/s320/Show12-27-1970Topps-1.jpg" width="232" /></a></div><br />
I never turn down a clean checklist! I can deal with the off center, but if it was marked up, I would be irritated by that. Though a Phillie here, Deron Johnson would end his career with the Red Sox. In 1974, Johnson, fresh of a World Series win as a member of the Oakland A's would soon find himself picked of waivers by the Milwaukee Brewers before being sold to the Red Sox for a failed stretch drive. The next season he signed with the Chicago White Sox, only to be reacquired by Boston when Jim Rice was lost to injury. Needless to say, he was a black hole, but during the 1970 season, Johnson would tally 93 RBIs as well as watching the ball leave the yard 27 times. In 1970, Reggie Jackson was not quite the straw that stirred the coffee that he would become, so he was still bowing to Harmon Killebrew in the statistical categories. The Cepeda was a throw in. There is paper loss on the back, but it is still a high number card. The Rose makes the 2nd All-Star I have acquired. These cards always made me think Pete (or whichever All-Star) was a guest on <i>The Love Boat.</i> Bill Buckner will always be a polarizing figure in Boston, but this would be the start to a rather successful career in the National League with the Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs before being traded to Boston for Dennis Eckersley. The Wagner, Royals Rooks, and Taylor card are semi high numbers. One interesting thing is this checklist is one of several variations that are seen in the 1970 Topps set. For this particular card, it was merely forgetting a period. Card 226, can be found with either the player noted as R. Perranoski or without the period between the R & P. I flipped the card over and found this...<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG9KeNsezPRMUTU2HlrvlyGYCeMlJZYWNwslHYuEU8OcNjIMAdH7hwejRqzMnJziDRVkWpKagi2SnN7Lzr_3xH-bDgU2V6f-69L746s_cn8GZS0DGQn6xDiWm9j2WotV1IdRrs1dnbiSc/s1600/70Tp_128Checklist.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG9KeNsezPRMUTU2HlrvlyGYCeMlJZYWNwslHYuEU8OcNjIMAdH7hwejRqzMnJziDRVkWpKagi2SnN7Lzr_3xH-bDgU2V6f-69L746s_cn8GZS0DGQn6xDiWm9j2WotV1IdRrs1dnbiSc/s320/70Tp_128Checklist.jpg" width="223" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">If there was a period to begin with, there is not one now!!! The card was cropped so poorly, I can't tell if there ever was a period or not. So until I find a clearer version of this card, this will do nicely.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH5vxqs1nH7-bR9divuLeyxMgQ4V2l3nWMKa2RxNTRDZp3Bq-ZZXPghz-eAItgT_kG8IS_7kw3f2aPf9cpajVU_zDQoNHlLZMWZsKj6bSCSdn84-zrFSqpDxgW4CgMMW0-Gx01_Y6lZJM/s1600/Show12-27-1970Topps-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH5vxqs1nH7-bR9divuLeyxMgQ4V2l3nWMKa2RxNTRDZp3Bq-ZZXPghz-eAItgT_kG8IS_7kw3f2aPf9cpajVU_zDQoNHlLZMWZsKj6bSCSdn84-zrFSqpDxgW4CgMMW0-Gx01_Y6lZJM/s320/Show12-27-1970Topps-2.jpg" width="291" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> The next four are part of the high number series, so I am glad to get 4 more and keep my goal of acquiring at least 2 high number cards from this set each pay period. There he is again, my defacto superstar, Larry Haney. This time his standing in the card community is heightened by his placement in the final series of cards. Fryman would be an Expo by the time I would initially be introduced to him. Shttps://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3197372350696149061#editor/target=post;postID=1566636673837910236eattle Team card is another tough one from the high series. That adds 13 more 1970s to the pile that will one day be the complete set.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><b> 1961 Topps: </b>Two things I always associate with the 60s trading card period is that 1968 cards have a high population of cards that look like they went through the ringer more often than not. Perhaps they used a cheaper paper quality that year, or maybe that bleed pattern lends itself to showing more unsightly wear than those with white borders. On the flip side, I see so many 1961 Topps cards in very nice shape. I started putting aside 61s years ago and there is a working set of a couple hundred in ex-nm-mt condition that is over my mother's house. (Maris, Mantle, Mays, were all acquired at that point.) I never know when I will see my mother, so I have no idea if I am buying duplicates with some of the common guys. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwog4WO5mwcMCg0fC1Uz4FXRDuAYMsOj_CcP46wnowRjj4vQiiA3nnXgbdAfY5EitQAf_qgAe8o4F184YqBOOs-ttz4-YDWEFjD0A3tsqE4oyi0yF1MdHrj60CrNGeznSbX6zwqof75Io/s1600/Show12-27-1961Topps-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwog4WO5mwcMCg0fC1Uz4FXRDuAYMsOj_CcP46wnowRjj4vQiiA3nnXgbdAfY5EitQAf_qgAe8o4F184YqBOOs-ttz4-YDWEFjD0A3tsqE4oyi0yF1MdHrj60CrNGeznSbX6zwqof75Io/s320/Show12-27-1961Topps-1.jpg" width="249" /></a></div><br />
I snapped up this checklist in unmarked condition, and it must be my Red Sox blood that made me grab three Sawx players.Though I will say the futile airbrush job done on Carroll Hardy's hat made it a choice on this day. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJyfD7AxoouIuMD6wfHrSaR2iBEd3wSccH9ll3rCCyOa8fMb_UhNIpi70a-NtVV_mMU4HPhUxgfOQPNGJx9j3x9YR27BOWRi0X_ljYa0ZnzC89ZlTg7mx9OtPyTWGeZ8eczU1kk0Q72IY/s1600/Show12-27-1961Topps-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJyfD7AxoouIuMD6wfHrSaR2iBEd3wSccH9ll3rCCyOa8fMb_UhNIpi70a-NtVV_mMU4HPhUxgfOQPNGJx9j3x9YR27BOWRi0X_ljYa0ZnzC89ZlTg7mx9OtPyTWGeZ8eczU1kk0Q72IY/s320/Show12-27-1961Topps-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Then there is the curious case of Chuck Schilling. Well, there is no case, he got hurt and was never the same player after his debut alongside friend and future Hall of Famer, Carl Yastrzemski. Schilling was a spark plug right from the start, the Red Sox even moved the 1960 Batting Champion, Pete Runnels to first base to accommodate Schilling. Schilling didn't disappoint as a rookie, he led the league at fielding percentage. He also was not to shabby with the stick piling up 87 runs alongside 62 RBIs and 5 long balls. The following year, Schilling got injured and was never the same player. he was out of the league by 1966. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Finally, I know I did not have a lot of team cards, so this was a easy safe buy.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>The Other Vintage</b>: As I said, His vintage can be a great steal. Snagged the following singles.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyxE2cfBPpCcZOsSnM5LjAd-rN6cAUWAKimgjQI0P95ZTXqpXWfO_jV828wRj_ZHICi7RrHumI7h8lGZ3YxXUZ_1DaB9IeZcpem4NCwRh7IhhUKPnsWpNbbsLq5t-LoCMJ8z2hj1wDa1g/s1600/Show12-27-Vintage-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyxE2cfBPpCcZOsSnM5LjAd-rN6cAUWAKimgjQI0P95ZTXqpXWfO_jV828wRj_ZHICi7RrHumI7h8lGZ3YxXUZ_1DaB9IeZcpem4NCwRh7IhhUKPnsWpNbbsLq5t-LoCMJ8z2hj1wDa1g/s320/Show12-27-Vintage-1.jpg" width="232" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> Those rare 1968 Topps that remain in presentable condition. Eddie Mathew's swan song year. I always loved Joe Morgan. he was one of the greatest second basemen I have ever seen play. Grabbed a very clean 1968 All Star of Rod Carew, a guy that was one of the more dominating players of the 80s. I kinda feel Carew has always been under-appreciated in the game. This 59 Don Zimmer looked amazing and with vibrant colors A vintage card with great color and gloss will draw me like a moth to flame. Zim had a notorious run as Red Sox manager and eventually adversary with the New York Yankees, but his legacy in the game as a "lifer" is one to be honored. Growing up, another one of my heroes that I never saw regularly was Dave Parker. The guy just mashed, and he had a cannon of an arm in Right Field as well. It was cool to snag his rookie card again. A few 1969s The Steve Carlton was a beauty and was glad to snag this one. I can't use under-appreciated without bringing up Ron Santo and the rookie card of Joe Rudi. Rudi was one of dynamic players that played on the Oakland A's dynasty teams. I remember in 1976, Charlie Finley tried to disband his team of impending free agents by selling off his players. For a very brief time, Joe Rudi and future Hall of Fame closer Rollie Fingers were sold to my Red Sox, while our arch-rival Yankees ponied up for ace starter Vida Blue. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBE74kwILNSJRTdBjXHWq0qqtPKhXTnI_3vRSB0iF10We3m0WNjZJXFDvsd4zI7iczm1fEEfUnnOQa8Xu43dKVf1Z6lrha2SOEn1bc2oJfiFz2P8jvYOA0RFmqS3IF-EGVzRRuGL2kuuk/s1600/fingers1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBE74kwILNSJRTdBjXHWq0qqtPKhXTnI_3vRSB0iF10We3m0WNjZJXFDvsd4zI7iczm1fEEfUnnOQa8Xu43dKVf1Z6lrha2SOEn1bc2oJfiFz2P8jvYOA0RFmqS3IF-EGVzRRuGL2kuuk/s320/fingers1.jpg" width="264" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibhLhaINKNxtyUZ0s-cQ2mqeNnBzhRBIINeUYIF9euvBMiWP6RfN5KXLq4Tb4htZvQ1ilHWJdQndcI1qjMPS3raonLRPcuATB47s7cnbTAhWBH9ND-aCBF0gVJwMPBoDDmMzjnGjsNVHU/s1600/Fingers_Rico.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibhLhaINKNxtyUZ0s-cQ2mqeNnBzhRBIINeUYIF9euvBMiWP6RfN5KXLq4Tb4htZvQ1ilHWJdQndcI1qjMPS3raonLRPcuATB47s7cnbTAhWBH9ND-aCBF0gVJwMPBoDDmMzjnGjsNVHU/s320/Fingers_Rico.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The total for my 75s, 70s, 61s and the odd lot of stars $25. Pretty happy with that pull. Part 2 will showcase a few oddball items I pulled out of the bargain bins.</div><br />
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Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02202727432530654097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3197372350696149061.post-65948514747581285342016-01-05T18:34:00.001-08:002016-01-27T16:28:59.784-08:00In the beginning.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh312m0mJW_wqmjj9_UXfzKfOeeytdbw_4yXHs4dixwKVRvNlPGP2rXO6fRyZUTx0yAKiVq2say0qyuIMhWMFTuttP3hiAgr2XRyS7SO4gYN1U9E_ECqrlQqbEwOLvlq5b_GO_sgibG5G0/s1600/inTheBeginning.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh312m0mJW_wqmjj9_UXfzKfOeeytdbw_4yXHs4dixwKVRvNlPGP2rXO6fRyZUTx0yAKiVq2say0qyuIMhWMFTuttP3hiAgr2XRyS7SO4gYN1U9E_ECqrlQqbEwOLvlq5b_GO_sgibG5G0/s320/inTheBeginning.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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It was 1974. I joined my first little league team. A team sponsored by the local Sub shop called "Sub Galley" I was excited to have my own "uniform" (a screen print t-shirt and ballcap) but at 7 years old, it was enough. This was also the year I met my first idol, and a guy that inspired me to play baseball in Boston Red Sox ace, Luis Tiant. ( More on this meeting later. ) I was hooked on the game, and shortly thereafter, I was introduced to baseball cards!!<br />
I had a nice stack of 1974 Topps cards, but it was 1975 that became a landmark for me. I loved the bright color pattern. The All-Star players were duly noted with a large white star on their cards and those were the cards to get and keep on the top stack of the team. (I could have cared less about number order and a complete set was inconsequential.) I checked off the players on the back of the team list, and kept them in stacks wrapped in rubber bands! (Wince!) I would take my cards in a box and go to my friend Mike Domenici's house and we would trade cards. I got to see the cards I never received in packs. Three cards for two was serious business!! These things were amazing. I loved the action shots. I loved batting helmets, so that was a huge mark for a good card. Besides the Red Sox, I was a fan of the Oakland A's. They were a powerhouse team with some great players. My Mom was a baseball fan, and she told me of the different players that were stars on teams. But I had my own criteria of whom was a big deal based on these pieces of cardboard that dictated to my young mind which ones were vital to have. Truth be told, in 1975, I could have cared less for George Brett . His card looked like many other batter posed shots. I would have been more interested in Buck Martinez in his catcher crouch than I would for Mr. Brett. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr9nh_KCyLShyphenhyphenXJVOv_1L6iZ7TtyurZDXoFj46esGWbBjBIg0zyFzjiEjREP6r2Tfqz8rGLGLzptL3CZawvXsOq5lNst8lA_E0XYHybtENPOG5CP3B0xcbmoE0qJcIwTU6QyoeRm8UyeQ/s1600/75Allen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr9nh_KCyLShyphenhyphenXJVOv_1L6iZ7TtyurZDXoFj46esGWbBjBIg0zyFzjiEjREP6r2Tfqz8rGLGLzptL3CZawvXsOq5lNst8lA_E0XYHybtENPOG5CP3B0xcbmoE0qJcIwTU6QyoeRm8UyeQ/s320/75Allen.jpg" width="226" /></a></div>
This is the earmark of an awesome card for 8 year old me. Not only was this guy good (Had to be, he had the "All-Star" designation inside a star!!!) It was an action shot and he was wearing a helmet!! He was also wearing one on the field!! What type of radical was this guy?! Must be because he is that good, he can get away with wearing it unlike his other teammates. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAVjyH74UFutNZAheLVcNvD4zBe1UtbW4OAH3dH1S-NPSWaWSe4yZ5crfog_6wvo8oQT6b_qaGrfyJH-fXeJdFdSEuzjEyb4G-2M8urHUfd8VsRQMFc79cwDlsBjRRGNfioR3uGqfaF00/s1600/75Burleson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAVjyH74UFutNZAheLVcNvD4zBe1UtbW4OAH3dH1S-NPSWaWSe4yZ5crfog_6wvo8oQT6b_qaGrfyJH-fXeJdFdSEuzjEyb4G-2M8urHUfd8VsRQMFc79cwDlsBjRRGNfioR3uGqfaF00/s320/75Burleson.jpg" width="229" /></a></div>
Another awesome card. The colors attracted me like a moth to a flame. That blue RED SOX on a red field was too good to ever pass up. Not to mention that "Rooster" Burleson was one of the big stars on the Red Sox team.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEVcYOqnN3qWMMsJWCX7r-N7jQqm9jrDtgOZqTswRxzHbdDlk_a2cvRl7vuT7C1pQ9I5GCJW6vHnQdlKninokFala68AXvMeDG-oeZ0g5IJh4z6TXvole_bqp1lDXFvVbs3pE1ttejMIQ/s1600/75Campy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEVcYOqnN3qWMMsJWCX7r-N7jQqm9jrDtgOZqTswRxzHbdDlk_a2cvRl7vuT7C1pQ9I5GCJW6vHnQdlKninokFala68AXvMeDG-oeZ0g5IJh4z6TXvole_bqp1lDXFvVbs3pE1ttejMIQ/s320/75Campy.jpg" width="225" /></a></div>
I am sure this was a card I would have leaped over sofas and ottomans to get. It was an All-Star and the guy was wearing that cool shiny green jacket, and he played for the Oakland A's that had a star at every position!!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmCoV_SwJVmmbAMp5K8qCpzr79GzAtr98MyIcRojTXWw_yTPnBFEY_WWWehbNFmxiEsIa7wKHbBmsyQYU2ZQ9FGqfrj3SqwaJeGI2plP1nlYr4CAHCcimv2Sg6qyuvXEIDqedcnlmbVjc/s1600/75Martinez.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmCoV_SwJVmmbAMp5K8qCpzr79GzAtr98MyIcRojTXWw_yTPnBFEY_WWWehbNFmxiEsIa7wKHbBmsyQYU2ZQ9FGqfrj3SqwaJeGI2plP1nlYr4CAHCcimv2Sg6qyuvXEIDqedcnlmbVjc/s320/75Martinez.jpg" width="232" /></a></div>
Sure I'll give you that George Brett guy for this awesome card. Its a no-brainer, this is a catcher card! Granted, he could at least be wearing the equipment, but he has that cool glove! Deal!!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGDpWK25bZ1zy1PtwQUy_Uvtap17ojMlJdbqn8hbOCj5ulQSZ6D_a6tCNw9HYutcZo5RuoDhFr5zm562acOryxdj7Z8l5_RqqTtFguQcl0752VZrb7Mwgpv6S1XLXwRpp8A_XkVdnRa2Q/s1600/75Haney.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGDpWK25bZ1zy1PtwQUy_Uvtap17ojMlJdbqn8hbOCj5ulQSZ6D_a6tCNw9HYutcZo5RuoDhFr5zm562acOryxdj7Z8l5_RqqTtFguQcl0752VZrb7Mwgpv6S1XLXwRpp8A_XkVdnRa2Q/s320/75Haney.jpg" width="230" /></a></div>
Another card I loved as a kid. Oakland A's player (even if he was not Gene Tenace.) It was a great action shot (still is!) The guy was wearing catcher's gear which was something that enamored me as a kid. "Larry Haney" was cool to me. I was not at an age that I really bothered with statistics. By the time I would understand the rudimentary stats (HR= AWESOME!, WINS= AWESOME, "ERA?"= No idea what that means) I might not have given Haney, a guy with a career total of 12 home runs, a second thought. I would not even know that Haney was valued for his defensive prowess rather than his bat. But because Haney was on the A's and he had this action shot in his catching glory. Haney was cool to me. Now the irony: It was never Haney on the card, but future pitching guru Dave Duncan. But I was never wise to that as a kid. So Larry Haney gets credited for a card I loved because of Dave Duncan. Ah, the system, whee one can easily take credit for the work of others. You go Larry!!!<br />
Despite my love for the 1975 Topps (Or 1975 in general!) through the various stages of interest in the baseball card hobby, I never tried to put this set together until now. This is one of my number of projects for 2016. I am still trying to buy up lots of EX-MT or better 75s and will eventually pick out the best condition one for the set. Star cards are also targeted and I really do not want the last card needed for the set to be the Brett rookie, so I hope to snag one before summer. <br />
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<br />Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02202727432530654097noreply@blogger.com0