About a month ago, my family took a weekend trip to Mt. Hood, with me, i went too. We’re lucky enough to have good friends that own a small cabin in the woods and are more than happy and willing to share the tiny abode from time to time. It’s near Rhododendron, which is close to Zig Zag, which is close to Welches, which is close to Government Camp, which is close to Mt. Hood…it’s on Mt. Hood actually. The cabin is a small, one bed timber framed cabin with a kitchenette, it’s…umm… cozy…(read small)…but it is nicely nestled in the forest off a small unpaved road. Normally the roads are covered in snow, but we were able to visit just after a heavy rain storm that washed away most of the snow, leaving some ice.
I believe these cabins were once used to house park rangers that would work during the year. It allowed them to retreat to a nice home after a long day at work rather than travel to and from their own homes each day. For one person, these cabins are crazy comfortable, for two people, it’s perfect…for two people and a toddler…you need more space. A LOT MORE SPACE! But, hey it’s free…and i got some cards to open while i was there too!
That blurry flash is my child doing his best to run around in a small building while my wife makes snacks and i build a manly fire. So, cards.
One of my goals with the renewed interest in blogging was to open packs or do something card oriented each time i travel. We were kind of in that weird time of year where the 2016s didn’t interest me anymore and the new 2017’s weren’t out yet…other than the flagship Topps…which i already had a box of. So i picked up one of those dreaded repack jobs that deliver very little in return. Spoiler alert, my low expectations were met with a couple of mild surprises. Let’s take a look.
As the box mentioned, 4 packs and a total of 50 cards and a BONUS! Before we open everything, let’s do a little inventory. The 4 packs were of 2015 Topps (2), 2016 Leaf Babe Ruth Collection (1), and 2016 Gypsy Queen (1). The white box of surprises had a little mini Twins baseball guy which was quickly jacked by the toddler. There were 53 cards in the white box, so i’m already ahead no matter what happens. Here are some Topps highlights.
Justin Upton and Clayton Kershaw were the only names of significant note for me. Hey, notice the vintage table pattern, apparently the table has been in the same location for over 50 years…i imagine it’s been moved a time or two to sweep though.
A couple insert cards. High leg kicking Carlton and top 40 Free Agent Robbie Cano. One of these guys is going in to my collection and the other one is going in to the Phillies box i got in my basement. Let’s take a look at the Gypsy Queen cards!
A couple of real DBacks.
A power alley McCovey.
And a mini Brandon Drury…a Diamondbacks hot pack i guess. Now lets take a look at the Ruth cards.
Two odd photos of Babe Ruth, kids and bats.
Two odd photos of Babe Ruth swinging things that aren’t baseball bats.
One photo of Babe Ruth doing baseball warm ups, his Career Achievements card…but what about that white box? Mostly junk wax stuff, but kind of fun to look through. There were three cards of note that made me want to take a photograph of them, and here they are…in order of how much i like them, from least to most.
Some Yankee stuff
A Posey Bowman.
A Jeter Diamond King! Yay! This was by far the best card in the bunch, pretty nice card. I think i may have a copy or two of this one, but it’s still a nice little piece to pull in a cabin in the woods.
the end…
Something that’s hopefully appropriate for this post…family member, Paul Riddle on the drum kit here.
I pre-ordered a jumbo box of 1987 2017. This is the big 30th anniversary for a set that is seemingly very popular with a lot of people. Me though, i have a different memory of these vertically wood grained over produced cards.
I started collecting baseball cards in the fall of 1985.
I was 9 and had fallen in love with baseball and baseball cards.
I wanted to learn everything about baseball and own everything i could about baseball.
So, baseball cards met that need at the highest level for a young’n like me. There weren’t many opportunities to buy cards at that time due to scarcity at my local Stop n’ Go or 7-11, but also my lack of funds…I was 9. I did what i could back then. When the 1986 cards rolled out, i was able to complete a set via trades and multiple pack purchases. The way it was done in the old school days. I had a little more money and ’86 turned out to be a fun year, a year that i became addicted to these damn cardboard things.
That all changed in the winter of 1987.
The very first packs of cards i bought that year were in the Stop n’ Go down the street from my home. I was headed out to my very first camping trip for the local Boy Scouts troop…a trip that i wasn’t too excited about (maybe a story for later, but my BSA experience was very forgettable!). My mom pulled in to the parking lot and gave me some money to get a special snack and a juice…i bought a coke and two packs of cards. 1987 Topps. The cards had gum in them, so that’s kind ova snack, right? Fearing that i had betrayed my mom, i kept the cards tucked in my pocket to be opened later that weekend…during a camping trip. I made it successfully to the bus without anyone finding out about my card purchases and was able to procure a solo seat and open them on the ride to the camp site. I had 34 brand new cards in my hands…and two horrible pieces of gum. Little did i know that this was the start of an incredible amount of over-consumption of wood grained cardboard that i would later become overwhelmed with.
For me, this was my first understanding of over production of a product. I was buying packs everywhere. I was even able to buy a few boxes at our local Sams Wholesale Club…for about $18 each. Now, t’ve never been a collector for the investment purposes but i also don’t like to buy junk…well that year i must have spent about $100 on 1987 Topps. I was completely overwhelmed with them and grew to really dislike them…everything about them. So when the set gets a re-up, i don’t jump for joy. I’m old enough now and have some perspective to understand and appreciate the design, so maybe this year won’t be so bad.
I mean, they do actually look kind of nice and as others have mentioned, the wood grain is quite lighter than the original. The cards stock as i remember it is quite better as well, significantly better actually…as i look at these cards, i can see why they are adored by so many…i have baggage that i need to let go of i guess.
They are nice, very nice. Well done Topps. You did a great job with these re-issues. Tweaked some of the things that were of concern to me…thank you for listening 🙂 Some of you may have already seen the cards that i pulled as i thought it would be nice to pre-share over Twitter last night. Just in case though, here is my very first 2017 Topps card of the year!
Miami Marlins Giancarlo Stanton! Pretty sweet first card eh? Don’t think i know what my first card is for the past 30 years, but i would venture to say that none of them are as good as this one.
This was my first card pulled for a favorite team, the Nationals or Yankees…Bryce Harper is cool, i mean…he’s probably going to have a good season. Yeah, this card is fantastic for me not to mention that i got two in the box. One for my flagship set and one for my Bryce Harper PC. Collecting goals are being met.
This was my first Yankee, Nathan Eovaldi. It was immediately followed by Aaron Hicks, also a Yankee. Guess that duo was a nice little mini Yankee hot pack…or not…?
Topps is also continuing with the buyback program, but stamping them differently this year with a vertically embossed stamp along the right edge of the card that reads “REDISCOVER TOPPS’. Nothing spectacular, but i have to admit these cards are in great shape.
One of the many inserts that you get are the foil cards which are great looking cards, assuming you can see them. I passed up a couple of them and had to go through the stack again to make sure i pulled them all out and when i did…four of the five were team cards. Feel a little gipped here, but i guess it would have only been successful if one of them was a player or team i collect. The fifth was a Kurt Suzuki.
Topps is also continuing to do the first pitch cards…and i think they are running out of celebrities or there just aren’t enough celebrities to go around. Not trying to blast either of these two musical entertainers, but one of them is great and the other one is Mase. I’ve tried to associate the connection of the First Pitcher to the team they are pitching for. Mase, per wikipedia was born in Florida, but left with his mom for New York when he was three. I guess maybe he’s always been a fan of a Florida team? Ms. Jett is from Pennsylvania, so maybe she grew up watching Harry Caray and Steve Stone on WGN like me? I kid…Joan Jett was one of my favorite rockers in the early 80’s, mostly due to my mom liking her music with The Runaways. I like her biggest solo hit, a cover of ‘I Love Rock ‘n Roll”
Speaking of hits, i have three of them…well, two and a half. I don’t consider redemptions hits until i have them in my hand. Here they are, in my current favorite order. When the redemption is in my hands, that will be without a doubt my favorite one…assuming of course it’s a Yankee card.
My timeline counter is starting on February 3rd, 2017. Let’s see how long this takes to hit my blog post. Ball is in your court Topps Corporation.
Clayton Kershaw Spring Training commemorative patch…it’s like a hard plastic’y metal’y thing’y numbered 38/50. Not gonna complain at all.
My favorite hit, currently, is this Addison Russell trip color patch…they snuck that white portion of the patch in there didn’t they? Numbered 19 of 25 is pretty good too. Kinda wish it was autographed, but i’m quite happy with this pull. Russell is a great young player and nice to add to my collection.
d’oh! I have a couple more cool cards to show off. Nothing spectacular, but wanted to share. First one is the Bryce Harper Then and Now…i always remember that moment when i almost pulled that card in a box. The guy next to me picked the box that had it and i picked the other one…such is my luck…i always get the other one..Harper looks like he’s aged 10 years since the Bowman card, beards man…they make you look old.
The other one is of the young Astros prospect, but aren’t they all? Teoscar Hernandez…feels like his name should be spelled T’Oscar…but that’s not my lane. I’m gonna stay out. This is one of those reverse negative cards that are not printing plates, but every time i see one that’s the first thing that crosses my mind…kinda wished it was yellow.
Well, that’s the haul from my one jumbo box that i purchase for each series. Hope you enjoyed. I will be posting the cards from the two silver packs that came with the box another day, so until then. Enjoy some random music that i was listening to while writing this letter to you.
So, it’s snowing again. This time though, it’s a little different. I have a feeling this one is gonna be a little more than what we’ve had recently. I left work today at 5pm when it started snowing and got home around 6pm…and it hasn’t stopped snowing. Really hate snow right now…but i’m going to make the most of it and act like a 9 year old boy tomorrow morning, assuming of course that my back will cooperate.
Luckily i have some scanned cards of this years Bowman Chrome. They were a bit of an impulse purchase from Brian at the ‘ol LCS down the street. But i truly enjoyed opening the mini boxes in the shop. I don’t typically do it that way because i’m shy. Normally i like to be in the safety of my humble abode. I thought this time though, opening the box in front of the watchful eyes of a man that opens a ton of boxes would lead to some great hits…in order to save us all some time, i’m just show you my hits.
…but first…Sooz had a card chat Tuesday discussing where (and why) people buy their cards. One of the questions “How much do you buy retail compared to hobby” was a great one for me because over the past couple of years my retail luck has been terrible…horrible actually. I rarely get a hit, not much to write about at least…no John Smotlz, you know. But my last retail stop at Target (before the holidays) i pulled this beauty! Aaron Northcraft 1st Bowman Autograph! On a Sticker!!! Yes, there is a bit of sarcasm there, but also, there isn’t sarcasm. Actually, this is one of the best “hits” i’ve ever received from a Target pack or box in a really long time. So, i’m not complaining. I’m just saying. The card is pretty sharp, the high leg kick. Intense look on the face and that sweet sweet beard. Just wish it wasn’t a sticker auto, but hey, it’s retail and i’m quite happy with this potential momentum shift of hits.
Lets get back on track now. I’m a man of order over chaos. Uniformity over randomness. Rigidity over flexibility…actually, that’s my dad, not me. I’m right in the middle of all those antonyms. That said, i am posting the cards in the order in which they were pulled so you can share in the moment that Brian and i had a few weeks ago.
First on card autograph is from Blake Snell. The young Rays pitching prospect has seen a few big league hitters in his 19 career games started and appears to have a somewhat bright future in the majors. Although not stellar, he has shown some early strikeout potential with 9.9 K/9 in his first year. No idea what his future holds, but if I start to hear his name mentioned more frequently next year, i’ll check him out.
Next card, another pitcher. Connor Sadzeck, pronounced \sad-ZECK\, not sad sack…which would describe the scribble autograph on his 1st Bowman card. If I was a future prospect i think i would spend some time working on my sig…but to be honest i don’t know how you write all those odd letters together. the D, Z and E alone are tricky. Connor is tall as hell, 6′ 7″ and was drafted in 2010 and then again in 2011. Doing some quick research on Lone Star Ball, he sounds like he may be someone to watch this season…so watch him, this season if you’re in to the Rangers.
Cornelius Randolph is the next player. He hits balls rather than tosses them. This card is a bit outdated at this point. He’s now a Washington National, which is cool because i like the Nationals. He’s also the first hitter from the group i’ve pulled. I don’t do much prospecting with baseball players, but when i do, i prefer hitters. Feel like they have a better option with succeeding. There’s no real basis with that theory, it’s just some illogical conclusion i’ve come up with through the years. Pitchers get injured too easily.
Back to the pitcher autographs. Victor Alcantara. A 23 year old prospect from the DR. Really excited about this autograph. I took a peek at his scouting report on Inside the Halos and he sounds like a true stud pitcher, possibly a bullpen guy, maybe a potential closer?
Last card, Willie Calhoun from the LA Dodgers. A second baseman ranked #11 in the Dodgers organization going in to last season and was part of the futures game as well. He looks to have some pop in his bat as he tagged 27 home runs last year, his OPS is a respectable .788 as well. Not sure if he has a chance to make the Dodgers roster this season, but i’ll keep an eye on him in Spring Training.
Thanks for reading!
Tonight I watched President Barack Obama’s farewell speech and there were moments that made me realize how proud i was to be in our country. It’s far from perfect and we have a lot of issues to deal with throughout the nation, but it’s a pretty great place to be if you ask me. I’m gonna enjoy a snow storm with my family tomorrow and cherish the moments with my beautiful wife and mischevious boy…if you have people you love and care about, you should let them know and give them a hug.
I have a stack of cards in front of me that have a story that needs to be unearthed, something that can connect the pieces of card stock together in a nice little cycle of like kinda way. I just don’t know what that story is yet. I got foil cards. I got celebrity cards, I got guys with turkey necks and a guy that took a barbecue sauce bath, and some cards that are called Fire but look like Chihuly glass…guess it was fired glass…semantics i guess. Let’s start with the celebrity stock of First Pitches.
Two rappers, one is The Rapper…Chance that is. The other is Warren G. If you have been reading my words the past few years, you are fully aware of my affinity towards the rap music and culture. I’m pretty critical with my rap music though, almost a snob…yes, you should call it a snobbish attitude. I love lyrics and great storytelling. Guys…and Gals…that can paint a picture with their words in a seemingly quick or witty manner. The two guys above do that, although in all honesty, i can’t say i’m a fan of either. The reason for me? Their voice. Guru from Gangstarr had a song “Mostly the Voice” that clearly explained that its mostly the voice that we love or hate about a rapper. Now, he did go on to explain that the lyrics are critical as well, but in his opinion…it’s mostly the voice, and i agree with these two guys. Both Chance and Warren G have very distinctive sounds to them and are incredible story tellers. One of Warren G’s biggest hits was a terrific narrative of the wild life of an inner city Regulators, but the voice though…couldn’t handle it, plus it was the kind of laid back west coast music i wasn’t really in to back then. Now, Chance is one of those new rappers and i’m an old guy, so part of my distaste for his sound is that i’m not sure i truly get his metaphors. Seems like a great kid, positive kid trying to do some great things and share his stories…just not something i’m really in to yet. Possibly haven’t given it a good enough listen, I just struggle with him. Plus he’s in Kit Kat commercials and gettin’ down with so many different stars on my television set and internet machines. Seems like a lot of success came quick for him, too quick. I’m sure he’s been grinding at his craft for a while…but too much too soon for me to be a believer.
Speaking of quick success, Aubrey Plaza. Came on the scene out of nowhere with her popular character in the comedy series Park and Recreation (April Ludgate) who might have been the quintessential apathetic employee…that’s what the backside of this card said about her. Think that’s pretty appropriate. I had never heard of her until the Parks and Rec show that i watched for Nick Offermans’ character, Ron Swanson and the lovable Amy Poehler. I feel like Aubrey is one of those actors/actresses that doesn’t really ACT! but rather ends up playing the same person in each role that is really her in real life like Vince Vaughn or Michael Cera. She’s cute, awkwardly funny and somewhat edgy i guess. I must admit that her glove seems excessively large for her scale of human being. A smaller glove may have been in order for her big first pitch opportunity. Wonder if she could borrow another one?
Here are those Fire cards i was talking about earlier, not really sure how i feel about these inserts. Maybe if the card stock was thicker and possibly shinier, shiny is good sometimes, then i might be all in. I’m definitely all in for Griffey and McCutchen.
Griffey and Cutch appear to be in a flaming cauldron and trying to swing their way out to a burning hell. The Cutch card should be a Steelers card. Meanwhile the two Dodgers i pulled are emerging straight out of a pit of propane and butane, or more poeticly, emerging from the latest experimental Chihuly sculpture. Either way Maeda is feeling the effects of those flames coming in as hot as blue blazes!!! (my grandma would have been so proud of me for getting that one in, miss you Winn!)
We’re about to go from fire to foil, just like a night over the grill. (Really wished i pulled a Jason Grilli foil card, would have made that transition solid gold). I will settle for this quote though from the back of Pat Deans’ card “the cunning southpaw soaked up a barbecue sauce shower after beating Felix Hernandez for his first win”. So foil, grilling, BBQ sauce, Pat Dean:
You readers at home are just going to have to trust me in regards to the foil on these guys. It’s there, you can’t see, but trust me, it’s there.
The next card was a pretty cool pull, a Cubs team card black and white reverse negative SP card…wait, It’s a Jake Arrieta card…wait, it’s a Jake Arrieta no-hitter card…wait, it’s a damn checklist. Damn!!! It’s also a very demonic appearing David Ross.
Moving on to the next group of cards. Serial numbered foil cards with perforated screen print and a running 2016 Topps banner…these cards have it all…everything on one card. If it had a snowflake/snow flake (forgot to look that up today…) it would have been over the top though. The thing that struck me about this trifecta of National League East pitchers was their turkey neck poses. I wonder how many players get excited to see their cards in a pack and pull…
THIS!
OR THIS!
OR THIS…!!!
Actually, i can’t really see Bartolo Colon ever caring about his image on a card, seems too carefree for such frivolities. That glove…he should let Aubrey Plaza use that if she ever tosses out the first pitch for the Metropolitans.
I have a few more cards to post, the hits you know. Gotta wait for those tomorrow though. Kinda happy with the little success i had with those three cards…not a bad bunch. Nothing ground breaking, but nice no less.
Hope you guys have a great evening.
Here’s a video from one of the greatest storytellers in rap and a no doubt classic. From 1988!!!
I grew up in Texas and snow is not a normal thing for me. When i was 9 we had a huge blizzard in San Antonio, 14″ to be exact. It was absolutely nuts…as a kid though, fantastic! It was a freakish event that i will never forget. Rafik and I missed a couple days of school and had the greatest time ever. We watched Chris Marrou tell us about the school closures and hoped it would never end! Our days were filled with bags of sugar to fuel the moments in between epic snowball fights and a rudimentary snow man construction site. It was the greatest of times for every kid in town.
When we were able (forced) to go back to school, our classrooms had so many leaks that we were huddled en masse in the schools gym. A very large, crowded and noisy gym. A gym on the edge of child anarchy. It was one conch away from being a snowy version of Lord of the Flies. The teachers were on edge trying to keep us all in line for the couple of days. We were being taught in a prefabricated building not suited for long division or lessons on social studies. But they did it and they were the real MVP’s that week.
But now…
I’m a tall adult that likes collecting things like cards and books and also likes rap music. I also like familiarity and something i can depend on…surprises don’t work well for me. For the last month or so, my part of Portland has had 3 different weekends of snow…g’darn freakin’ snow!!! Now, don’t get me wrong, snow is cool when you go to it and are able to look at it and touch it. But when it comes to you as an unwanted guest, it’s a bit of an annoyance. We haven’t have had a ruler lengths of snow, but enough to shut the city down a couple of days and keep me from work. It’s also made my snow driving (sliding) skills ratchet up a tick or two.
All the snow that i was surrounded by made me cave and pick up a box of cards with snow flakes on them. Subliminal marketing. Well done Topps, you got me. Now, let’s see what you gave me Topps.
One of the first things i noticed about these cards is the streaking on the card fronts. Half of the cards in the blaster box contained the streaking. Maybe the other bloggers have already touched on this and as usual, i’m late to the party, but it seems that the quality of these cards may have been left to be what they are. Not super upset about it, but a little disappointed with these…especially the Kershaw card.
Another thing that was very noticeable is the large amount of white space, most notably on the landscape cards. Guess that’s the Topps blizzard parallel…? Seems like a little gradient or transparency could have been a savior for Nick’s card.
These cards were awesome in their original issue and Ricky Bones seems to be dressed appropriately for this card, while Mike Trout is attempting to catch a tiny little snowflake. Is snow flake one or two words? snowflake snow flake…
Dickey Flakes should be a cereal, f’real.
Please let me digress a bit here. Not sure if you have heard of Krampus, I hadn’t until about two weeks ago. He’s an incredibly evil Germanic character created to scare the shit out of bad kids…to be honest, i saw a video of him and was a tad scared. We used the Krampus tactic over the holidays to keep our little snowflake/snow flake in line. For the most part it worked…but i feel guilty about it in hindsight. I would point out the window, similar to what Carlos Correa is doing and say “I SEE KRAMPUS!!” and my child of 51 months would run off terrified, similar to what Jed Lowrie is doing. The things parents do to get done what they want to get done the way they want it to get done. Not my best parenting story…but sadly, it yielded the result i was looking for.
We now begin the bumpy snowflake portion of the blog post with a couple winners. Dexter and Kris. It’s a shame Ernie Banks didn’t get to see these guys win the title. RIP #14.
If the card on the right was Steve rather than Nori Aoki, the hair on this pair would be most epic. But it’s just Jacob and Nori.
My game used memorabilia card was Adam Jones which is pretty cool. I really like Adam and often wonder what his career would have been like if the Mariners kept him..also wonder what the Mariners could have done with his dependability over the incredibly fragile and unreliable Erik Bedard…hindsight is 50/50 man..
So that’s my highlights from a Wal-Mart box of snowflake cards. Rumor has it we may get some more snow in the next few days up here, climate change ain’t no joke…remember that we are all snowflakes/snow flakes and nobody is like us…even though those Adam Jones cards are pretty much the same thing.
When i travel to a new destination I like to pick up a few packs or a blaster from the local Target or Wal-Mart. It’s kind of a souvenir. A souvenir that matters to me and hand a greater level of value than a cheesy shirt (although i love an odd shirt now and again…). The cards serve as a little reminder of the town I was in, an artifact from a past vacation. In the past, the trips have been via automobile and the cards were a little easier to handle since i could always see where they were and keep them safe and sound. The last couple of trips though have been via airplane…the friendly skies! When traveling, i’m always concerned about the safety and security of the cards and tend to open them up when i get home. Not this time though, i wanted to join the mile high club! Well, i wanted my cards to join the mile high club…of sorts. So i did it on a plane earlier this week!
Since we card people don’t like damaged cards, getting these guys on the plane safely was a bit of an emotional journey for me. Going through security and boarding a plane is difficult enough! My first concern was the lovely TSA folks that can be a little handsy with people and peoples stuff. The only thing worse than the disinterested cashier man-handling (woman-handling…? person-handling…?) the cards and dropping them 18″ to the bottom of a plastic bag is definitely getting them through TSA. They pick up bags and boldly ask “THIS RED ONE YOURS SIR!”, why, yes. The red bag that i was about to grab is mine…definitely my bag. The surly looks that follow…them, not me…i’m nice. Half the battle has been fought, but the war has not been won. I still need to get these unprotected packs boarded and loaded on a flying tube with an ever increasing shortage of personal stowing space. Done deal. Packs located gently on my fold away tray until i am told to hide my fold away tray. See the photo above (and now below) that was after we reached our cruising altitude…so no foul there although my phone was not in airplane mode.
Normally when i’m opening a pack of cards i like to have space to lay them out and sort them as i go through the cards. Kinda particular about those sorts of things, you know. It’s nice to have a little layout space and a clean surface to boot. In hindsight this plan would have been better if i had a more sturdy box to put them in afterwards. Enough with the long winded build up. Here is what was pulled.
Dee Gordon – Miami Marlins | Cole Hamels – Texas Rangers
Brian McCann – New York Yankees | Tyler White – Houston Astros
Kenta Maeda – Los Angeles Dodgers | Gleyber Torres – New York Yankees
Javier Guerra – San Diego Padres | Jorge Mateo – New York Yankees
Kolby Allard – Atlanta Braves | Lucius Fox – San Francisco Giants
Not a bad pack, no real jaw droppers. I do like the three Yankee cards and the Alex Bergman is nice as well as the Maeda card. They all have a nice little shine to them as well. My wife, sitting in the miserable middle seat (love ya babe!) was particularly fascinated by the shiny-ness of these cards which the cabin lighting made a little extra sexy! Here’s pack two!
Each of the cards made it home safe and sound, no dings, no dents, no errors. Twenty Four shiny cards to sit and wait on now…will they become stars or not…!
So there you go. That was the very first time i’ve ever busted a pack on a plane, in the air above the United States of America. Hope you enjoyed the show!
***BIG PIMPIN***
Now it’s time to do some contest pimpin’ for Collector’s Crack and his annual NFL playoff contest!
Since i don’t have to deal with the emotions of having my team in it this year, i’m free to pick a SB matchup that will hopefully be closer to reality…and so should you! So, hit that link and sign up! But first, in honor of CB’s contest i thought i’d post a couple of videos in line with all the pimpin’. First is one of my favorite UGK songs and the other is an interesting documentary on Pimp C that i haven’t quite gotten through yet. It’s by Mass Appeal, so you can’t really go wrong though.
That Redskins game today…jeezus man…my heart is still pounding. Not sure what kind of run those guys have in them this year, but they have to be able to play better defense if they want to even make the playoffs this year. Currently on the outside looking in…the part that kills me with all of this is that i have to cheer for the Cowboys to win the rest of their games to help my teams chances…#HTTR!
Tying up a nice little wooden bow on the Gypsy Oak artwork, i also picked up a couple of the laser cut / wood engraved baseball card replicas. These are really cool pieces of carved plywood showing the selected player in their reproduced 1955 or 1956 Topps issue. Each piece is roughly 3/16″ and the same size as a typical baseball card. They are really light and have a somewhat rough texture to them, but feel perfect in the hand. A very cool and original piece of artwork that i’m super happy to have.
The first card is the Mickey Mantle. I wasn’t going to purchase another one, but felt that if i just got the Mantle card i may regret not getting the other one i had my eye on. The Mantle card is pretty lovely and reflects the beautiful version of the 1956 card. I stole an image from the internets of what the original card looks like vs. the copy of the wood card below. One day, i will own that Mantle card…i just know it!
See! Identical…except for all the dudes in the stands with white t-shirts…it’s dead-nuts.
The other card that i wasn’t planning to get, but had a difficult time passing on was the Roberto Clemente. Clemente is one of those guys that i’d love to collect and have a sweet collection of his original cards…in due time…here is his version of the 1955 Topps reproduced image.
Last image is one that was a bit of a surprise…not a card that i had ordered or given any idea to ordering especially since i didn’t even see it on the website. Either way, when someone forwards you a Sandy Koufax card of any kind…for free, you are generally happy about it…maybe even ecstatic. Here is the image of the reproduced version in the 1955 Topps format. Enjoy!
I was hoping to pick up a Rickey Henderson at some point from Gypsy Oak, but don’t think he’s made one yet…or i’ve missed the boat on it…? I’ll keep an eye out in the future just in case.
So tonight is a big night for me. I’m going to a show of one of my childhood favorites, i’ve been a longtime fan of his music and was super excited when i saw that he was coming to Portland. The last time I saw this guy live and in person i was a 12 year old pre-teen child in San Antonio. That show was pretty epic and one of my all time favorites…still have vivid memories of that awesome night almost 30 years later. I will wait to spill the beans on who it is in my next post and hope to have some shots from the show…in the meantime, here’s another completely random video that has nothing to do with anything. Hope you guys had a great weekend and a great week ahead!
I’m now 6 packs deep and haven’t pulled a big hit…but I’m going to show you what i’ve got anyways. Because I know you all love to see some scans of base cards and stuff.
Donny Baseball was one of my favorite players growing up, not Rickey Henderson favorite, but way ahead of whomever was third at the time…maybe Nolan Ryan or George Brett? Mattingly was always an elusive pull or me. I never got his card in the packs I bought during the 1985 and 1986 seasons. I got a whole bunch of 1987 Topps though…damn that set was so overproduced. I think I had about 4 complete sets that year due to everyone in my family buying me boxes from Sam’s. Mattingly seemed destined for the Hall of Fame and put up phenomenal numbers especially with a healthy Rickey Henderson hitting in front of him. Seeing this young skinny photo of Donny baseball brings back some great memories of being a young collector. I appreciate Topps pulling old stock photos of baseballs legends and the players that were really good. It keeps the older kids connected and provides a great lesson for the kids that are starting to collect.
Topps has also provided the kids with a look at their previous card designs, which is also a very good thing in my mind. Although, i’m not sure if copying the late 80’s and early 90’s is the way to go. Best to make up for it by making these babies die cut.
Here are some Power Player cards that have powerful players on them. Yadi would like to salute you and Giancarlo is getting a Marlin cortisone shot to the knee…sorry…I couldn’t think of anything else to add to these cards. It’s a parallel that could have been more parallel-y in my mind. I guess changing the border color has been done a million times. Maybe if they edited out the backgrounds…I don’t know, crap. I actually didn’t notice these were Power Player cards at first pass. My oversight was corrected when I realized that these ‘base’ cards should not have been in the middle of the pack. I’m sleuthy!
Love the Mo cards. Love the bottom one the most though. Such a great baseball moment.
The next two cards are last because they deserve to be last.
Although the back of Melky’s card doesn’t suggest anything about PED as Night Owl had suggested it should. I find it telling that Topps decided to quote A-Rod with the very insightful “He’s a big, big, big-time player.” That’s three bigs. I would have gone with he’s a big, bigger, biggest time player but that wouldn’t make much sense either. Don’t do drugs kids, especially if they are to be inserted with needles.
Lastly. This guy. The finger pointer. Topps was smart enough to not drop any photos of him with eye black. I’m finding it difficult to justify writing what I feel about his homophobic eye black last year. He seemed to play it off as ignorance and something that wasn’t a big deal.
But, I’m an adult and I know words can be filled with hate and bad intentions. My dilemma though, is that I’m a die hard Redskins fan. Another term that has been deemed as hateful or oppressive. It’s an unfair position for me to be ok with one derogatory term but not with another. It doesn’t really matter if one is worse, if the words offend someone than it’s an offensive term…besides, what’s with finger pointing at the cameraman? Who does that?
My football card blog is lagging in baseball card posts…not really, I just have a few Harpers and a Hanley I wanted to show you kids.
These bad boys have been sitting in my man cave aka, my closet! Just sitting there, precariously perched on a box of top loaders stacked on a box of books, next to a pair of jeans that no longer fits my ever growing winter ass.
Bryce Harper everyone!
I managed to pick up 3 Harper cards that do not have him with a Curly W Nats hat.
This one is very patriotic and shiny and Prizm-y.
Here is the Hanley Ramirez card I noted in the very first sentence of this post. I love Hanley and hope that he can stay healthy next year.
I have paid more attention to the Dodgers in the 1 1/2 years since they picked him up…this also gave me a great opportunity to listen to Vin Scully. Man, I miss baseball already…
It’s been a few weeks since i’ve done just a baseball post and I have a jumbo box of Topps Series 2 sitting here to my left. Whattaya say we open it up slowly and see what we see kids!
There’s no need to go over the design of these cards since it’s been covered ad nauseam on your favorite bloggers website, so i’m just going to touch on the hits and fun cards that were pulled from the packs…two at a time. Double your pleasure!
The first card is two cards, because i’m doubling your pleasure…remember? I LOVE landscape base cards. I think they are fantastic and would love to see more sets go this route…just for the fun of it, you know? The only problem is that they don’t look as great when put in a binder which is where these two islanders are going. HanRam, as some of you may know is one of my favorite players and along with Carl Crawford are the only two guys that I collect that haven’t played for the Yankees…yet. Wait until they are 35, then they will be in pinstripes. Apparently that’s what the Bronx Bombers do these days. Lose to the Orioles and sign old guys. The Chapman card is also fantastic, plus he’s Cuban…and I love Cuba…PLUS he’s throws really really hard and fast.
The next two cards are one of the reasons why people hate Topps. Although, I don’t think either one of these guys are SP cards they are still super gimmicky. Of the two, I would rather be Justin Ruggiano becuase it’s either water or that crazy clear Ice Gatorade or something…I have no idea, the card doesn’t explain what is being expelled on his shoulder. Anyone feel sorry for the sideline reporter on the Lombardozzi card? Me neither…
Alright, this is where is turn in to a singles hitter. That said, here is Derek Jeter. I love the Captain. And there is nothing wrong with that, just like there is nothing wrong with starting a sentence with and.
This is a cool card because it has Bryce Harper and the look of a child who got his hand caught in the cookie jar. Brian is the older brother that gets in trouble for not keeping a better eye on his little brother. Big Brother = Baltimore Orioles — Little Brother = Washington Nationals.
Here is one of the 73 different inserts that Topps likes to entice people to collect. I believe this is what they call an emerald card? Please correct me if i’m wrong, and if you are correct, I will send you this card. When scanned, it kind of looks like a forrest. David didn’t do so well in the Home Run Derby this evening…on his home turf, but neither did Robbie Cano donchaknow.
Another insert, similar to the The Greats inserts. Yes, I used The back to back. As far as i’m concerned, this card would be better if it were Rickey Henderson. Not to take anything away from the wizard, he was a phenomenal player, but when you have 73 inserts, it would be nice to get one of your favorite player, eh?
This rarely happens, but I pulled a box hit in one of my first two packs. This heavy ass metal mettle coin card of Adrian Gonzalez. I like this guy so much more now that his short stint with the Red Sox is over. Great player, great cards…but still heavy.
