Just a few random Blue Jay cards out of the box

Trying to break up the posts as I'm feeling that I've made the blog a little too hockey focused lately.  As I mentioned, with nothing new coming in lately (or in the near future), I've had to rely on what I have in hand to get some posts out to the blogosphere.

With a couple of boxes of Jays cards on the desk to my left, I decided to go through the unsorted box to see if there were a few cards that struck my fancy.   I did find a few and I'll add just a few random thoughts with each.

This card is phenomenal.  One of the best Blue Jays cards that I own.  Someday I'll have to figure out how to enlarge cards like this and hang them on my wall.  I have so much room, it's like a blank canvas to be used for cards such as this...


There's a bit of hope for my collection as I found these two cards together in the box.  I know that's not going to be true for the several thousand other cards, but it was good to find a pair of framed parallels back to back.

I only wish that the Jays had picked up Reyes earlier in his career...



This is probably the one Blue Jay that I own the most cards of.  I only wonder what would have happened had he played his entire career in Toronto.  A couple of extra years playing DH could have got him to 500 HRs.


Same photo, 2 different products. 

Gotta be tough having a nickname such as Sanchize.  Hopefully next year he can remain healthy and lead the rotation again.  Hard to believe after leading the AL in ERA and HR/9 that he could only gain a contract in the $535K range. 



One of these days, I'm going to collect all the cards I have of players that are like Alomar's above.  I might be able to put together a makeshift deck of cards from Blue Jays and other PC type cards.  Check out the reflection of the SkyDome in Alomar's glasses by the way, makes for a great photo.




Great idea for a baseball set, piggybacking off the success of 90-91 OPC Premier hockey.  Only problem, OPC made the set too Toronto/Montreal focused in my opinion.  1992 Premier was much the same, and they gave up on the concept after that. 

With Irma on the way, I may have time to actually sort some of these this weekend...God willing.

Thanks for reading, Robert

Sometimes when you don't know what to write, just say anything

On a cold evening here in western PA, I sit at the computer and realize that I can't put two coherent thoughts together in order to form a post.

So, here goes nothing...

It was good to see today that Upper Deck followed Panini's lead of a few weeks back and cancelled some of their "mid season" hockey products.  I was kind of surprised that they actually cancelled Series 2 of their base set, but it really does make sense since the NHLPA decided to not allow the use of any new rookies in this years products.  Upper Deck also stated that they had limited their early season products (O-Pee-Chee, Series 1, Artifacts, Black Diamond, Game Used) with the uncertain labor climate. 

For me, that spells good news, since I will not have to spend as much to chase down the Series 2 set.  For now, that leaves me to enjoy cards such as this one of Tyler Seguin...

I've always expressed my admiration for cards that feature a player signing autographs for the fans.  It's good to see that young and upcoming stars such as Seguin actually "get it".

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On a totally unrelated topic...what are your thoughts on graded cards?  To be honest, you will never see me ever send any card to a grading service ever again.   I did it once a few years ago, and the result was less than flattering.  The card I sent at the time was a Martin Havlat RC (don't ask me why...), and while the card was graded a Mint 9, the return package and the case were pretty much destroyed during return shipping.  Soured me on the experience forever.

I now own two graded cards.  One was one in a contest a while back (79 Topps Eddie Murray), and the other was sent to me recently by Pat at the Hot Corner Cards blog.  An interesting choice of cards for sure..

A graded Mats Sundin RC from 90-91 OPC Premier.  One of my favorite players on the Leafs over the past decade, and his best RC, encapsulated forever.  Another odd coincidence is that both graded cards are NM-MT 8's.   Thank you Pat!

Now that I think about it, I should have bragged about getting my cable internet & router hooked up this evening....OK, maybe not...

thanks for reading, Robert

Random thoughts for a Thursday

Some minor musings on the worlds of sports, and sports cards:

• All I gotta say is I'm very excited that the NHL season is starting tonight.  I've been waiting since the Bruins won the Stanley Cup for the season to start up again.  My Maple Leafs (yes, I can say they are mine) start off tonight against the hated Montreal Canadiens, to wit.....
• I mentioned a couple of weeks back about 6 dates to keep in mind this year.  These are the nights that the Leafs play the Canadiens, and to make those games even more interesting I made a side bet with Brian at the Waxaholic blog.  I bet him a blaster that my Leafs would win the season series.  Brian accepted the bet by stating "I'll go select my blaster now".  Hopefully his tears will not damage any of his cards when he loses the bet.  Speaking of tears...
• I can only imagine the pain that the Colts Eric Foster suffered when he had that gruesome ankle injury earlier this week.  I have a co-worker who believes that this guy may never play again.  That video reminded me of the injuries to Joe Theismann and Tim Krumrie back in the 80's.
• I'm sure that MLB is loving the fact that 3 of the Division Series are going 5 games...more money for the clubs, and more money for the TV networks in advertising revenue.  I wonder what they're going to do next year when they add in a 5th team in each league for the playoffs.  How much earlier are they going to have to start the season in order to fit in the extra team?  Maybe the last week of spring training games should be the first week of the regular season next year.
• Song for the week is Paint it Black by the Rolling Stones

As always...thank you for reading...Robert  (36 days)

Random thoughts for a Thursday

Getting closer to the weekend folks..and you know what Thursday means, time for some random thoughts.

• I absolutely LOVE the way Brendan Shanahan is handing out discipline so far in the NHL.  I don't think any other sport actually has their disciplinarian making videos showing exactly why a player has been suspended, while explaining what the exact rule is that has been broken.  If you haven't seen any of these videos yet, take the time to look at the James Wisniewski video and see exactly what I mean.
• The baseball season has come to an end, my Jays are on the outside looking in again, and the Pirates are well...the Pirates.  It should be an interesting post season this year, right now I like the Phillies to win it all.
• Both the Bills and the Lions are currently 3-0 in the NFL.  I watched the game against the Patriots on Sunday, and after the Bills went down 21-0 I thought they were dead in the water.    Funny, but the Lions were down 20-0 to the Vikings, and they came back as well.  The announcers of the Buffalo game mentioned a stat where teams that started 3-0 over the past so many years made the playoffs 79% of the time.  Anyone out there think that both of these teams are going to help that stat or hurt it??  Here's saying that both of these teams HURT this stat this year.
• Anyone out there think that the mandatory waiting period for the baseball HOF should be waived for Derek Jeter?  I do.  Don't get me wrong, I despise the Yankees, but this guy is a true class act and was overshadowed by other shortstops his whole career.  Ripken, Rodriguez, Tulowitzki all had the big power numbers, the adulation, and all Jeter has done day in and day out is produce in the media circus that is New York.  
• Has anyone out there really noticed that the NBA is in a lockout?  If Lebron James sinks a basket from behind the mid-court line but nobody is there to watch it, does it really go in?  Several hundred thousand people on the shores of Lake Erie would say  "hell no" to that question.  Basketball in my opinion is really shooting itself in the foot by extending this lockout, because baseball is heading into the postseason, the NFL is in full swing, and the NHL is getting ready to start next Thursday.  The NBA is on the back pages right now, and will likely stay there until a deal is imminent.

• Have to post something about cards or card blogs here don't I?  Well, only the Night Owl can turn Fleer Checklists into an entertaining and insightful blog post.  Here are 3 items that I bet Greg can turn into blogging gold.  [Ed:  This is meant in fun, and not mean spirited in any way]

1. Turning change under the couch cushions into the blaster box he swore he'd never buy again.
2. "dummy cards" in packs.....Friend or Foe??
3. Why the California/Anaheim/Los Angeles Angels will always be an inferior, 2nd rate LA team because of the DH rule. 

• You know you're getting old when it's been 20 years since a song has been released, and you only think that it was last year.....Nirvana is the song choice this week...

Thanks for reading....Robert     (43 days)

Random Thoughts for a Thursday

Hello all...just some random thoughts that pop into my head during the week that I thought would be worth sharing.

• Please somebody tell me what the reasoning is behind Topps numbering system for their Update set last year.  Every time I read a  "US-000" number on the card, I feel like I should be reading a road map looking for the nearest state route.  Maybe Topps can't count as high as 990?

Anyone know where US-8 is?

• Personally, I'm tired of the Sidney Crosby "saga".  Every day here in western PA all I hear is "there's no change in Sid's condition".   Please update me when there is a change!!  Yes, he's good for hockey blah blah blah, but again, much like the football lockout, the drama just gets too much exposure and I'll be ready for Luke Schenn to take Crosby out again with a clean body check.
• I'm sitting here thinking to myself , boy I wish there was a decent minor league team close by that I could go watch for cheap.  Then I chuckle and think to myself....the Pirates are only an hour away..
• I am very curious to see what happens to Topps baseball products next year if Panini makes as big a splash as everybody hopes they will.  If Panini is a hit, does Topps have the lead time to make changes to their products?  I mean, if Topps has already released the design for their 2012 baseball products (base set and Heritage are pretty much set right now..) what are they going to do to respond?   
•  Your Thursday music is from a band that I didn't even know was Dutch...I learn more and more as I continue blogging.....  Golden Earring...Radar love

Random thoughts/stuff for a Thursday

Wasn't sure if I was going to be able to come up with anything for my Thursday randomness, but a couple things have sprung to mind, so here we go.

• In my previous post, I posted a trade and mentioned the diamond parallels from this year's Topps set.  I was poking around the other day, curious to find out when the Topps Update set is going to be released.  When finding out the date (October 5th), I also stumbled upon the fact that there will be 330 more diamond parallels added to the set.  I thought for a minute and said "what have I gotten myself into"?  990 total parallels, of which I now have 102, am I crazy??  This is one part of my collecting vice that tends to create problems for me.  I fall in love with parallels, such as the diamonds, and start to collect them.  Then, when the next year comes along, or the next big thing, then the old collection falls by the wayside (watch for a  post on the 94-95 UD Hockey Electric Ice parallels when hockey season starts, you'll get the drift).  Honestly now, I have to make a decision....do I go full bore and try to finish this set, or just grab a few more and use them as trade bait down the line.  Maybe it's time I develop a little discipline like a lot of other bloggers I see out there and keep focused on a specific goal.  Speaking of other bloggers..
• I actually won something in a contest!!  Unbeknownst to me, Larry over at the sewing maching guy on cards blog ran a contest when he hit 100 followers (congratulations again on the milestone Larry ! ).  If it wasn't for Potch from Indianaland emailing me this morning to let me know he received his end of our trade, I may not have found out for a day or 2 that I even won.  Best of all, Larry is giving away 3 PSA 8 Graded cards, all 3 HOFers.  2nd year cards of Robin Yount and Eddie Murray, along with a '81 Fleer of George Brett.  Some nice swag moving about...thank you Larry, it is appreciated on this end.  Oh, now that I mention contests...
• I'm sure that I will be running one someday.  I would do it at 100 posts, but I yammer on too much and that will be an easy goal for me to attain.  Let's shoot then for 50 followers.  I'm at 37 now, and have been in a holding pattern since the 4th.  I'm sure that I'll have some time to acquire some more items before I hit 50 followers....speaking of followers and contests....
• Ryan over at this card is cool - my life in baseball is running a contest, and to enter you have to give some input on how many blogs you follow/read , and how you access them.  Check it out when you get a moment or three.  And finally, as I normally end my random thoughts, you get some.....
• Random music for a Thursday....I've seen these guys 4 times, sadly all were after Keith Moon had passed away.  But I will always remember the time I watched them in a rainstorm just outside of Pittsburgh.  I still remember it as one of the best concerts I have ever seen.....this is my favorite song of the Who.

Thanks for reading everyone....Robert

Random thoughts for a Thursday

Just a few thoughts that have crept into my head over the past few days that I thought I would share with the blogosphere:

• Football season starts tonight, and for the first time in many years, I can really take it or leave it.  I believe that all the drama with the lockout and the subsequent media frenzy for 5 months really sucked the passion I had for the game out of me.  Oh well at least...
• NHL training camps open over the next few days...Hallelujah!!  I will say that I am ready for hockey to start this year.  I even bought a few packs of Victory hockey while I was away last weekend. (A brand that I normally do not partake in)  Here's hoping that my beloved Maple Leafs at least make a better run at the playoffs this year...as in starting their run to the playoffs a little earlier than March.
• I heard recently that Vin Scully is coming back for his 63rd season of Dodger baseball.  Vin may be the one of the few things that is right with the Dodger organization currently.  Listening to many games that he has called over the years is a joy that could never be duplicated by any other broadcaster.  Never heard him call a game?  Do yourself a favor and find a way to do so...you will not regret it.
• I've watched sporting events for approximately 40 years out of my life.  Teams travel back and forth across the US, and sometimes even across the world.  It is truly amazing that we have never experienced more tragedies like yesterdays plane crash in Russia that killed almost all that were on board.  One of those on board was longtime NHL defenseman and current coach of the Lokomotiv team, Brad McCrimmon.  I can only imagine what the families of the team personnel are going through right now, God bless them in their time of loss and suffering.
• I've enjoyed putting in some music on these posts, so I decided to keep that going today.  Here's a link to a song that I've enjoyed for a long time, it always reminds me of what music does for me....Triumph--Magic Power

Thanks for reading, Robert

50th post, Labor day weekend and a time to catch up, and move forward..

Hello all, hope that you're having a great holiday weekend so far.  The wife and I are away visiting family in upstate NY, so my cards and the ability to update want lists, etc are sitting there waiting for me back home.  I've been able to complete trades over the past two days with Greg over at Plaschke, thy sweater is argyle, and with reader Steve D. as well via email. 

Catching up means taking more time to look at a lot of blogs, especially their pasts and how they developed their blogging styles.  Seeing as I'm still the newbie(or one of them), I'm sure that I can create more of a style that suits me (of course styles are developed by taking stuff that you like writing about theme wise, and blending them with themes from other bloggers...imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, if you do it right).

These couple of days also will give me a chance to think about my own top list of cards that I would really like to own.  Thinking about it will probably lead me to two lists...one for baseball (top 25), and one for hockey (top 20).  I'm sure that you have figured out why it's 25 for baseball, and 20 for hockey, but I'm gonna go one step further, and make those lists represent an actual roster.  Now hockey is pretty much set the way that teams dress their skaters for each game (12 F, 6D and 2G), but baseball is a little different, based on the time of season, upcoming schedule (busier times of the season sometimes necessitate an extra pitcher on the roster), but I'm going to go with a more standard roster lineup (12 P, 2C 1 1B, 1 2B, 1 SS, 1 3B, 4 OF, 1 Middle Infielder, 1 Corner infielder, and a DH).  The cards from both sports will be a smattering of RC's, Jersey/Patch cards, autos, etc.   This will also give me an opportunity to learn more about players in both sports, especially guys that I loved to hate but really changed the game (Rickey Henderson for one), and other players that were part of my favorite teams growing up (Darryl Sittler, my all time favorite Maple Leaf).  Look for these posts coming over the next few weeks. 

In addition, another feature that I plan to start doing is "Packs across America".  My wife and I love to travel, and we have family spread out across the US and Canada.  Naturally, the card fiend that I am, I will take the opportunity to buy packs at a LCS or a big box store.  Look for those posts, and see if I have any better luck with packs when I travel than what I have locally.  I also may enlist some of my trade partners to help me out with this as well...look for that in a future post/email coming your way.

Another feature that I plan to do monthly is "hobby box of the month".  An earlier post of mine lamented the fact that I went 8 years between the purchase of hobby boxes.  Well, that is no more.  I plan to buy a hobby box once a month towards the end of the month to break and post for my readers.  It may be a current product, such as the '11 Heritage BB box I busted not too long ago, or something older that I may be trying to put a set together of (as long as I can find a hobby box). 

My Thursday posts that I've done over the past two weeks, the "random thoughts" will also continue.  Sometimes it's nice to not have to come up with a specific idea for a post, just random ideas or junk that pops into my head.

If you have anything you would like to see me write about/post..send me an email or post a comment, and I'll be sure to discuss it with you to maybe develop it further and feature it.  I also have an idea that will feature another blogger based on current topics that are hot in the blogosphere.  Lots of ideas, lots of time to get them rolling. 

Thank you for reading....Robert

Robert's random thoughts for a Thursday

Just some random musings for a warm and sunny Thursday here in western PA:

• My heart sank a little bit last weekend when I discovered two 5-row monster boxes at the bottom of my card closet.  With the ten 3 & 4 row monsters I already have to go through and sort/collate/catalog, I saw these and hung my head.  Note to others out there...don't collect for decades and not sort or properly keep track of what you have like I did.  Now that I'm back on the full time collecting and trading trail, I've got no choice going forward but to keep track of what I have.  (if I'm lucky, I'll be completed by the start of 2012)
• I heard the other day that Jamie Moyer is recovering well from Tommy John surgery and plans to play in 2012, at the age of 49!  Friends, that's 5 years older than I am, and I don't know whether to applaud this or yell at the man to retire and join the AARP.
• I still marvel every time I watch Ichiro play baseball.  If I were a member of the BBWAA, I would vote him into the HOF when he became eligible.  Why you ask?  First 10 seasons....1 MVP, 10 Gold Gloves, 10 All Star selections, .300 or better average 10 times, .350 or better average 4 times, 10 seasons with 200+ hits, 6 times led the league in hits.  This next stat amazes me....has led the league in Intentional Walks 3 times...9 of the 10 seasons he played in 157 or more games (the only season he didn't he had 146).  Now I know that this season hasn't been the greatest statistically for him, but if he can get 46 more hits between now and the end of the season, he'll have his 11th 200 hit season.  The detractors will say things like...doesn't have the post season resume that others have, doesn't have all the "sexy" power numbers like a lot of others have.  
• I need to start carrying pens and paper with me more...I get good ideas for blog posts, especially on my way to work, but yet most of the time I can't write them down, because I have nothing to write on.  (One hour commute each way leaves a lot of time for thinking)

•   I had this song stuck in my head for 3 days this week...hadn't heard it years, and forgotten how much I enjoyed it.  (Anyone out there know what "brewer's droop" is?)

Thursday random thoughts about .....stuff

Good evening all, glad to see you made it through your Thursday.  Just some random thoughts that creep into my head (some good, some well....kinda scary) that I'd thought I would share with the blogosphere.

• I had the recent pleasure of becoming acquainted via email with another blogger, Napkin Doon.  Very nice and pleasant to converse with, but I'll tell you this.  I thought that I had quite a few sets on the go right now, but Napkin....well let's just say Napkin leaves me in the dust, WAY back in the dust.  Don't believe me, see this post.  (BTW Napkin, congrats on the 200th post, keep up the good work!!)
• For some crazy reason, anytime I read or hear someone mention the Topps set Gypsy Queen, I start singing this song.   Also, when I see the initials "GQ" used to refer to this set, the magazine comes to mind, not the cards.  Just another reason that I am still far behind the times as collecting goes.
• I bitch and moan all winter, can't wait for summer, can't wait for summer.  This summer has been the hottest and nicest that I have enjoyed in 15 years, and what am I obsessing most about right now??  The start of hockey season.....
• Bloggers have a lot of power in today's card collecting world. I will admit, I read a lot of blogs as often as I can now, and I enjoy them all.   Their opinions make us laugh, educate us, make us think.  I am making a vow today that going forward, I will treat blogs as what they really are, editorials & personal opinions.  I don't have to agree with them, I don't have to preach what they say as the gospel.  I am going to like sets for the reasons that I like them, not because of reasons that others do (or don't).
• For the life of me, I cannot remember a pitcher for the Jays by the name of Goose Gozzo.  I thought when I received this card this week that someone was having fun with me, until I looked here and saw that he's real.

Yes, he's real

Hopefully my little bit of lunacy didn't make your eyes roll too far back into your head.   Have a great Friday all!!     thanks for reading,  Robert