I was so excited to write this post, I forgot to put in a title...

I recently completed my first trade with Matt over at the Heartbreaking Cards of Staggering Genius blog, and the trade was about as quick and simple as you can get.  Matt had recently posted a want list of '72 Topps minis, of which I had plenty to send his way.

In return, Matt sent me some Jim Thome PC help.   The Thome collection has been growing steadily over the past few weeks.  While it is still at a meager 53 cards + 3 relics, I have a feeling that it will keep growing steady over the coming months (don't ask me why, it's just a feeling).

I think my favorite cards of Thome are the ones that show him swinging the lumber...

With each new trade, it seems that I discover a new set that I'd never seen before.  The card on the right is from the 2009 SP Legendary Cuts set.  Even though the card scanned looking as if it is smaller than the other two, it actually is a standard size card.

The Heritage card in the upper left might be the only posed shot of Jim Thome that I own that doesn't show him smiling.  I always had mixed feelings about the '08 Goudey cards with Derek Jeter on the bottom, but it is a good pic of Thome, so I'll let this one go.  The '10 A&G this day in history card taught me something.  Back in 1883 the Krakatoa volcano erupts, recording the loudest sound ever.  I guess A&G hasn't been around a TV set with me on Sundays....

Totally unexpected was this Jim Thome jersey card form '08 Topps.   Another great shot of Jim getting ready to mash a baseball, and though the design is a little busy, I like it.

These next two cards remind me of a commercial...

Not quite as bad as the woman, but you get the idea.   Still the two Play Ball cards from 2004 are great adds, especially the bat card on the right. 

Matt, thank you for the trade, the cards were really appreciated!!!

thanks for reading, Robert

Training camps are open, so let's show off a little blue and white

The middle of September came quickly this year.  Maybe it's because the Stanley Cup finals ended late in June.  Maybe it's because the Pirates have been fun to follow this summer.  For whatever reason, when training camps opened yesterday around the NHL, I was ready to start hoping that the Leafs would win the Cup this year.  Largely because I haven't seen them win a championship in my lifetime.

I found a table at the card show last weekend that was offering cards 12/$1.  Not too shabby a deal if you ask me.  I managed to pull 11 Leaf cards out of the boxes, which is no small feat since I usually don't find a lot of hockey cards at the monthly show. 

The one battle that is going to be very interesting at training camp is in the net.  James Reimer had a solid season last year, but the Leafs believed that they needed to upgrade the depth they had on the big league roster, and added Jonathan Bernier to the mix.

Twenty years ago, this wasn't a problem, because the Leafs had a clear #1 in their cage, Felix Potvin.

I really liked Felix during his time in Toronto, and I hated seeing him in other teams colors (Islanders, Kings, Canucks, Bruins).  The mask that Felix wore paid homage to his nickname "the Cat", and similar to Ed Belfour's eagle mask, the cat ears and whiskers followed him from city to city. 

Upper Deck had a thing for multiple exposures on a card, and hockey was no different.  The photography was always great, as the card on the left demonstrates.

I like the Score gold parallel of Andreychuk in the upper left corner.  Dave was one player that I enjoyed seeing win a Cup towards the end of his career with the Lightning.  I spoke earlier about Ed Belfour, and his MVP card in the upper right I believe might the first card I have of him in a Leafs sweater.  I was sorry to see the Leafs give up on Alex Steen so soon,  because he's actually gone on to have a good run in St. Louis.  The Pacific Omega set on the bottom may be one of the least liked by collectors, but for some reason I've had an affinity for it since its release.  Tie Domi's son, Max, was drafted by the Coyotes and from what I've read will get a long look at training camp this year. 

October 1st will be here soon.   I can't wait. 

thanks for reading, Robert

More card show goodness

'75 Topps wasn't the only vintage set on my mind at the card show.  I still had a lot of unfinished business with a couple of earlier sets that I wanted to tackle.

I didn't grab as much as I would have liked from the '73 set, but I did manage to knock 16 cards from that want list.

 

It's more fun for me when I actually remember some of the names that I pick up.  Burt "Happy" Hooton is one example.  It's even more interesting because I only remembered Hooton as a Dodger.   Did you know that Burt's middle name is the last name of another great pitcher....Carlton.

Same thing here.  I have many memories of Ben Oglivie beating up on the Blue Jays as a member of the Milwaukee Brewers in the late 70's and into the 80's.  It's fun listening to Steve Blass on Pirates telecasts talking about the prodigious home runs that Bob Robertson used to hit.  It's good to finally put a face to the name that he's always mentioning.  And yes, the airbrushed "p" on Cesar Tovar is unfinished and a little crooked. 

When I hit my vintage table, the first thing the dealer did after we exchanged our hellos and how was your summers was reach for these 4 cards.

4 high numbers from the '64 set!  I don't have a whole lot of these yet, because they are very pricey.  But for $9, these 4 came home with me.  I had to make sure that was the same Rick Wise that I remembered pitching for the Indians in the late 70's, and sure enough it was.  That picture is him as an 18 year old rookie in '64.

These weren't the only 4 that I purchased from the '64 set on Saturday.  In total, 19 more cards found their way into my pile.

the checklist is marked up on both sides, but for a quarter, I figured why not.  I saw the name Marty Keough and wondered if he was Matt Keough's dad, sure enough my suspicion was correct.  Don't know who Matt Keough is?  Well Matt pitched for the A's in the late 70's and early 80's and didn't have the best of luck.  Matt finished 2-17 in 1979, and led the junior circuit in earned runs/home runs allowed in 1982.  On the flip side, Matt was part of the rotation in 1980 that didn't see one of their starters finish with an ERA over 4, and the oldest pitcher on the starting staff was just 28 (Rick Langford).

Is it just me, or does the Mets team card look as if the players are kind of sliding down hill from left to right?   With these 19 cards, I'm only 24 cards shy of hitting my goal of 60% complete by the end of the year. 

I didn't come home with as many cards as I had in the past, but as the checklists for my sets wind down, the prices go up.  There's always a trade off....

Thanks for reading, Robert

A quartet of 75's, along with some quarter burlap

I did fairly well at the card show on the weekend.  As usual, I hit several tables, and my purchases hit several different want lists. 

Earlier today I posted a couple of '75 Hank Aaron cards that I picked up, with the plan of showing off the other 4 '75s this evening.

I was very pleased to find both the Rice and Carter rookie cards in great condition, and both at a very reasonable price.    At the same table, I also found the next two cards...

After these two beauties, I'm left with 11 cards to complete the '75 set, with the only major purchase left being the Nolan Ryan card. 

Before leaving, I had to hit the vintage dealer that I see every show, and he had his usual discount boxes waiting.  For a quarter a piece, I snagged these '68s...

 

I am always fascinated with vintage cards that feature players who played for the Jays, and the Rico Carty card quickly found its way into my pile.  Rico spent a couple of seasons in Toronto in the late 70's and hit quite well.  I found it interesting when looking up Rico's stats that he didn't play at all in 1968, and a little digging revealed that he was battling tuberculosis that year. 

Still more from the show to display, but I'm going to save them for another time. 

Thanks for reading, Robert

Bookends

One of the sets I wanted to get closer to completing this weekend at the card show was '75 Topps.  I was at 16 cards left to finish the set before hitting the show, with most of the cards left being either rookie cards or HOFers.   These cards aren't going for a quarter apiece.

Two of the cards I needed were of the greatest home run hitter of all time, Hank Aaron.  The cards are numbered 1 and 660, the first and last cards of the set.   Bookends.

They list for $30 apiece in NM condition.  I was able to get these two...

for $10.  The Highlights card has some wear on it, but the #660 card on the right is in great condition.  The 6 cards that I picked up for the '75 set cost me a total of $32.  I'll show off the other 4 tonight. 

Thanks for reading, Robert

Sakic Sunday: I told you that the next 100 would go a lot quicker

The other cards that were in the PWE sent by Doug from the Sportscards from the Dollar Store blog were a trio of Joe Sakic's.  These three bring the total to 305, and with the spoils from the monthly card show still to post, the fourth 100 cards are moving along quite well.

The more of these cards that come in, the more I realized that the past decade I have missed a lot of great sets.  That scares me, because the more I see, the more I want.  With my new found passion for the older cards well established, this creates a big problem for the wallet.  Trades have been very helpful however in easing the burden.

2011 Parkhurst Champions is one of the sets that I missed.  Whether I would have chased the whole set is another story, but the cards do like nice.

Another release that I was always fond of when I lived back home were the McDonalds Upper Deck sets.  What really sucked is that most of the time I was late when I got around to buying some packs.  The restaurants would always be sold out.  This card from 2005 features Sakic wearing what looks like a moon helmet.

Last but not least is another set that I've liked since the first time it was released in the late 90's.  SP authentic is another set that I probably would have chased over the years had my collecting habits stayed in place.

OK, so I haven't hit the 400 mark yet, but the first 5 cards after 300 are coming a lot quicker than I expected.  I'm pretty sure that it won't take me a decade to reach 400.  I hope.

Thanks for reading, Robert

My top 5: 2013 Topps Heritage

I received a PWE from Doug over at the Sportscards From The Dollar Store blog that contained card #259, which finished off this set, finally.  With set #27 complete and ready to be put away, I did what will be customary for me going forward, I took a good look at all the cards and came up with my top 5.  There is a kind of a disclaimer for this top 5, since I didn't bother with chasing down the SPs this year.  That means you're only going to see what I call the top 5 from cards 1-425.

This card is not on the countdown, but I'm going to show it anyways, because it appears that the Cardinals may have two great pitchers on their staff, and I thought that both of them sharing a rookie card was excellent.

Both Miller and Rosenthal came up for looks last season, and in 2013 they have been very solid hurlers for St. Louis.  A potentially great foundation for years to come...

OK, here we go:

# 5:  Card #263 Vance Worley

I forget who the other pitcher in the set was that had the same type of glasses as Worley, but I picked Vance's card for the sole fact that his frames were solid white.  The lenses are so thin that it almost looks as if he's wearing nothing but the frames.

#4:  Card #305  Todd Helton

There are a couple of miserable looking souls on the countdown, and Helton's card just screams "I'm 40 years old dammit, don't you have a stock photo you could use of me??"  It also must be miserably cold where the photo was taken, because it appears that the trees behind Todd still don't have any leaves on them.

#3:  Card #63  Jason Grilli

I could have easily made this card #2 or #1, simply because this is the defining yell at the end of outings that Pittsburgh has seen for the past two years.  This guy pitches with raw emotion, and leaves everything he has on the field every time he goes out. 

#2:  Card #35  Michael Bourn

The 2nd miserable looking player to be featured, Bourn looks like he'd rather be anywhere than having his picture taken.  Even better, that's not his bat.  Bourn wore #24 while with Atlanta in 2012.  Who wore #48 last year for the Braves?  Tommy Hanson, who went 1 for 49 at the plate.  Probably why the bat looks so new.  Stick with the leaping catches Michael....

#1:  Card #68 Cameron Maybin

I get a chuckle every time I look at this card.   Tell me that isn't the look of a player, eyes on the pitcher after returning to the dugout thinking "I'm going to get you next time".  This is one of the few cards in the set that looks like the photo was taken during a game, which gives me more reason to like it.

I'm sure that there are other cards that people liked more than these, but hey that's what makes card collecting so great.  Everyone has their opinions, good, bad or indifferent.  Let me hear what you think I missed....

Thanks for reading, Robert

One list grows while another shrinks

Carrying on from last night's post, the final 10 cards that Tom sent me were some great ones as well.

9 of the 10 were some additions to the Jim Thome PC, all of which feature him in a Indians uniform.  The earlier years of Thome are pretty thin in my collection, so these were a welcome sight.

After 2 decades of seeing Thome wearing nothing but the #25, this card was cool to see.  In 1991, Thome wore the #6 for the Tribe, as well as the #59.  Jim switched to #25 in 1992 and never looked back.

A couple of Opening Day cards from the early 2000, including one with that great home run swing of his that connected for 612 dingers.

Add Mark Rypien to this photo and you have a case for everyone that is politically correct out there.  Imagine how much better this card would have been if that had been Chipper Jones on the left instead of Ryan Klesko.  Still, great pic with Thome holding two bats...

This is why the Tribe dominated in the mid 90's.  Belle, Alomar Jr., Thome, Baerga and Lofton.  Add in other stars such as Ramirez, Vizquel and Eddie Murray and you have a lineup that was very tough to beat.  Imagine this, in a shorter 1995 season, the Indians had a record of 100-44.  They just couldn't overcome the pitching machine that was the Atlanta Braves in the world series.

Finally, Tom sent me a single solitary card to knock off the 2011 Topps Heritage list. 

Just 28 more SPs to go and I'll have that set completed!

Tom, thank you for the great cards and the impromptu envelope!!   They were very much appreciated.

Thanks for reading, Robert