The Human Vacuum Cleaner and other cards from the Commish

One thing that the "What's Next?" tournament has given me is the opportunity to deal with other collectors/bloggers that I haven't had an opportunity to talk to in the past.   One of those is Commishbob, who runs the Five Tool Collector blog.  If you don't follow it, I suggest you do, because Bob has recently posted a great variety of cards, including flag and plane cards (which were fabulous), along with a few Baltimore Orioles from his collection.  Bob also has a retired vintage blog, '59 Topps:  one f/g card at a time, which was one of the first vintage card sets that I started following.   Bob has lobbied for the '59 set in the tournament a couple of times on his "retired" blog, which is really appreciated here. 

Bob sent me an email last week asking for my address, because he had a few cards he felt would be good additions to my collection. 

He hit so many want lists, it's tough to start somewhere. Let's start with another piece to the SNI puzzle, Miguel Tejada.

A shiny and colorful way to start off, no?  Miguel is serial # 1252, and is the 37th Astro card for the set.  The SNI is down to 249 cards remaining, and the Tigers still are the team with the lowest number of cards for the set (33).

What would a package that arrives at my house be without a few Blue Jays inside.   Here's a card that I've never seen before.

I can only recall a couple of Al Oliver cards in my Blue Jays collection, so this is a welcome addition.  I took a little digging, but I found out that this is from the Woolworth's Topps set, a 33 card release in 1986.  Oliver is the only Jay featured, making this one of the easiest set completions that I've had. 

A bit of the old and new here.  I was just able to put together a Dave Stieb page for the Jays collection, so this card will have to wait.  When I first saw the 2012 Opening Day Stars card of Jose Bautista, I thought that I already owned it.   Wrong again!!  Another great add to the collection.

A couple of more jersey cards to add to the collection!!  I'm realizing that Vernon Wells has a boat load of jersey cards, many of which I saw at the National a couple of weeks ago.  It was amazing how fast the star of J.P. Arencibia fell in Toronto, and it doesn't appear to be rising at all down in Texas.  Not hitting your weight will do that for you.  

Bob didn't hesitate to knock off cards from my 60's want lists as well.

2 each from the '62 and '68 sets was a great start...

The '68 and '62 sets both have a very long way to go for completion, but each are 2 cards closer now.   I regret not hunting for a few '62s at the National, since I still am 21 cards away from my goal of 30% completion by the end of the year.  Hopefully I can rectify that when the monthly mall show returns in September (at least I hope it returns).

Finally, as the post title indicated, the best card of the bunch, Brooks Robinson.

A fantastic card!!  It's in great shape, an absolute beauty for my '64 set.  I didn't even have to pry it out of Bob's hands!  This card brings me down to 113 left to go for the set, and now I have a little more hope that I can get that number below 100 by year's end.

If you haven't voted yet for this week's match between 76T and 67T, please take a moment and leave  a comment on the post (67 is out to an early lead, but that could change by week's end).

Bob, thank you very much for the cards, they are greatly appreciated!!!

thanks for reading, Robert

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

The great clean up has begun

Procrastinator.  That should be one of my names. 

Leaning tower of Pisa. 

You may know of it.  I had piles of cards on my desk that were starting to look like this.   Leaning to one side.  Definitely not a good thing. 

So I sat down last Saturday, and started sorting.  Putting cards into plastic sheets.   Moving stuff that should have been into boxes several weeks ago.

You may remember a 300 count lot of 1974 Topps that I purchased at a card show back in May (see the linked post if you don't).  I spent a portion of Saturday starting an Excel checklist.   It was only one week shy of 3 months.  I also decided to put my 1973 Topps cards into sheets finally.   I spent so much time between straightening up the crazy amount of piles and doing stuff around the house that I didn't bother posting.   Blasphemy.

There were cards in piles that had been long forgotten about, such as this...

Or this:

I really like this insert, I may have to look for more

Even a pile of these had been pushed to the side:

Even Pops went MIA for a time.

I'm sure that there's more where this came from.  There's only about 18 more piles to go through.  Maybe if I get a dozen or so of those piles of the desk I'll have room to start some trade piles.

Here's hoping....

Thanks for reading, Robert

Forgotten, but still around.

I stated many times on the blog over the past year my love of the 2008 UD Masterpieces set.  I remember the joy I felt the day I finished it.

I remember how much I loved the captured on canvas jersey cards.  I loved them so much that I started to collect them.

Then all of a sudden, I stopped.  Other ideas and sets came along that kind of pushed this project to the side.  But you may or may not have noticed, the tab at the top of the page did not disappear.  I still have either 64 or 65 more of these to go, depending on whether the Yunel Escobar card actually exists.

I was actually reminded about this set 10 days ago because of a couple of emails that were sent to me by Tom Slowey (thank you for those again Tom) with some interesting tidbits about the set.  Tom is the one who informed me that the Escobar was replaced by Manny Ramirez (interesting).  I looked through a few of the cards that I do own, and I pulled the Freddy Sanchez out for scanning.

I remember the last day of the 2006 season, the excitement that Pirates broadcaster Greg Brown had over Freddy capturing the batting title.  Freddy did have quite the season that year, driving in 85 runs, hitting .344 and also leading the NL in doubles with 53. 

Injuries took their toll on Freddy, and he's been out of the game since 2011.   He owns a career average of .297 and has 3 all star games to his credit.

If I ever get my ass organized again, this is one set that I will have to try and tackle with a little more gusto.

Promises, promises....

Thanks for reading, Robert

This isn't really a spring cleaning

The winter blahs have already set in for me, and it's not even a month until winter.  The last couple of days have been cold and windy here, and with the clocks falling back, darkness comes way too early for my liking.

Because of this, my mindset over the past few days is cleaning off my disaster of a card table/desk.  Kind of a spring cleaning, except it's not spring. The desk has gotten so bad that I worked on cleaning it last night rather than writing a post. 

One thing that I secretly hoped for when Update/Highlights was released last month was the potential influx of gold parallels for the insanity set.  My luck so far has been very disappointing.  So much so that I have all these for trade, mainly because I'm hitting numbers that are higher than 1500.

Need more info on any of these?  Comment/email...

See any you need?  Let me know...

How about minis?  Have an eight spot of those if you're collecting that set...

I also have quite a few sparkly gold and Wal-Mart blue if you're collecting them....better they go to someone who will enjoy them....let me know if you're looking for anyone in particular.

Not unlike many other bloggers, I enjoy the cartoons on the back of older card releases.  I managed to pick up about 3 dozen of the 76-77 OPCs I needed for my set, but a couple of Leafs cards caught my eye because of the similarity of the cartoons.

Both Mike Pelyk and Bob Neely seem to have been injured quite a bit during their careers, as evidenced by the generous amounts of bandages adorning their cartoon bodies. 

Mind you, those weren't the only 76-77's I was able to buy.  I found one table that had a nice assortment of these cards, and I grabbed a few of the star cards I needed...some notable HOFers here.

The cards are in good shape, and the dealer was good enough to cut 20% off the price.  My purchases weren't limited to vintage...I did manage to find some more modern cards to fit my collection;

probably overpaid for this, now that I think about it

along with a few others to fit other people's collections (if they so choose to have them...)

All these, plus about 400-500 Blue Jays that I've been too lazy to catalog, piles of doubles from sets that I'm currently building, and assorted piles of top loaders, penny sleeves and single cards that I've picked up here and there. 

It's all driving me crazy.  I hope you will pardon me while I clean up the disaster area....

Thanks for reading, Robert

The November project purchase #2: Kyle Drabek Triple Threads Auto/jersey

I am a sucker for these Triple Threads jersey cards, and when I found this one at such a cheap price, I couldn't say no.

The card knocks off the autograph portion of the requirements, and of course since he's a Blue Jay Drabek fits into the collecting goals as well.

Card Purchased (1):  2011 Topps Triple Threads Auto Jersey Doug Drabek #95/99 (94 cards remaining)
Cost:  $3.99 + $3.00 shipping +$0.42 tax (ugh) =$7.41 ($18.02 total spent, $81.98 left)
How won:  I was the only bid on this auction.  Seller is mk0914

Card took a couple of extra days to get here because of Sandy, but the wait was well worth it.

I like everything about these cards, expect for the price (normally).  The idea of the jersey cutouts forming something that has meaning to the player on the card is a good idea from where I sit.

Still a long way to go, and a nice chunk of change to spend.  

I'm sure I wouldn't have pulled something like this from the Heritage High Numbers...

Thanks for reading, Robert

A post so bad a catchy title couldn't save it.

You ever have a day where you just sit at the monitor and can't put two sentences together??

Feel so bad that whatever you write just seems worthless??

Have absolutely no idea what to write about...essentially feeling like a lot of pitchers do with a bat in their hands??

So far this week, I just don't feel like I have it.  Don't have the normal mojo.  Don't feel like I could play all 9 positions in the same game....

I don't have my normal sunny disposition while writing:

So, I sat down and had myself a couple of pops...

Took a look at a few masterpieces ....

Rangers helmet...Braves team name...Masterpieces...

and finally came to the realization that after watching 6+ months of the "boys of summer", that my natural progression wasn't occurring and the "boys of winter" weren't going to be playing anytime soon (at least on my TV)

Maybe my problem is that I'm longing for the days where there was no collective bargaining, no helmets, and a man could be nicknamed "Bunny" and not be ridiculed.

Someday Dave, I will write a full post on these cards...

It's been so bad that I feel compelled to show you this card again....

this is from Topps Updates "& Highlights"...hey thanks Anonymous!!!

Now that you've ready my drivel, head on out there and read some real posts from some real writers!!

Maybe tomorrow I'll have my mojo back.

Thanks for reading, Robert

Misled

As I said the other day, when I write a post that is inspired by another blog, I try to give credit where it is due.  In this case, credit goes to the Night Owl who wrote earlier today about the faith that he has lost in the trading card companies vis a vis relic cards.  I can definitely say that I can sympathize with him.  I imagine that there are a lot of people that have lost faith in relic cards after what has materialized.

Dare I ask what these Ricky Romero cards are actually cut from?

I do like the design of the Archives card on the left which mimics the '56 Topps release.

Do we actually treat these cards as worthless now?  For a lot of collectors, that may be tough to do, because it goes against the fabric of what collecting has become over the past decade (sorry for the bad pun).

Imagine how card stores/internet dealers may feel because they may have great amounts of money tied up in collections that may all of a sudden be thought of as worthless.

Imagine the game used jerseys featuring players such as Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb and others that were probably bought and sold for hundreds, if not thousands of dollars, all of a sudden losing a great deal of their worth because of the events that have come to light.  (Of course this is an assumption I'm making...but I believe these cards will dip in value).

I agree as well with Rob at Voice of the Collector, I believe that the card companies could, and should come out with some kind of statement regarding this whole matter.

My question is, what in the world are they going to say that's going to change anything?  Is it even possible to put a positive spin on this?  I can't see it happening.

It appears as if the collecting world has been misled, and I'm sure that this is not going to go away anytime soon.



It's also funny how things work out sometimes.  As I was reading the Night Owl's post this morning, this song was playing on my iTunes, kind of ironic.  You may remember Kool and the Gang for songs such as Celebration and Cherish, but this tune has a different sound for them.   Hope you enjoy it.

thanks for reading, Robert

28 days

That's all there is before the NHL imposes a lockout on their players if a new CBA is not reached.

I can see the writing on the wall now.  It's going to happen.  We're going to lose significant time again this year.  (I'm praying that the two sides prove me wrong, but they just waited too damn long to start talks)

The problem now is what it was in the past, the owners.  The gulf between the haves and the have nots in the ranks of ownership is just way too wide.  Teams that can bury horrible contracts in the minors (Toronto and the Rangers to name two) have a big advantage over teams that are scrambling each season just to spend to the floor (Phoenix, Florida).  Sadly, the owners have to "band together" to figure a way to do it in order to save the poor clubs.

Who takes the hit?  The players....

I'm sure this guy wasn't going around to the owners with a gun to their heads and saying "give me a 13 year contract"...

 

The league has a real problem on their hands.  The divisive shift isn't within the players; if anything they seem to be more together on the issues than they ever have been.

The players are the driving force of the game, and there are a lot of great young players driving the skill level upwards at an alarming rate.

No sooner do I hear in talks that ownership wants to limit contracts to a 5 year term then I see not one but two players (Pacioretty and Simmonds) sign 6 year contracts.

The problem (at least how I see it) is the owners battling within themselves.  The rich doing their best to drive the poor ones out of business by forcing them to either put up or shut up.  Yes, I know it's the classic business model, but when you have a finite amount of teams in a sport you're trying to expand to the entire North American market, it just doesn't make sense.

Nearly $8 million (on average) per year for Shea Weber?  Come on folks, it's getting a little ridiculous.  Weber is a very good defenseman, but to pay him near what Crosby, Malkin and Ovechkin are making is ....nuts.

This type of spending has forced teams that are "middle of the pack" like Carolina to overpay for players (I'm sorry, $6 million/yr for Jordan Staal is a little much..again just my opinion).

It's obvious now that the lost season of 2004-05 hasn't shown the ownership group anything, because they've gone and created the same problem as they had 8 years ago.  Out of control spending.

I'm not paying good money to go and see Ryan Suter play hockey.   Ryan Suter is a very good hockey player, don't get me wrong, but to pay him the kind of money that he received (13 years, $98 million) is crazy. 


Gary Bettman...you need to get your ownership group together....offer the players 51% of the revenue, put in an impartial mediator to hear appeals on player suspensions...and for the love of all things good, contract this league by 4 teams. 

Do not put a 2nd team in Toronto, do not give a team back to Quebec City unless an owner chooses to move there, and put no more teams south of North Carolina.


I also want to watch Nashville Predators games on the off chance that the cameras will pan and show me the visage of this very lucky hockey player's wife....

Mr. Underwood?  Nah.....

I'm sorry that you've been forced to read a very long winded and choppy rant, but when I see my favorite sport 28 days away from another lockout, well it really just fucking pisses me off.

28 days....you think I'm upset now, wait until the lockout happens....then I might go spinning out of control on the NHL....

lol....I love blogging...

Thanks for reading, Robert

Sakic Sunday: 05/06 SPx Winning Materials

Decided to give everyone a day's reprieve from my National posts to show off the latest addition to my Joe Sakic PC. 

2005/06 SPx Winning Materials #'d 326/350.  Saw this on eBay a couple of weeks ago, with Buy it Now/Best Offer pricing on it.  I knocked a third off of the asking price as my best offer....sold!!

3 days later it was at my house and part of my collection.  Love that all 3 colors of the Avs jersey are featured on the card. 

I've really let the Joe Sakic PC slide over the past few years, this winter may be the time to rekindle that flame.  I'm sure that there are still a lot of base cards/inserts to pickup. 

Thanks for reading, Robert

Now I know where all the serial #'d cards went

As promised, more to show you from my first day at the National.  Tonight's post will feature more modern stuff, purchased on the cheap (did you expect anything else?)

I found a table that was offering up relics/autos for 60-70% off.  I could have sat there and loaded up on a bunch of stuff, but I didn't really want to blow a good portion of my budget on these types of cards.  I wound up purchasing 4 cards for $15, which I thought was a pretty good deal.

This first one is headed to a certain Texas Rangers fan....

Brian, I have 2 cards coming at ya!

The next 2 are welcome, and cheap additions to my Blue Jays auto/relic collection.  I'm hoping that both of these guys turn it around soon, or the wild card in 2012 will become just another memory...

The Lind is a pretty nice looking auto if I do say so...

This next card is another sad obsession that is plaguing me.  The letter manupatches are becoming a quirky little side bar in my collecting habit.  This one not only has the first letter of my last name, but the team colors are the same as my high school colors....green, white and gold.

 

Danny Putnam.   You remember him, don't you?  Come on....think!!!

OK, I'll end your misery.  Danny spent a grand total of 17 days in the majors during the 2007 season.  Come on, you don't remember his HR off Neal Musser of the Royals?  The A's were ahead 12-3 at the time....

LOL...OK, enough, I get it.  The card actually looks better than what it scans....and like I said, the letters are a bit of a weakness.

Now, as the title of the post leads you to believe, a little bit of insanity took place at the show.   I printed out the entire want list, all 900+ numbers needed, and wandered the floor.  Sure enough, I came upon a table that had boxes of nothing but serial numbered cards for 50 cents apiece.

Not just little two row shoe boxes.  Monster boxes.  2 full 3000 count boxes of nothing but serial numbered baseball cards.

Now only if they had a chair I could have used, I would have spent more money at their booth.  But, the lack of seating caused me to stick to my predetermined limit of $20 per table (I am a cheap son of a gun...).

$20 is worth 40 cards....sure enough I found 40 numbers that I needed that were of Topps/Bowman products, and went on my merry way.

See if you can spot the error in the first scan...

There should have been one more lefty hitter in this scan

Here's some more serial #'d goodness for you:

I even did reasonably well in picking out teams where I needed cards, such as the Rockies, Royals and Brewers. 

I still haven't gone through my entire Friday at the show, but suffice it to say that these 2 purchases were the only modern cards I picked up on day 1.  Not what I had expected to do, but hey you never know what's going to fall in your lap until you get there, right??

Thanks for reading, Robert

Gint-A-Cuffs IV: Packs 19-24

Packs 1-6 can be found here
Packs 7-12 can be found here
Packs 13-18 can be found here

Running total coming into this post:  138 points

One more round of 6 packs....here we go!!!

Pack # 19:

59.  Johnny Damon
106. Bud Norris
235. Victor Martinez

81. Jerry Bailey (Jockey, +1 point)
108. J.P. Arencibia (MY Favorite team base card, +1 point)
319. Adam Wainwright (SP, +2 points)
HTP4.  Historical Turning Points The Reformation (insert, +3 points)
MM5.  Musical Masters Franz Liszt (mini insert, +3 points)

Pack total:  10 points
Running total: 148 points

Pack #20:

91. Grady Sizemore
142. Jose Reyes
226. Jim Thome
275. Kerry Wood

78. Joe Mauer (FP list, +2 points)
223. CC Sabathia (Damn Yankee, -1 point)
196. Lou Gehrig Mini (Damn Yankee, -1 point)
WIN2 What's in a Name Carlos Gonzalez (insert +2 points)

Pack total: 2 points
Running total: 150 points


Pack #21:

52. Cameron Maybin
76. Michael Bourn

181. Joe DiMaggio (Damn Yankee, -1 point)
196. Lou Gehrig (Damn Yankee, -1 point)
WIN37  What's in a Name Jason Heyward (insert, +2 points)
318. Mike Moustakas (A&G Ad Back SP mini, +7 points)
AGR-JJK   Jackie Joyner Kersee jersey relic (Awesome to get in an Olympic year, +10 points)

Pack total: 17 points
Running total:  167 points

Pack #22:

40. Jimmy Rollins
166. Ervin Santana
190. Addison Reed
239. Liam Hendriks
241. Andrew Bailey

249. Phil Hughes (Damn Yankee, -1 point)
WIN24 What's in a Name Ian Kinsler (Insert, +2 points)
ML-16  World's Greatest Military Leaders Frederick the Great (Mini insert, +3 points)

Pack total:  4 points
Running total:  171 points

Pack #23:

31. Jackie Robinson
116. Brandon Beachy
140. Mike Trout
281. Matt Cain

60. Reggie Jackson (Damn Yankee, -1 point)
316. Adrian Gonzalez (SP, +2 points)
147. Tsuyoshi Nishioka (Black Bordered mini, +3 points)
BH-13 Baseball Highlight Sketches Matt Moore (Insert, +3 points)

Pack total:  7 points
Running total:  178 points

Pack #24 (the conclusion):  (Side note, I will be very happy if I NEVER see another Yankee again!!)

18. Kevin Youkilis
208. Martin Prado
217. Brian Wilson

16. Rulon Gardner (Mini A&G Back, +2 points)
212. Ken Griffey Jr. (FP list, +2 points)
302. Jayson Werth (SP, +2 points)
57. Michael Pineda (Damn Yankee....-1 point)
BH22 Baseball Highlight Sketches Joe DiMiaggio (Insert, +3 points, Damn Yankee -1 point, net +2 points)

Pack total:  7 points
Final Box Score:  185 points

Save for all the Damn Yankees in this box, I would have been close to 200 points.  I would have to say I'm very happy with 185 points for my first go round in Gint A Cuffs.

Overall, I am very happy with the box, 2 great autos of Gwynn and Curly Neal, and the relic of Joyner-Kersee was great to pull in an Olympic year as well.  

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Mark A. for the time and effort he puts in to give me, a lowly blogger, a chance to have some fun with this contest.  Thank you Mark!!

Best of luck to all the other participants this year as well!!

thanks for reading, Robert