Early last week was a day with a lot of mail in the box out front. Got my cards from Dimwit's group break. Or was it Nacho's? Hell - I can't remember anymore. I think age is creeping in. I also received an eBay purchase of a Ginter Flora card from 2011. That was #3, and I received #4 yesterday, so just a single card to complete the set. Oh elusive Mexican Hat (at a price I am willing to pay). Another package was in there, that I will show in the future. But what I want to show is the mail within the mail that was in my mail for the male who never wanted to deliver the mail, and some even question how male this male is. Behold!
I purchased the first day covers for the four stamps the day you could purchase them from USPS. Props to the postal service for issuing the first day covers out of the Cooperstown post office. While they are small, the artwork on them is well done. Pretty stylin'...
I gots a LOT of catching up to do. I have about 5 or 6 packages to get in the mail. I am working on maybe 4 trades right now. Have a few envelopes I would like to post and thank publicly for, and I got a wife that had to go get brain surgery!!!! Women..... (she's fine so far - I hope to get some kind of non-card update about her very soon). But I scored a great relic off eBay recently, and as I did once in the past, I would like to have some fun and do a little Indiana Jones-ing on this swatch.
This post has 47% less rolling boulders.
I do like me some Gordon Beckham. He plays for his charity that for obvious reason is close to my heart. He's a second baseman, which is my position from baseball and softball. He's pretty much a no nonsense guy. So when I saw him in this year's A&G, I was intrigued. And when I actually SAW his relic, I had to make one mine. Now, we all know the back of the relic cards. For those that just crawled out from under a rock, first I say welcome, and then I show you this:
Click it for full size, but you all know the drill. In teeny, tiny letters it reads "The relic contained in this card is not from any specific game, event or season." Blah blah blah blah blah.....
Maybe if I slobber on it they can narrow down the date.
Not sure, Topps? You obviously have a standard back template and swap in the player's name and card number. I know this to be true, cuz there is NO way Topps is unsure on this card. Why? Here's why...
That blue swatch with the white pin stripe screams "White Sox", don't it? It does, if you are talking of a specific game in the 2011 season. And that took me about 5 minutes to pinpoint - July 16th, 2011. The Sox were shutting out Detroit 5-0 with both teams celebrating Negro League baseball that day. The Tigers wore the uniforms of the Stars with the Sox playing as the American Giants. And my piece of jersey? It's somewhere in this action shot.
Who doesn't like a little stop at a resale shop, am I right? It's amazing the things you can find, and usually at an unbelievable price. After dinner, my wife and I decided to hit our local Goodwill and see what was to be had. She found some work clothing, all with the tags still on them. SCORE! Me. I think I found something pretty dang sweet with the #11 on it for the low, low price of $1.99.
Oh no - sorry, that Messier card is just a teaser. I WISH I could find that at a resale shop for two bucks. I found this:
Who honestly thinks about donating one of the greatest albums of all time? I had to pick it up and save it from a lifetime in the Goodwill, sandwiched between N' Sync's "Celebrity" and NKOTB's "Greatest Hits". Sad. Though, +20 manna if you clicked either of those links.
Not really a card related post, is it? Ummmmm......ALLEN AND GINTER!!!! There - relevant.
May this day find you well. I hope the wife is having fun on that extended weekend vacation with the kids. It's a shame you weren't able to go, but with all the releases coming out, she understands how busy you are. I hope I am not bothering you, but I wanted to first thank you for some of the product lately. Getting that super short print of Mr. Bryce Harper into the Archives product sure made me happy when I was able to find one in a pack. Yes, I did fairly well on eBay with that one. And I wanted to mention how nice it was that you brought back some die cut cards in series two of your main baseball product. You also just put this year's Allen and Ginter on the shelves and many of us simply love it.
That being said, I hope you hear the next things I say, and understand that I want to improve for 2013 and not just complain. For starters, this year's redemption product on line is not as much fun as past years. Many of us like the vintage card possibilities. If you could revert back to that, instead of the virtual coins and new cards, it would be very appreciated. Second, Allen and Ginter is fantastic, but I think you are missing a prime opportunity in a card you have yet to release. See, you seem to put the A&G product out in the middle of July. Well, back on July 12th, 1979, a pretty famous event happened. Something that is still talked about today as we talk about Cal Jr.'s Ironman record, Babe Ruth's called shot, Jackie stealing home in the World Series and other famous events. I took the time to mock up what that card would look like. Maybe in 2013 we can see this?
Thanks for reading. I look forward to Triple Threads.
For a ton of years, cards we're pretty much alike. Oh yeah, the designs changed, some good and some bad. But it was always a chipboard card with the player on the front and stats on the grey back. When Upper Deck came out in 1989, everything changed. From the quality of the card to the look and feel, card collecting changed forever. Today's SIL is really nothing special, at first. I'm not kidding. Here, see for yourself:
Matt Williams. I am sure a few people are turned off by the name. Don't matter to me - he never wore Sox black. And the picture on the front is pretty goofy. Can't decide if Matt is shocked or surprised about the slide, or if the pre-game burrito took a turn for the worse. I would think out of the hundreds of pictures UD had, the front of the card could have been better. But the back? Oh - the back is pure heaven in my mind...
YAY BABY!!!! That's what I'm talking about. And more of how UD changed the game forever. No longer are we just seeing the pros hitting, fielding, diving to make a play or posing for a staged shot. Here's Matt, goofing off in throwback unis prior to what I believe is this game. The uniforms a pretty nice, but Matt stuffs the front with a few towels and we now have gold. We can talk about Upper Deck's influence in the trading card biz with the changes in the card look and style, as well as the quality of the images. But I think we forget how Upper Deck changed the type of pictures that we see printed on the cardboard stock. And for that, I thank you.
Oh, don't get me wrong - I picked up some more Allen and Ginter today. Didn't get anything worth showing here. Prior to hitting Walmart for the A&G, though, I went to my LCS to get another storage box. Had to tackle the mess of a desk I have. And one know you just don't walk into your card store and purchase a lame box.
Two packs of 1989 Fleer please.
Well, the LCS didn't put out their A&G (lost sale) so I grabbed a couple packs of Parkhurst hockey and one Panini Rookie Anthology. The Panini caught my eye, so what the heck. Well, I hit pretty decent on the pack, but not in a way I would want to hit. Here, take a look:
Now, I am a Sox fan, and while I don't root for the Twins, I can't say I hate them. I do hate the Packers for sure. NBA? Meh. When it comes down to it, though, I hate, hate, HATE two sports teams: the Cubs and the Dead Wings. Sorry, JayBee, Wrigley Wax, Once a Cub, Vintage Cubs and others. Sorry that your team SUCKS!!!! High five me Laws - WOOOOOOO!
Here's some lotion for that burn!
I will say this - forced into a corner, I would support the Cubs, but only if Paul Hogan told me that I didn't have a knife in my hand, but he had a knife is his hand. You get my meaning. But the Dead Wings? Never, ever, EVER!!! So why have the gods so cruelly burdened me with such a combination of cardboard and fabric?
The standard call that reports of A&G cards showing up a day before the day that should be out prompted me to make a trip to Walmart. We did need a few things from there (honest), and I lucked out with the product being on the shelf. Grabbed a blaster. Grabbed a rack pack. Grabbed 3 single packs. And the results???
For starters, these look far nicer than Gypsy Queen. You have the basic front design that you could argue is similar, but done much much better. The scroll work does not overpower the card, and good bye periwinkle.
Whatever....already left you a few clues inside your shoes, buddy.
I did fairly well. Pulled 8 short prints (with the Cal Ripken). And the other highlights....
Darvish mini (regular back). I like the Man's Best Friend insert set - you will see that on my Wants page soon. The food card - meh. Just the one black border. Bible insert set, also soon to be found on the Wants page. And the we have Bach. Little known fact about me: I played viola in high school, so I have played some Bach, like this and this.
Great story. Tell it again.
And the last couple to show off:
One A&G code card and the only hit I really had, that came from one of the single packs. That's all to share. Did you get some Allen and Ginter today?
Since I am hanging a bit, waiting on the release of 2012 A&G, I've been having some fun with dollar packs. Ya know - the repack boxes that have packs from the past few years. I either get the 20 packs for $20 box at Walmart or a 10 for $10 hanger from Target. Mostly, it's a lot of meh in them.
And sometimes a little "Oooooooooooo Aaaaaaaandy."
I did post about a few scores from a box a while back. Ya really never know what you will find. Though, I will tell you that you find a lot of Upper Deck First Edition in the hangers at Target. They seem to be the filler packs that are not showing in the cel window. Sort of like the hair spray and shoe polish they use to make food desirable.
Tastes like wild hickory nuts and bolts.
Still, who doesn't like a good hunt for something cool. I gave a 10 pack from Target a tear and I think I did okay for $10. For starters, how about a few rookies:
Sure they all come from the lower end of the cards (Opening Day and First Edition) but they are rookie cards none the less. That WORLD jersey on Votto looks like crap. Just saying..... But there was more. And the more gave confirmation - they have to get something decent in these things.
Ian Desmond rookie. A great Johnny Mize Chicle and well, well - a relic. Yup, the repack boxes may contain something decent. It is a Chavez GU relic, so it doesn't thrill me a whole crazy bunch, but they do pack them boxes with everything, and that includes hot packs. Woooooooooooo!
