Ok, I haven't posted in a few days because I have been pretty busy, so I am going to try and get something written up and posted before 7pm today. I started a stop watch and am scanning a single card (recent pickup) and while scanning, I'm typing this. Oh crap, I need to find some witty gif to insert here.
And here's my witty comment. (cue laughter)
So like I mentioned, I haven't posted for a few days. Just busy with life. But I don't want to get into a run of not posting, so let me get this up. 4m 31s so far. This is a card I snagged from Ebay for $3.50 with free shipping. Which means, unless he bought MAJOR bulk of this card (only 290 were printed) the seller lost money on this one. And his loss is my gain.
This is the 2nd of Engel's home run steal Topps Now cards I own. One to go. And one song to go. And I think I will be fortunate to get this posted before 7 (shameless segue). Stop clock!!!! 8 minutes 24.31 seconds.
A couple months back I finally mailed a stack of cards I had set aside for Bo at Baseball Cards Come To Life. Which ended up as a bonus for me as Bo had been holding a stack of miscuts to send back. And what a stack it is. So warm up your vocal cords and free free to jump to the bottom to have some music to sing along with.
Let's work on a few more in the scan folder. Currently have six folders of scans. I added one from a very recent mailing because I wanted to get the cards received stored into the set build they were received. So let's put up 3 today. Once again, I am not sure when I received these fantastic cards (sorry senders), and this is a long time coming. I hope you give me a small amount of forgiveness.
And give me a lot of these.
Let's start with the folder containing a single image, but oh what an image it is. Adam from Cardboard Clubhouse. Adam is currently on break from blogging cuz he had to have another baby.
But seriously, according to his most recent post, that little guy/gal should have arrived, so I hope she/he is healthy and the family is doing well. Speaking of little guys.....
Little in size, the droids are. But the cards themselves are not. Adam dropped 3 or 4 of these 5x7 packs from TLJ on me. And I believe I completed the set of the 8 cards. A Google search puts these as a fan event release from Topps, doubles sided with Light on one side and Dark on the other. This ebay auction gives you a good look at all 16 images. I have dupes, so if you want them, hit me up. And thanks Adam. Hope you are back on your blog soon.
Next up is a couple scans from Jon at A Penny Sleeve For Your Thoughts. I love Jon's posts cuz not always is it baseball cards. If you haven't, Jon, you need to post what has to be the wall of VHS tapes you have. I see all your pickups from the thrift stores. Don't think Jon found what he mailed to me at a thrift store, though.
There's 6 of the almost 2 dozen buy backs in Jon's mailer. Some really nice cards in there. I just love that Wilson at the bottom. He's scoping the stands, picking out the woman he will be talking home tonight. And it's your girlfriend, cuz none can resist the gaze of Glenn Wilson. Two other cards were in the envelope
BOOM!!!! 1998 Topps Finest - sweet. And dig that GORGEOUS 1953 Bowman of Lou Cretlow. Well loved for sure, and I will give it even more love. What a shot of Yankee Stadium in the background. Jon, I owe you for sure on these. I know I have some cards aside for you, but I think I can do some damage to your want lists.
Last for today is from Paul at Scribbled Ink. Lot to be jealous about with Paul's post (mainly all the autos he has), but he dropped a nice mailer on me for you to be jealous about.
BLACKHAWKS!!!! All these cards are from the Ultimate Original 6 set. I used to have dang near this entire set, but I believe it got water damaged and had to end it's life in a dump somewhere. Getting a bunch of the Hawks from the set is a blessing. I mean, look at the Pilote at the bottom right. Clean ad free boards, the shadows, the fans all dressed up like it's a night out - that's heaven, horizontally.
Some recent net minders for the Hawks. All three have their names on the Cup - 'Bulin with the Lightning, Huet with the Hawks and Belfore with the Stars.
Some nice Sox in the package too. I don't get Panini's products, so it's nice when I get them sent to me since I have all but stopped buying them. 2017 Topps Chrome parallels are weird.
Player collection Sox. I have been hoping to score some BBM Iguchi cards for cheap on ebay, but not having a lot of luck. If anyone has a better place to pick up foreign singles of him, I am all ears.
Last image for this post is a group of needed vintage of early 80's White Sox. I can only remember Comiskey with having yellow bars separating the lower boxes, so seeing them painted white behind Farmer is weird.
Also, Rusty Kuntz.
Thanks Paul. I'll so my best to get a return package to you soon.
Well look at me, getting all caught up. Getting close...
I wasn't planning a post today. I am doing my best to knock this out and post before 7, so I hope I can make that happen. A really recent bit of news prompted this post. So let's get on with it.
Players come and go in baseball. Some get a sip of coffee. Some get a couple seasons watching from the bench, getting in here and there. Some have decent careers to earn a living playing a child's game. A rare few have a career that gives them a plaque of immortality. You have to be really good for that hall enshrinement. Just being around for many, many years guarantees nothing.
When Jamie Moyer retired in 2012, he has been in the Bigs 25 years, third place in most seasons played. Ahead of him are HOFers Nolan Ryan and Cap Anson, and HOFer Ricky Henderson is tied with him. But ahead of him with 26 seasons in the league are two players not in the HOF - Tommy John and Deacon McGuire. So you may have the talent and skill to make it in your profession for very long, but unless you have a surgery named after you, there is a chance your name will slip into obscurity in the future, no matter your talent. No plaques exist in the Hall of Pretty Darn Good.
2009 Topps had a great design template that allowed really good cropping of the pictures, and a fair amount of them are not so close to lose out on the context of the photo. And for Jamie's card this year, that home plate with the Phillies logo balances out his leg kick and weights the whole card really well.
This would be for a great final card, but Jamie had other ideas. The baseball writers also had other ideas, not giving Jamie enough votes on his one and only ballot appearance to make it on the following year's ticket. If Jamie's plaque is going to be produced, it will have to come from another group of people who decide he's that good.
I just learned, as others have, that Neal Peart from Rush died a couple days back. By no means can I say Rush had a huge influence on me and my music life. But holy shit - Rush f*cking rocked! I would listen to the albums my brothers had. Rush was nothing like what you heard on the radio. It was art performed by three men. Three men that mastered the instruments in their hands. On any other band, each would have been the superstar. In Rush, they were three that complimented each other and took music places yet heard.
And did I mention they f*cking rocked?!?! For 44 years.
Rush appeared on a single HOF ballot in their career. For some reason, it took fan outrage for them to finally be considered worthy of a look at induction. A full 25% of the votes from fans were given to Rush. Fortunately, the Hall did the right thing in 2013.
For those unaware, Rush is considered prog rock. And if you can't hear it in their more mainstream hits, Cygnus X-1 from Rush's 1977 release "A Farewell To Kings" will help you understand the genre, somewhat. Ten minutes. Turn on the light above your black light poster and enjoy the next 10 minutes.
Every Thursday, I post a card showing a ballplayer wearing a throwback uniform from my collection. Hopefully, he will be wearing it well, with proper pants blousing. The picture may be from the front of the card, or the back. Enjoy the uniforms from years past.
Tim Hudson - 2002 Upper Deck Ovation - Philadelphia A's
Let's go back to the scan folder and get another written up. Looking at the names on the directories, I am going to post a single one today, only because I think it's the oldest mailing to display. By the way, for those scoring at home, all these scans are stored on a portable hard drive. And if you are not scoring at home, try flowers.
NO! SLEEP ON THE COUCH!
Many, many moons ago I jumped on a post from Scott at Scott Crawford Cards. How many moons ago? Click that link and realize Scott started a new blog almost 3 years ago. I really suck. So these cards really came from Scott at I Need New Hobbies. Scott was giving a great price on cards, so I took him up on the offer as there were huge sections of my Sox box lacking content. For all the wax put out in the years from 87 to the mid 2000's, some of those years were thin. Scott did a look see at want lists and made me an offer that I didn't want to refuse, so I bought them. I won't go into too much detail on the scans, but here's some of the 500+ cards I got.
My Hawks first, who delightfully (for me) beat up on the Dead Wings yesterday. And yes, the Hawks actually had both Tony and Phil at one time. While we got Pit Martin in the trade with Boston, we got the bad end of that deal, basically building the Bruin's dynasty in the late 60's and early 70's. It was only the Flyers and Habs that stopped them at 2 Cup wins in that time frame.
I think I had the Hull booklet, but never the Tony O. Love the 81-82 Topps in the middle.
Here's a couple pics inside the booklets. No mask. Odd.
On to the baseball portion. These are set builders. So many cards to go in these sets.
VINTAGE!!!!! The rookie Goose still evades me at a normal price. All these and more were cards I could mark off the want lists.
PC additions. Just a sample of them. Rowand looks like he is 9.
Now we hit the cruz of the purchase - junk wax set builders. One day I will catalog non Topps flagship sets to know just what I am missing. I was in the stands when the Sox clinched the playoffs in 1993. I remember Bo's 14 mile high pop up that just kept carrying and landed about 10 feet beyond the fence to seal the win.
Also - Rusty Kuntz.
Two HOF in this image. And a great One Dog snag at the fence.
Score trying to steal UD thunder with the Drabek.
Speaking of Upper Deck.... How great is '93 UD? One of my favorite sets.
Busted prospects for the Sox, though the guys in the middle, Escobar and Holmberg, have had success with other clubs. Ely had a few cups of coffee at the start of the 2010s with the Dodgers.
I guess you can kind of call this me jumping on another Blog Bat Around. Only in the sense that someone started it and I saw a couple other blogs that followed. If I am correct, Shane from Shoebox Legends did the first post of images that never made it onto the blog in 2019. And I at times have done that very thing - scanned something that fails to appear in a post. Difference is: I just delete the thing. I've long forgotten my intention for the image (more than likely a lame joke), so Shift+Delete and away it goes forever.
Destroyed by the Beast.
However, I do have scans that I haven't delete, for they are from packages received that never were shown here. I would like to claim they are all from sometime in 2019, but I am fairly certain there will unfortunately be cards from this series of posts that showed up in the offices of 2 by 3 Heroes in 2018. And that's wrong on a lot of levels. Punishments will be dealt out.
Let's get this over with, pig.
Let's get a few folders deleted for the right reasons. First up is John from Johnny's Trading Spot. According to the note I left, these cards are from a mailing he called Christmas in May. I do hope it was May 2019, but it may have been longer. Anyhow....
Some relevant at this time of year Star Wars cards. I only have been working on the ANH Topps sets. I might pick up the ESB and ROTJ sets in the future, but I'll just buy those complete sets. And even that is a maybe. I like the ANH sets cuz I have fond memories of the wax packs. I think I opened just a couple packs of ESB and zero ROTJ.
Handful of Sox in his mailing. Not sure what is up with that Select checklist logo. It looks weird.
But the bulk was bunting. Usually I will make note of how many of a particular binder card I receive, but I failed on this one. I have these three scanned...
And these, but I am certain there were more than 6 John sent. How about the rare bunt/throwback of Jose Cruz Jr on the left? Sheer beauty. Thanks John for that cards. Sorry it took me this long to thank you in public.
One other mailing, so I don't drag this post out too long, came from Night Owl. According to Windows, I created this folder on Jan 13, 2019. I really do suck.
I'm starting to think you do this cuz you like the punishment.
Nope. Not PC'ing Moncada. But a great handful of cards for the Sox box. The single color blue Fire does not look as good as it's base counterpart at the lower right.
Shocking to see the N.O. actually sending OUT a '75 homage card. Did any other company go as hog wild for holograms in the 90's?
YUM!!!!! Houston needs to bring back those unis as throwbacks. And a close look at Foli - those are the wool flannel version, which in my opinion are FAR nicer than the double knit polyester they switched to on '73. Thanks Greg.
So that makes two folders of scans I can delete and..... 6 remaining, plus like 5 stacks on the desk I need to scan. So that's makes:
