New Age

What the hell just happened here?

As you can see, I decided it was time for a small redesign. Nothing extreme, as the layout is the same. Just some new colors (based on the '59 White Sox uniform palette) and a new header. I didn't go nuts and dropped the animated TV gif. I was thinking of a scrolling marquee board, ala the 70's version of the Titanton, but I went simple. Nothing too drastic.

I don't need your help, Oliver!

Recently, a local big box (Meijer's) had 5 blasters of 2014 Panini Golden Age. I love the 3 year run of that set, as I have talked in the past. A couple weeks prior I found one at Target, so I did my best to grab as many of the ones from Meijer over the course of a week. I got 4. I want to hunt down the person that got the last one.

I am long done with the base. I was just looking for the inserts and hits in the blasters. Remember when blasters contained a guaranteed hit? Well, best I could tell the '14 Golden Age contains hits from the Legends of Music relic set, as all my hits were from that 8 card set. Yeah, I got some dupes, but read on and maybe there might be a giveaway at the end of the post (there is). But the guaranteed relic wasn't all I found in a couple.

This is one of the First Fifty serialed cards. You can see the words in the upper corners replacing the scroll work of the base cards. And yes - the numbering is to 50. This card is 30 of 50 showcasing the beautiful Gene Tierney. Not bad for a low numbered serial from a blaster. On to the hits.

Willie appears in the relic set twice. Two different images, and I assume the relics are different on both.

Because they are different on the two cards I pulled. The top black relic feels like, almost like a part of a number patch, so I'm not quite sure what it's from. If it's a shirt, it would be dang heavy and hot to wear. But this other relic is a bandana, plain and simple. And no - both cards do not smell like hemp. Much.

Father to the far less talented former singer of the Monday Night Football theme song, Here's a nice two color piece of what appears to be a jacket from Hank Williams. There are only two kinds of music I hate - Country and Western. But I give a tone of respect to Mr. Williams. Won't buy any of his stuff, but if I know he's singing, I won't turn the station. Nice faint pin stripe in the center.

No Nick - this one is mine. Find your own. I was most excited when this card came out of the first of the 4 I got from Meijers. What's to say about a punk legend that I hasn't already been said. The relic is a piece of a t-shirt (what else?) and humbling to own. More so than the Nelson and the Williams. I have 4 of the 8 from the set. There is a 3rd Willie card, another of Hank and two from Liberace. I don't expect any more blasters, so I will have to complete this set from ebay.

However, that wasn't the end of the hits. When I found the relic pack from one blaster (that contained Joey Ramone), I set it aside to save it for last. The pack just before I revealed my relic, this came out.

Expired redemption? Yes. But just barely, and Panini has a great history of honoring old, expired redemptions. I quickll made the request, and so far, this is still showing as"active". I redeemed it in the middle of May, only 5 and a half months after the expiration. I'm sure this is laying around the office. I'll post it if/when it showing up in my mailbox.

So yeah, with this new blog look, how about a contest? Along with the blasters, I ripped a box of 14 Golden Age from a sale I saw at Dave and Adam's. So I have a LOT of base. So much that I have one complete base set (150 cards) along with a partial set maybe 30 cards short. Plus a few extra inserts and 2 extra Willie Nelson relics. The bandana one. So like I usually run my giveaways, comment below if you want in. I'll go a week or so. Promote if you like, but not needed. Follow me if you want, but again, not needed. Let's close comment entries on 6/12 at 11:59pm. All the names hit the randomizer. The person is position #1 gets the full set with a funky piece of bandana with a word on it. The person at the very bottom gets the partial set with a plain red relic swatch.

It's that simple. And if you have any Golden Age inserts laying around from the 2012-2014 release years, my Wants list at the top shows the full size inserts I need. And any minis are appreciated too.

Now comes the hard part - Ramones or Hank? Ramones or Hank? If only the Ramones covered a Hank Williams song.