The return of PWE Wars

I am still sorting the spoils from the recent card show. And by sorting, I mean they are still sitting in the box they came home in two days ago and all I have done is moved them from near to my left elbow to farther from my left elbow. At this rate of sorting, the cards should be somewhere around Des Moines by 2037.

More exciting then when they added the 3rd color to the traffic light.

So let's knock around a couple recent PWEs by way of a little game known as PWE Wars. It's like Food Network, where every damn show on there is some stupid competition: cakes, cupcakes, meat, trucks, pumpkins, sandwiches. Even kids get in the act hating on each other. Everything is a freaking battle on that channel. And to set the mood, I'll even wear a low cut shirt.

I'll be playing the part of Kate Upton in this post.

Today's contestants come from mailers courtesy of John from Johnny's Trading Spot (who sent me a MASSIVE box I am still sorting through), and Shane from Shoebox Legends. The rules are simple: I compare the cards in each envelope and score them. Whomever has the higher score wins. This is the 3rd installment on PWE Wars. Each of the first two ended in a tie. Let's see if that will change this time out. John is on the left and Shane on the right in each image.

Oh - tough start. Like myself, Shane is building a buyback frankenset, and he sent some dupes to help me out. John, on the other hand, has been cleaning out a ton of cards he bought from a collector. I have very few of the code cards from the 2008 World's Greatest Victories set, so I jumped on what he had. Growing up, I was a nutjob about space, so I will have to give this round to John.

More A&G goodness versus a fauxback uniform the Rangers wore. It's a decent uniform, for never existing. And a few companies put it on cardboard. However, the A&G takes this round as well. Cards that show real throwbacks overtake fake throwbacks. John is up 2-0.

Our 3rd A&G insert card from John talks of the story of a smaller man cutting down a larger giant. Shane counters with two miscuts. Two cuts are better then one. Shane trailing 2-1.

Remember Deep Blue? It played chess against Kasparov and beat him in a rematch played in regular chess time rules? Well, Deep Blue is going against a couple other colorful cards with blue, along with red, green purple and a bunch others. And that would win out, except I have both the Abreu and the Beckham. John up 3-1.

Bunt vs. buyback. Giants vs. Tigers. Pitcher faking it in the batting cage vs. pitcher faking it in the outfield. Helmet vs. sideburns. Sideburns win. Shane down one 3-2.

Shane is on top and John is on the bottom. All total, Shane sent me 5 buybacks for my frankenset. All were needed and I now have about 116 cards in the set. John sent me 3 bunting cards with the Allen and Ginter insert set. I needed the Estes in the last image, but I only needed the Orsulak here. 3 needs beats one, so the round to Shane.

And let's total up the score. Well how about that - another tie. What are the odds? Well, you know my recommendation: send more cards and we'll try and get a winner the next time. Until then, have some parting gifts....

PWE-ish Wars: Dime Boxes vs reader Brandon

I am sure you have seen that today is Willie Mays' 84th birthday. If you haven't, then you must be locked in a dark room. It was on TV, the radio, every social media, every internet news page. Pretty hard to get away from that bit of information.

Is Richard Burton still married to Elizabeth Taylor?

But what you may not know is today is also the 100th birthday of the great Orson Welles. Actor and director of easily the best movie ever made, as well as the creator of the largest, unintentional panic in 1938 with Wars of the Worlds. I'm talking about the radio drama, not that thing Tom Cruise did. Well, in that honor, let's have a little PWE-ish war. Did one a long time ago, and it was fun. Here are two recent packages I received the past week, one from Nick over at Dime Boxes, and the other from reader Brandon, whom I have traded with before. Nick's PWE was out of the blue, while Brandon and I did a small little trade for some relics. They were not equal in cards, but we can still have some fun. For all the images, Nick's contribution will be on the left, or the top, and Brandon will be on the right, or the bottom.

Aaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnnnd FIGHT!

Starting off with some minis. Nick with a nice Barojas that seemed to come from a magazine, while Brandon counters with some mini stickers from Topps. Round one to Nick for the oddball.

Shinys!!! Love the Sirotka from Brandon, but that Jones is a glorious miscut. Nick up 2-0.

Old timey cards. Nick sent in the Heritage Quintana and a Golden Age Gleason, which are nice for the Sox box. Brandon sent me a couple cards for the 2010 Turkey Red insert set I am working on, This round goes to Brandon. 2-1.

Player collections. Konerko Chrome versus Crede Focus. The Chrome is a dupe and the Crede is new. 2-2. All tied up!

Those junk wax Pinnacles are always pieces of beauty. But this card had to go into battle against Stadium Club. And boy Stadium Club always had great images. Brandon with his first lead.

Throwbacks. Some nice Sox throwbacks from Brandon, but I think Nick hacked my ebay account and found these two, plus a few others, on my watch lists. That Berroa is pure heaven. Back tied up 3-3. Quite the seesaw battle here.

Other binder collections. Nick hits me with a bunch of bunting cards, and that sweet Walker broken bat. Brandon drops just a couple double plays, but they are from some pretty sets. I'm calling this round a push. Still tied 3-3. Last image to go - who will win?!?!

Vintage against relic. Here are the two stars from each package. A '57 card of Botger in a bunt post from Nick and a bet relic of Magglio from Brandon. Dig the little flag in the center of the relic. I hate to really do this, but I will have to call this round even as well.

So we count up the numbers and the final tally:
Nick = 3
Brandon = 3
push = 2

Well folks, we have another tie, just like last time. Guess you two will just need to send me more cards to decide a winner.

PWE Wars: Hot Corner vs Junior Junkie

On Friday, I received a PWE from TJ, the man who really REALLY needs all your Griff Jr. cards from Junior Junkie. I was getting ready to scan a super PWE (his words) I received from Pat at Hot Corner Cards. They both happen to have 6 cards in them, so let's put the cards side by side and see which one really is the super PWE. Let's get it on!

TJ is on the left in all these images, with Pat's offering to the right. First off we have a Sabo Leaf up against a Bowman Topps Target parallel of Erik Johnson. While Pat's is a rookie, the red border just doesn't work with our road uniforms. Plus, it's hard to beat Sabo's goggles. AJ 1 Pat 0.

An Aparicio CYMTO versus this year's GQ offering. Topps went real throwback heavy in the 2014 Gypsy Queen release, and I love it. You have the mark of the beast coming out from under Hosmer's open uniform, but it still takes the win this round. AJ 1 Pat 1.

Tough round here. Sale finest, in a throwback, up against Jerry Browne laying down a bunt. Two amazing cards. The bunt is great, but the Finest wins the round. AJ 2 Pat 1.

One Dog against a minor leaguer bunting. Double flap alert on the Gazoo helmet, but the bunt pose takes the win. AJ 2 Pat 2.

Mike Devereaux actually hitting the ball or Aybar skying to make the turn at second, with a cameo by A-Rod. Like I have to think this one over. AJ 2 Pat 3.

Junk wax against A&G. I love A&G. Have a whole page dedicated to my wants for the product. So this round goes to......wait a minute. What is that Kenny Williams is holding in his hand? Is that a shard of a bat? Yes. YES! We have an elusive broken bat card I have not known about. A&G will have to take a back seat to a broken bat gem. AJ 3 Pat 3.

So in the six cards, head to head, we have a tie. To clear this dead lock, I suggest AJ and Pat send in 6 more cards to be tallied.

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?