Getting cards out of the blue, for no reason, is a joy. Fat padded envelopes with stuffed team bags, or long white boxes crammed with cardboard. I have a couple of those boxes still to organize and scan, but I will never turn up my nose to a thin mailer or a PWE.
So let us honor those tiny quantity gifts that bring just the same huge smile to my face.
Got four cards a while back from my buddy Chris, who's blog, Old Foul Cardboard, is all but dead. Chris is alive and well, and so are these cards. Though a few BoSox fans wish Bucky Dent was dead. Had to scan with a white background to appreciate the acetate Magglio from UD EX.
The other two cards included a sweet '71 Reds team card that someone at Topps decided the equipment manager needed to be removed. Last is a manu-patch from Topps Rogue One release. It's a shame they just print the patches now instead of chain stitch, like Topps have done in the past. Thanks Chris.
It's a mini Hoyle-ing, from everyone's favorite random mailer Mark. I might have that Podzilla, but I love that card and think it would look great autographed. But Scott is horrible on returns, so naked it will probably remain. Nice oddball Big Hurt. Thanks Mark.
See, you don't need to send 400 cards to make me smile. Teeny-tiny makes me happy-happy.
Holy crap - has it been 5 weeks since I have been here?
Grab the weed whacker - where's the "G" key?
I've been busy. And when I'm not busy, I'm mentally wiped. It's been hard to come here and write when I'm either not in the chair I am currently in, or desire some mind numbing nothingness to just wind down from my work day. In the past, I was able to blog during my work hours and schedule a post, but lately, if the call hasn't been extremely taxing, it repetitive nonsense that makes you lose hope for humanity at the most, but certainly hope in management's decisions.
But while I have desire and time (it's below zero outside so the hell if I am Ubering and I'm off of work until January 2), let me get a quick post with some information and a few scans up.
First off, I am at the least 48 hours late for Tis The Season. I promise I will be doing the annual giveway of my 2017-ish dupes. It will be a one post blowout, hopefully up either Sunday or Monday. It's going to be pretty simple - more details when it comes.
Posts. Man, am I behind on posts. I have a good dozen or more mailers I need to thank people publicly for, so thanks for your generosity, but even more for your patience. It will happen.
Blogs. I have been reading and commenting here and there. You are all good writers - keep it up. Your words and scans keep me from telling my boss to cram this job. Cuz trust me - cram my job. I'm not paid enough to deal with the callers and how they hate this new process or that, not knowing who I (the company) am and what I handle, don't give a rat's ass to learn a new procedure, or someone making more money than me not passing on information that would make my (the department) day easier. Just don't stop.
Ok - how about a quick few scans. I did a couple boxes on Black Friday. I did load up my COMC cart, but the wallet said no go, so I never placed the order. However, I did get boxes of 2013 Golden Age and Firefly: The 'Verse. Only need the minis and inserts from Golden Age, and the hits from both. Prices were right, so let's see what we ended up with.
I think I ended with 5 cards for the mini and insert sets. These were my guaranteed hits. Nothing great, but well accepted into the binders.
Going to the Firefly box, you are guaranteed two autos and a manu-relic. Here's the manu-relic and one of the autos. Of the previous two boxes I bought, one of the two autographs has always been an auto from one of the artists on a matte copy of one of their cards. This artist is Kevin Sharpe, who does a lot of comic work for DC and Marvel.
But I hit it pretty well in this box with two bonus hits. Two actor autographs, and better still - two I do not have. And my 2nd sketch card from this product, this fine 1/1 of Zoe Washburn done by Matt Stewart. I didn't realize there were som many artists named "Matt Stewart". Took a while to find a link to the correct one. How sweet is that sketch, though? Love it!
Ok - for a post I was hoping to knock out in 20 minutes, it's been over an hour. Again - sorry for the lack of posts and basically, the lack of everything. 2018 - gotta be better, right? I'm jealous of my dog - lying around all day doing nothing and sleeping. I need a job like that.
Anyone who watched the NHL playoffs these season saw the too quick exit of my Blackhawks. The Preds have been playing well. I think they caught us during a scoring drought, just as we passed them in the standings before the end of the season when they had a problem finding the twine. But the season ended fast and the papers were talking about blowing up the Hawks and this and that. I get it - it's what their job is. Stir the pot and come up with the craziest click bait possible.
Thankfully, I have DJ north of the border at Sportscards From The Dollar Store to help supply me with hockey. I don't buy enough, mostly because the releases are too expensive. And picking up any Blackhawks in a 250 mile radius will wear out your credit card.
Anyone remember PowerPlay? I picked up a few packs back in the day. Loved the idea. Storing them was a whole other issue (obviously). Paired up with a couple other pieces of junk wax. Konroyd works in the studio for TV broadcasts. You may remember Dave Christian in a far different sweater. Yup, along with Jack O'Callahan, we had a 2nd Miracle on Ice player in a Hawks sweater. Dave played 69 games to close out his NHL career, though he played a few more in the minors after leaving the Hawks.
This is the spot where I post cards that scan like total crap. Thanks Panini!
Three rookies. LeBlanc, Panarin and Dumont. Needless to say, one has been far better than the other two. Dumont did okay with the Sabres and Predators for a few seasons. LeBlanc is doing what he can playing in the German hockey league.
Once again, DJ surprised me with a couple hits. Hawkins is a player that is trying to make it to the bigs, but injuries seem to sideline him often. He is still toiling in AA ball. The Oduya is the 2nd manu-patch from the Championship Rings set dropped on me from Canada, the first being TVR.
Thanks again, DJ. I have to work on a return package, but to start I need cash. I need a trick for free stuff.
We all know a manila padded envelope in the mailbox is a good thing. Whether ebay, JustCommons, COMC, Sportlots or from a gracious soul that just wants to drop something into your house, it's tough to beat going to the curb, pulling on the mailbox door and seeing that yellow staring at you from within.
No envelope can hold me.
As you know, my daughter is WAAAAAAAAY up north, and it turns out there are not one but two card collectors at her job. So a while back I dug up any Barry Sanders cards and sent them off. If I could get to a card show, I will continue the process, but not happening lately. I'm on the hunt for more Sanders and Lions in general as an FYI.
One of her coworkers, Steve, sent a great return package, so howze about a few scans of some lovely gifted cards?
You want White Sox rookies? I got White Sox rookies. Ok, yeah - Paulie is a Dodger, but just like all the Junior fans forget about Griffey's 41 games in black, Konerko's time in Dodger blue or Red...er....red, doesn't count. Nice orange Sale Chrome refractor. The Black Jack Donruss - I just love that card. He looks like such a baby face when he first got on the mound. Lastly - Lyle Mouton. (sigh) Yet another flash in the pan in Comiskey that flamed out quickly.
MINIS!!!! A nice dozen or so that go towards numerous sets I am completing. Duke is not putting up with any of your crap, photographer.
Some vintage was within as well. Half a dozen or so 1980 Sox for the team set. Love the shop job on the Davis inset photo. That LA logo on the cap is ginormous! And the top cards from 1961 Fleer. That is a set I really, really want to build. Two is a start. ButI need to clear some of my Want list before I add another vintage set build. I can't do multiples at one time like the rest of you yokels.
Since 2015 is the last Topps set I acutally cared about, I don't have many manufactured relics. This one is actually from 2015, but I think I bought two blasters total, and White Sox were few to find then, and even less now. So this is a nice expected fill to a collection hole.
BOOM!!! 2014 Golden Age star stamp stickers. These are hard to find anywhere but online, and some of the prices are crazy (I'm looking at you stamps 11, 24 and 26). I believe these dropped one to a box, and a total crap shoot from a blaster, as my Want list will tell you how short I am on a 30 "card" set. Knocking 4 from the list is four less I need to bite the bullet on.
Yup - them's football. And no, I haven't started collecting. But Steve sent over a few relics and Bears cards. I know enough people I should be able to flip them into nice return cards. If anyone sees something they like, let me know. But I will only take Lions and Barry Sanders cards in return.
One football card, though, is not available for trade.
Like Gretzky in Edmonton, Jackie in Brooklyn/LA, Bird in Boston and many others, you would be hard pressed to find a player more loved in his home town team than Sweetness. I contend that Walter would probably win out in a battle between him and Jordan. Nice 1984 Topps that lists Payton as 3rd on the all time rushing list when printed. It took him until October of that year to make the print incorrect. I might give crap that Emmitt Smith is not the real leader, but he took almost the exact same number of games that Walter played to pass Payton on the list, so props to Emmitt.
But to bring this post full circle, Barry Sanders should really be the all time leader.
Thanks Steve. You should try blogging sometime.
And maybe my daughter gets a raise? She deserves it.
With the Uber driving, I was able to build up some funds for me to spend on Black Friday. While I did go through and load up my COMC shopping cart, I never pulled the trigger on any of the cards. I don't know - I just wasn't feeling like some of the cards were that great of a deal. But I always had my eye on some boxes. When all was said and done, I bought 4 boxes to rip from BF deals.
* box of 2016-17 Upper Deck hockey series 1 from my LCS
* box of 2015 Upper Deck Firefly:The 'Verse from Dave and Adams.
* box of 2012 Panini Golden Age from Steel City Collectibles
* box of 2013 Panini Golden Age from Steel City Collectibles
Did you mean how'd I do? Like were the boxes good and did I get nice hits? That's what you meant, right?
Let's start with the UD hockey. No, I did not pull the Auston Matthews Young Gun. Boo! But I did nab that card about an hour ago with a blaster, so I am happy. The box was a great start at building the set. I did pull on gold exclusive and one Clear Cut acetate card.
Not huge names. I also pulled a relic from my box.
I know someone with "too many" cards that will be receiving this soon.
Next up let's look at the 2012 Golden Age. I have talked of my love of this set, if only for the 3 years it existed. But since Panini killed it, we can get over run with football and baseketball releases that all look the same, so yay 'Merica.
I pulled one of the felt pennant box toppers of Citation. This was the first pack I ripped from either box, and probably a foreshadowing. You are guaranteed one relic and one auto in a box.
I nice Yankee jersey swatch from Sweet Lou, and the name Jean Cruguet may not be a household name, but on Seattle Slew he brought in the first undefeated Triple Crown horse across the finish line.
Let's jump to the Firefly box, because while I have a tough time picking which box was better, I am going to believe many will pick the 2013 Golden Age with the best hits. This is my 2nd box of Firefly, and I was not able to complete the set. Which just means I have to buy a third! You get 3 hits per box: one manu relic and usually 2 autos - one of an actor and one of an artist. I beat the odds big time.
That's my manu relic. It's ok. At least it's different than the first box. I think these fake relics suck, so let's move on.
Nice grouping here, with a 1/1 sketch card of Mel done by John Sloboda, and a reprint card (a card drawn by the artist printed with a matte finish) autographed by Karen Hallion. John autographed the back of the sketch card too. All the artist did great work in this set, so it's nice to add their autographs.
Three leather cards in a box. I just showed them off to remind people that the woman on the right is a younger Christina Hendricks.
You like my excuses....
No huge pull on the actor autograph, pulling Edward Atterton. But if I ever go for master set, I have it crossed off the list. And btw, that's 4 hits, and there was one more to be found.
It's the blue plate on the left. I matched the card with it so you can see the full image it builds. Five hits in total in the box. And here's the interesting thing: if this was an open box in a store, if you pulled the correct stack of packs, you would have yanked the entire box. All five hits came from the same stack (upper left if I recall).
Ok - 2013 Golden Age. I completed the base of all three years, but at $25 (for 2012) and $30 (for 2013) a box, I could not pass up the deal. Plus all the inserts and minis. Some folks gamble on $300 boxes. I do the same at 1/10th the cost.
Back to the horses with the Exhibit style box topper. Steve Cauthen is a little better known, riding Affirmed to the Triple Crown in 1978 at the tender age of 18, the youngest Triple Crown jockey ever.
And some monster hits with the relic and autograph. Nice leather swatch from a glove of Gene Tunney. It feels super soft. In the pack before I snagged the Berra auto, I pulled a Berra mini and commented "Pulling this signature would not be bad at all". Then boom.
Good times from this year's Black Friday. There will be Golden Age and Firefly cards available in the upcoming Tis The Season IV. Yes - that will be starting very soon. Be ready! Oh - and one last thing from the Firefly box.
I'm chilling today. I spent Friday driving up to Ishpeming so I can get some snow tires on my daughter's car. It was snowy and icy and total crap up there. On Saturday, I spent 5 hours in the Walmart waiting for the tires to be mounted. Then spent the rest of the day driving back home. So I have done very little today. My son is in town for the week - we are going to do some framing in the basement as we convert half of it into a sort of apartment for when my daughter comes back. So we picked up some 2x4s and I spent time researching roughing in a bathroom. Though, I think I will go instead with a macerating toilet. Cuz nothing says fun like high speed blades chopping up solids.
You're gonna love my poop.
So let's clean out the scans folder with a little bit of thanks. First off, Judson from the great My Cardboard Habit.
A few highlights from the 22 cards Judson sent to help me complete the 2016 A&G set. Pert of my wants to put that Clemente in the bunting binder, but the more I look at the image, the pose is less in the bunt position and more how he has his hands positioned. So no binder for you, Roberto.
Most may snooze on a '72 Aparicio, but when I need it for the player collection, I jump for joy. Especially when a 40+ year old card looks pack fresh. Thanks for the mailer, Meeks.
Blackhawks means one thing: A mailer from north of the border. More goodies from DJ at Sportscards From The Dollar Store. Just a little reminder for those unaware: that "prospect" on the left? Yeah - only Dominik Hasek. After losing in the Cup finals to the Penguins in 1991, we decided to go with the goaltending tandem of Belfour and Waite, trading Hasek to Buffalo. No "Brock for Broglio" level of trade, but still pretty damn stupid.
That's some better reminders of the Hawks sweater. Hossa just scored his 500th goal, putting him in pretty elite company. I think you can pretty much say, right now, every player pictured in the scan gets into the Hockey HOF.
Always a few White Sox to be found in the Great White North. Love that throwback on Tim Anderson. And I am not sure what Albert is wearing on the base paths in the bottom card. Looks like some free apparel is just caught from a t-shirt cannon.
Erik Johnson autograph? Sure. We gave him up to get Shields. I am still not sure if that was a good trade. Maybe James can make a comeback next season.
I watch these every so often on ebay, so it's nice to finally own one. It's actually a manupatch done by Upper Deck. Kind of cheezy, like all manupatches are, but glad to own one just the same. Hoping TVR can come back from his recent injury. I think he is in a bit of the dog house with Coach Q, so he may not be long in the Indian sweater.
I really wish Rienzo panned out better. Not sure if he over used his arm, lost control or what, but from a highly touted rookie to out of the game in 3 years? Still, a nice on card auto numbered to 25 is a sweet addition to the binder. But that case - it just won't do.
That's better. Thanks Doug! Ok - better get that bathroom in.
I took part in Gint-A-Cuffs again this year. And yet again, I had a REALLY horrible score, but somehow, someone was even worse than me and walked away with a prize. That's not to say I wasn't happy with my box. I pulled the three guaranteed hits that consisted of a relic, mini autograph, and a mini printing plate.
Luckily, the plate was of Michael Pineda and AJ from The Lost Collector is a super collector of the pitcher, so it was great to get the hunk of metal into a well loved household. I received AJ's return package a few days ago, and I'm not quite sure how he thinks the cards he sent is equal in value to that printing plate.
I have learned that residents of NJ must not understand math, because there is no frigging way he got the better end of this trade.
NO.
WAY.
Do you see all of that amazing cardboard? Let me break some of it down.
Every so often I catch sight of these Christmas ornaments from Pacific and think I should find one someday. Then I forget to add one to my Ebay watch list to help remind me. This thing is awesome. Everyone should own one. Feel free to select a player of your choice.
Super duper shiny! The gold Beckham Platinum on the right is very thick. Like 4 cards thick.
I can tell AJ took a look at my Zistle collection as anything he sent for a player collection was a card I did not own. That Crusade looks far better in hand, and without that stupid line in it from my scanner. I need to fix or replace that.
Here comes the start of the crazy. Two PC relics...
...along with another PC relic in quad format. Plus a swatch from Ordonez via the All Star game, and a manu-relic of future star Rodon. Most, including me, would think AJ has more than made up for that plate at this point. Everyone but AJ, it seems.
Purple refractor auto of Micah Johnson. Oh - it's just numbered to /250. And somewhere, back in the noggin of AJ, he goes "nope - still needs more".
Dueling autos of PC Joe Crede. That Boys of Summer is actually a dupe. AJ only sent it because I never added it to Zistle. And the Topps Finest is a little faded - that is not the scan. But it's still extremely legible. Also, it's getting tucked in a binder, so if the sun faded it, it won't have a chance to do any more damage.
So there you have it. In the mind of a Jersey boy, one mini printing plate is > or = to eight hits plus a dozen or so cards. AJ, I like your math! :) Thanks for helping me turn that A&G hit into way more than I ever expected - I owe you for this flip.
