First off - my rear end appreciates the love and kind words. I did go for my MRI and X-ray yesterday. I didn't need to drink a contrast fluid for the MRI, so I was able to knock them out in one visit. I learned two things. First, planning ahead for an MRI is smart, so if you have to get one, bring shorts. I was more relaxed dressed like I was walking around my house instead of having a draft in the back. And second, with the volume and noise of the MRI, I learned the origin of dubstep.
Radiologist, Loyola University - Class of 2007
Since this medical issue of mine is a new thing, let's go old school this weekend with a couple packages. Tomorrow will be an incredible bit of generosity from an amazing collector. Today, we get to the 2nd part of the mailing from Brian at HSCA. Wednesday we talked about entries for the binders and Sox box. Today, we have more for that make it to the binders, but all the cards have that great old smell to them.
Let's start with the Sox binder. All the pre 80's team sets I store in 9 pocket pages. It's so easy when you only have to worry about Topps and Bowman (yes, OPC too, but I have practically zero pre 80 OPC). Brian nailed a lot of years in this group. The only dupe was the johnstone (love the lower case of the name) in the middle. Great old shot of Yankee stadium on the '63 Horlen, but I am not sure where Joel is on the 64. Is that a dormitory over his right shoulder?
The largest pile of the vintage, though, is all these glorious miscuts. So many years were represented. I believe Brian found these at a card show or two. I can only imagine what the seller(s) thought when they were purchased, besides "thank goodness those are gone".
And I mean many years. Plus, the big names don't end with Hoyt.
One of the many Alou brothers makes a miscut appearance. Rollie sans handlebars also gets a spot in the binder. That Aparico..... I wonder what the owner was thinking. That sticker/tattoo/whatever is too well aligned to have accidentally attached itself to the card. I guess if it's miscut, throw everything to the wind and royally screw up the card.
Ok - Toews isn't a vintage, but Mohns is, coming from the 70-71 set. Mohns had a great career with the Bruins, Hawks, Stars, Flames and Caps, playing with Stash Mikita in the mid 60s until 71.
How's about some help for my 1964 set? Brian added eight cards to the set and dropped me to just under 47% completion. Moose as a Senator is strange. He was only in Washington 4 months before a trade brought him to the White Sox. You can almost smell the Vaseline on Perry's fingers.
These were the first items I saw when I opened Brian's shipment, and I saved them for last. The '52 Wilks moved me one closer to completing his run of cards. I have been following 52s for a while on Ebay and now I can delete each listing. On the right, that is a luggage sticker. You wet it and apply it to whatever surface you want, like a window, luggage or other items. If you ever did plastic model kits, it's the same procedure to apply this decal. And Brian - please tell me you didn't spend this much on it. It's cool, but not that cool.
Brian - good luck with your upcoming move. I have a few things to send you, but I'll wait until you are settled.
This post has been delayed a couple days. My brain just hasn't been in the frame of mind to talk or think because this stupid butt muscle of mine is getting no better, and in fact seems to be getting worse. A couple weeks back, my doctor diagnosed it as piriformis syndrome. The main gist is this: the piriformis muscle, in your tush right under good ol' gluteus maximus, is inflamed and/or tight. This muscle controls turning your leg in and out, and the sciatic nerve runs right next to it or even thru it, so any issue with the piriformis will give you the pain down your leg. Anyway, nothing is helping. I can barely do the stretches from the pain and limited motion. Anti inflammatory drugs don't seem to be making a difference, and in addition to the shooting pain and tingling, I now have hip pain, calf pain and a bunch of other crap occuring. I'm basically falling apart it seems.
Sometimes, while standing up or sitting down, the pain is beyond unbearable. I am like a flamingo getting out of the car, standing on the left leg and slowly extending the right while the hamstring attempts to loosen. It's almost brought me to tears from the level of pain, but I will not be defined by this injury. I hate when they ask me to give the pain a number. When I am flailing like a rag doll to try and get myself in a comfortable position, 10 seems to low.
Yeah - right.
I get some sick joy in saying or acting in a way that will leave people with their mouth agape and a deer-in-the-headlights look in their eyes, but having your doctor looking that way doesn't qualify as a positive. So I have a MRI scheduled, along with an X-ray and physical therapy. No change in 2 weeks, or nothing on the photos and I go to a specialist. Yay me (not really).
Right now, though, I am hopped up on Norco, and I really need to give a shout out to Brian at HSCA. His mailing was the largest of the conspiracy mailings, plus an 11 in the opposite direction of the pain scale, that I have to break it out into a couple posts, so bear with me. Think of me as your pirformis as you read through these two posts - I am a pain in the ass anyway.
If my numbers are correct, Brian just about filled a 300 count box with about 262 cards. I've mostly sorted them all, so here are some of the major highlights from Brian generosity.
We'll start with the White Sox portion - 111 cards sent. I have thought about a Durham player collection for a while - I like 2nd basemen and I have a lot of Ray's cardboard. These three went to the Sox box for now. That Rookie Cup in the center is the very first I have of that set. I'm surprised it took me that long to get one, and in a mailing too. Have never seen one from that set even in a dime box. Jury is out if the Flair is a double play. I'm saying it is, but won't go in the binder.
The 90's, amirite? The 90's in baseball cards is like the late 70's in fashion - what the hell were we thinking?
I know one card that is losing it's protective cover. Love that 1970 Kellogg's May, though it's actually an image from 1968. The Sox dropped the pinstripes on the home uniforms in 1969, and also changed the cap logo to somewhat match the script on the chest.
Woo-hoo! Lots of bunting cards in the box. Yet another sighting of Brett Butler laying one down. Third basemen must have hated him. And hey look - Rookie Cup again. That makes 2 cards. When done properly, there is nothing sweeter than a drag bunt.
Juan doing his thing as well. I'll have to run a report and see who is the 2nd most in the bunting binder after Butler. Pierre is up there, as is Otis Nixon. I love how my scanner makes Bowman Heritage foil cards electric blue.
VINTAGE!!! Technically, McAuliffe is a dupe, but I wanted to show that beauty off with the other cards. I now realized I put the two Angels players side by side. Stupid OCD. Brian sent 69 cards of bunting ballplayers. I believe about 20 were new entries.
These may have been put in as Sox entries, but all were added to the respective player collections. Rowand now totals 56 cards and Konerko is sitting at 332. Or something like that, because when I entered a card into Zistle, it turned out I had it in the binder, so now I have to organize the thing to find out what I missed. By my rough count, I think I should be at 335. First world problems.
We'll stop today with this last image. In the mailing, Brian dropped 45 throwbacks on me. Unfortunately, I think just 4 were new. I thought many more would be added. I should take that binder out and thumb through it to appreciate what I have. But these three are great in their own rights. One of may favorite uniforms on Jackson with the San Fran Seals. A nice Negro uniform on Greinke. And that Broussard is a great card in the long run. The fact he is wearing a throwback to the 54-57 Cleveland uniforms is the icing on the cake.
Ok - that's all for part 1. We'll talk about the rest of the box on Friday, I hope. Depends on the butt, but I am going to fight through it.
My current position at work has me at home, providing chat support for our products. So 40 hours a week, I am speaking with a customer through the accurate placement of my fingers on the keyboard, typing out my words instead of speaking them. I have three computer monitors on my machine, and there are times I wish I had a fourth. The screen to my right is a remote session into my work computer. The center screen I use to run the internet as well as our remote software into our customer's machines. On the left, that's our ticketing system (web based) as well as the chat software and a window of canned macros to save me some typing (greetings, standard case notes, etc). With the new ticket system running in Chrome, instead of on my work machine, I am constantly dragging the chat window among the three screens to do my job.
This past Friday was a day like any other day, until about 11:45. I was
working on two chats, trying to complete them so I could get to lunch. Suddenly, my two side screens flicker and go black. And then I sense the smell of burning plastic. The power cord is right next to me and I yank it from the wall. Grabbing my phone, I text one of the people in change about my home computer issues.
OMG! Haxxors!
Needless to say. my lunch started immediately. I was able to pop the case, vacuum it out (not that much dust), pull and reseat the video card, boot up the machine and log back into our phone system all in under 30 minutes. However, I was down to the middle monitor for the rest of the day. That was.....a challenge.
Well, a visit to the computer store (Microcenter) and one inexpensive card later all my screens are back and functioning. I don't game, so I didn't need anything crazy expensive. Tomorrow should be easier at least without the two squares of black on each side of the main monitor. Rest in peace, old video card.
I just couldn't take that last pR0n site, pal.
The honor of the first post on the new card goes to Adam with Texas Rangers Cards. I just highlighted a PWE from him a short time back, but Adam dropped one of the conspiracy packages the past couple weeks. Within - loads of glorious junk wax. While I tend to need a lot of the more odd sets the big manufacturers released, there is plenty of their base sets from the late 80's and early 90's that I needed cardboard to add in the respective years. Let's look at each of the makers and how Adam helped me out.
First up - Topps/Bowman. From all the cards sent (at least 150), nine cards went into the Sox box. A few you see above. My Topps sets in the 90's are surprisingly filled with holes. I have not finished any Topps team set in the 90's, but I am getting closer with Adam's help.
I don't have want lists for Fleer sets, but in Adam's mailing, 14 cards were needed for numerous sets. Is it me, or do Fleer's designs always look dated? I mean, sure, they are. But even shortly after release, they felt old and uninspired.
Who could need these over produced cards, right? How about 6 of them. I think, though the sets on the middle and right are complete. 1994? Not so much.
I'm not sure if it's being lucky or unfortunate that I only needed 4 of the cards for the Score sets. I'm certain I have barely scratched the '88 Score set. I'm not going to count, but I might have 8 cards in it. I look at it this way: if I have them all, I wouldn't be a collector. I would be a "haver". And depending on what it is, a "haver" is no fun.
Watch it or you won't have me.
Upper Deck clocked in with 10 new cards. And it was UD where I added more newer items, putting cards in the dividers behind years 2000 and higher.
Last up is Leaf, with Adam's box containing 7 cards that I needed, including that why isn't he in the Hall Of Fame card of Rock Raines. I can argue about a few people, but I think the consensus is that Raines has gotten the shaft to this point in getting the call from Cooperstown. The issue is that the 2015 ballot is so crowded, he will probably miss it again. And that's sad. Especially when you read something like this: Tim Raines reached base more times in his career than Tony Gwynn. First-ballot, 97.6%-of-the-vote Tony Gwynn.
Now, all the cards that didn't make the Sox box weren't just dupes. I was able to find a place for 20 of them in my White Sox frankenset, and I am getting well enough through it that I built a needs list to make it easier for me on future mailings on whether the card hits the frankenset or the dupe box. Also, Adam sent along 13 cards of players bunting, but all were dupes. Bummer. Adam also included a '94 UD of catcher Dave Valle that has a cameo of a Sox player on it. I think, though, he included it for the back.
Broken bat. YES! Adam, I thank you for the load of cardboard. I'm hoping when I finally get a return package out to you I can have at least an equal number of new cardboard for your collection. Though, from your amazing blog, you are quite the haver.
I handle loss pretty well. At work, they constantly say I don't like change, which is pretty far from the truth. I dislike change at my job because it's the standard "here's what's different, ok?" with little information and nothing that says why the change happens. I need to understand how my actions matter in the change. But change is inevitable. I know that. Change must happen for progress to occur. You can't stay in one place just treading water - you have to pick a direction and swim or you will be swamped by the waves.
But with change must come loss. A restaurant may change ownership and with that, the menu. There goes that sandwich you loved. Or your waistline changes and those killer shorts no longer fit. Seasons change and life cycles with it. But I'm okay when change means the loss of something or someone you love and enjoy. That's not to say I am not saddened, or I don't feel pain - I'm not a monster.
But I am A-DOOOOR-ABLE!
With each passing year, we gain and lose blogs around our tight knitted group. I can think of a few that are sorely missed (Napkin Doom, 30 Year Old Cardboard, Uncle Doc's), the one I miss right now is Garvey, Cey, Russell and Lopes, run by Jim. We didn't lose Jim - he is still around commenting and trading. But we lost his blog, and well....it sucks. Everyone has their reason why they start writing, and equally have their reason why they stop. Even if the reason is B.S, Jim!
Yup - bullsh*t.
But Jim still sends out cards, and dropped a fine batch on me recently.
I lost track of the number of miscuts Jim found (40?), but boy was there a ton! Years were represented with this being just a small batch of all the pages I filled. I especially love the OPC in the upper right that was cut dead in the middle. Jim included six, and I was able to match a few of the cards together in the binder.
Regular cards also appeared to add substance to the Sox box. What the hell was Bowman thinking with that rainbow foil border? The 90's were a weird time indeed.
Bunts and broken bats? Better believe ballplayers were beget as such.
As were some glorious throwback cards. Or faux throwbacks as the card in the middle shows. I can tolerate these fake uniforms more than the Rays faux backs. I mean, I give the Rays credit for going with such an ugly era to explore, but still find those things hard to appreciate.
Here's two of the stars from the package. Night Owl just talked about Rivera yesterday. This card has been a search for me for the bunting binder, even though I need it for the '54 Sox team set. The set will have to wait. And I will gladly throw a Cubs card at the front of a binder when it's as beautiful and miscut as that Hoak.
Masterson was the star of the package. It's a card what was on my most wanted list for a while. I actually obtained it......and forgot to pull it off the side bar when Jim picked this one off ebay. I commented to him that is better had not have been the card that the seller had for $50 for the card was not worth the price. Jim says it was the card one and the same, but totally low balled the guy and he accepted. I rarely have the nerve to best offer at 50%, so I hope you threw an offer at him of 2% his asking price. But the card has that nice two color piece in the middle, and it goes well beside the one I picked up for $8 a while back. The Wynn? Just some more sweet postage, but none of you will find it on a PWE from me. Some big names can be found in that 1989 release from St. Vincent (near the bottom of the page, but Dodger fans - check out halfway down).
Thanks again, Jim, No - I haven't forgotten you. There is still a divider in the card box with your name on it, and a slowly growing stash of cards that will be coming your way. Let's hope the calendar doesn't change before I mail them.
So let's dive into one of the packages I received recently. Rob runs the great blog Texas Rangers cards. I love reading his short bu informative posts about cards in his collection. It doesn't matter if none are about my team - it's great to just learn about those players that never became the household name, but still had an impact on the game. This is the 2nd package I have received from Rob out of the blue.
I love out of the blue packages.
Hey wait...... Rangers......blue. ILLUMINATI!!!! Reign it in, Jeff. You'll be ok. Just show off some of the awesome cards Rob sent.
Rob hit on a lot of years for the Sox box.
You got your current year releases. Double LaRoche there. I do hope he bounces back and isn't the second coming of Adam Dunn on the south side. The Garcia is a dupe for the team set, but holy cow that is one gorgeous card. Made it into another binder I will be talking about in the near future.
Plenty of junk wax too, and I love me some junk wax because those are lean years (except for a couple) in the Sox box. Nice rookie-ish card of Magglio and a Frank is those sweet Sunday throwbacks from the mid 90's. They need to bring those back for an annual date. Major star power with Gwynn on the Top of the Charts card. I miss Bo. Here is my Bo story, in regard to baseball:
1993. Went to a Sox game early in the year, but it got rained out, so I had to redeem the vouchers for a game. The date I happened to select - Sept 27th. The Sox were battling for the division that year and the magic number was 1 when that day came by. Seats in the upper deck, first base line. Sixth inning, Bo comes up and hits a towering fly ball. It's a mile in the air and it carries........and carries.....and carries......j-u-s-t over the left field wall to put the Sox in the lead to clinch the division that game. So glad the earlier game was rained out.
How about some vintage-ish cards too? Rob dropped a dang near complete team set for the 2008 & 2012 Heritage releases. I just needed a couple of the 2012, but almost all of the 2008. And the few A&G within also found spots in the Sox box.
My two favs from the package. Another shot of those gorgeous Sunday throwbacks to the 1917 World Series uniforms. And I will take each any every Buehrle out there. I do hope Mark comes back to Comiskey as a White Sox, if only for a one day contract to retire.
Rob - thanks for the cardboard. I'm working on a return package... just cuz.
I don't quite know what it is yet, but something is going on.
Are you all up to some nefarious antics? Did each and every one of you meet up through a secret Google hangout, or via Skype to discuss your plans? Coordinate the actions? And then get a branch of the US government involved?
Never use a bookmark - it causes infertility.
Whatever it is, I can tell you I am on to you all. You
will NOT get away with this. Let me pause my video
of the Zapruder film. Before I explain, let me get a couple smaller mailings out of the way. But wait - even as I think about these, I have a feeling they might be a part of this as well.
First off - a plain white envelope from Brian at Golden Rainbow Cards. Why so plain, Brian? Trying to sneak it in. And look - it's only two cards. But two cards that I needed for my 2015 White Sox team set. HOW DID YOU KNOW I NEEDED THEM?!?!? Are there cameras posted in my room? Did you search my Sox box and see what I was missing? I'm watching you, Brian.
Next comes a larger, but still plain white package, from Adam. Adam doesn't blog - he's just a reader. Whatcha hiding, "Adam" - if that is really even your name! Look at these cards of people bunting. I have made it pretty clear I am a ChiSox fan. Not one Sox player in the group. And yet, they are all posed the same way. Is this some secret signal, informing the Illuminati of the date AND time to strike. Adam?
Adam did include White Sox of Frank Thomas. And ONLY Frank Thomas - the leader of your band, I'm guessing. But all the cards of Thomas are oddball releases. Look at these. Not a brand name to be seen. Probably produced by the KGB to flood the market and disrupt the financial system so a new single world monetary can be formed in its place.
Just what is going on here??? And what does "Power Surge" mean? Look at the back of that card.
How - from the chemtrails left by commercial airlines? You made the list, Adam.
Looking over those two packages, I can see how they fit with the other four that first alerted me to something happening. Some sinister goings on the card collectors have against me. Here - here is the image that first raised my suspicions...
Four packages received over 4 days - each larger than the previous. Mailings from Rob at Texas Rangers Cards, Jim at GCRL, Brian at HSCA and Adam from Infield Fly Rule. YOU ARE ALL IN CAHOOTS! What's left - a bombing from Wes at JayBarkerFan?
(note to Wes - please no.)
We shall explore these packages in the coming week or so. And by "we", I mean myself, Elvis, Tupac, Amelia Erhart and Jim Morrison.
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.
