The previous installment of this three-part series didn't do so well with readers, a smart person might take that as a sign and just forget about doing the planned third edition, but I never graduated high school so...
I think everybody knows what's what by now, but just in case you don't, these bat-around posts are based on the first player that comes to mind when thinking of a particular team, simple enough, yes?
Atlanta Hawks - Dominique Wilkins: Depending on what era you grew up in, the Hawks player that comes to mind first could vary quite a bit, but if you're anywhere near my age, it's most certainly going to be The Human Highlight Film.
Boston Celtics - Bill Russell: For anyone whoever gets caught up in these incessant GOAT discussions regarding Jordan v. LeBron, I'm going to do you a little favor, free of charge, and tell you that that conversation is seriously flawed - because Bill Russell is the greatest player of all time! Oh, and one other thing, if defense was still allowed in the NBA, Mr. Russell could easily play in today's game, and would be just as successful... if not more so.
Brooklyn Nets - Brooke Lopez: I thought of Jason Kidd first, but I'm pretty sure he was retired when the Nets moved to Brooklyn, so I guess it's Brooke by default.
Charlotte Hornets - Larry Johnson: I know that technically speaking, this current Hornets franchise isn't the original, but LJ was my favorite player when I was young, so if someone says Charlotte Hornets, I think of Larry... even if it isn't the same franchise.
Chicago Bulls - Michael Jordan/Scottie Pippen: Here's a hot take for ya, without Pippen, Jordan never wins a single title!
Cleveland Cavaliers - Mark Price: Mark was the Bob Cousy/Steve Nash of my childhood.
Dallas Mavericks - Derek Harper: Sign #3,014 that you're old, you think of anyone other than Dirk Nowitzki when the Mavericks are brought up.
Denver Nuggets - Antonio McDyess: He was so much fun to watch before the knee injury.
Detroit Pistons - Bill Laimbeer: Very few, if any, players could stir sh*t up like Bill could.
Golden State Warriors - Chris Mullin: The Warriors were absolutely loaded with talent in the early 90's, and were probably only one dominant big away from being a serious contender.
Houston Rockets - Hakeem Olajuwon: There will never be a better Rocket than The Dream!
Indiana Pacers - Reggie Miller: Another obvious choice.
Los Angeles Clippers - Darius Miles/Lamar Odom: When thinking of the Clippers, I think late 90's... I think greatest of the Nike commercial ever... and I think of these two knuckleheads dancing in said commercial.
Los Angeles Lakers - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: The second best player in NBA history (my opinion, of course).
Memphis Grizzlies - Pau Gasol: I would imagine that most people would think of one of the Gasol brothers, Pau was the first one to give the team a taste of success, so he get's the nod.
Miami Heat - Rony Seikaly: The original Mr. Heat! Zo eventually came along and made everyone forget how consistently good Rony was in his prime, but if you're old enough, you remember.
Milwaukee Bucks - Ray Allen: Jesus Shuttlesworth!!!!!!!
Minnesota Timberwolves - Pooh Richardson: Garnett would probably be the obvious choice here, but thanks to my early collecting days, I always associate the Twolves with Pooh... in more ways than one :)
New Orleans Pelicans - Anthony Davis: He's literally the only Pelican I know of, and from what I keep reading, it sounds like it's only a matter of time before he leaves - after all, LeBron needs other superstars around him to win championships. Also, I know it's been a few years now, but the Pelicans is still dumb name for a team.
New York Knicks - Larry Johnson: I already told you, I was big LJ fan!
Oklahoma City Thunder - Kevin Durant: I gotta be honest, because of how the Sonics were stolen from Seattle, I really haven't paid much attention to the Thunder since everything went down.
Orlando Magic - Shaquille O'Neal: He should've never left!
Philadelphia 76ers - Julius Erving: One of my first "vintage" basketball cards was a 1981-82 Topps Dr. J (#30), so even though I never saw him play live, I always think of him on that card, hands on hips, anytime the Sixers are mentioned.
Phoenix Suns - Dan Majerle: Thunder Dan was another one of my favorite players growing up, were I to make a list, he'd most certainly be in the top five.
Portland Trail Blazers - Bill Walton: No Walton, no lone championship!
Sacramento Kings - Kenny Smith: A 1989-90 Fleer inspired pick.
San Antonio Spurs - Tim Duncan: I grew up with David Robinson, but Timmy was just such an all-around great player that it's hard not to think of him first.
Toronto Raptors - Damon Stoudamire: The first relevant Raptor!
Utah Jazz - Karl Malone/John Stockton: You can't have one without the other, anyone that says otherwise is just lying. Growing up as a Blazers fan in Portland, I could not openly route for the Jazz under any circumstances, but I did do so in secret for many years... I was always impressed with Jerry Sloan's old school style of coaching as well.
Washington Wizards - Chris Webber: I know that it's been a couple of decades now, but the decision to ditch the Bullets team name in favor of the Wizards still sucks.
So I guess that's a wrap on my bat-around trilogy, they certainly were fun to put together, but if I'm being honest, I sure am glad that I don't have to do anymore for the time being :)
Thanks for taking a moment to look at my page.
Sunday, January 27, 2019
Friday, January 25, 2019
Blog bat-around/thinking exercise: NFL edition
As promised a couple of days ago, I went ahead and did an NFL version of the most recent blog bat-around, which ended up being even more fun to do than the MLB edition.
Everybody knows the deal by now, right? First name that comes to mind when you think of a particular team, and the "why", if you're so inclined, which I of course am (how am I suppose to ramble on if I don't add the "why's").
There will be a few obvious choices in here (can't avoid those), but like the MLB edition, there were a few unexpected (even to me) names that were thought of first, so here it goes:
Arizona Cardinals - Kurt Warner: The last complete NFL game that I watched from start to finish was Super Bowl whatever (I can never remember the numbers), the one with the Cardinals and Steelers. I was actually rooting for the Cardinals too, which is probably why they lost, sorry Cardinals fans :(
Atlanta Falcons - Michael Vick: I hate that he comes to mind first anytime someone mentions the Dirty Birds, but he does... and probably always will.
Baltimore Ravens - Ray Lewis: He's a blowhard, especially when the cameras are rolling, but he was also a pretty darn good football player.
Buffalo Bills - Bruce Smith: I knew of exactly four defensive players when I was a youngster, all four of which will be on this list, because after all these years I still identify them with the teams that they played for at the time. Here's a question, will Bruce's sacks record ever be broken? Don't answer that, because no, it'll never be broken!
Carolina Panthers - Jonathan Stewart: My favorite Duck of all time!
Chicago Bears - Steve McMichael: A couple of people on this list are there only because of their association with professional wrestling at a time when I was completely obsessed with the sport (I know, it's not a sport, but you know what I mean), and Mongo was one of those guys.
Cincinnati Bengals - Ickey Woods: There's been a lot of talk about end zone celebrations over the last year or so, personally I don't have a problem with them, but anytime I see one and/or hear about one, I always think to myself "Yeah that's nice and all, but it's no Ickey Shuffle!".
Cleveland Browns - Jim Brown: Upon his retirement, Cleveland should have just renamed their team the "Cleveland Jim Browns"!
Dallas Cowboys - Tony Dorsett: I don't remember which year it was, or even which particular card it was, but my first "old" football card was of Tony Dorsett, because of that, I will forever associate the Cowboys with him.
Denver Broncos - Floyd Little: Here's a pick that's a bit of a mystery to me, Floyd played way before my time, and I don't think that I've ever seen any footage of him, yet I still thought of him first when I got to the Broncos.
Detroit Lions - Barry Sanders: Upon his retirement, Detroit should have just renamed their team the Detroit Barry Sanders' :)
Green Bay Packers - Bart Starr: At this point in time, it's starting to feel like I've watched more old clips/games from NFL Films, than I have of things that have taken place during my lifetime - hence the Bart Starr association.
Houston Texans - JJ Watt: Can we refer to him as Mr. Texan yet?
Indianapolis Colts - Andre Rison: I know that most people associate Andre with the Falcons, but thanks to the 1989 Score set, and the crazy popular at the time rookie cards, he will always be a Colt to me.
Jacksonville Jaguars - Maurice Jones-Drew: He was literally the only Jaguar that I could think of.
Kansas City Chiefs - Joe Montana: Seeing him with anybody other than San Francisco was so weird at the time, and it's still weird to think about even now, but it was a pretty big deal at the time, big enough apparently that I still think of him more as a Chief than 49er.
Miami Dolphins - Dan Marino: One of the premiere quarterbacks from my childhood
Minnesota Vikings - Fran Tarkenton: Another NFL Films inspired pick.
New England Patriots - Tom Brady: Given the success that he's had over the last almost twenty years, this pick seems pretty obvious.
New Orleans Saints - Archie Manning: I already mentioned my first "old" football card of Tony Dorsett, well, my second one was of Archie Manning, so...
New York Giants - Lawrence Taylor: And now we've reached the third and final defensive player that I mentioned being familiar with as a wee one. His best days were behind him by the time I ever got to see him play, but even at that point in his career, he wasn't one to be taken lightly. His brief foray into professional wrestling just further solidified him with the Giants... at least in my mind.
New York Jets - Joe Namath: Three words... The Brady Bunch!
Oakland Raiders - Howie Long: I am such big fan of Howie Long's, so much so, that I've tried to avoid reading too much about him, you know, because usually when you find out too much about a particular athlete/celebrity, you almost always end up being disappointed. He was so great in Broken Arrow and Firestorm, and I can't believe that I'm saying this, but I actually kind of miss those Radio Shack commercials with him Teri Hatcher. Oh, and I do realize that most of his career was spent with the "Los Angeles Raiders", but he did play one season with the team in Oakland.
Philadelphia Eagles - Reggie White: Like Bruce Smith, Reggie was an absolute terror on quarterbacks when I was young, so once again, even though I didn't get to see him play a lot, it was kind of hard not to know who he was... and what he could do!
Pittsburgh Steelers - Joe Greene: Three more words... "Thanks, Mean Joe!"
St. Louis Rams - Kurt Warner: I know, twice on the same list, but I don't make the rules, so...
San Diego Chargers - Dan Fouts: Probably the most successful former Oregon Duck to ever play in the NFL.
San Francisco 49ers - Jerry Rice: I wasn't a huge fan of his when I was young, no real reason why, I just wasn't, but damn, every kid that I knew was either all about Bo Jackson or Jerry Rice... sometimes both!
Seattle Seahawks - Curt Warner: Never saw him play, but I've heard and seen enough Curt Warner Chevrolet commercials to last a lifetime.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Warren Sapp: I never really had a team in the NFL, but if I did, it probably would've been the Buccaneers, at least up until about ten years ago. Considering that they started acquiring some pretty talented players during the mid 90's, it's kind of amazing to think how long it took them to finally be consistently good.
Tennessee Titans - Kevin Dyson: Kevin Dyson is responsible for me losing $5 back in 1999, but I guess that's what I get for going against the grain and betting on the Titans to win the Super Bowl :(
Washington Redskins - Art Monk: I'm sure that some of you might be getting tired of hearing about my "old" football cards, it can't be helped though, at least not when making a list like this - anyways, an Art Monk rookie was the third "old" football card that was given to me. It's funny, I really can't remember much of anything anymore, but for some reason I can remember, in order, the first five "old" cards that I got, probably 25-30 years ago (Al Cowlings and Jack Youngblood were cards #4 and 5 respectively).
Okay, another one's in the books, now all that's left is an NBA edition, which I'm hoping will be ready to go live on Sunday - An NBA post on a Sunday? That's gonna bring in the views :)
Thanks for taking a moment to look at my page.
Everybody knows the deal by now, right? First name that comes to mind when you think of a particular team, and the "why", if you're so inclined, which I of course am (how am I suppose to ramble on if I don't add the "why's").
There will be a few obvious choices in here (can't avoid those), but like the MLB edition, there were a few unexpected (even to me) names that were thought of first, so here it goes:
Arizona Cardinals - Kurt Warner: The last complete NFL game that I watched from start to finish was Super Bowl whatever (I can never remember the numbers), the one with the Cardinals and Steelers. I was actually rooting for the Cardinals too, which is probably why they lost, sorry Cardinals fans :(
Atlanta Falcons - Michael Vick: I hate that he comes to mind first anytime someone mentions the Dirty Birds, but he does... and probably always will.
Baltimore Ravens - Ray Lewis: He's a blowhard, especially when the cameras are rolling, but he was also a pretty darn good football player.
Buffalo Bills - Bruce Smith: I knew of exactly four defensive players when I was a youngster, all four of which will be on this list, because after all these years I still identify them with the teams that they played for at the time. Here's a question, will Bruce's sacks record ever be broken? Don't answer that, because no, it'll never be broken!
Carolina Panthers - Jonathan Stewart: My favorite Duck of all time!
Chicago Bears - Steve McMichael: A couple of people on this list are there only because of their association with professional wrestling at a time when I was completely obsessed with the sport (I know, it's not a sport, but you know what I mean), and Mongo was one of those guys.
Cincinnati Bengals - Ickey Woods: There's been a lot of talk about end zone celebrations over the last year or so, personally I don't have a problem with them, but anytime I see one and/or hear about one, I always think to myself "Yeah that's nice and all, but it's no Ickey Shuffle!".
Cleveland Browns - Jim Brown: Upon his retirement, Cleveland should have just renamed their team the "Cleveland Jim Browns"!
Dallas Cowboys - Tony Dorsett: I don't remember which year it was, or even which particular card it was, but my first "old" football card was of Tony Dorsett, because of that, I will forever associate the Cowboys with him.
Denver Broncos - Floyd Little: Here's a pick that's a bit of a mystery to me, Floyd played way before my time, and I don't think that I've ever seen any footage of him, yet I still thought of him first when I got to the Broncos.
Detroit Lions - Barry Sanders: Upon his retirement, Detroit should have just renamed their team the Detroit Barry Sanders' :)
Green Bay Packers - Bart Starr: At this point in time, it's starting to feel like I've watched more old clips/games from NFL Films, than I have of things that have taken place during my lifetime - hence the Bart Starr association.
Houston Texans - JJ Watt: Can we refer to him as Mr. Texan yet?
Indianapolis Colts - Andre Rison: I know that most people associate Andre with the Falcons, but thanks to the 1989 Score set, and the crazy popular at the time rookie cards, he will always be a Colt to me.
Jacksonville Jaguars - Maurice Jones-Drew: He was literally the only Jaguar that I could think of.
Kansas City Chiefs - Joe Montana: Seeing him with anybody other than San Francisco was so weird at the time, and it's still weird to think about even now, but it was a pretty big deal at the time, big enough apparently that I still think of him more as a Chief than 49er.
Miami Dolphins - Dan Marino: One of the premiere quarterbacks from my childhood
Minnesota Vikings - Fran Tarkenton: Another NFL Films inspired pick.
New England Patriots - Tom Brady: Given the success that he's had over the last almost twenty years, this pick seems pretty obvious.
New Orleans Saints - Archie Manning: I already mentioned my first "old" football card of Tony Dorsett, well, my second one was of Archie Manning, so...
New York Giants - Lawrence Taylor: And now we've reached the third and final defensive player that I mentioned being familiar with as a wee one. His best days were behind him by the time I ever got to see him play, but even at that point in his career, he wasn't one to be taken lightly. His brief foray into professional wrestling just further solidified him with the Giants... at least in my mind.
New York Jets - Joe Namath: Three words... The Brady Bunch!
Oakland Raiders - Howie Long: I am such big fan of Howie Long's, so much so, that I've tried to avoid reading too much about him, you know, because usually when you find out too much about a particular athlete/celebrity, you almost always end up being disappointed. He was so great in Broken Arrow and Firestorm, and I can't believe that I'm saying this, but I actually kind of miss those Radio Shack commercials with him Teri Hatcher. Oh, and I do realize that most of his career was spent with the "Los Angeles Raiders", but he did play one season with the team in Oakland.
Philadelphia Eagles - Reggie White: Like Bruce Smith, Reggie was an absolute terror on quarterbacks when I was young, so once again, even though I didn't get to see him play a lot, it was kind of hard not to know who he was... and what he could do!
Pittsburgh Steelers - Joe Greene: Three more words... "Thanks, Mean Joe!"
St. Louis Rams - Kurt Warner: I know, twice on the same list, but I don't make the rules, so...
San Diego Chargers - Dan Fouts: Probably the most successful former Oregon Duck to ever play in the NFL.
San Francisco 49ers - Jerry Rice: I wasn't a huge fan of his when I was young, no real reason why, I just wasn't, but damn, every kid that I knew was either all about Bo Jackson or Jerry Rice... sometimes both!
Seattle Seahawks - Curt Warner: Never saw him play, but I've heard and seen enough Curt Warner Chevrolet commercials to last a lifetime.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Warren Sapp: I never really had a team in the NFL, but if I did, it probably would've been the Buccaneers, at least up until about ten years ago. Considering that they started acquiring some pretty talented players during the mid 90's, it's kind of amazing to think how long it took them to finally be consistently good.
Tennessee Titans - Kevin Dyson: Kevin Dyson is responsible for me losing $5 back in 1999, but I guess that's what I get for going against the grain and betting on the Titans to win the Super Bowl :(
Washington Redskins - Art Monk: I'm sure that some of you might be getting tired of hearing about my "old" football cards, it can't be helped though, at least not when making a list like this - anyways, an Art Monk rookie was the third "old" football card that was given to me. It's funny, I really can't remember much of anything anymore, but for some reason I can remember, in order, the first five "old" cards that I got, probably 25-30 years ago (Al Cowlings and Jack Youngblood were cards #4 and 5 respectively).
Okay, another one's in the books, now all that's left is an NBA edition, which I'm hoping will be ready to go live on Sunday - An NBA post on a Sunday? That's gonna bring in the views :)
Thanks for taking a moment to look at my page.
Thursday, January 24, 2019
Selling some junk to buy even more junk
A week or two ago I showed off the Jerry Lewis Golden Age auto that I got thanks to the selling of some Mark Jackson/Menendez cards back in December while they were still red hot.
I think that most folks would agree that using the money from a couple of cards that are often referred to as "junk wax" to buy a Jerry Lewis autograph was a solid purchase/investment (I'm using that term very loosely), but what would those same folks think about using the money from less than one of those pieces of "junk wax" to buy 55 more pieces of junk wax"?
Well, I really don't know what those people would think, and honestly, I don't really care - because either way, I am now the proud owner of 55 more 1990-91 Fleer Shawn Kemp rookies! I should probably note that I had every intention of laying these out all nice like, but I sort of lost my patience about halfway through the process.
I don't have much to say about these today, but I did recently find out that there is more than one other person out there who is attempting to hoard this particular card as well, so that's kind of interesting, right? Now if I could just find out who those other people are and convince 'em to stop with their hoarding ways...
Thanks for taking a moment to look at my page.
I think that most folks would agree that using the money from a couple of cards that are often referred to as "junk wax" to buy a Jerry Lewis autograph was a solid purchase/investment (I'm using that term very loosely), but what would those same folks think about using the money from less than one of those pieces of "junk wax" to buy 55 more pieces of junk wax"?
I don't have much to say about these today, but I did recently find out that there is more than one other person out there who is attempting to hoard this particular card as well, so that's kind of interesting, right? Now if I could just find out who those other people are and convince 'em to stop with their hoarding ways...
Thanks for taking a moment to look at my page.
Tuesday, January 22, 2019
Blog bat-around/thinking exercise: MLB edition
So apparently there's a new blog bat-around that's sweeping the interwebs. I didn't even know this one was a thing until I read RAZ's post the other day, from what I've gathered it was started by the Night Owl, but the inspiration came from Fuji - so I guess you could say that this is a Fuji-Night Owl joint production. Since I don't want anyone else's list to influence mine, I'll have to go back read them all after my humble contribution is completed.
The premise seems to be pretty simple, just name the first player that comes to mind when you think of a particular team. I'm sure everybody ended up with a few unexpected choices, I know I certainly did:
Arizona Diamondbacks - Randy Johnson: It's funny, I watched pretty much all of his career with the Mariners, yet at this point in time I only associate him with the Dbacks.
Atlanta Braves - David Justice: David is one of those guys that I will always associate with my early card collecting years, even though most of those memories are just a blur at this point. His rookie cards were hot amongst my age group at the time, and I only ever had about a dozen SLU figures, but DJ was one of them.
Baltimore Orioles - Cal Ripken Jr.: This was just one of those instant associations, a fairly obvious one though.
Boston Red Sox - Oil Can Boyd: How's that for coming out of left field (baseball pun!)? This is definitely another card related association, thanks 1988 and 1989 Topps! Find me a person anywhere who doesn't like his nickname, and I'll tell you that that person is lying.
Chicago Cubs - Ernie Banks: He's Mr. Cub... nuff said!
Chicago White Sox - Frank Thomas: Yet another guy with hot rookie cards when I was a kid, that Topps no-name was such a big deal, I can just vaguely remember going into a card shop where a guy had just purchased like a dozen boxes just to try and find that card... I sure hope he found one!
Cincinnati Reds - Eric Davis: I knew a pair of brothers who were absolutely obsessed with baseball when I was in my early teens, part of this obsession manifested itself with their trying to identify who everyone in the neighborhood's swing reminded them of, mine was Eric Davis.
Cleveland Indians - Bob Feller: I immediately thought of Bob Feller, followed by Satchel Paige, it then took me a minute or two to come up with another name, Jim Thome.
Colorado Rockies - Todd Helton: This pick was no doubt inspired by all of the recent HOF ballot posts that I've read. For the record, I think he should be voted in.
Detroit Tigers - Ty Cobb: One could easily argue that Ty was the best baseball player ever, personally I'd rank him as #2, number one will be further down on this list. Fun fact: Ty Cobb passed away on my birthday (different year though).
Florida Marlins - Giancarlo Stanton: He was literally the only Marlin that I could think of.
Houston Astros - Craig Biggio: No offense to any other former Astro, but in my mind, Craig Biggio is Mr. Astro(s).
Kansas City Royals - Bo Jackson: When it comes to baseball, Bo's hype, and popularity, was second only to Junior when I was a youngster, every kid wanted to be one or the other. And of course he's always going to be one of the great sports "What if's...".
Los Angeles Angels (of Anaheim) - Jim Fregosi: Jim was before my time, but every time someone mentions the Angels, I immediately think of his 1972 Topps Boyhood Photos card, you know, the one with him and his giant accordion... that's my favorite card in that set btw.
Los Angeles Dodgers (of Los Angeles) - Johnny Podres: Normally I wouldn't think of Johnny first, but I recently decided to try and collect all of his cards, so his name has been on my mind as of late.
Milwaukee Brewers - Robin Yount: When I think of the Brewers, I think of mustaches, specifically those of Robin Yount and Rollie Fingers, Yount's stache comes to mind first though, so he gets the nod.
Minnesota Twins - Frank Viola: I know that this one is most certainly not the obvious choice, but he's who I thought of first. I can remember opening up cheap boxes of '87 and '88 Topps from Kmart ($5 a box) and still getting excited when I pulled Frank's cards, I say "still" because these cheap boxes were being opened as late as the mid 90's... that's some high regard!
New York Mets - Doc Gooden: Growing up on the opposite coast, the Mets were one of those teams that I rarely got to see play, and knew almost nothing about. What little I did know, was gleamed from cards, and the cards told me that Doc was pretty darn good there for awhile, so I just kind of assumed that he was their best player.
New York Yankees - Lou Gehrig: My choice for the greatest baseball player of all time.
Oakland Athletics - Jose Canseco: I already mentioned that Griffey and Bo were 1 and 2 respectively when it came to popularity amongst the kids I knew at the time, well, if there was a #3, it would've been Jose. I think in general though, he was more popular with kids that would've been a few years older than me, I could be wrong about that, but I don't think that I am.
Philadelphia Phillies - Darren Daulton: The Phillies were another team that I didn't know a lot about when I was young, but they had Darren, a former Portland Beaver, so I could never hate on them too much.
Pittsburgh Pirates - Bob Walk: Thanks for screwing up my thought processes, Matt!
St. Louis Cardinals - Bob Gibson: I don't recall the title at this point, but one of the first baseball related books that I ever read had a whole chapter devoted to Bob's 1968 season, so even though I never saw him play, that chapter left enough of an impression on young me that I have just sort of always identified the team's name with him ever since. [side note: I sure wish I could figure out which book that was, something by Scholastic maybe?]
San Diego Padres - Tony Gwynn: Has there ever even been another Padre of note?
San Francisco Giants - Kevin Mitchell: Other than getting to watch Junior on a regular basis, growing up a Mariners fan kind of sucked. For as long as I can remember, guys that had been having success elsewhere were always being brought in, and almost always ended up being a disappointment. There was an awful lot of hype when Kevin came over from the Giants back in '92(?), and big surprise... he didn't live up to that hype (my memory tells me that it was actually one of his worst seasons).
Seattle Mariners - Ken Griffey Jr.: I don't know how it was in other parts of the country, but if you were a kid living in the Pacific Northwest during the late 80's/early 90's, Junior was your guy.
Tampa Bay Rays - Uhhhhh?: No Rays player came to mind when I tried to think of one, so I moved on to the next team. After a couple of minutes I thought of Wade Boggs, and then Evan Longoria, but since none came to mind immediately, I will be leaving this selection sort of blank... hopefully this doesn't upset Tampa's one fan :)
Texas Rangers - Nolan Ryan: When I was growing up it seemed like the Rangers had exactly two players, Nolan, and Juan Gonzalez. Nolan came to mind first though, probably only because of that Cursed Texas Express that Pacific apparently printed in numbers that would make Michio Kaku's head spin.
Toronto Blue Jays - Joe Carter: I know it's not true, but part of my brain tells me that Joe's walk-off home run during the '93 World Series was the last truly great World Series moment.
Washington Nationals - Bryce Harper: I really hate that his is the first one that I thought of, but the Nationals are just too new for me, I don't have any memories to associate the team, or any of it's players, with.
Wow, that took a lot longer to do than I thought it would, totally worth it though. Because of the fun I had while writing it up, I think I'll do an NBA and NFL version as well, which I will try to sprinkle in between regular posts over the next couple of days.
Thanks for taking a moment to look at my page.
The premise seems to be pretty simple, just name the first player that comes to mind when you think of a particular team. I'm sure everybody ended up with a few unexpected choices, I know I certainly did:
Arizona Diamondbacks - Randy Johnson: It's funny, I watched pretty much all of his career with the Mariners, yet at this point in time I only associate him with the Dbacks.
Atlanta Braves - David Justice: David is one of those guys that I will always associate with my early card collecting years, even though most of those memories are just a blur at this point. His rookie cards were hot amongst my age group at the time, and I only ever had about a dozen SLU figures, but DJ was one of them.
Baltimore Orioles - Cal Ripken Jr.: This was just one of those instant associations, a fairly obvious one though.
Boston Red Sox - Oil Can Boyd: How's that for coming out of left field (baseball pun!)? This is definitely another card related association, thanks 1988 and 1989 Topps! Find me a person anywhere who doesn't like his nickname, and I'll tell you that that person is lying.
Chicago Cubs - Ernie Banks: He's Mr. Cub... nuff said!
Chicago White Sox - Frank Thomas: Yet another guy with hot rookie cards when I was a kid, that Topps no-name was such a big deal, I can just vaguely remember going into a card shop where a guy had just purchased like a dozen boxes just to try and find that card... I sure hope he found one!
Cincinnati Reds - Eric Davis: I knew a pair of brothers who were absolutely obsessed with baseball when I was in my early teens, part of this obsession manifested itself with their trying to identify who everyone in the neighborhood's swing reminded them of, mine was Eric Davis.
Cleveland Indians - Bob Feller: I immediately thought of Bob Feller, followed by Satchel Paige, it then took me a minute or two to come up with another name, Jim Thome.
Colorado Rockies - Todd Helton: This pick was no doubt inspired by all of the recent HOF ballot posts that I've read. For the record, I think he should be voted in.
Detroit Tigers - Ty Cobb: One could easily argue that Ty was the best baseball player ever, personally I'd rank him as #2, number one will be further down on this list. Fun fact: Ty Cobb passed away on my birthday (different year though).
Florida Marlins - Giancarlo Stanton: He was literally the only Marlin that I could think of.
Houston Astros - Craig Biggio: No offense to any other former Astro, but in my mind, Craig Biggio is Mr. Astro(s).
Kansas City Royals - Bo Jackson: When it comes to baseball, Bo's hype, and popularity, was second only to Junior when I was a youngster, every kid wanted to be one or the other. And of course he's always going to be one of the great sports "What if's...".
Los Angeles Angels (of Anaheim) - Jim Fregosi: Jim was before my time, but every time someone mentions the Angels, I immediately think of his 1972 Topps Boyhood Photos card, you know, the one with him and his giant accordion... that's my favorite card in that set btw.
Los Angeles Dodgers (of Los Angeles) - Johnny Podres: Normally I wouldn't think of Johnny first, but I recently decided to try and collect all of his cards, so his name has been on my mind as of late.
Milwaukee Brewers - Robin Yount: When I think of the Brewers, I think of mustaches, specifically those of Robin Yount and Rollie Fingers, Yount's stache comes to mind first though, so he gets the nod.
Minnesota Twins - Frank Viola: I know that this one is most certainly not the obvious choice, but he's who I thought of first. I can remember opening up cheap boxes of '87 and '88 Topps from Kmart ($5 a box) and still getting excited when I pulled Frank's cards, I say "still" because these cheap boxes were being opened as late as the mid 90's... that's some high regard!
New York Mets - Doc Gooden: Growing up on the opposite coast, the Mets were one of those teams that I rarely got to see play, and knew almost nothing about. What little I did know, was gleamed from cards, and the cards told me that Doc was pretty darn good there for awhile, so I just kind of assumed that he was their best player.
New York Yankees - Lou Gehrig: My choice for the greatest baseball player of all time.
Oakland Athletics - Jose Canseco: I already mentioned that Griffey and Bo were 1 and 2 respectively when it came to popularity amongst the kids I knew at the time, well, if there was a #3, it would've been Jose. I think in general though, he was more popular with kids that would've been a few years older than me, I could be wrong about that, but I don't think that I am.
Philadelphia Phillies - Darren Daulton: The Phillies were another team that I didn't know a lot about when I was young, but they had Darren, a former Portland Beaver, so I could never hate on them too much.
Pittsburgh Pirates - Bob Walk: Thanks for screwing up my thought processes, Matt!
St. Louis Cardinals - Bob Gibson: I don't recall the title at this point, but one of the first baseball related books that I ever read had a whole chapter devoted to Bob's 1968 season, so even though I never saw him play, that chapter left enough of an impression on young me that I have just sort of always identified the team's name with him ever since. [side note: I sure wish I could figure out which book that was, something by Scholastic maybe?]
San Diego Padres - Tony Gwynn: Has there ever even been another Padre of note?
San Francisco Giants - Kevin Mitchell: Other than getting to watch Junior on a regular basis, growing up a Mariners fan kind of sucked. For as long as I can remember, guys that had been having success elsewhere were always being brought in, and almost always ended up being a disappointment. There was an awful lot of hype when Kevin came over from the Giants back in '92(?), and big surprise... he didn't live up to that hype (my memory tells me that it was actually one of his worst seasons).
Seattle Mariners - Ken Griffey Jr.: I don't know how it was in other parts of the country, but if you were a kid living in the Pacific Northwest during the late 80's/early 90's, Junior was your guy.
Tampa Bay Rays - Uhhhhh?: No Rays player came to mind when I tried to think of one, so I moved on to the next team. After a couple of minutes I thought of Wade Boggs, and then Evan Longoria, but since none came to mind immediately, I will be leaving this selection sort of blank... hopefully this doesn't upset Tampa's one fan :)
Texas Rangers - Nolan Ryan: When I was growing up it seemed like the Rangers had exactly two players, Nolan, and Juan Gonzalez. Nolan came to mind first though, probably only because of that Cursed Texas Express that Pacific apparently printed in numbers that would make Michio Kaku's head spin.
Toronto Blue Jays - Joe Carter: I know it's not true, but part of my brain tells me that Joe's walk-off home run during the '93 World Series was the last truly great World Series moment.
Washington Nationals - Bryce Harper: I really hate that his is the first one that I thought of, but the Nationals are just too new for me, I don't have any memories to associate the team, or any of it's players, with.
Wow, that took a lot longer to do than I thought it would, totally worth it though. Because of the fun I had while writing it up, I think I'll do an NBA and NFL version as well, which I will try to sprinkle in between regular posts over the next couple of days.
Thanks for taking a moment to look at my page.
Monday, January 21, 2019
Bombed by Billy
Of the many packages that I received from fellow bloggers (and one non-blogging friend) during December, one stood out from the rest, not because it was better -- I've said it before, but I'll say it again, I consider everything that is ever sent to me to be equally great. The thought behind the mailing will always mean so much more to me than it's contents ever could -- no, this package from Billy, the tireless genius behind Cardboard History, stood out merely because it was only the one that I had no idea was coming.
It's not very often that I get a completely unexpected package in the mail, it's also not very often that someone sends me a package with 100+ cards in it!
Being from Billy, you'd expect it to be heavy on the basketball, and it was, but there were also a few non-basketball surprises to be had.
I certainly was surprised to see a large grouping of 1974 Visual Panographics U.S. Presidents right off the bat, talk about unexpected!
I'm going to go ahead and say that I had never seen these before, even though I'm pretty sure that I have, I just can't remember the when and where. I'm just showing 12 here, but Billy sent along 22 of the 37-card set. I can't seem to find out how these were distributed, other than that they came as two-card panels that were perforated in the middle, anybody out there know how these were sold?
I thought I'd go ahead a scan the back of my favorite president, the only problem is... I don't have a favorite president! So, you get Zachary Taylor. For being such little cards, they sure did squeeze in a lot of info, even if some of them contain more lore than fact.
I am not a NASCAR guy, my dad was, but I've just never had interest in it - so if you're wondering why there was NASCAR card (say that five times fast) included, well, I'll let the penny sleeve that it was in, do the talking:
How wonderful is that? I don't know if I agree entirely with that sentiment, but I certainly do appreciate the thought behind it, and because of that I will be hanging on to the card, which of course will be kept inside this penny sleeve.
And we've reached the basketball portion of the package, of which I will just be showing about half, otherwise I'd have to break this into two posts (normally I wouldn't mind, but I have so much stuff to catch up on).
Nice group of '96-97 Fleer Metal here, I don't have too many fond memories of Sheed as a Blazer, but I was a fan of The Wizard (Walt Williams) during his short stint with the team. And I don't know why exactly, I always get a kick out of seeing Dino Radja.
I already had these two Action Packed cards, but I thought I'd show them anyway, if only because the scan makes it look like Larry Legend just went a few rounds with Iron Mike.
I know that Panini has recently started adding sticker inserts to some of their products again, which is a good thing, but they'll never reach the greatness that was the All-Stars stickers from the late 80's Fleer sets.
I seem to be getting an awful lot of Toine cards as of late, which for the record, I am not actively seeking - that being said, I'll pick up cheap inserts of his anytime I come across them, or accept base cards of his when they're being sent by Billy :)
Inserts, inserts, and more inserts! Billy was kind enough to include quite a few of the 90's variety, and of the 30-40 that there were, I think I needed all but one (although getting duplicates of inserts from this era is okay with me). Since their debut, I have never stopped liking the 1993-94 Skybox Showdown Series, the head-to-head stats on the back are still fun to read - now if we could just go back to the days of Olajuwon vs. Mutombo... sigh.
Getting a Larry Johnson that I didn't already have is always a Welcome Addition.
I was trying to keep all of the base and inserts separate for scanning purposes, but as I'm adding these groups to the post, I see that the Damon Holoview Heroes slipped into this group of base unnoticed - I guess that's what happens when you have to stand up to scan, and you've been doing so for over an hour, weariness starts to officially set in. Some really fun base cards here though, and I think that I only had one other Holoview Heroes, so it's inclusion was greatly appreciated.
It wasn't all 90's inserts.
And finally, a nice group of player's from the past on new-ish cards. I know a lot of people grumble over guys like these being included into newer sets, but for me it's getting to the point where I'm only interested in retired players portion of checklists.
Thank you again for the cards, and for all of the thought that went into them, Billy! Everything that I had for you was in the Secret Santa package, but hopefully I can start building back up the reserves and be able to surprise you with a mailing at some point in the not too distant future.
Thanks for taking a moment to look at my page.
It's not very often that I get a completely unexpected package in the mail, it's also not very often that someone sends me a package with 100+ cards in it!
Being from Billy, you'd expect it to be heavy on the basketball, and it was, but there were also a few non-basketball surprises to be had.
Nice group of '96-97 Fleer Metal here, I don't have too many fond memories of Sheed as a Blazer, but I was a fan of The Wizard (Walt Williams) during his short stint with the team. And I don't know why exactly, I always get a kick out of seeing Dino Radja.
Thank you again for the cards, and for all of the thought that went into them, Billy! Everything that I had for you was in the Secret Santa package, but hopefully I can start building back up the reserves and be able to surprise you with a mailing at some point in the not too distant future.
Thanks for taking a moment to look at my page.
Wednesday, January 16, 2019
Laughing all the way to the bank
As many of you undoubtedly know by now, the non-card collecting portion of society absolutely lost it's collective mind a couple of months ago when the news started spreading that the Menendez brothers had been discovered sitting in the background of Mark Jackson's 1990-91 Hoops card.
To say that things were absolutely bonkers for a couple of weeks during late November/early December would be a massive understatement, as the masses started paying obscene amounts of money to acquire a copy of that particular card, a card that any collector knows, was produced by the millions.
Unable to resist this sudden interest in a decades old piece of "junk wax", collector's everywhere started scrounging through long ignored boxes in search of this new, albeit temporary, holy grail. Many would be found, and subsequently many would be sold on eBay, almost all of which were done so for exorbitant sums.
Normally I'm not one to notice trends, or to pay any attention to what ever the latest viral thing is, but in this instance, I did! Of course you'd have to be living under one of those proverbial rocks not to have heard about it at the time, as it truly was everywhere.
Knowing that this surge in prices couldn't last, I too started searching through boxes of long ignored cardboard, my search would yield six copies -- one from my set (I could replace after the interest died down), two from misc. boxes, and three from a 3200ct box that was slated for the thrift store.
I don't know exactly when the peak of the public's interest was, but I suspect that I was couple of days late when I listed my newly found six copies, that being said, all six sold the day they were listed, and after fees and shipping, each card ended up fetching roughly $20!
This really couldn't have happened at a better time for me personally, as I had almost no play money to spend in December (or January), so it truly was an unexpected windfall.
It also just so happened that had I just started watching an auction (on eBay of course) for an item that doesn't come up very often, an item that I very much wanted, and wasn't going to be able to bid on, but now I had money... lots of money!
With my new found riches, the other bidders on this auction did not stand a chance (even though it ended up selling for much less than I expected), so behold, the latest edition to my Golden Age Historic Signatures collection!
It's been like a month now (or maybe a little more), and I still can't believe that this Jerry Lewis auto was paid for with 3 1/2 1990-91 Hoops Mark Jackson's, in pre-Menendez discovery terms, I got this for 35 cents (or less), see... crazy!
I'm assuming (and hoping) that everyone knows who Jerry Lewis is, and how big of a star he once was, because of this assumption, and the fact that this post ran longer than expected (what else is new), I'm skipping the addition of any biographical info. If somehow you don't know who he is/was, there's always the Google.
When the 2013 Golden Age set was released, this autograph could only be had via redemption, but thankfully he honored his commitment to Panini by signing quite a few cards before his passing last year. It's interesting too that the card came from Panini in this fancy case, it's first Golden Age redemption that I've seen come in such a holder.
I know that a few of my fellow bloggers were able to take it advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity, I sure hope that a few of the non-blogging folks who happen to be reading this, were able to as well.
Thanks for taking a moment to look at my page.
To say that things were absolutely bonkers for a couple of weeks during late November/early December would be a massive understatement, as the masses started paying obscene amounts of money to acquire a copy of that particular card, a card that any collector knows, was produced by the millions.
Unable to resist this sudden interest in a decades old piece of "junk wax", collector's everywhere started scrounging through long ignored boxes in search of this new, albeit temporary, holy grail. Many would be found, and subsequently many would be sold on eBay, almost all of which were done so for exorbitant sums.
Normally I'm not one to notice trends, or to pay any attention to what ever the latest viral thing is, but in this instance, I did! Of course you'd have to be living under one of those proverbial rocks not to have heard about it at the time, as it truly was everywhere.
Knowing that this surge in prices couldn't last, I too started searching through boxes of long ignored cardboard, my search would yield six copies -- one from my set (I could replace after the interest died down), two from misc. boxes, and three from a 3200ct box that was slated for the thrift store.
I don't know exactly when the peak of the public's interest was, but I suspect that I was couple of days late when I listed my newly found six copies, that being said, all six sold the day they were listed, and after fees and shipping, each card ended up fetching roughly $20!
This really couldn't have happened at a better time for me personally, as I had almost no play money to spend in December (or January), so it truly was an unexpected windfall.
It also just so happened that had I just started watching an auction (on eBay of course) for an item that doesn't come up very often, an item that I very much wanted, and wasn't going to be able to bid on, but now I had money... lots of money!
 |
| Try as I might, I could not get a photo without the phone's reflection across the case :( |
It's been like a month now (or maybe a little more), and I still can't believe that this Jerry Lewis auto was paid for with 3 1/2 1990-91 Hoops Mark Jackson's, in pre-Menendez discovery terms, I got this for 35 cents (or less), see... crazy!
I'm assuming (and hoping) that everyone knows who Jerry Lewis is, and how big of a star he once was, because of this assumption, and the fact that this post ran longer than expected (what else is new), I'm skipping the addition of any biographical info. If somehow you don't know who he is/was, there's always the Google.
When the 2013 Golden Age set was released, this autograph could only be had via redemption, but thankfully he honored his commitment to Panini by signing quite a few cards before his passing last year. It's interesting too that the card came from Panini in this fancy case, it's first Golden Age redemption that I've seen come in such a holder.
I know that a few of my fellow bloggers were able to take it advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity, I sure hope that a few of the non-blogging folks who happen to be reading this, were able to as well.
Thanks for taking a moment to look at my page.
Monday, January 14, 2019
Secret Santa wrap-up post
I can't remember how long after Christmas it was that Matt did the wrap-ups for the two previous year's worth of Secret Santa's, but the middle of January seems like reasonable amount of time to have waited (at least to me), so here it is!
I would like to thank everyone again who participated this year, I haven't heard any grumbling, so I'll have to assume that we can call this year's outing a success. And I know that I've already said it at least once before, but I'd like to say thank you again to everyone who helped promote the Secret Santa on their blog this year, I truly do believe that that was the difference maker as far as people joining in went.
You'll find a list of who sent to who below, with links to everything that has been shown publicly, or at least everything that I've seen that was shown publicly. If I've somehow missed anything, just let me know and I'll update list.
Shane Katz (Off The Wall via Twitter) sent by Kirk (CaptKirk42s Trading Card Blog)
Peter (Baseball Every Night) sent by Brian (Highly Subjective and Completely Arbitrary)
Mike Matson (Not Another Baseball Card Blog) sent by AJ (The Lost Collector)
Adam (Cardboard Clubhouse) sent by Andy (Stadium Fantasium)
Nick (Dime Boxes) sent by Chris aka ntlwhlr (TCDB)
Adam (ARPSmith's Card Obsession) Paul (Scribbled Ink)
AJ (The Lost Collector) sent by Tim (I Love the Smell of Cardboard in the Morning)
Brian (Collecting Cutch) sent by Angus (Dawg Day Cards)
Bulldog (Nothing If Not Random) sent by Colbey (Cardboard Collections)
Fuji (The Chronicles of Fuji) sent by Matt (Diamond Jesters)
Kirk (CaptKirk42s Trading Card Blog) sent by Adam (Cardboard Clubhouse)
GCA (The Collective Mind) sent by Shane (Off The Wall)
Jon (A Penny Sleeve for your Thoughts) sent by Nick (Dime Boxes)
Angus (Dawg Day Cards) sent by Mike Matson (Not Another Baseball Card Blog)
John Hazen aka Mihome316 (TCDB) sent by Brian (Collecting Cutch)
Andy (Stadium Fantasium) sent by gcrl (cards as i see them)
Colbey (Cardboard Collections) sent by Billy (Cardboard History)
Chris aka ntlwhlr (TCDB) sent by Kin (Bean's Ballcard Blog)
John Sharp (John's Big League Baseball Blog) sent by Roy (Nothing if not Random)
Brian (Highly Subjective and Completely Arbitrary) sent by Fuji (The Chronicles of Fuji)
Matt (Diamond Jesters) sent by Dan aka vrooomed (TCDB)
gcrl (cards as i see them) sent by Tyler (Rekindling the Cardboard Flame)
Kin (Bean's Ballcard Blog) sent by John Hazen aka Mihome316 (TCDB)
Paul (Scribbled Ink) sent by Chris (The Collector)
Chris (The Collector) sent by Mark Hoyle (Twitter)
Dan aka vrooomed (TCDB) sent by GCA (The Collective Mind)
Mark Hoyle (Twitter) sent by Jon (A Penny Sleeve for your Thoughts)
Tyler (Rekindling the Cardboard Flame) sent by Peter (Baseball Every Night)
Tim (I Love the Smell of Cardboard in the Morning) sent by Adam (ARPSmith's Card Obsession)
Billy (Cardboard History) sent by Jon (A Penny Sleeve for your Thoughts) filling in for John Sharp (John's Big League Baseball Blog)
I didn't know if I should mention it or not, but just in case anyone's wondering about the last entry on this list, John Sharp ran into some difficulties (of the personal variety) not too long after the names were randomized and given out. He sent me an email to let me know that he was going to have to drop out, given who he is and what he was going through (not to mention what time of the year it was), I asked him to stay in to receive his gift, and that I would take care of Billy for him. Knowing most of you as I do, I didn't think that anybody would have a problem with this arrangement, but if I'm wrong and someone does, well, you know where to find me.
Thanks for taking a moment to look at my page.
I would like to thank everyone again who participated this year, I haven't heard any grumbling, so I'll have to assume that we can call this year's outing a success. And I know that I've already said it at least once before, but I'd like to say thank you again to everyone who helped promote the Secret Santa on their blog this year, I truly do believe that that was the difference maker as far as people joining in went.
You'll find a list of who sent to who below, with links to everything that has been shown publicly, or at least everything that I've seen that was shown publicly. If I've somehow missed anything, just let me know and I'll update list.
Shane Katz (Off The Wall via Twitter) sent by Kirk (CaptKirk42s Trading Card Blog)
Peter (Baseball Every Night) sent by Brian (Highly Subjective and Completely Arbitrary)
Mike Matson (Not Another Baseball Card Blog) sent by AJ (The Lost Collector)
Adam (Cardboard Clubhouse) sent by Andy (Stadium Fantasium)
Nick (Dime Boxes) sent by Chris aka ntlwhlr (TCDB)
Adam (ARPSmith's Card Obsession) Paul (Scribbled Ink)
AJ (The Lost Collector) sent by Tim (I Love the Smell of Cardboard in the Morning)
Brian (Collecting Cutch) sent by Angus (Dawg Day Cards)
Bulldog (Nothing If Not Random) sent by Colbey (Cardboard Collections)
Fuji (The Chronicles of Fuji) sent by Matt (Diamond Jesters)
Kirk (CaptKirk42s Trading Card Blog) sent by Adam (Cardboard Clubhouse)
GCA (The Collective Mind) sent by Shane (Off The Wall)
Jon (A Penny Sleeve for your Thoughts) sent by Nick (Dime Boxes)
Angus (Dawg Day Cards) sent by Mike Matson (Not Another Baseball Card Blog)
John Hazen aka Mihome316 (TCDB) sent by Brian (Collecting Cutch)
Andy (Stadium Fantasium) sent by gcrl (cards as i see them)
Colbey (Cardboard Collections) sent by Billy (Cardboard History)
Chris aka ntlwhlr (TCDB) sent by Kin (Bean's Ballcard Blog)
John Sharp (John's Big League Baseball Blog) sent by Roy (Nothing if not Random)
Brian (Highly Subjective and Completely Arbitrary) sent by Fuji (The Chronicles of Fuji)
Matt (Diamond Jesters) sent by Dan aka vrooomed (TCDB)
gcrl (cards as i see them) sent by Tyler (Rekindling the Cardboard Flame)
Kin (Bean's Ballcard Blog) sent by John Hazen aka Mihome316 (TCDB)
Paul (Scribbled Ink) sent by Chris (The Collector)
Chris (The Collector) sent by Mark Hoyle (Twitter)
Dan aka vrooomed (TCDB) sent by GCA (The Collective Mind)
Mark Hoyle (Twitter) sent by Jon (A Penny Sleeve for your Thoughts)
Tyler (Rekindling the Cardboard Flame) sent by Peter (Baseball Every Night)
Tim (I Love the Smell of Cardboard in the Morning) sent by Adam (ARPSmith's Card Obsession)
Billy (Cardboard History) sent by Jon (A Penny Sleeve for your Thoughts) filling in for John Sharp (John's Big League Baseball Blog)
I didn't know if I should mention it or not, but just in case anyone's wondering about the last entry on this list, John Sharp ran into some difficulties (of the personal variety) not too long after the names were randomized and given out. He sent me an email to let me know that he was going to have to drop out, given who he is and what he was going through (not to mention what time of the year it was), I asked him to stay in to receive his gift, and that I would take care of Billy for him. Knowing most of you as I do, I didn't think that anybody would have a problem with this arrangement, but if I'm wrong and someone does, well, you know where to find me.
Thanks for taking a moment to look at my page.
Tuesday, January 8, 2019
Spreading the word... again!
I have been a little under the weather for the last couple of days, because of this I haven't been able to concentrate all that much when it comes to writing a blog post, or posts. So in lieu of the post that was supposed to be, and still isn't, done for today, I will instead try use to my non-existent influence to promote my good friend's new YouTube channel.
I'm sure many of you have already read about it, but just in case you haven't, Oscar, yes he of ATBATT fame, has created a new YouTube channel, NetChucArts. If you're interested in things like baseball cards, art, music, etc., then you should definitely go get yourself subscribed early, that way once Oscar becomes a big-time YouTube star, you'll be able to say that you were there from the beginning... and actually be telling the truth :)
That's about all I got for you today, hopefully I'll have something a little more meaty ready to go in a couple of days.
Thanks for taking a moment to look at my page.
Sunday, January 6, 2019
Expected three, got four!
I don't know if Chris, The Collector, feels the same way or not, but it seems like we have been exchanging cards for years now. I'm sure that if I took the time to go back and look, I would find that we've only been doing so for maybe a year, or a little more, but it sure does feel like it's been a lot longer than that.
The most recent mailing between us came from Chris in the form of a PWE back in December, and if there's one thing that I've learned about Chris over the last year (or more), it's that his PWE's always pack a punch, and this most recent envelope was certainly no exception!
Being a big fan of any 90's Prism cards, I was all over this John Elway after Chris made it available to any interested party. I actually thought I already had this one, but didn't mind getting another. Turns out that I had the Taraus Technologies version of this card, so the Prism was new to me -- I keep forgetting that were two different versions of the five-card Elway insert set from that year's Edge.
If you were collecting basketball cards in the early 90's, you undoubtedly remember how big of a deal the first couple of Beam Team insert sets were, well, at least the first two year's worth, they kind of dropped off in quality after that. I've seen people arguing on message boards about which set was better, 1992-93 or 1993-94, it seems a little silly to me for someone to get all riled up over such a trivial thing, but they do. For the record, I like both year's BT sets equally, while certainly different in appearance, I just love them both so much that it would be impossible for me to choose which is "better".
I was surprised to find that I didn't already have this '93-94 Penny, and it looks like I only need a couple more now to complete the set, although one of those is MJ, so I might not be finishing it anytime soon.
Here's another card that Chris made available to whoever on his blog, if memory serves, this Prizm insert came out of a repack. I wanted this card for two reasons, a) It's a pretty die-cut, and b) I actually know who Cameron Wake is, and have seen him play, which is something that's becoming rarer and rarer for me when it comes to players on modern cards. Did you know that Cameron is #2 on the list of all-time sacks by an undrafted free agent? I certainly didn't! He's 39.5 sacks behind John Randle, and at age 36 I don't think he'll be able to take that top spot, but being #2 in that category is still pretty darn impressive.
Oh, and sorry about the partial fingerprint on the card, I didn't notice it until after it was scanned. The question is, who's was it? Mine? Chris'? A Fairfield employee? Since it has since been removed, this will be one mystery that is going to have to remain unsolved!
I knew that the first three cards in this post would be coming, but Chris really surprised me with this 2018 Classics orange Charlie Joiner (which I should have went the photo route with btw). This is only my second orange from the set, and was my first Charlie Joiner parallel. I actually bid on a blue one not too long after the set came out, but didn't end up winning it, little did I know that just a couple of months later I would be the recipient of this awesome consolation prize -- which in all honesty, is much than the blue that I didn't win, if only because someone thought enough of me to send it my way :)
Thanks a bunch for the cards, Chris! At the rate we're going, I can't imagine that it'll be too long before a another package shows up in your mailbox with my name on it.
Thanks for taking a moment to look at my page.
The most recent mailing between us came from Chris in the form of a PWE back in December, and if there's one thing that I've learned about Chris over the last year (or more), it's that his PWE's always pack a punch, and this most recent envelope was certainly no exception!
I was surprised to find that I didn't already have this '93-94 Penny, and it looks like I only need a couple more now to complete the set, although one of those is MJ, so I might not be finishing it anytime soon.
Oh, and sorry about the partial fingerprint on the card, I didn't notice it until after it was scanned. The question is, who's was it? Mine? Chris'? A Fairfield employee? Since it has since been removed, this will be one mystery that is going to have to remain unsolved!
Thanks a bunch for the cards, Chris! At the rate we're going, I can't imagine that it'll be too long before a another package shows up in your mailbox with my name on it.
Thanks for taking a moment to look at my page.
Friday, January 4, 2019
A rainbow of (Kin)dness
As mentioned in the previous post, I was fortunate enough to receive a number of very generous packages during the month of December, and I am very overdue in giving public thanks. Now that I'm caught up with a few things, blog and life related, I can now start getting everything shown.
Some of these packages that will be shown over the next couple of posts will probably be out of order, as far as when they were received, but I scanned everything in a certain order, so that's the order in which they will be shown -- I say "certain order", but that really just translates to "completely random", I mention this because I don't want anyone to think I'm doing a worst to best, or vice-versa, I could never do such a thing when it comes to items that multiple people took the time (and money) to send to me.
Okay, so first up is, Kin, of many things fame! Seriously though, you can find Kin all over the place, on Twitter, on YouTube, and of course, there's always Bean's Ballcard Blog.
You often hear people on the blogs, and on Twitter, mention that this person, and that person, are great ambassadors for the card collecting community, or "The Hobby". Well, in my mind, there are few people who are more influential in this community than Kin. He rarely gets the accolades for all that he does, and has done, which is a real shame, because he has done an awful lot -- and being the humble person that he is, he isn't one to go around telling people of all the things he's done, heck, he won't even admit to being as important as he is on the rare occasion that someone does acknowledge him (I know, I've tried).
I won't go into everything that I've seen him do, or heard other people mention him doing, but I will say that one of the most important things that he does, is to tweet (and retweet) out links to people's blog posts. Now I realize that this might not seem like a big deal to some, but trust me, it is! Kin's got incredible pull, so when he tweets out a link to a post, he puts eyes on that post, I've experienced this many times, so I know what I'm talking about here. And for any blogger who is not on Twitter that might be wondering how this applies to them, well, it doesn't matter if you're on Twitter or not, if you have a blog, Kin is probably tweeting out links to your posts and you don't even know it... and those tweets are most certainly increasing the number of views on those posts!
Now that I've paid proper respects to the house of Kin, let's take a look at what he sent me :)
As far as the cards at the top of the page go, that Zimmerman is now my first card of him, and the Braun is like the second or third of his that I now own, not a fan of his, but he is a name, so he was added to a binder. While looking at the Braun card, I couldn't help but wonder if he would ever be able to play anywhere other than Milwaukee? I've made it no secret that I don't follow a lot of modern sports anymore, for the most part I just read Rotoworld in the morning to see who did what the day before. It seems like his numbers are still pretty good, but I haven't heard anything about where he currently stands with baseball fans in general, is he still loathed? Would fans in another city accept him, especially if they thought he could help their team win? Anyone?
Thank you again for the cards, Kin! And thank you again for all that you do for everyone else, especially when it comes to your fellow bloggers.
Thanks for taking a moment to look at my page.
Wednesday, January 2, 2019
How I spent my eBay bucks
I was the recipient of some very generous packages during December, most of which still haven't been shown here on the blog, before I start getting to those though, I thought it might be a good idea to catch up on something from October, namely how I spent my eBay bucks certificate.
I'm not one to keep track of how much eBay bucks that I've accrued over any particular period, so it's always a surprise to see how much, or how little, I've earned during one of the three-month stretches that you get to stockpile as much as you can. This past October I was very surprised to see how much I had earned, especially since it was by far the most I had ever earned.
I guess before I get too far along here, I should point that lest anyone think that I'm bragging here, I'm not, as this large sum of bucks wasn't earned from copious amounts of buying, no, they were gotten thanks to copious amounts of selling -- which is something that's been necessary for me to do since March in order to supplement my monthly hobby budget.
In the three months leading up to October, it seemed like eBay was offering up incentives to sell on an almost weekly basis, most of which were of the "Get 10% back in eBay bucks if your item sells in the next 10-14 days" variety. Because of their frequency, I didn't end up listing a single item during that three-month stretch that didn't qualify for one of those offers, including the most expensive card that I owned, so thanks this to strategy, I earned quite a few bucks.
As many of you know though, there is one downside to acquiring so much eBay bucks, and that is that you only have a month to use them. For me this has always been difficult, even when I only have like a $1 to spend, primarily because of everybody else spending their respective bucks like a drunken sailor. I know I should be treating it as found money, but I can't, I spend it just like I would if it was coming out of my pocket, so because of that mindset, I am unable to overpay for anything just so I can use it... which seems to be much against the norm.
I was able to use it at all, of course, about half of it ended up being spent on birthday/Christmas presents, but I did manage to find a few things for myself too:
Full disclosure -- and you might want to sit down for this -- I have never been a fan of Gilligan's Island! Shocking, I know, but the show just never appealed to me, and this even after me trying to get into it multiple times across multiple decades. Dawn Wells is of course best known for her portrayal as Mary Ann on the show, although personally, when ever I hear her name, I always think of The Town That Dreaded Sundown.
But no matter what you associate her name with, she is a name, a very recognizable name, therefor her autograph tends to sell for a bit. I have bid on, and made offers on, multiple copies of this card over the last couple of years, always coming up short... until now! I made somewhat of a low offer on this one, the seller countered, I countered back, and the seller accepted. After trying, and failing, so many times to get this card, I can't tell you how much of a relief it was to finally be able to cross it off the checklist.
I would like to think that I was fairly familiar with Mr. Barney's football career prior to getting this card, or at least as familiar as one can be with an athlete's career that ended before you were born, that being said, I was completely unaware of his second career in music -- which apparently has been successful enough, that among other things, he (and former teammate Mel Farr) provided the backup vocals for Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On".
No offense to Mr. Yeager, or to any of my readers who happen to be Dodgers fans, but for me this not one of the more exciting autographs from the Golden Age sets. He played during what is probably my least favorite era of baseball (not counting the current era) and I'm not a Dodgers fan (not a hater either), but I needed it for my set, and it was cheap, so...
I will say though that I do like the image that was used for this card, it really emphasizes the added pharaoh's beard, a safety feature that Mr. Yeager himself was responsible for.
Even though I've lost a lot of interest in set collecting over the last couple of months, I still wanted to try and complete the 1999-00 HoloGrFX AuSOME parallel set, and not just the base parallel set, but the insert version too. It has been one of my favorite parallel sets since it came out, but even with that being said, I've recently started to question whether or not I even want to bother to complete it. I guess even if I do give up on it, I'll still have a few really cool cards from the set, including this Tim Duncan parallel from the 24/7 insert set.
I haven't really ever discussed it here, but Shawn Kemp's 1990-91 Fleer rookie, has been my favorite card for just about as long as I can remember. If anyone's curious as to why it is, well, it's a very uninteresting story, so I'm not going to bore anyone with it (at least not today). For the longest time I was content to just own a couple of copies, now I want 'em all! Since deciding this, I've acquired two such lots, which has gotten me to nearly 100 copies owned, it sounds like an impressive amount, except when you take into account the fact that there were probably over a million copies, literally, of this card produced... if only I had started hoarding them back in the 90's.
As mentioned at the top of the post, I've got a bunch of a packages to catch up on, as well as a piece about some cards that I've been quietly collecting since last March. I also have a new COMC series that I'm hoping to get up and running in the next two weeks, and there's still all the stuff to get to that I got at the card show in November. I don't know if any of these upcoming things sound interesting or not, but I thought it would be good to let everyone know what to expect over the next month or two -- sounds like a lot of card stuff though, so I'll have find a way to work in some non-card items, otherwise I'm going to end up getting burned out awfully quick!
I'm not one to keep track of how much eBay bucks that I've accrued over any particular period, so it's always a surprise to see how much, or how little, I've earned during one of the three-month stretches that you get to stockpile as much as you can. This past October I was very surprised to see how much I had earned, especially since it was by far the most I had ever earned.
I guess before I get too far along here, I should point that lest anyone think that I'm bragging here, I'm not, as this large sum of bucks wasn't earned from copious amounts of buying, no, they were gotten thanks to copious amounts of selling -- which is something that's been necessary for me to do since March in order to supplement my monthly hobby budget.
In the three months leading up to October, it seemed like eBay was offering up incentives to sell on an almost weekly basis, most of which were of the "Get 10% back in eBay bucks if your item sells in the next 10-14 days" variety. Because of their frequency, I didn't end up listing a single item during that three-month stretch that didn't qualify for one of those offers, including the most expensive card that I owned, so thanks this to strategy, I earned quite a few bucks.
As many of you know though, there is one downside to acquiring so much eBay bucks, and that is that you only have a month to use them. For me this has always been difficult, even when I only have like a $1 to spend, primarily because of everybody else spending their respective bucks like a drunken sailor. I know I should be treating it as found money, but I can't, I spend it just like I would if it was coming out of my pocket, so because of that mindset, I am unable to overpay for anything just so I can use it... which seems to be much against the norm.
I was able to use it at all, of course, about half of it ended up being spent on birthday/Christmas presents, but I did manage to find a few things for myself too:
But no matter what you associate her name with, she is a name, a very recognizable name, therefor her autograph tends to sell for a bit. I have bid on, and made offers on, multiple copies of this card over the last couple of years, always coming up short... until now! I made somewhat of a low offer on this one, the seller countered, I countered back, and the seller accepted. After trying, and failing, so many times to get this card, I can't tell you how much of a relief it was to finally be able to cross it off the checklist.
I will say though that I do like the image that was used for this card, it really emphasizes the added pharaoh's beard, a safety feature that Mr. Yeager himself was responsible for.
As mentioned at the top of the post, I've got a bunch of a packages to catch up on, as well as a piece about some cards that I've been quietly collecting since last March. I also have a new COMC series that I'm hoping to get up and running in the next two weeks, and there's still all the stuff to get to that I got at the card show in November. I don't know if any of these upcoming things sound interesting or not, but I thought it would be good to let everyone know what to expect over the next month or two -- sounds like a lot of card stuff though, so I'll have find a way to work in some non-card items, otherwise I'm going to end up getting burned out awfully quick!
Thanks for taking a moment to look at my page.
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