They make ointments for that

I sure hope this wasn't one of those nickname variations...

... if so, I really don't want to know how he came to be called that. 🙉

More from the Baseball Card Store (and Nine Pockets)

With new non-sport listings on Sportlots slowing down considerably, and not very much stuff being added to the Baseball Card Store as of late, the mini buying spree that I was on during October has come to a screeching halt. And this is good thing too. Not only did I go a tad overboard with the purchases last month, I also seem to have reached that burnout phase... just in time for the Black Friday sale on COMC!

Speaking of COMC, I don't want to make any predictions, but judging by the lack of real discounts that I've seen so far from their pre-BF sales, this might end up being a down year for what's normally their biggest event of the year. I hope I'm wrong, because I've got lots of earned credit available, but it's not looking promising so far.

And speaking of burnout too, dang I'm tired of scanning. I actually got completely caught up with that the other day, and can now start bindering the various stacks that have been growing throughout the year. It's funny, I was thinking the other day that I'm basically now a cold-weather binderer, as I rarely ever start putting things in pages until the cold shows up, which it has. And now that I'm caught up with all of my scanning, I have incentive to not buy any more stuff. I have about 40 cards sitting in my COMC account, and about a hundred sitting in a Sportlots box, but I'm at least a month or two away from getting those, so I'll worry about having to scan them whenever they get here.

As the title so blatantly implies, I've got another batch from the Baseball Card Store to show off. This was my second, and final, order from them during October. I think the couple that runs the site might've got a bit burned out too, as they were listing stuff like crazy last month, and now have done very little so far this month. And I don't blame them for that in the least, it can't be easy running that site with just two people doing everything.

I only bought one of these, and yet, two arrived. I probably should've checked to see if it one of my other purchases was missing from the order, but I didn't, and it's much too late to go back and do so now. At least there's a pretty big difference between the printing on these two cards, so they'll look good side by side in the Bo binder.

I didn't think there'd be much interest in the contents from this order, as there was a lot less variety in it than the last one, so I only scanned about half of it. I can't imagine that too many people care about 1991 Fleer football in 2022, but I scanned these if only because I was surprised to learn that I didn't already have them. 

This is the sort of thing that's usually gone within a few minutes of being listed on the site. I'm not sure how it slipped through the cracks, but I'm glad it did. I'm sure I've seen these Ames before, but like with a lot of things these days, my brain is doing it's best to convince me that I'm just seeing one for the first time. Either way though, this card was definitely my favorite from this package.

Apparently my scanner doesn't do Topps Coins very good. It seems to have focused on the rims which led to a blurring of the photos in the background. I never thought I'd be buying any of these again, and also wouldn't have thought to check the site for them (I only happened upon them by accident), but here we are! I don't know if anyone else use to get those pack repacks from Toy "R" Us, but there was usually at least one pack of these coins in there -- and because of that, I only associate them with those packs. I can't remember how many different loose packs came in those repacks, but I do recall that sometimes there'd be upwards of three packs of coins in there. I absolutely hated them as a kid, would always try to get one that only had one pack of the coins to try and limit how many of them I acquired. I'm still not overly enamoured with them, but I don't think I need anybody else now, so two won't kill me. And speaking of those repacks, damn if I wouldn't love to own just one of them at this point. You'd think that there would still be some unopened ones around, but if there are, they don't ever show up on eBay.

I don't know if I'll ever get around to making a list of my Junior haves, and even though I don't look for him very often anymore, when I do, I just go by what looks familiar, and what doesn't. I did pretty good with the 5-6 I got this time, only previously having the Swing Men. The card in the middle is kind of interesting in that it's crazy thin. I don't think I have anything else from that set, but I can't imagine that the base cards would all be so flimsy. It must just be the checklists that are like that.

I've been saying for awhile that I needed to start getting more of Papa Griffey, so I did -- he made up about a quarter of this order. And no, I didn't get two Topps', the one on the right is from up North...

Now I just need the micro, Tiffany, and Operation Desert Shield to complete the rainbow.

I never though I'd be seeking out any 1990 Score again either.

I know that it probably won't be happening, but I'd like to see Ray Caldwell get some more cards. 

People don't look like Ernie Lombardi anymore.

Had to get a few more from Demolition Man. I think I have all the cards that I wanted from this set now.

Near full sets of 1989 Batman, series 1 and 2, were added to the site right around the time I started putting together this order. There were a few stickers put up too, the two of which I really wanted were snagged by someone else before I could finish checking out. I still got a few of the wanted base cards though, including these two of the lovely Vicki Vale.

We as collectors often complain about card companies using recycled photos, with good reason; but this is one of those instances where it doesn't bother me in the least. Even as a kid, I thought it was odd that Topps released both a flagship set and Stadium Club set for Batman Returns. Granted, both of them have their appeals, but given how many of the same shots they used for the sets, one or the other probably would've sufficed. I thought it was interesting too that one of these (I can't remember which is which) is #13, and the other is #31.

I have a lot of fun trying to put together unconventional pages for certain themes. In this instance, Diamond, will be added to an unconventional Batman page that I've got going. It would be interesting to know if anyone reading this knew off the top of their head what connection, Diamond, aka Erika Andersch, had to Batman? Not wanting to wait to find out, I'll just tell you, she was one of the Red Triangle Circus Gang, more specifically the Knifethrower Dame, in Batman Returns.

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On a completely unrelated note, Greg, the man who continues to put card companies to shame, from Nine Pockets, recently held yet another giveaway for some of his creations. 

I don't think anyone has ever just given away as many of their customs as Greg has. Or if they have, I haven't encountered them. This time the giveaway was for an assortment of NES-styled stickers from various teams and sports. I have received quite a few things from Greg this year, and feel a bit guilty about the lack of items that I haven't sent in return. That being said, it was physically impossible for me not to try and get this 8-bit Blazer. I know that people have been making stickers for a long time now, but even so, there's still a small part of me that thinks that this must be some kind of sorcery. Regular people having stickers made of whatever they want... how is that possible!😛

I haven't decided yet who I want this to represent, so for the moment it'll remain unstuck, this'll definitely be making it onto a binder at some point in the not too distant future. 

Many thanks to Greg for the sticker, it looks really good. And to any other interested parties, you might want to go check a couple of posts back and see if he still has any that went unclaimed; I can assure you that you won't be disappointed.

Why?

Political figures have been appearing on trading cards since the earliest days of cards themselves. And while I think that most of us can agree that politics are pretty ugly, you'd be hard pressed to find a card - and I use that term very loosely - featuring someone from that world that's any uglier than this...

Admittedly, I have no idea who Scott Walker is, nor do I care. This is an instance where it doesn't matter which letter of the alphabet he has in front of his name, as neither would be able to improve this monstrosity. The signature is laughable, and the "cut" is a joke. A company called Decision 2020 made this thing, and if this wasn't a subsidiary of Tri-Star, they sure went out of their way to make it look like it was.

And in case you're wondering how it is that I happened upon this abomination, blame eBay. Apparently my recently buying autographs of Gene Tenace and Corin Nemec were enough to trigger the site's algorithm, and now it's recommending all sorts of silly things that have been signed; including this.

That's okay, I didn't really want to go to Nashville anyway

There was a card show in Nashville last Saturday, a VERY large card show, and you know where I was? No where near Nashville, that's where!

This was another one of those three-day affairs, that I had actually thought I might try to go to, well, that is until I saw a week or two before that there was gonna be 770+ tables; that's just too much for me. Not to mention too, if I wanted to go on the first day, Friday, I'd have to deal with Nashville traffic on a Friday just getting there, and coming home I'd have to deal with rush hour traffic, in Nashville, on a Friday. Yeah, that's a hard pass for me.

After three years, I feel like I should go to a show again one of these days, but as I've said before, I'm just not sure if the way I'm collecting now is conducive to card shows anymore. Will I find enough there to warrant the gas, long-drive, and three to four hours of sleep the night before? Also, I'm just not too keen on the boom crowd, and am not that interested in rubbing elbows with their kind. I probably will venture back to one of the regular twice a month shows (which have doubled in size since the last time I went to one) sooner than later, maybe in the spring... or summer.

Thankfully I don't need to go to any shows for blog content, as I've currently got piles of unscanned cards from the Baseball Card Store, and Sportlots, to pull from should I so desire; which I did a few days ago.

I did two orders from the Baseball Card Store in recent months, my first since they started capping them off at 40 cards. Some folks may not have liked that change, but if it helps keep the shipping cheap, then I'm all for it. My first order, from back in September, was 40 cards worth, while the second was a card or two under that. I still haven't scanned the second batch, but I did do some of the first; probably too much, but here we are anyway.

These two Joe Carter's had been on my most wanted list, and were the first two cards that I grabbed when I started this order. I'd like to get his '86 Leaf at some point too, but it's not a high priority right now.

At some point I noticed that I had almost two pages worth of (different) Arnold cards, and have since started adding more to the... collection? I don't really know what I'm doing with that right now, but until I figure it out, I might as well keep adding cheap cards to what I have already. As for the bottom row, Ronny Cox is headed to the Perry Mason collection ("The Case of the Heartbroken Bride" - TV movie), Michael Ironside was gotten just because he's awesome, and Sharon Stone will be added to a themed page that's currently in progress. [The theme isn't being revealed right now, because I'm thinking about doing some sort of "guess the theme" contests next year]

This card isn't very attractive in person, and is even less so here. I rarely get any new (to me) Admiral's anymore, what with the not going to any shows and all, which is probably the only reason I grabbed this one. Panini really dropped the ball by not naming this set "What the Flux!"😉

I'm not 100% certain, but I think that these are the first Kay-Bee cards that I've ever owned (I've since got my most wanted one too), which is kind of strange considering how much time I spent at their stores as a kid. Of course, I wasn't ever going there for cards, so that might have something to do with it. To further that, I don't think that I ever even knew that they made cards until I started reading the blogs.

I've tried a couple of times in the past to get this card from those sellers on eBay who have those fixed price "choose your card" from a specific set listings, but the Maverick listings are always missing this card. I'm a big fan of Graham Greene, and was very happy to finally get this card, which is essentially his only card. Definitely my favorite from this order.

I've mentioned before that I loved the MusiCards set as a kid, and was the only kid I knew who did, but over the years have grown a lot less fond of it (I know, I'm in the blogging minority on that). I think it's mostly because, as an adult, I just dislike so many of people who are featured in the set. And of course too, I can't help but wonder why so many people that should've been in the set, aren't. I probably had 5 or 6 complete sets at some point way back when, but those are long gone; and until just recently, never thought I'd be buying anymore. And yet, here I am, buying more! 

There is no order to it yet, but I've been putting together a binder of cards that feature things from my childhood, and teen years. Basically just a collection of cards that can take me back to a specific time, or moment, just by looking at them. I couldn't tell you why, but working on this binder has been my biggest priority as of late. I'll probably do some posts and go more in-depth on the cards in it once I get a little further along, and possibly organized somehow. In the meantime, all three of these will be going in there, Hammer for an album, Biz for a song, and Debbie because she was an early crush of mine. And for the record, that crush has never gone away, not only is she still a smokeshow, but she's still really fun. She doesn't seem to have ever gotten all bitter like so many others end up getting, and you ever see her do an interview, it shows.

I never thought I'd be buying any more Yo! MTV Raps either. I'm most excited about getting Whodini, as they were the latest addition to my new-ish Halloween novelty songs collection (see Monday's post about that) for "Haunted House of Rock". It's not very often that I can remember where I first heard a particular song, but I can with that one, it was on one of Dr. Demento's old Halloween shows; though I couldn't tell you which year. The other two will be going into the childhood binder.

This was gotten for the Pippen cameo. It's always kind of fun to see future teammates sharing a card years before playing together.

 

More folks for various collections: One Bernard Fox for the Perry Mason collection ("The Case of the Laughing Lady") and the other for my Columbo collection ("Dagger of the Mind" and "Troubled Waters"), Parley Baer for Perry Mason (he was on six episodes), and Aneta Corsaut for Columbo ("A Stitch in Time").

This is a fun card from an unlicensed dice game that was put out in 1989 by a "company" called Grand Slam. Apparently they can be found with two different border colors, which is news to me, as was the game/set itself.

I'm assuming that this game is kind of like APBA except with dice, though, given the size of the set, you're probably playing as a pseudo All-Star team, instead of an actual team. It looks like you must use another die or possibly a spinner to determine which action is represented by your original throw. This has gotten me curious to know now if a game with teams from actual seasons, like APBA, could be developed using dice instead of spinners? It might actually be more fun with dice. Even without knowing the rules of this one, if I had anybody to play it with, I'd buy this game in a second. Since I don't though, I'll probably just try to get the couple of guys I collect from the set, and call it good.

I also somehow never noticed before that Fred was born on Halloween (lucky fella!). Seeing that got me to thinking about starting a mini-collection of folks who were born on Halloween. I'll have to see who that would encompass before committing to it though.

This order was really good for the Perry Mason collection as Lori Petty also appeared in one of the television films ("The Case of the Musical Murder"). Malcolm McDowell on the other hand, will be a rare add to my Batman: TAS collection ("Showdown"). I had completely forgot that Tank Girl had gotten a set. I can remember going to see that in the theatre, and, well, thank goodness movies didn't cost as much to see back then as they do now; not one of my favorites.

Here's some cards for my random 90's binder. I'd kind of like to start collecting Joe Carter, but he just has so many darn cards. Even if I just stuck to playing days stuff, he's got a lot.

Demolition Man was a favorite of mine during my teens. I use to have it on video, and probably watched it more times than any sane person should have. It's been about twenty years since I last saw it though, might be time to view it again; see if I can still appreciate it now that I'm old and jaded.

Sandra Bullock will be headed to the childhood binder, more for her role in Speed than Demolition Man though. Glenn Shaddix will be added to a themed page (probably won't be hard to figure out that theme). I didn't even notice how miscut the card was until I scanned it. It's fine like that for now, but I'll need an upgrade at some point.

Silver Banshee doesn't have a lot of cards out there, so it was nice to be able to add a new one (on the right) to my mini-collection of hers, and it was even better to be able to get a much needed upgrade of her Cosmic Teams card. My original copy didn't fare so well in the box that it had been in during my decade away from cards.

I already had a copy of this card, but needed another one.

Scan-wise, it looks like I saved the worst for last. Given his continued affordability, I've been focusing on Gene Tenace quite a bit this year, and I guess if the masses continue to overlook him, I'll be continuing my trend into the coming year. I can only vaguely remember seeing Chris Sabo play a couple of times, and yet, for some reason I always thought of him as a star player. He did have a decent career, but looking back, I don't know if his cards warranted the "rubber glove" treatment that they got from me. 

I do plan to scan some of the cards from my second shipment one of these days, and then on one of the days following one of those days, I might actually get around to blogging about it.