So many pockets, so little time!

                                           
Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you with someone who's arms were full, but desperately needed something out of their pocket? They couldn't put whatever it is down, so they turned to you and asked if you could reach into their pocket and get whatever it was for them. You're not too keen on reaching into people's pockets, and are prepared to tell them as much, but before you can they hit you with old doe eyes and quivering lip routine. You try to resist, but it's just too much. Seconds later you begrudgingly agree to do so. They tell you which it pocket it is, and then turn a certain way to make it easier for you to achieve your goal, which it does, but also draws stares from curious onlookers. You take a deep breath, prepare for the worst, and reach in. Your deepest fears are quickly realized when your fingers encounter what later turns out to be a moist half-eaten sandwich, who's presence had been forgotten, and obviously went unmentioned by the owner of said pocket. Fearing what else may be found should you venture back in, you refuse any further pleas to make another attempt, a decision that ends up forever marring your relationship.

I hear a bunch of no's being shouted from the gallery, which I expected, I mean such a scenario has never happened to me either, but I have imagined similar scenes occurring the couple of times that someone has asked me to retrieve something from their pocket.

One persons pockets who I'm not afraid to reach into however are Julie's, she may be A Cracked Bat, but I think that we've all learned by now that she stores cards in her pockets, lots and lots of cards. 

I have no proof of it, but I'm convinced that at least part of Julie's daily attire must be made up of some sort of tactical gear, I can't think of anything else that sports so many pockets.

Not only are Julie's pockets full of cards, but they're good cards too, cards that folks actually want, no 2012 Triple Play for those pockets!

I believe Julie's 'Pick Pockets' feature is one of the older kinds of free stuff giveaways, it's been going on for most of this year, maybe longer, I don't know, I can't remember when she fired it up. I do know that I've claimed more than few cards from them, but had yet to show any here on the blog.

I mentioned in the last post that I had three scan folders going for Julie, last time was Julie1, and today the contents of Julie2 and Julie3 are being featured, all of which were cards obtained through Pick Pocket posts.

Everything was sort of in order of acquisition, but that got monkeyed with when I added a few cards that had accidently been added to another folder back to one of the "Julie's", and didn't take two seconds to properly label them. And now Blogger has done the old reverse order thing when the pictures were added to the post (Oh new Blogger, we were getting along so well!), I moved a few of them around, but got tired of playing with them, so I'm just gonna leave them half askew, it's not like anyone would've known had I not mentioned it.

Artistically speaking, one of these turned out much better than the other.

Scannily (it's a word, or at least it is according to Gogle 😉) speaking, one of these came out much better than the other. And speaking of scanning...

Jay from Card Hemorrhage said the other day that he was taking a break thanks to the poor performance from his new scanner. He didn't provide an example of what he was referring to, so I can't say for certain, but I'm willing to bet that it can't be any worse than what mine does to certain cards (i.e. most cards), with this Junior and the wonderful Curt Flood Deckle that led off the post being prime examples.

Looking at some of these cards that were gotten probably back in January or February, I can't figure why I scanned some of them the way I did. I mean why did I pair a 90's SI Kids with a modern finest? The only thing they have in common, at least that I know of, is that they're both awesome. Although, every time I see the Shaq card I have to do a double take, because the first glance always reads as "Snack" O'Neal, which could apply to his later career, but not so much to those early Orlando days.

It's not as bad as the previous pair, but here's another odd grouping, or not. I could just say it has a 'retro theme', three older players, and one older design? Stan should've gotten his own scan though, as it's by far my favorite card in this post.

Gypsy Queen is one of those brands that I just don't understand, and honestly don't care too. Most of the cards, and set designs, don't do anything for me. However (there's always a however), I will occasionally see one, or two, that strike my fancy, often in dime boxes, but in this case it was the Pick Pockets -- which worked out better, because I didn't have to go to Nashville to find them. I think I might be one of the few bloggers who'll admit to being a fan of MadBum's, and even though I have a small collection dedicated to him, I don't go out of my to find cards for it, anybody know why? Anyone? Did I hear someone say derpy face? If so, you are correct! Like 90% of his cards look similar to the above example, with many actually being worse. And it's definitely not what you'd call an aesthetically pleasing image, certainly not one that I'd be willing to shell out big bucks for. Dimes yes, dollars no.

As mentioned, the cards in this post are from all throughout the year, with all dates and times being lost to me. However (see, there's another one), I do remember the shiny Satchell, he came form the second to last round of Pick Pockets, and was the only card from that round that I claimed. I actually saw it the night that Julie put the page up, but after realizing that I only wanted one card, decided to sit back and see if anyone else wanted it more. Apparently they didn't, because it was still available for me to get a few days later.

Being the uber-generous soul that she is, Julie also included this nifty Junior to keep Satchell company during his journey south. I always forget that Sportflicks (or Sportflix) was still around in '95, heck, sometimes I even forget that I was still around in '95. I know someone who wishes it was still 1995... Junior! The world was still his oyster back then, and there seemed to be no limit to what he was going to be able to accomplish. Injuries are a real b*tch, especially when they happen to the good guys.

And with that, I am now caught up with all of the Julie folders... huzzah! Thanks again for letting me take so many cards from your pockets, Julie, and despite it taking me many, many, many months, to say so publicly, I really do appreciate it.

Thanks for taking a moment to look at my page.

Jewels from Jules

 [Me thinks that Julie's not gonna like this title]

I read an article semi-recently about some "doctor's" (his PhD was of the social sciences variety, hence the quote marks) latest studies on the nature of procrastination. Yeah, apparently people are still getting paid to 'research' such things. Anyway, it turned out to be a crap article, that basically just tried to further the modern narrative of procrastination being a mental illness, one that gives certain people yet another excuse not to have to work, thus allowing them to get paid with everyone else's tax dollars to sit home all day and procrastinate... really makes you want to pay more in taxes, doesn't it?

In my mind, procrastination is just a fancy word for laziness. 

As far as real-life stuff goes, I'm pretty good about not procrastinating. And I've certainly gotten better about not doing so with age. Probably because I now know that we as humans only have a finite amount of time to do things, which is something that I never thought about as a child, not that I think that a lot of other children do either, nor should they.

And I'm not talking about the stuff that I just don't have the time to do right now, we all have 'someday' stuff, no, I'm talking about the daily chores, or tasks, that need to be done. The not so exciting things that you do have the time for, but instead say "Uh, I'll do it tomorrow" or "I'll do it next week instead", those are the sort of phrases that you'll almost never hear come out of my mouth, at least not as an adult. 

When it comes to blog stuff however, procrastination has practically become my middle name -- Jon Procrastination Pennysleeves, or just JPP for short.

It'll probably come off as me making excuses, but a lot of blog laziness, especially this year's worth, has been due to lack of time, and/or just being too tired to jot down anything that I think's worth you reading. I mean I due often have the time to work on posts in the evening, but am usually so tired that I just don't feel like doing so. More often than not, after dinner, I just want to grab a book and spend the rest of the night reading, which is what I normally do these days (or rather, nights).

This has led me to fall way behind in publicly thanking people for all of the things that they've so graciously sent me. And even worse, in some cases it's been so long since I received certain things that have yet to be covered here, I can no longer remember why I received them.

The cards in today's post are perfect example of this, they come from a scan folder titled "Julie1" (there's also a "Julie2" and "Julie3"), and it's been so long since I received them, that I can no longer remember why, Julie, obviously she of A Cracked Bat (it's not like there's any other bloggers called Julie!), sent them.

Thankfully we don't do any formal trading, so there's really only two options here, A) They were sent just because, or B) They were sent in response to something that I sent. It doesn't seem like it should be that important, but knowing is half the battle -- seriously though, the point is that it shouldn't have taken me so long to get to them, and if I had gotten to them in a more timely manner, I'd probably remember more details about the shipment.

Another side effect from their images sitting in a scan folder, and their actual selves sitting in a binder, for so long now, I don't even recall getting some of these, it's like I'm seeing some of them for the first time again. I do recall the couple of Ichiro pairs above, but not this one...

[As an aside, I can only imagine how otherwordly it must've been for Ichiro to go from Japan to Arizona. For all intensive purposes, he may as well have gone to Mars.]

... or this one.

I do remember this card though, if only because Ichiro looked so old here, and seeing an old Ichiro makes me feel old. Plus too, I don't have a lot of Heritage cards, or at least I didn't, so this card really stands out when flipping through the Ichiro binder. Speaking of standing out...

It didn't scan very well, but this card sure was something. It's crazy shiny, and purple too. The digitally added background is the only thing that detracts from it, not being a fan of Heritage, I don't know why Topps just couldn't have a photographer or two on location, unless it was just because they didn't want their '69 tribute set to look too good. And yes, I know, the idea would've been bonkers, but I'm just sayin'.

Here's a weirdo puzzle card, which I'm very glad that I don't have to collect all of.

I have no idea how it's come to be, I've never mentioned wanting them, and have never gone out of way to acquire them, and yet somehow I find myself possessing 4 of the 8 1972 World Series subset cards. And I know what you're thinking "Big deal, as far as vintage Topps go, those are hardly rare". Which is true, but mine aren't of the Topps variety, no, I'm talking OPC, or as the back of this penny sleeve called them...

... 'French Backs'! Obviously I know where this one came from, and I know that I got one for like fifty cents at a show just because, but I'm at a loss as to how the other two found me. I have no plans to complete the set, which means that in 2.5 years I'll have completed the set.

I do remember these being in the envelope, if only because one doesn't expect basketball cards to be sent by Julie. I only have a couple of Gold Standard's, so these were a nice surprise. Plus both of these guys would be on my top 10 favorite players of all-time list too, which makes the cards just that much better.

If the last two cards were a surprise, then I don't know how to describe this one! SI Kids cards don't get me all tingly like they do for other folks, and I never read the magazine when I was younger, so I couldn't tell you what year it was from (although from the photo I'm guessing either '95 or '96), but I do like this particular well-loved card. It's a nice action shot, which is only enhanced by the cameos from Shaq and Horace Grant.

I may not remember why the envelope was sent, but many thanks go out to Julie for sending it nonetheless. Many boxes were ticked. I laughed, I cried, I laughed some more, spent a few minutes looking menacingly out the window, and this was all before I even opened the mailer :)

Seriously though, the cards were fun, and were greatly appreciated.

Next time on the blog, we'll be looking at scan folders Julie2, and Julie3, so that just might be worth coming back for.

Thanks for taking a moment to look at my page.

Life after lockdown

Sunday's post covered my last purchases before the world went dark, and now that someone's turned on a light again (at least here in TN), I thought I'd "show off" my latest purchases.

One of the places that I've missed going to the most during the quarantine, was the local antique mall. For being out in the middle of nowhere, this place never ceases to amaze me with how much good stuff the vendors have, the prices aren't always great, but at least there's usually plenty of neat things to look at.

I think at this point it's now been back open for about a week and a half, and I went last week, so you can see that wasted little time in going back. I could tell that a number of vendors have been in since the reopening to restock and/or switch items out items from their booths, and even though I was told that plenty of people had been there shopping since it's reopening, there still seemed to be no shortage of fun things to look through, and in my case... to buy!

I have to admit one thing though real quick, my reason for going so soon wasn't entirely for myself, no, you see I forgot all about the rapidly approaching Mother's Day, and didn't have anything on hand, so trying to find something for mom was the primary goal on this particular day.

My favorite booth was among the many that had obviously been restocked since the reopening. There were a number of freshly opened early 90's boxes to select packs from, one of them being 1990-91 Skybox, which was rather fortuitous, as I've had the want to open some packs from this particular product since reading Roy's pack break last week. The twelve packs of series 1 came from one of those newly opened boxes, while the three packs of series 2 came from a box of misc. loose packs. At $0.69 apiece, I know that I overpaid, but I don't see card shows coming back anytime soon, and I don't want to buy a ridiculous priced box off of eBay right now, so my options are sort of limited for the time being.

The singles boxes that are also in this booth, had not been restocked, but I looked through them for what was probably the 20th time anyway. I ended up grabbing two more of old #12 himself. Did I need two more derpy faced Jordan's? No, not really, but again, no shows, and I felt like buying a couple of cards. At 39¢ (don't ask me how they came up with that price) each, these were about 29¢ too much, but I think that's still much less than the current going rate for this card.

Moving on to a different booth now. I found a small stack of Crazy magazine, and this one caught my attention. It's got a little bit of wear, but the $1.50 price tag was good, so here it is. Crazy isn't something that you all that often, so for anyone not familiar with the magazine, it was published by Marvel, and ran from the early 70's to sometime in the early 80's. And as you can probably tell from the cover, it was another MAD, Cracked, etc. satire magazine, although some of the jokes are little more adult-oriented than those of other parody magazines from the time.

Bottle collecting has become really big for me in recent years, and even though I enjoy finding them out in the wild more than buying them, I will occasionally break down and buy something, especially if it's something that I know I have no chance of finding on my own... like this NuGrape bottle!

I guess there is a chance that I could find one of these, but the odds of the applied (painted) label not being worn or washed off, are pretty low, especially if I were to find one in the creek.

This bottle dates to '48, and other than the inside needing a cleaning, is in pretty good shape overall. It's interesting too that I normally can't take a decent bottle pic to save my life, but these came out okay, I might've finally found the right place in the house to take bottle pics -- if so, this could be bad news for anyone reading, as that might mean more future bottle posts!

That'll do it for my purchases this time, not shown are the items that I found for my mom, and yes, I was successful in that pursuit as well. Although I'm pretty sure that had I not found anything, the 30'x1'x1' drainage ditch that I spent Sunday digging out for my mom's new garden, probably would've made up for the lack of trinkets.

Since this post was so short (at least by my rambling standards), how about a bonus round?

My short term memory isn't what it used to be, and doesn't seem to be getting any better, so anytime I'm out and around lots of stuff (antique malls, card shows, etc.), I tend to take a lot of pictures, this is usually done for items that I want to look into more when I get home, but sometimes it'll also be just for things that I don't want to forget -- things for reference if you will. Anyway, I always end up taking a bunch of pics at this antique mall, but don't ever share them on here, as they're for personal use only, but again, short post! So I'm breaking tradition and sharing a pair today.

I really don't need an Electric Football, but this one sure was tempting! It has all of it's pieces, and looks to be in unplayed condition. After checking the eBay, the price seemed to be relatively reasonable too, but still, I don't need it (I'm trying to convince myself of this, more than I am you).

This glass motor oil bottle was a beauty, and the spout was absolutely gorgeous, but for being a generic bottle (brand/company bottles are much more desirable), it was very overpriced ($50). I'm pretty sure that they think that the Duraglas name on the bottom is the name of the brand, it isn't, it was a glass making process, and didn't start being used until 1940, so the sellers date of 1926 is a bit off as well. Even being generic, and likely from the late 40's to early 50's (which was the tail end of the glass motor oil bottle era), I still would've been all over it had the price been more reasonable, say in the $15 range.

Okay, that's a little better length-wise, but how about a second bonus round?

I snapped this picture at a red light on my to the antique mall. It's hard to tell because of the vehicle in front of me, but this was like a big double trailer, being pulled by a smaller semi (I'm sure that those have a name, but I don't know what it is), and had at least a dozen llamas in it. The guys and/or gals that I could see were absolutely adorable, and since llama moving isn't something that I see everyday, I had to try and get a picture.

Third bonus round? I'm kidding, I think I'm good for today, especially since tomorrow's post is going to be picture heavy (and of the card variety), so until then...


Thanks for taking a moment to look at my page.

Box Thoughts: 1990-91 Hoops Series 1

I don't remember when exactly, but sometime last year I bought a box of 1990-91 Hoops series 1. It wasn't a planned purchase by any stretch of the imagination, no, this one was all whim! Of course most of my purchases from the "copy/print/card" shop in town are, I just see something - in this case an $8 box of Hoops - and think that it would be fun to open, so I buy it, and then open it at some point.

The 90-91 Hoops set wasn't one of my favorites as a kid, although I didn't dislike it either mind you, it just wasn't one that really ever grabbed me. As such, I haven't opened up very many boxes of it over the years, two, maybe three? I know I opened up a bunch of packs when it was new, but I'm fairly certain that I didn't get any boxes at the time. The only two I can remember opening came from Kmart during the mid to late 90's, back when the store still sold $5 boxes [as a quick aside, I really miss those $5 boxes]. There was always so much to choose from back then, and I don't know about everyone else's local stores, but the Kmart that was closest to me use to get new/old boxes in weekly, so with the limited funds that I had at the time, I wasn't going to be wasting them on 1990-91 Hoops -- that being said, I did buy a box of series 1 and 2 at some point, and probably only did so because it was one of those weeks where I got there late, and didn't have much else to choose from.

Anyways, back to the present. I had absolutely no intentions of blogging about this box, or it's contents, when I bought it, but a few things caught my attention while opening it, so I scanned them, started a post, then abandoned it halfway through because I didn't think it was going to be of much interest to readers. Now some months later I'm re-looking at the draft, and deciding to give it another go, although I am deleting everything that was previously written, as some of it already feels dated (which is ironic, given the age of the box), and the rest just feels stale. So here goes my second attempt... now with 50% less starch!

Observation #1: Has it really been thirty years since this set's release?

Despite my neutrality towards this set, I do have a strong affinity for it, if only because my earliest card memory, or at least the earliest one that I can still remember, involves this set. It's not much of a memory either, just young me sitting on my bed reading the back of one of the Finals subset cards that were in series 2. Like I said, it's not much, but I'll take it, especially since I don't have too many memories left from anything prior to 1990... which was thirty years ago!?!? Now I feel old, and depressed, please excuse me while I go lie down for a bit :(

Observation #2: Cutting cards off of boxes is really fun!

In the last year or so, I feel like I've talked ad nauseam about the set collecting tunnel vision that I was possessed by in my early days, which didn't allow for things like cutting cards from boxes, because, you know, cards cut from a box aren't part of the set, so why bother doing it? However, now that I've shaken my set collecting ways, I can sit back and fully appreciate the joy that comes from cutting, and collecting, cards that were part of boxes.

Observation #3: Is this real life?

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've probably heard that a certain percentage of collectors have gone bat-sh*t insane for all things MJ in recent months, apparently all because of a television special (I would imagine that a few social media "influencer's" have had a hand in it as well), yes, a television special! Hard to believe that folks could be so easily manipulated, but it's happening. I guess I can sort of understand bandwagon collectors jumping on-board and paying ten times more for what the same cards were selling for three months ago, but I don't understand how experienced collectors, folks who know that these prices won't hold, are diving into this mud puddle as well... but it too is happening! I would very much hope that they're not doing so just so they can feel like they're being a part of something, because if so, they're going to be losing a lot of money just to be a part of this something.

For the record, I haven't seen this special, nor do I ever intend to see any of it. There's been dozens of videos and DVD's on MJ over the years, and there are probably hundreds currently on YouTube, so I don't really see the point of this new show, but that's just me. Also, I was never really a fan of his, but do collect his 90's cards (mostly just base, and lower tiered inserts), if only because few things remind me of basketball card collecting in the 90's more than cards of Michael Jordan, and I just like having his cards around to, well, remind me!

Observation #4: The Human Highlight Film.

I always loved this card as a kid, and still do. The ball crossing over into the border was a really nice touch, and not one that you'd see today in any of Panini's god-awful revived Hoops sets.

Observation #5: There's no smiling in basketball!

Hyperbole aside, this might be the best photo in the entire set. During the middle to late 80's, when Mahorn was still one of the Bad Boys, he and Larry Legend were bitter rivals - to say the least - yet here they are just a few short years later... yucking it up for all to see! This is not a card that I would've been able to fully appreciate when I was a kid, if only because I wasn't fully aware of their history together, but older me can't get enough of it, and is infinitely curious to know what was being said?

Observation #6: The rookies!

Everyone knows that I don't really care for rookie cards, but even so, it's hard to open up a box like this... and not notice the rookies! If memory serves, the rookies in series 1 were all guys that had already been in the league for at least a year, but were just finally getting their first cards; while series 2 contained all of the top picks from the 1990 draft.

Observation #7: A tough act to follow.

I'm fairly certain that I did not know who George Gervin was back in 1990, so his kid brother's rookie card wouldn't have even registered with me at the time, but is mildly interesting to see now. Derrick, who was ten years younger than George, wasn't able to follow his brother's success in the NBA, as he only ended up playing for two seasons -- but did go onto make a name for himself overseas, primarily in Israel, where he would become an MVP, and twice lead the Israeli league in scoring (Brother George knows a bit about leading a league in scoring too).

Observation #8: Refs in the back!

If you're on the Twitter, and you follow @RefsInTheBack, then you know just how contagious his collection can become. If you're not on the Twitter, the short version is that there's a fellow called Randy, who collects basketball cards with referees in the background, and after following him for even the shortest amount of time, you will begin to notice referees in the background of literally every single card that has one... and it's terribly annoying (I say this with love though)!

Observation #9: I know what you did last season.

I liked it when card fronts acknowledged a players achievements from the previous season, wonder if anyone else felt the same?

Observation #10: It was a good run.

Caldwell Jones played seventeen seasons of professional basketball, three in the ABA, and fourteen in the NBA. Most of his career was spent on teams with already proven scorers, so points weren't needed, or expected from him, as such, he focused, and excelled, on the defensive side of things. His career totals aren't likely to wow anyone, especially anyone looking at them through modern eyes, but his abilities were well respected amongst his peers, and his retirement after the 1990-91 season saw one of the last players to play in the ABA call it a day (Moses Malone was the last when he retired in 1995). This is a really great card, it's just unfortunate that Hoops couldn't have included all of his stats on the back, but by this point the NBA had a weird thing going where they were trying not to acknowledge the ABA's existence, so obviously they weren't gonna draw attention to his having spent three years in that league shall not be named by showing stats from his time there.

Observation #11: These guys knew a bit about the basketball.

Having the two most iconic coaches (Chuck Daly and Pat Riley) from the 80's together on one card is pretty special, young me wouldn't have appreciated this either.

Observation #12: Stockton takes a play off?

It's not very often that you see/saw John Stockton lagging behind with hands on hips, but what could perhaps be the only instance of him ever doing so was captured here for all to see (top right). Oh, and Jim Paxson was an absolute stud, a fact that (sigh)... very few seem to remember!

Observation #13: Gold is good.

Like rookies, All-Star cards have never really been my thing either, as more often than not, they just end up feeling like filler. That being said, the gold bordered All-Stars from this set are easily my favorite such cards of all-time -- which is funny too, because I don't usually like this shade of gold on cards, but for whatever reason it just works for me here, it's probably just nostalgia though.

Observation #14: I'd be rich if I had opened up this box around this time last year!

Remember the whole "famous people in the background" craze that caught fire last year? Feels like it was a lot longer ago though doesn't it? Hard to believe that even a year later, this card still routinely sells for a couple of bucks, one would've thought that everyone who wanted one, would have it by now, but what do I know? Well, actually, one thing that I do know, that you might not, is that there are even reprint/counterfeit copies of this card out there now. Seems pretty crazy considering how many copies of the genuine card are still floating around (millions!), but apparently there was some need for fakes, probably during the height of the fervor, because they were made, and people knowingly bought them.

Observation #15: I'd be rich if I had opened this box thirty years ago!

Or at least that's what Beckett wanted everyone to believe at the time. I remember them hyping this "error" (with heavy quotes around error) so hard, so hard in fact that I can't help but wonder now if someone working at Beckett had some extra sheets made, and were hoping to drive up the price before selling (it's not as far fetched as it sounds). I'm sure a lot of folks remember the story behind MJ wearing the #12 jersey, but for those who don't, it really wasn't that interesting; The Bulls were at Orlando for a game sometime in 1990 (yeah, I'm not looking up the date), Jordan's jersey went missing before the game, and apparently the team didn't travel with extras at that particular time, so His Airness had to wear a nameless #12 jersey for one game, and one game only. Oh, and for the record, I didn't bother to check if this card was part of the current fad of overpaying all things MJ, I couldn't imagine that it would be, but who really knows anymore, amirite?

I opened a box of 1990-91 Upper Deck football (low series) not too long after this one, and some cards of note were scanned from that box as well, so if I'm feeling froggy, I might just do another one of these posts for that box too.


Thanks for taking a moment to look at my page.