Vintage Part 2 : Indians

Well it's taken a couple days longer than I anticipated, but I'm ready to roll with part 2 of my Vintage Series. Work has a bad habit of getting in the way of what I really want to do around here, as I'm sure most you you would understand.

Something about these old gems just gets me excited whenever I see one. A lot of people define 'Vintage' cards as being pre-1981,  and I'll probably have to go along with that. I'd class these cards as 'Extra-Vintage' because they're from the 50's & 60's. Whenever I see a 1958 Topps card depicting a Cleveland Indian, I expect to see that little packet of wieners in the background. Maybe I saw too many of those pictured in a Beckett magazine 15-20 years ago. The 1960 cards are nice, and I think a major influence of Fleer's 1995 Flair issue. Very similar fronts, albeit very different quality levels!

Man, I wish I was an Indians collector. The color scheme on these 1968 Topps cards meshes very well with the uniforms. These cards look a lot better in person, too.

I should have been paying more attention. Until that Buddy Bell card fell out of my Indians box, I had completely forgotten that it was in my collection. I cannot explain just how much I love those All Star Rookie Cups! Although most of you in the blogosphere would understand it completely.

 In the coming weeks, I may start blogging about some more obscure sets from the last 20 years. Surely there can't be too many people out there with bunches of 1998 Pacific Online cards, could there? Perhaps I'll show some Topps Total or Upper Deck 40-Man cards, as I know there's a lot of bloggers out there who would appreciate seeing them.

Since I haven't made up my mind yet, we'll all have to wait and see!

Cheers,

Nick J

Another 'want' from 2005 Topps Total...

This.

It was the only photo of card #77 in that set that I could find, and I think it's courtesy of Amazon.com.

After getting the '03 Donruss card today of Valdes (The correct spelling of his name until 2004) as a Mariner, I found out there is only ONE card of him in his Marlins garb.

Gotta find it somewhere!

It's probably not all that exciting or relevant these days, what with the release of Topps 2013 flagship, but it's still something to hope for.

Does anyone know when Opening Day boxes come out this year? I'll collect those until flagship Factory Sets come out around the All-Star Break.

Cheers!

Nick J

Mailday : Part 1

There is something very exciting about a mailday, especially when you know the cardboard awesomeness that lies within.

I bought 3 sets off the bay a couple of weeks ago, and they turned up at my door this morning.

2003 Donruss, 2005 Fleer Tradition, and 2007 Topps Opening Day.

I love this Ray Durham card. It's the only card I own of his that features him in an Oakland uniform. He was a late-season pick-up for the A's in 2002 when they were in the midst of the famed 'Moneyball Era'.

I had no idea that Ismael Valdes ever pitched for Seattle. That was a huge bonus for me, as I obviously had no cards of him in an M's uniform. It's got to be one of his only Mariner cards, as he only pitched in 8 games for them.

 The Bartolo Colon card is on of only 2 I have that show him as an Expo, (2002 Topps Traded is the other), and I had no idea that he had a card from 2003 with him in the Expos gear. Score!

 That Tim Raines card was one of the biggest reasons why I wanted to buy the 03 Donruss set. I spied it on another blog a few weeks ago, and it's one of the best 'Sunset' cards in existence. Thanks to Nick @ Dime Boxes, I have a new term for players' final cards!

The 2005 Fleer Tradition set is pretty cool, although I wish Fleer had just left the natural backgrounds on all of the photos. I chose to display these 6 cards, because, to me, they're the most significant cards in the set.
The top 3 cards, I believe, are also 'Sunset' cards of very prominent players of the 90's. Until today, the last cards of Edgar Martinez, Barry Larkin and Carlos Baerga that I had were issued in 2004.

I never knew Ricky Ledee played for the Giants. I should dislike him for that, but he also played for the Dodgers, so I like him no matter what. I remembered Brent Mayne played for L.A. at some stage during the latter part of his career, but I was never able to get a card of him in a Dodgers uniform. Thank you, Fleer!

I am displaying the Roger Cedeno card for pretty much the same reason as the Ledee - I had no recollection of him playing in St Louis, but thanks to Fleer, I now have a card of him in that awesome Red uniform. This set also ticked 2 more boxes for me : It had a 'John Olerud in a Yankee uniform' card, and an 'Eduardo Perez in a Rays uniform' card. Awesome!

I'll display some of the 07 Opening Day cards tomorrow. I really think they look a lot better than the flagship set from 2007, with white borders and gold stamping, rather than black borders and silver stamping.

Also, it's exciting to see a few people out there have some 2013 Topps in their hands already - can't wait to see more pics in the coming days!

I know I'll be buying a few boxes in April-May. (The Wife is taking me to Hawaii!) The wait, I'm sure, will be worth it.

Happy box-busting over there in the States, you lucky people!

Nick J

Vintage Part 1 : White Sox

 I like vintage cards. I think most of us in the blogosphere like vintage.

I'd prefer to own all vintage Dodger cards, but beggars can't be choosy. I scored the 2 1958 cards as part of a group of 11 on the Bay about a year ago. Not bad for $5! There was even a Dodger among the group, so that's probably what led me to buying the lot. I must say I'd never heard of Howell or Esposito prior to my purchase, so these cards are also educational in that respect.

I love the 1970 Topps set. I love these cards as well. Mostly because of how I got them. I was on my honeymoon in New York City in November 2011, and my Wife wanted to see a Broadway Show. We had previously agreed that when she went to a show, I would go out and find a baseball card shop. We were staying near the Hearst Tower on 8th Ave, and I remembered reading about a little place called Alex's MVP Cards over on the East Side. It's actually near the corner of 89th St and 2nd Ave. Those familiar with the city will know just how long it would take to walk that distance. But I did it, all for the love of baseball cards! These 4 cards were in the 10 cent - 25 cent box. I think I walked out of there with about 200 different cards. My show was better then any Broadway show!

I'm not sure if these were part of my 'NYC Stash', but they're both still pretty cool. Any 1975 Topps cards are cool in my eyes.

The 1960 set is great. I'm not normally a fan on horizontal cards, but I am if the entire set is horizontal. Any set with Team Logos on the front in great for me. It makes sorting by team incredibly easy. That Herb Score card, from the 1961 set, was, for a very long time, the oldest card in my collection. I bought it off a friend of mine in the mid 1990's. At the time, I thought "Wow, this card came out 18 years before I was born. 18 YEARS!" It was difficult to comprehend, but then again I would have only been around 16 years old.

1968 Topps. Very similar to the 1969 set, but different enough to stand out. I like the 'thatched' borders. Cards from the first series that year really do stand out. The 'thatches' are much bigger than cards from later series. I believe the Colavito card is a nice example. I also love the old-style Rookie Cup on the Williams card. I wish I owned a particular card from the set that everybody wants. You know, the one with Jerry Koosman on it?  :-) That card at the bottom of the picture is the White Sox Team Card from the 1964 set. I wonder if this years Heritage set will have similar team cards?

Recently, I've developed a great appreciation for the 1972 Topps set. I'd love to own a complete set, although given the difficulty of obtaining the high-numbered cards, it will probably have to remain a dream. Still, 44 of them is a good enough for me. I love the psychedelic design. The 72 and 75 sets, for me, are the defining sets of the 1970's, although the 1973 set has the most interesting photography. I'd always wanted a card of Goose Gossage in a White Sox uniform, and when I got it last year, I was very excited. My Gossage collection is complete! (At least one card from each team he played for).

Once my collection is in alphabetical order, I will dedicate entire posts to 'Complete Player Collections'.

I hope you enjoyed my 'walk through the 50's, 60's & 70's' White Sox edition, I believe the next edition will be the Cleveland Indians.

Nick J

Want!

I stole this photo a long long time ago.

A guy was selling his entire collection, although I can't recall where he was or how he was selling it.

Here's the pic :

Seriously, If you had this lot of cards, why would you sell it all!?!?

I would pay around 50 grand for this pile. It would be nice to find out what it sold for...

What a tease!

Nick J

Nomo in RAYS Uni.

I don't really have a want-list, unless you have a card of a player in a uniform I don't own.

I would guess at this stage of my collecting life, the 2005 Topps Total Hideo Nomo card would be at the top of the list. How many cards of him were produced depicting him in a Rays uniform? I'm guessing 1. Or maybe 3, at best. Here's one :

If anyone should come across this masterpiece, please let me know, and I will arrange some kind of payment method.

Cheers!

Nick J

Topps Piazza Run

Every now and then I will sort my entire collection into teams.

Once I've done that I will put every card for each team in alphabetical order.

Then I will put every card in alphabetical order. That is a task which can take quite some time, since there over 120K cards to rummage through.

Just for something to do, I put my Topps Mike Piazza cards all together (Dodger years only) and threw a few 1992 issues of his to enhance the photo.

I'm pretty sure it's a lower-quality photo, but it's getting dark here and it's difficult to photograph exactly what I wanted in good light.

Anyway, here it is :

You may have noticed two different versions of the 1995 card. The one at the left of the second row is my favorite card in the photo. I got it in a Factory set of 1994 Topps, and it is one of the 1995 Topps Pre-Production set.

That black card is pretty cool as well.

It's a 1992 Donruss Phenoms card I scored off the Bay about a year ago. I think it was only a couple of bucks - who would say no to that?

Well, I'll make sure I take the next batch of photos in decent light, so that way we can actually see them properly!

Until tomorrow,

Happy collecting & blogging!

Nick J

A Test!

OK, here we go.

My scanner didn't work, but you get that for a $60 machine.

I got out my trusty camera to see if I could take a photo of a card and put it on here.

Here goes!

If that is too big, I'll make some more adjustments on my settings.

If not, woohoo!

And a Double Play card as well. I like the backs of the 1982 Fleer cards a lot better than the fronts, but I only took one photo.

Please work, please!

Nick J

Thanks, HP...

I really am anxious to use the scanner from 5 days ago...

I believe I need a CD to install the supportive software. Hopefully, the HP Website will allow me to download it! Unfortunately, I was at work all day today, and will be there all day tomorrow. That means I can't send a great bunch of cards to Nick of Dime Boxes until Wednesday!

It's not fair when work gets in the way of life.

So, Nick, if you're reading, I have packaged your cards up in their container, and I'm really excited to see if you like them. ( I already know you like at least One of them! - although it's the regular issue card.)

Maybe I could just take some photos of my cards and use those images instead...? But a scanner is much better for glossy cards...

I'll come up with something very shortly, guys.

I feel that I have to!

Happy collecting & blogging,

Nick J

Australia

A Slight Similarity?

G'day folks,

 Unfortunately, due to my total lack of sleep, I am without any motivation to try and install a new scanner. I'm pretty sure one needs a functioning brain to carry out that task. Hence, nothing!

 However, I did notice one thing while I was at work last night : Everyone loves the 2012 Topps U&H Adam Kennedy card, right? I'm quite certain that Night Owl does, and I believe it may be GCRL's favorite card from 2012.

 I noticed this card and I couldn't believe the similarities. Granted, I didn't have my copy of the 2012 Kennedy card with me, but from memory, the photograph could not be more twin-like! Even the background is somewhat similar, despite being pictured at different Ballparks.

 Too much time on my hands? Yes, but only when I'm at work.

The scanner installation process may have to wait until tomorrow... It's 6:38pm here, and I'm almost asleep already.

 Can't wait to become a proper blogger, complete with actual scans of my actual cards. I wonder if cards in the Southern Hemisphere warp in the opposite direction to those in the North? That would be the Coriolis Card Effect.

 Sorry for the lame joke,

Here's hoping to have some scans tomorrow.

Happy Blogging!

Nick J

Scanner!

OK, now it's time for me to get a bit more excited here.

My new scanner arrived today, and I've not had any luck in the past with getting them to work properly, so I have to be optimistic here.

Since my baseball card collection now stands at 120517 different cards (not counting doubles), I suppose the time had to come soon enough where I could start to scan some of my best ones. But since I have to work nightshift tonight, it will have to wait a day or two.

It's going to be almost impossible to pick a 'Top Ten' or something like that, so I may just pick a bunch of my favorite cards from each set I own, along with a basic review of each set, and when I came to own the set in question.

Until next time, (not far away!),

Happy blogging and collecting,

Nick J