Father time...

G'day folks!

 It's been a while since my last post, but I do have a good excuse : My Wife gave birth to our first child 13 days ago.

 I've looked at maybe 100 baseball cards since that day, and it really is impossible to keep up with everything going on around here.

 Mr. Night Owl, I did read your comment over at Dime Boxes, and I also found that I have the other 1995 Stadium Club card you require (Eric Karros) here in my doubles pile. It will be heading your way, along with Delino.

 I will email you in the morning, man!

Hopefully I'll be able to find the time to blog about cards soon enough, but at this stage I really have to prioritize my priorities!

Nick J

Fielders, and their girth.

One of the best, and certainly the biggest, father-son combos in MLB history would have to be the Fielders, Cecil, and Prince.

Cecil was the archetypal power guy in the 1990's ; massive, strong, with a quick bat and slow legs.

The 4 cards above show 'Big Daddy' in the latter stages of his career, after he'd dominated the power categories for the first few years of the decade, as a member of the Detroit Tigers.

The top 2 cards are from Fleer's 1998 Ultra release, with Cecil's brief Angels stint captured in the Series 2 card.

I chose the Upper Deck and Topps cards from 1997, because any photo of Cecil running the bases is bound to bring back some humorous memories for anyone that saw him play.

Here's some of Cecil's earlier cards, though the first two aren't that much earlier.

I chose the 1996 Collectors Choice 'You Make The Play' card because it showed that by 1996, Upper Deck finally had a sense of humor. That just might be the Dodger fan in me, though. See Here (Thanks, Dodgers Blue Heaven!)

Going into the 1996 season, a Stolen Base was something that had never appeared on Cecil's baseball card. Then, during that season, he somehow managed to steal two, without being caught. Who said he couldn't run!?

The 1994 O Pee Chee card is one that shows exactly why Cecil was (and probably still is) feared by anyone who should do him wrong. Guy was a freakin' Bear!

I also really like the 1986 Donruss card of Cecil depicted here. Although the card design may be lacking, it seems to suit the Blue Jays cards rather well. Imagine if Donruss had Team-Color-Coded horizontal lines that year? Red horizontal lines for Red Sox, Reds & Cardinals cards? Yellow lines for Pirates cards? I dare you to attempt to convince me that wouldn't have been an improvement!

Now here's some of Prince's white-bordered cards.

I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but I wish Topps had switched the Opening Day color scheme with the flagship color scheme in 2007.

There's something about the black-bordered cards that just seemed 'below-par' to me. Maybe I was just used to the white bordered sets that had been used since 2004.

Topps clearly agreed with me, as they have used white bordered cards ever since, and will continue to do so in 2014.




The top 2 cards show a perfect comparison of the Topps photoshop process at work. I think it's a shot from PNC Park in Pittsburgh, and the Brewers photo is (obviously) the real one. Maybe that's why Topps don't have "The Real One" on the front of their packs anymore, because most of the photos aren't real.

Although they're plain and simple (and similar), I really like the Fleer sets from 2006 and 2007. I chose to display the 2006 Fleer card of Prince, essentially because I've had the 2007 card for a lot longer, and the photo is old, and therefore, boring to me. Good logic, eh?

Next post will have a lot more photos of a lot more cards.

Although I haven't been able to decide on the topic just yet.

To you guys who blog about a different theme/topic each and every day : A massive tip of the cap to you. I really don't know how you get so many great ideas, and continue to do so, without any loss of quality.

You're all inspiring to a complete amateur like me, and I promise that I will try not to completely steal ideas from you. Although, if I do, I will obviously offer some kind of bibliography. Links should do it!

Cheers,

Nick J

Just something I noticed...

I know this card is one of Nick's personal favorites, and I happened to be leafing through my Mike Devereaux collection a short time ago.

I couldn't get a nicely focused photo of the front of the card, but here's a stolen pic :

I turned the card over, and here was the back :














I'm pretty sure the formatting here blows, but let me just say I think all of these pics are from the same play, based of the marks on Mike's left knee.

Man I hope the pics are aligned...!

Nick J

Anaheim Fish

Found me some fish in my collection.

They're both Angels players, so I guess they'd make a great team along with Tim Salmon and Mike Trout.

I present to you, Robert Fish (2008 Bowman Chrome Prospects #142) and Steve Fish (2000 Bowman #289). They're two more Angels players with oceanic names, and I can't recall a more seafood-named franchise in the history of any sport.

Except the Marlins, Rays or Dolphins...

A Heart-Warming Short Story

Well, I think everyone out there can recall what happened last year.

After getting beaned on the first and only pitch he saw in the Majors, (I think it was 2004 or 2005), Adam Greenberg disappeared from the Majors, apparently never to be seen again.

He signed a one-day contract with the Miami Marlins last year and made it back to the Majors for a very heart-warming single at-bat.

He may have struck out on 3 pitches, but it was no disgrace. He K'd against a guy who was dominating the league on his way to a Cy Young Award, (R.A. Dickey), and I'm guessing nobody left the stadium that day with dry eyes.

I had trouble recalling if I owned a card of Greenberg's from his Cubs days, but thanks to 2004 Topps Total, I have one in my collection.

Thank You, Topps Total,

You are still sorely missed in the collecting world.

Nick

Juan Two Three Four...

Now I've never been a massive fan of Juan Gonzalez, but I have to respect what he accomplished in the Major Leagues. And I'll Blog about him because that's the pile of cards I'm currently viewing!

I always seemed to get his cards whenever I bought packs during his playing days. Enough of them, in fact, to land me 206 of Juan's cards.

Included in the above (blurry, sorry) photo, is a 2006 Upper Deck Diamond Collection card, which is the only 2006 card I have of Juan's. He didn't even make it into the 1250-card main set that year, which is odd. That card, visibly or not, is actually numbered 106/699, so I must have a 'Gold' or 'Bronze' variation.

The following 2 cards are from my 2 favorite sets this century : Topps Total (2004) and Upper Deck 40 Man (2002). It doesn't look like we'll ever see either of these sets again, so I'll just have to live in the past.

Lastly, the Gold-Bordered card is from the 2001 Topps Traded set, and is also numbered 0052/2001. Juan came back in a big way in 2001 after a disappointing year in Detroit. He hit .289/22/67 in 2000, then mashed .325/35/140 for the Tribe in '01.

The card at the top left is from the 2000 Topps Traded set (#97) and depicts Juan during his previously discussed 'down' year in Detroit.

The second card looks a lot like the original 1989 Upper Deck release, but it's been given the typical late-90's facelift, complete with shiny foil surface and shiny foil stamping. I never noticed until just now, but that card is also numbered 0186/4000. Just so you know, it's from the insert set called '10th Anniversary Team', which perfectly explains the 1989 design.

There's yet another very '90's-looking' card at the bottom left, from 1997 Upper Deck. It's a one-per-box insert, from memory, and is actually pretty impressive to look at when it's in your hand.

I chose to include that 1997 Donruss card because I'm a sucker for throw-back uniforms. Also, it's card #1 in that set.

We arrive at the year 1995, and, man... what a colorful year that was for cards! At least, the top 2 cards here are from 1995.

There's a 'Rising Star' insert from 1995 Ultra, and a 'Ring Leader' insert from 1995 Stadium Club. I always thought Topps tried too hard with their inserts, but I actually like the way this card refracts when you move it.

The card at the bottom left is from 1994 Stadium Club, and I think it was from a 3rd series pack. They're called 'Finest Inserts', a wildly imaginative title for the set.

I love Fleer Pro Visions. And this one, takes the prize of my favorite of all time. So much color. The coolest brand of bat ever, and the yellow brick road with horses near it. Just cool!

I threw in the last card there because it's from 1993 Upper Deck, and it shows Juan being kind to some kids. Good fellow, he is.

Finally, we reach some early Juan cards from 1992 down to 1990.




The first card is from the 1992 Upper Deck Ted Williams Best Hitters insert set. On the back, Williams predicts Gonzalez to be a 'Sure MVP'. Teddy Ballgame wasn't wrong...

The 1991 Ultra card is from the formerly-over-valued Update set. I think, according to Beckett, this card was worth around $20 in the middle of the 1990's. Glad I waited until 2011 before buying the set for around $5.

I love the Mirror-image Rookie Card that Donruss produced in 1990. The cynic in me says it was a deliberate error. The cynic is probably right, too. I'm just glad I found the error version in some random shop on the Big Island of Hawaii about 20 years ago. Despite being a tad faded, it still remains one of my favorite cards of Juan's.

Well, thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed our quick look back at the card career of one the 1990's greatest sluggers, Juan Gonzalez.

Nick J

Danny Tartabull - A Quick Look...

I've decided to post a brief overview of Danny Tartabull's career in cards.

Or, at least, picture one card for each team he played for.

Danny will always be one of my favorite players of all time, not just because he was a good hitter, but because of his legendary appearance on my favorite show of all time, Seinfeld. (If you need to check it out, Danny appears in the 6th Season Episode, 'The Pledge Drive').

I chose these two cards because the borders matched the uniforms.

I love team-color-coded cards.

LOVE them!

Even though these two cards are team-color-coded by default, I still rate them as two of the best Tartabull cards of all the ones I own. (I just checked, and I have 127 different Tartabull cards).

I waited for years to get a card of Danny with the Athletics. Years.

The moment that my complete set of 1996 Donruss arrived at my door, my 'Bull' collection was complete.

To this day, I still only have three cards of Danny with the A's - this '96 Fleer card, as well as the '96 Donruss #548, and the '96 Score #339.

That '92 Fleer card is from the Update set. That set was (and still is) way over-valued when it comes to a certain price guide magazine. I bought it for what I thought it was worth. From memory, it was about $10.

The final 2 cards in my collection are from Danny's years with the White Sox (1997 Donruss #97) and the Phillies (1998 Pacific #389).

I also own only three cards which showcase Danny's tenure with the Phillies, this Pacific issue, as well as the '97 Fleer #614, and the '97 Score #448.

The fact that he has at least three cards with the Phillies is incredible, considering he only played 3 games for them in 1997, with a grand total of zero hits from 7 at-bats.

Despite that, he had a great career.

And I'm sure if Danny Tartabull were here, he'd say "That's right, Nick".

Multi-Tasking Pitchers

Like most other bloggers out there, I love cards that depict pitchers doing stuff that aint pitching.

Upper Deck seemed to catch Charles Nagy a few times either hitting (1992 & 1993) or running the bases (1998 Collectors Choice).

For the record, Nagy strode to the plate 20 times over his 14-year career, and managed to get 2 hits, for a .105 average. He also somehow managed to score 3 runs.

His career All-Star Game average? 1.000! He led off the 8th inning of the 1992 ASG,  and singled off Doug Jones. Perhaps that hit is depicted on the 1993 Upper Deck card, since A.L. pitchers pretty much never batted in those days.

Denny Neagle.

Now here's a guy who, for a pitcher, was certainly a useful bat at the bottom of the order.

For his career, he batted at a .164 clip over 628 plate appearances, with 5 homers and 44 RBI.

I love that 2002 Upper Deck card - everyone remembers Denny as a fun-loving and goofy kind of guy, and I think he may have been impersonating Larry Walker's (in)famous All-Star Game at-bat from a few years earlier.

I may have a few more cards of Pitchers-doing-stuff-they-don't-often-do elsewhere, but they may have to wait for another day.

That day could well be tomorrow, if I find them this afternoon!

Thanks for reading,

Nick J

A Dave Winfield Cardboard Tribute... (Part 2 of 2)

(Part 1 Here)

G'day again!

 We're on to part 2 of my Dave Winfield tribute, in cardboard form.

I had a great time last night creating the first post, and I imagine this one will be even more enjoyable, as we will be heading into the 70's.

Brown.

Mustard.

Psychedelia.

Who doesn't love 1970's Baseball Cards???

They're all to come soon, but for now lets focus on the 1990 cards.

Wow, we nearly have 2 cards from each set represented here - save for Leaf and Bowman. Even though the Blue Donruss card is from a semi-oddball issue, it still serves it's purpose as 'Donruss Update', to me.

That Upper Deck card in the top left is my favorite card in this group. You may not be able to see it here, but the look on Winfield's face is hilarious. Looks like he is picturing Big Stein's face on that baseball...

Next in line are my 1989 and 1988 cards.




For me, the 1988 Score card stands out the most. That dark purple seems to go really well with the Yankee uniforms, for some reason.

Donruss really seemed to love the style of photo it used for the 1989 Winfield card. Hitter... Close-Up... Awaiting pitch... in batting stance...! That pose appeared on a lot of great hitters' Donruss cards from 1986 to 1992.

Speaking of Donruss, I really love the 1988 Baseball's Best set. I think it's referred to by some in the collecting world as 'The Halloween Set', but my main attraction to the set is the glossy fronts (an exception, rather than the rule, in those days), and the full career stats on the backs.

Now we venture into Winfield's 5-year stretch of 100+ RBI seasons.



Unfortunately for myself, and most Dodger fans, these years were Winfield's Yankee years.

But weren't they explosive! Despite all the crap that occurred between Big Stein and Winfield, he still managed to produce runs by the bunch, year in and year out.

Looking at the 1987 Donruss Opening Day card, we see yet another close-up photo of a hitter in his batting stance... etc. A true Donruss staple!

That 1986 Topps design is maligned by many, and adored by few. I'm actually sitting on the fence with this one, but that Black & White design was extremely Yankee-friendly. They have the best looking cards in that set, I believe.

Here is a nice pile of Winfield cards from 1985 down to 1983. My favorite designs in this lot? 1985 Fleer, then 1985 Topps, then 1983 Topps. The two 1985 sets, for me, are two of the best sets from the 80's. Why? Team-Color-Codedness! To quote Barney Stinson, "It's a thing..."

Looks like Donruss stole their 'Superstar Hitter Pose' photograph idea from Fleer somwhere between 1984 and late 1985. I love that 1984 Fleer card. I really miss the old Fleer sets. These days, whenever I buy a complete set, I sort all of the cards into teams. Fleer negated the need to bother with that, by doing it themselves.

We have arrived at the earliest cards of Dave Winfield as a Yankee.

Nothing too spectacular here, although that Diamond King card is one of the first 26 we ever laid eyes on.

I wish Topps would bring back something they only did once - that is, issue the Traded or Update series as a numeric continuation of the main set. In 1981, the main set had 726 cards, and the 132-card Traded set was numbered 727-858. I want my 2013 set to go from 1-990, but hey, I'll settle for what they're doing now. At least they're actually still producing an update set. (1996-1998 Topps, I'm looking at you!)

Finally, we have reached the coolest stack of Dave Winfield cards I own : The Padres cards!

Now, obviously the 1974 card is one I cherish, but my favorite among the 10 cards here is the 1976 Topps card. Why? Team-Color-Codedness, yet again. My favorite 1970's set? I'm going to be really original here and say 1975.

Colors, colors and more colors!

There's not much that needs to be said here, since these cards are simply awesome.

But I will say this : Every single card that I have pictured here in the last 2 days is now living in Australia. I'd guess it's probably the largest Dave Winfield card collection in this country. At least I hope it is!

Thanks for reading,

Nick J

*Edit : Here's Dave's website : http://davewinfieldhof.com

A Dave Winfield Cardboard Tribute... (Part 1 of 2)

(Part 2 Here)

G'day folks,

 I've finally arranged my entire baseball card collection in alphabetical order, and even managed to store them in adequate housing. So now, I have a little bit of time to post about some of my favorite players of all time.

Firstly, I must apologize for the lack of clarity (focus) in some of the photos. The whole scanner situation still hasn't improved. Maybe I'm never supposed to own a fully functioning scanner? I don't know...

Over the next couple of posts, I'll be focusing on the great Dave Winfield. He of the 3110 hits, 465 HR's and 1833 RBI. Considering he also stole 223 bases, and was a highly-ranked pitcher in College, his numbers suggest he was an incredibly gifted athlete. We will count down all of the Winfield cards I own from his playing days, since they're the ones I consider 'actual' Winfield cards. It's still nice to get some reprints, or tribute cards from 1997 - 2013, but to me, they're just not the same.

The top photo contains all of my 'Sunset' (Thanks, Nick!) cards of Winfield, and my favorite one would have to be the Collectors Choice issue, at the middle of the bottom row. FULL career stats, the gold 'Tribute' logo and those great 1995 Blue Indians uniforms are outstanding. Best photo would have to be the Score card on the bottom right. Great follow-through of the great man in his last season. Score will always be one of my favorite brands of all time. Heaps of stats on the back, and most years included a color photo as well. 1988 Score was ahead of it's time!

This is the photo I really should have taken again. In fact, I should have taken it a third time, because this was Take 2. The lack of scanner strikes again!

All of these cards are from 1995, and although some show Winfield in Twins garb, each card lists him as being with the Indians. He was traded to the Indians in late August 1994, but wouldn't appear for them until 1995 because of that damned... well, we all know why! Topps did extremely well in late '94 or early '95 - they managed to track Winfield down at his own house, dressed him up in a Cleveland Uniform, and snapped a few photos of him. That's the unusual story behind his Topps card at the bottom on the right. Who needs airbrushing or Photoshop??? Surely the best card for Winfield in 1995 was the Stadium Club card. I love the fact Topps got him to show bunt. How often would he ever have been asked to do that in an actual game? I'm guessing never!

Change of scenery for this photo. Better lighting. Hope it worked out OK!

1994 was probably the year I bought more packs than any other year. There were just so many different sets out that year, and most of them were available in a large number of shops here in Australia. My favorite design for 1994 would have to be Leaf. I love the team-color-coded, marbleized, curved bar at the bottom of each card. I love the backs even more. More team-color-coded madness! The ticket stub. The team logo itself. PLUS : the holographic team logo in the top right corner. Almost a perfectly designed set in my opinion. One single problem : not enough stats! That Pinnacle card (2nd row, card 3) is my newest addition to the Winfield pile. I got it in a box of Pinnacle that I bought in Hawaii a couple months ago. Paula @ Paula's Sportscards, I tip my cap to you!

Man I love me some 1993 sets. I think everyone's pick of the bunch is the Upper Deck set, and I'd probably have to agree. Some incredible photos in that set, both on the front and the back of the cards. I also loved the Score set, primarily because it is probably the most team-color-oriented set I've ever seen. The backs sum it up perfectly. I should have taken a pic of one...

1992 was an amazing year for the 40-year old Winfield. .290/26/108??? I don't know of any un-roided player who has reached that level of production at that age. Amazing...

You may have noticed that all of the Twins cards are at the top. My O.C.D. causes me to sort all of the 'traded' or 'update' cards above the other cards that picture a player with his previous team. I just can't explain why. If you look closely at the Pinnacle card in the 3rd row, you'll notice a small pic of Dave in a Padres uniform. That's a preview for what will make up a lot of my next post. ;-)

Aaahh... 1992. This is the year that takes up the most space in my collection. Nearly every card you see in this pic is from a complete set. Upper Deck (Gold Hologram), Ultra, Bowman, Leaf, Stadium Club, Pinnacle, Fleer (+Update), Score (+Update), Topps (+Traded), Topps Gold (+Traded Gold) & O Pee Chee. They're all there. They're all complete. I will never be able to lift my 1992 collection. Ever!

Dave played pretty well in 1991, for a guy who turned 40(!) later that year. .262/28/86 is great for a guy that age.

I have to say, there were no absolute stand-out designs that year. Although I do love the Triple Play set. Sadly, I only have about 50 cards from that set, and no Winfield's...

This was a shock to me. I only have 10 Winfield cards from 1991. Yes. Ten.

Pathetic, isn't it? This was the most over-produced over-production-era year of all-time! How can I only have TEN?

It's probably because Dave stayed with the same team from mid-1990 thru the end of 1991.He still hit .267/21/78 between the Yanks and the Angels, so it wasn't such a bad year that he only deserved 10 cards, though! I really love that Stadium Club set. I remember seeing it on the Bay about 3 years ago, for around $30, and I just had to pounce. I'm forever grateful that I did. Now, Studio is the only non-oddball 1991 set that I don't own, and I don't really care for Studio. Nor does anyone else, it seems!

Well, that just about does it for Part 1, I hope you enjoyed reading, but mostly, I hope you saw some cards that you didn't know existed, and now are on your wantlists! That's 100 of the 162 Dave Winfield cards in my PC down, and 62 to go.

Can't wait to unleash some vintage Winfield tomorrow!

Nick J

Edit : Here's Dave's Website : http://davewinfieldhof.com

1976 Topps... Do You Feel Old Too?

Hey folks, I'm still in the process of arranging my 10+ year old scanner to be returned home, but in the meantime, I noticed something rather disturbing, particularly if you were around to collect cards in 1976.

Now, most folks in the blogosphere are aware of the 'All-Time All-Stars' subset in 1976 Topps, but there's one thing I noticed on this card :

*Image Borrowed

The stats on the back say that Lou Gehrig played his last games in 1939, which is correct.

That was 37 years before this card was placed into wax packs and sold to the masses.

This year, 2013, marks exactly 37 years since this card was produced. If you were a kid in 1976, and were listening to 'old guys' talking about seeing/hearing Gehrig's famous farewell speech, then I guess you're now the equivalent of one of those 'old guys'. Wow...

Time sure flies...

Nick J

P.S. I apologize for the forthcoming photographs of cards, they're meant to look so much better, as they would on a scanner, but blah blah blah... work gets in the way of life, yet again!

74-75-76 Topps

Well folks, after about a month of 'customs-related-crap', I am extremely happy to say that the '74-'76 sets have arrived in perfect order.

I have never before seen such a legendary group of cardboard chunks in my life. After perusing Night Owl's 1975 Topps Blog over the last month and a half, I became so engrossed in the '75 set that I really didn't care too much about the '74 or the '76 sets. Just as long as the 1975 Topps Set was Complete and at my door.

And indeed, it was.

Every card in the set is in great condition, save for an occasional off-center cut here and there. But, wow... I now own a complete set of 1975 Topps! It's far out, man!

I'm still in the process of adding the new cards to my alphabetically arranged collection, but it should only take a couple of days, and by then I will be able to display (read : show off) some complete player collections, such as Dave Winfield, Dave Parker, George Brett, Robin Yount, Mike Schmidt, etc.

I may even get my scanner back before I finish my task - that may result in some actual scans of cards, rather than some silly photos.

While I'm here, I also have to explain how unbelievably awesome my Wife is.

Unbeknownst to me, she had been reading this blog. She noticed that I really wanted this card. So, what do you think showed up in the mail today? The very same card I had wanted since I knew it existed. This girl is one in a trillion, and I'm very lucky she's on my side!

For anyone that has been expecting some cards from me, I apologize, but I know your favorite teams, and I've been holding off sending the boxes out, as I knew I had more great cards on the way for you all.

I really can't wait to post some actual scans of the mid-70's cards I just received, hopefully, it will be in the next few days, otherwise, it will have to be photos (Boo!).

Nick J

Back Home...

G'day you lucky folks who get to read my ramblings!

Since returning from Hawaii a couple of weeks ago, I have been lucky enough to purchase complete 1974, 1975 and 1976 Topps sets on the bay, and thus I will be awaiting their arrival before I start my 'Player Card Collection' series, particularly because I will soon have every Dave Winfield, Dave Parker, George Brett, Robin Yount & Dennis Eckersley base card to place in order for some (hopefully) cool photos!

These 3 sets will basically conclude my 'Topps Set Hoarding' run, since the '73 set is a bit too pricey, for my liking. Thanks Mike Schmidt, and your high-numbered short-printed multi-playered RC!

I would have loved to complete these sets in the good old-fashioned way, but as most would understand, it's an insanely difficult task, given my location. Best to go for the whole lot in one giant spree! As it stands right now, I have 150 '76 cards & 40 '75 cards, which will no doubt become redundant once the sets arrive. I will see if I can list them individually for those who may need some of them.

I also have a complete 1974 Dodgers Team Set, and if anyone out there truly needs it, let me know. They're all in Nr-Mt-Mint condition, but that may change, based on the condition of the cards that arrive. Obviously, I'll be keeping the best ones! (Sorry!)

Hopefully, I will get a nice gift in the mail before Friday, and I will be able to share some pics of those legendary mid-70's sets with everyone.

Until then,

Thanks for reading!

Nick

Hawaii Cards

G'day guys!

I'm seriously tired after sorting my entire baseball card collection into alphabetical order.

That's right - around 120,000 cards arranged in order of surname. I finished this mammoth task yesterday, and I was planning a few posts about certain players and their baseball card history. The only 'problem' is, I'm leaving for Hawaii in 5 days, and I will certainly want all posts to include an updated list of every player and their cards.

I know of a couple of card shops around Honolulu, along with the usual haunts, Wal-Mart. K-Mart, Target, Toys'R'Us, etc.

Chances are I will have a huge addition to my collection when I return home in about a month. So, I can't wait to post some pics of whatever it is that comes my way.

Thanks for reading!

Nick J

It's been a while...

G'day guys!

It's been quite a while since I posted here - I've been busy organizing my collection of Baseball Cards into alphabetical order. It's been a month-long job, and I've managed to get them all alphabetized by team.

Now it's just a matter of merging each and every team into a full alphabetical list.

I will be able to post 'complete' player collections once it's done.

I'm guessing it will only be about a week or so.

In the meantime, here's a cool card pic!

The only multi-player card in the 2003 Topps set that features players from different teams!

I don't condone it, but...

Puffer Bong!

Nick

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