Friday, August 31, 2018

nick puts some good wood on my collection

alex wood's delivery is what i would describe as 'all knees and elbows'.  pretty sure vin scully has called it the same.  the lefty's delivery is on display on a trio of cards that were included in a recent trade package from nick at dime boxes.

first up is wood's 2018 topps opening day card
that's about as compact as wood gets in his windup.  

next up is a 2018 panini donruss card
here is where wood extends his left arm.  you've heard of 'making the t' with your arms as part of the throwing motion? wood makes a sort of forward slash.

last up is a 2018 topps 1983 design insert
wood is a bit more upright here than you'd expect. at some point he leans over during his delivery - somewhere between the photos shown on the donruss and 1983 card.

there were more great cards in the package, as always.  thanks nick!

Thursday, August 30, 2018

so you're saying it's good?

it's been a little while since i completed a vintage dodger team set, so i started looking around at some 1954 bowman.  at the time, i needed three cards - duke snider, don newcombe, and roy campanella.  i found a campy card on the cheap and pounced.
roy looks like he's feeling the same fatigue as the card, which has some real vintage wear.  it's got rounded corners and creases and even some ballpoint pen gouging in the lower right corner.  here's a close-up:
looks like someone was doing some on-card grading.  as far as i can tell, it says "good".  yes, 1950's roy campanella cards are always good.

i also found a very inexpensive newk to add to my collection.
it's in much better shape than campy, and the colors are great.  love the baby ruth ad in the background!

duke was the last card i needed for the team set and here he is:
with another vintage dodger team set completed, things are (just like the duke) definitely looking up!

Tuesday, August 28, 2018

my favorite card of the year

i received a big sur-prise when i saw that one of the natural wonders box toppers in 2018 topps allen & ginter was this card:
that stretch of california coast - the ragged edge of the western world - is truly awesome.  it's a little weird that pch and the bixby bridge are featured on a 'natural wonders' card, but i'll take it.  i've driven that stretch of highway dozens of times, and i've run across the bixby bridge twice (it's the halfway point of the big sur international marathon).  pch recently reopened after being closed due to mudslides, and i am looking forward to driving down the coast hopefully sometime this fall when i head back to california.

there was also a bora bora card
in the 'world's greatest beaches' insert set which was nice.  i once spent three weeks in french polynesia including a week with a great view of otemanu (the peak shown on the card).  thanks to brian at highly subjective for sending me this card.  still, big sur is pretty much my favorite spot on earth and it's going to take a pretty spectacular card to surpass that box topper as my favorite card of 2018.

Monday, August 27, 2018

pirate goose

some of you may recall my pursuit of ttm autos of the 1978 topps team cards and checklists that i posted about last year.

one of those cards was the pirates team card that grant jackson had signed and returned for me, and i mentioned at the time that i had considered sending it to goose gossage.  well, i found another card and did just that.
i told goose to sign it as largely as he liked, and he complied.  no hof notation, but that's ok.  goose is standing in front of jerry reuss - he's just to the left of the 'g' in 'gossage'.

the 1977 pirates won 96 games but finished in second place behind the phillies.  their bullpen was pretty stacked with gossage, kent tekulve, and terry forster.  both gossage and forster joined the pirates from the white sox prior to 1977, and both left after the season via free agency.  the 1978 topps pirates team card is the only card i have in my collection of gossage or forster as a pirate, which is ok.

thanks goose!

Thursday, August 23, 2018

houston strong

hurricane harvey was brutal.  over 100 people died, directly or indirectly, as a result of the storm, and the city of houston was inundated with record amounts of rainfall and the inevitable flash flooding that caused the evacuation of thousands of people.  of course, other countries and other parts of the united states were hit hard as well.  today marks the one-year anniversary of harvey making landfall in texas.

the astros wore a patch to honor the victims of the hurricane, with their starred 'h' logo and the word 'strong' below it.  this 2018 topps lance mccullers card shows the patch front and center.
i saw a lot of the patch during the world series last fall, but with friends and family in houston, i was ok with it.  the patch, that is - not the result of the world series.

Tuesday, August 21, 2018

buttoning up my collection?

i have mainly been focusing on my steve garvey collection when it comes to purchasing new cards.  it seems as though every week there is a rare garvey card posted for sale, so there have been more cards to ponder over than i had expected.

while i don't bid on or purchase every card that comes up for sale,  i did relent after watching this card for a while
it's a 2012 panini national treasures signature materials button relic, numbered to 7.  the seller had reduced the price with a best offer option, and so i used some stockpiled paypal balance money to add it to my collection.  it's the first and only button relic in my collection, but not the only card from this set that i've added this year.  i've had the "plain" version of the jersey/auto card numbered to 25 for quite a while, but picked up the "prime" version
which is also numbered to 25.  shenanigans to be sure on the part of panini, but i accept my fate as a supercollector.

Monday, August 20, 2018

do you feel luuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuc-ky?

sometime during the last year i sold all of my hockey card sets, and a few years ago i sent all of my non-pc hockey cards to captain canuck.  i've been doing some more organizing lately, and i've removed all of my pc hockey cards from their binders, except for a couple of players.  one is wayne gretzky and the other is my favorite player - luc robitaille
i found that 1994 sports illustrated for kids card in a nickel box a few months ago, and it resulted in me taking stock of my luc collection.  i realized that i did not have a rookie card of the hall-of-famer, so i corrected that quickly by picking up a 1987-88 topps card
i grew up not only following the dodgers, but the kings as well.  i believe i was actually wearing a kings t-shirt  as a toddler before i ever wore a dodger t-shirt, courtesy of my uncle.  anyway, i generally started following hockey around 1979. my dad and my uncle were big fans, and we used to go to kings games a couple of times each season. my dad took my brother and i to the 1980-81 all-star game at the fabulous forum in los angeles. that was the first time i saw gretzky play. luc obviously wasn't there, but the triple crown line (charlie simmer, marcel dionne, and dave taylor) was.  i thought that gordie howe was there, but i must be thinking of a game we went to the previous season to see him playing with the whalers because i definitely remember seeing number 9 skating with his son, mark (mark was at the all-star game, so that is probably lending to my confusion).  i'm getting off track - i was just trying to establish my legit hockey fandom that stretched from the late 1970's into the late 1990's.

i moved to orange county in time for the gretzky years (i even attended his first regular season game with the kings), and i spent too much money on game tickets and cards during that time.  it was so much fun being a kings fan during those years, as the team was popular and the organization did a lot to connect with the fans.  even though they lost the stanley cup to montreal, it was a great time to be a fan.

when i moved from socal to minny, there was no nhl team in the twin cities.  i did sign up to be a season ticket holder for the wild in their first season along with some friends (just as i had done with the mighty ducks of anaheim back in their inaugural season) and i really enjoyed it.  i was really excited in 2002 when the red wings won the stanley cup because luc was on that team, but my attention span for the nhl was waning.  the lack of a season in 2004-05 pretty much killed my fandom, although i did watch a few stanley cup finals games here and there in subsequent years, including game 6 of the 2011-12 finals that saw the kings finally raise lord stanley's cup.

luc was in the front office then, but it was still a great moment to see him hold the cup as a king.  

robitaille continues to show up in hockey product apparently, but i am not really actively seeking out his cards.  i do have a final tribute from 2006-07 fleer flair showcase
those numbers are ridiculous, including more goals than any other left winger.

i'm definitely keeping my luc collection, and will hold on to the gretzky cards for the time being, but i still have a bunch of hockey cards featuring most of the key players from the late 1980's into the mid 1990's if anyone is interested.

Sunday, August 19, 2018

affordable cards for my collection are a win

i joined colbey's most recent affordable break in which he went after 2012 topps opening day, 2013 panini prizm, and 2013 panini pinnacle.  i took the dodgers of course, and wound up with the twins as my second team which works out well.

a few highlights from the break include two pinnacle clear vision inserts of clayton kershaw - the first being the 'win' version
and the second being the 'complete game' version
i'm typing this post prior to the game today, and kershaw may have to go the distance to get the win the way the dodger bullpen has been pitching lately.  last night's game ended in a balk.  i've been to a game where that happened. it's weird and unsatisfying.

colbey also threw in a blaster of 2018 topps chrome which netted me a justin turner refractor
and his 1983 parallel
thanks for hosting, colbey!

Saturday, August 18, 2018

a couple of fifths

the latest trade return package i received from matt at bob walk the plank included a pair of kings.  there was this 2002 donruss diamond kings chicago national parallel of future hall of famer adrian beltre
and this 2015 panini diamond kings studio portraits green auto-dual relic card
both are numbered to just 5 copies - beltre is 2/5
and joc is 5/5
thanks matt!

Thursday, August 16, 2018

trade packages are a bright spot in my mailbox

do you even laser?

julie at a cracked bat sent me some dodgers recently, and my favorite card in the mailer was this 1996 topps laser hideo nomo bright spots insert
nomo was indeed a bright spot for the dodgers in 1995, although he, like the rest of the dodgers, failed to deliver in the nlds against the reds.  

some might say that cody bellinger's 2017 season was much like nomo's 1995 campaign.  this cody bellinger highlight card (one of 30, i believe) shows him "making it count" in 2017
while bellinger certainly helped the dodgers get through the nlds and nlcs, his inability to adjust to the way the astro pitchers were pitching him is a big reason why the dodgers failed to win the world series last year.  anyway, i like that there is a lurking yasiel puig in the background of that card.

there is a card where both puig and bellinger get billing in 2018 topps, and julie sent that as well.
not the dynamic duo, just dynamic dodgers.

here's one more card from the trade package. a 2015 topps tribute yasiel puig parallel.
it's not purple, by the way; it's amethyst!

thanks julie!

Wednesday, August 15, 2018

100 cards plus 1 pack repack recap

i was looking for a couple of grocery related items and decided to take a chance that my nearby cvs would have them.  they did not.  they did however have one of those 100 cards plus 1 pack repacks.  i had not seen repacks at this cvs before, although it had been a long time since i had darkened their doorway.

i decided to buy the repack so that my wasted trip would be not quite so wasted.  here's what i found inside.

showing through the window:

2014 topps masahiro tanaka factory set variation
i did not recognize this as a variation prior to my purchase.

2014 topps manny machado
can't wait for his dodger update card to be a variation just like darvish's last year.

1998 upper deck collector's choice mo vaughn starquest insert
2014 topps tim lincecum
2014 topps gerrit cole
2014 topps mark teixeira
2014 topps mike trout
lots of 2014 topps up top in this thing.  could do worse than trout, though.

2014 topps chris sale
2014 topps adam wainwright
2014 topps alex rodriguez
2014 topps felix hernandez
2014 topps stephen strasburg
2008 topps gary sheffield trading card history insert
the second insert of the repack.

2000 upper deck mvp gerald williams silver signature parallel
i have a bunch of these silver signatures from mvp and collector's choice in a box somewhere.

2006 upper deck kenny lofton diamond collection insert
first dodger, and it is an insert that i need!

1992 mcdonald's ryan klesko
1988 score mike witt
1988 score mike heath
1988 score joe carter
1988 score juan samuel
1989 donruss ted power
1992 topps traded scott ruskin
1992 topps curtis wilkerson
2000 mlb showdown david segui
2000 mlb showdown brook fordyce
2017 topps jarrod dyson
this was the newest card in the repack (it was the first of the 2017's, so it gets scanned).

1985 fleer update karl best
2015 topps gerrit cole
2017 topps jason grilli
2017 topps kevin keirmaier
2015 topps chase headley
2017 topps jason hammel
2017 topps mike zunino
2017 topps noah syndergaard league leader
2016 topps world series kyle schwarber
boxed set and green screen!

2015 topps taylor hill
2015 topps alex avila
2015 topps bud norris
2015 topps joc pederson photo variation
hey now! another photo variation, and it is a dodger and a need!

1988 score tommy hinzo
1992 upper deck rookie threats
1991 donruss candy maldonado
1992 upper deck ted wood
1988 donruss neal heaton
neal heaton is standing in dodger stadium.

1988 donruss floyd youmans
1992 upper deck eric king
1982 topps john wathan
this was the oldest card in the repack.

1988 o-pee-chee charlie kerfeld
1988 o-pee-chee danny jackson
text variation!

2015 topps carlos beltran
1989 donruss kelly gruber
1994 upper deck collector's choice vinny castilla
1990 upper deck steve bedrosian
1991 topps gregg olson
1987 topps donnie moore
1988 fleer charlie puleo

1988 fleer charlie puleo
back-to-back with the charlie puleo cards!

1987 topps john candelaria
1991 score frank viola dream team subset
1991 score fred mcgriff
2001 donruss craig biggio
2015 topps jonathan papelbon
1990 topps alfredo griffin
2011 topps heritage bobby jenks
2005 topps heritage terrmel sledge
2011 topps heritage ryan zimmerman
2010 topps update david ortiz
1990 score jody reed
1990 score terry leach
1992 fleer ultra brian hunter
1990 score dave justice
1990 fleer dan petry
1990 fleer chris speier - unfortunately, not speier's teammate jose uribe
1990 score bobby thigpen
1990 score ozzie guillen
1991 score rick reed
1991 score nelson liriano
1988 score randy ready
randy ready at the ready.

1988 score charlie puleo (charlie puleo hot pack!)
1988 score kevin romine
2015 topps didi gregorius
2012 topps mat latos
2012 topps adam dunn
2015 topps carl crawford
2015 topps ben zobrist
2012 topps desmond jennings
2012 topps alex rodriguez/jim thome/jason giambi active leaders
2012 topps jim thome
yes virginia, jim thome did play in the field at one time.

2012 topps kevin youkilis
2012 topps jason kipnis
1991 topps john moses
2014 topps david ortiz world series subset
i really hope the red sox don't win the world series this year.

2014 topps yoenis cespedes
these should be their uniforms every day.

2014 topps prince fielder
2014 topps yoenis cespedes (yes, another double)
2014 topps derek jeter
yeah jeets!

2014 topps clayton kershaw
yeah kersh!

2014 topps matt cain
2014 topps clay buchholz
2014 topps brandon belt
2000 topps mike piazza
sorry mike - it looks like a 6-4-3.

the pack was 1992 donruss and i sent it to hazel green to be opened on someone's 40th birthday along with another junk wax pack i had sitting around.

i deem this repack to be a success given the joc pederson variation card and the lofton insert, plus a couple other cards i can keep for my collection.