Scribbled Ink Contest Winnings

I've got to be honest about this one. I completely forgot I entered a contest at Scribbled Ink to help Paul get revenge against Miguel Cabrera for backing out of Tigersfest.

Cardboard themed mail has been building up on my computer desk... there's that "Collection" in the basement I've been working on every night... school... coaching...  Yeah. Life gets in the way.

And then Paul sends you cards and a nice note to help you jog the ol' memory.

 I saw the first card and it all came racing back to me.

 It's an Eff Miggy 1/1. I think that might be Paul in the front row giving Miggy the finger, but I'm not quite sure about that. LOL

Let's move on to the Cubs cards...

It's the Rookie Cup Ryno insert from 2017 Topps. I guess I never thought about the 1983 set not having the rookie cup on any of the cards. How about that.  For the record, this is the 866th different Ryne Sandberg card in my collection.

Great start. Could it get better?

 How about some Peoria Chiefs? Fantastic!  The only two names I remember are Terry Adams, who pitched for the Cubs, and Bill Bliss. I've always liked alliteration and I think that's why I remember Bliss. Or maybe it's because he spent parts of three seasons in P-town?

1990 Fleer was nothing to write home about, but those League Standouts inserts were pretty neat to pull. The Sandberg Collect-A-Book is in much better condition than the one I have in my Ryno collection. Nice, an upgrade.

I'm getting much better at keeping straight the Topps designs from over the years. Although, the decade of he 1950's still gives me trouble. That's a 1973 Paul Popovich on the left, which gets me a step closer to finishing the Cubs team set from that year.

That's a Jody Davis Sportflics card on the right. Those blasted things are so hard to photograph/scan.

2018 Topps Inserts!  I love how the new cards keep rolling in and I've yet to purchase a pack.

Here's one I've been on the look out for the last few months.

 This Rizzo Heroes of Autumn card goes straight to the World Series Binder!  Now I just have to track down the Zobrist insert.

Last up, it's a Ball Park Franks stadium giveaway card commemorating Billy Williams Statue Dedication Day.

 I really like this card... the statue, nice picture of Billy, big Cubs logo... and full stats one back.

 The fact that it's an oddball only helps!  I'm not sure how Paul came across this card, but I sure am happy he was generous enough to send it my way.

Thanks for the cardboard contest winnings, Paul!  I'll be sure to return fire in the near future!

A Hot PWE

There are hot boxes where the lucky breaker gets more autos or parallels that beats the odds. I've never opened a hot box, but I can only imagine how much fun that would be.

There are hot packs where you might come across the base card and insert of a player in the same pack. I've had this happen to me quite a few times, but it's never been of a Cubs player.

Is there such a thing as a Hot PWE? 🔥

Well, I think Marc, from Remember the Astrodome, just sent me one.

How about this?

It's a Hee Seop Choi Hot PWE!  For what it's worth, I think the 2004 Topps design is very underrated as a set.  I like the gray border the Opening Day cards offer, as well.

Forty percent of the cards in this PWE were of Choi, which I think qualifies as a Hot PWE. If I recall correctly, Hee Seop Choi was the first base prospect Jim Hendry traded to Florida for Derrek Lee. Good stuff. 

Two hard throwing righties: 

 Garza is still looking for a team to pitch for in 2018, as is Arrieta. I could see both of these guys joining the Brewers, but I hope not. I hope they both find new teams outside of the NL Central, especially Jake.

 World Baseball Classic!  I seem to be the landing spot for Anthony Rizzo cards as of late. I can't complain about that!

Thanks for the surprise package, Marc.  I'll be sure to send something back before too long!

Johnny's Trading Spot Strikes Again!

John, in a recent trade, mentioned within the package's note that more cards would be coming. Then he snuck a little comment into the trade post summary:

Hehe, indeed.

I guess the headquarters of Johnny's Trading Spot must currently be flush with Cubs cards as of late.

And, what's this?

Vogelmonsters?

The leading card on each of the two team bags were of The Vogelmonster!  That's a great way to start any trade package!

I have a mini player collection of Glenallen Hill. The dude had prodigious power!  And, he's such a badda$$ with the red batting gloves, wristbands, and shades.

 I have a more formal collection of former #1 draft pick Brooks Kieschnick. The Fleer Excel card above is the 81st different Kieschnick in my collection.

I was so excited about the Cubs starting rotation back in 2002 and 2003. Well, we all know how that turned out.

Kerry Wood is still involved with the Cubs and I believe Mark Prior will be the Dodger's bullpen coach this season. Good for him!

Speaking of guys I was excited about in 2002. Corey Patterson had all the tools, but he never could quite make enough contact.

 Those 2003 Topps Chrome cards work really well with the Cubs cards. Isn't it about time we have another Cracker Jack set?  I'm game!

Here's a couple of more cards that stood out to me.

Sammy still pops up in the headlines from time to time. Rich Hill seems to have found the fountain of youth. I love that big lefty curveball of his... you know, except when he's striking out my team with it.

John added another Vogelmonster to cap off the package. Behold:

There's always room for another autograph in my collection!  Dugout shots are kind of rare and I kind of like this photo. Yet, I had no idea it was from 2014 and was a complete uniform photoshop job until I read this post from Matt at Once a Cub. Nice detective work, Matt!

John, I'm beginning the slow process of digging out from "The Collection" and I'll be sure to hit you back once I have a sizable stack of Braves to ship your way.  Thanks for the Cubs and Vogelmonsters!

PWE Trade Roundup

I've been slowing making progress on my 2013 Panini USA Baseball Champions set. Tyler, from Rekindling the Cardboard Flame, sent me a nice little PWE the other day.

Thanks for the set help, Tyler

In another PWE, Jim, aka gcrl & author of cards as i see them, also chipped in a card toward the same set.

 I love a good note in a trade package.

 Jim knocked one more off my set want list, which can be found here. He must have had doubles of Shawn Green in his Dodgers box.

Also included in the package were some Cubs. Nice!

 I hope Ian Happ can work his way into the lineup more than he did during the 2017 post season. He had a combined eight plate appearances in five of the Cubs ten playoff games. Maddon should recognize he's a future star. Topps sure does!

Willson Contreras is my favorite Cub and it's because he plays so hard and shows so much emotion.

Anthony Rizzo is the cornerstone, leader, and face of the franchise. And, he's a close #2 on my current favorite Cubs list. I really like these Pride and Perseverance cards and I hope Topps continues to think outside the box for their inserts in the future. 

Thanks for the trades, guys!

Fun Time In the Burbs

My wife likes to spend hours at a time during the winter at King Spa & Sauana in the Chicago suburbs . . . and I don't. I very much dislike the heat and the idea of sitting around sweating with a bunch of other dudes. It doesn't appeal to me at all. We've found a solution though... we go during times when there are card shows!  Woot!

Holy cow, did I have a fun time last weekend!

Bowman's Best for a dime apiece?  Yes, please!

More shiny cardboard, but this time the boys in blue!

Yes, that's Kyle Hendricks' first Bowman Chrome card... also for ten cents. That might have been the steal of the day.

The dime boxes were very good to me.  I don't have much in Mike Schmidt department, but I do now.

 Back when my sister and I started collecting cards we would get a kick out of trying to pronounce Schmidt's last name. Six consonants and one vowel... for kids who didn't yet know who Mike Schmidt was... lol! Yeah, that was similar to Harry Caray trying to pronounce "Mark Grudzielanek" after seven or eight innings of beer. I can still hear my sister cackling at our attempts!

I have a new found appreciation for the early 80's as of late.

 More 80's... good card of great players.

 Gosh, I had fun picking through the numerous dime boxes. I even found some cards trying to pass as actual vintage.  I put those in the pile, too.

 I plucked out many cards for my Hall of Fame binder. This is just a small sampling, but I take what I can find of guys like Lou Boudreau. An actual vintage card of Boudreau, a guy who was an 8 time All-Star in the 1940's, is going to set me way back.

 Thank goodness for modern cards of vintage-type players!

Oh, Topps Gallery, look at what you have become.

 The artwork on the left is so clear and crisp... the 2017 version left me wanting more, but that didn't stop me from adding a dollar's worth of it to my pile from the dime box.

Did you know Mel Allen had a baseball card? I grew up watching This Week In Baseball and I still regularly use his catchphrase of "How about that?" I'm choosing to ignore that this is a New York Yankees card.

I've almost purchased a blaster of Panini Contenders numerous times, now that itch has been scratched for about three bucks. Yep, I added about thirty cards to my pile of the brand from the dime box.

 Yes, your eyes are not deceiving you. That IS John Elway in the upper left. Good stuff!

Here's the last of my dime box purchases:

 I think the best of the lot is the Barry Larkin acetate card, but that's only because I already own a couple copies of the Griffey.

Yes, that is a bundt cake.  I was given a door prize ticket when I paid my entrance fee to the show. a half hour later I was the proud winner of a chocolate bundt cake from Nothing Bundt Cakes and a $25 gift certificate to any dealer's table at the show.  (For the record, I split the cake with my wife and it was phenomenal!)

I made a bee line for one of the vintage dealers at the show and bought 30 star cards from the 1980 Topps set. The sticker price of the cards was $31, but he flipped through and said, "How about twenty-five."

"PERFECT!"

Yeah, it was a good morning. By the way, I now have a small 1980 Topps want list up and ready.  I still need the Rickey Henderson rookie, but I'll pick up a cheap/dinged copy at some point. The search for the perfect bargain is part of the fun!

I also made it to a brick and mortar shop and bought a brick of 1980 Topps commons from the establishment. Did I mention, I still had the "fun money" my grandfather had given me for Christmas?  Yeah, I'm forty years old, and my grandfather still gives me cash to have fun with.

Gosh, I'm spoiled rotten.

So, part of his gift to me was spent on a large stack of 1980 commons and the rest went toward what I consider to be my best purchases of 2018.

This is the last card to complete my run of Topps Ron Santo cards.

 Sure, it's not the best condition, but I think that can be said for most of the cards older than me in my collection...  and I'm okay with that. I like to think cards with rounded corners have a history they can tell.

Here's a couple of more cards that are almost as old as my grandfather.

 The "Lou Gehrig says..." card is from 1934 and looks like an original Goudey card, but it's not!  Take a gander at the back.

 Oooh, la, la! It was made in Canada by the World Wide Gum Company and half the card is in French. Pretty neat!

I have a mini Stan Hack collection and this is a great addition:

It's a 1935 National Chicle card... how cool is that?

It was a great day for cardboard as I made a huge dent in my 1980 Topps set, purchased bunch of trade bait from the dime boxes, and made some wonderful fuzzy-cornered purchases.

That night my wife and I went out for dinner and drinks with some friends. I topped the day off with a couple of delicious adult beverages from Hala Hahiki, a fun tiki bar.

Yes, that shot is on fire!

Good times, great company, and a really fun weekend!

Thanks for stopping by!

The Collection: The Final Big Box

I've really enjoyed rummaging through the collection that I have been gifted. I've found lots of goodies along the way that will make their way to other bloggers. There have also been a few surprises.

About two weeks ago I posted this picture asking for help identifying a signature. The daughter of original owner of the The Collection was curious as to what she had just uncovered.

 So I made a post and within sixteen minutes I had an answer. Wow.

If I would have kept digging through boxes I would have discovered the answer for myself.

Yep, the last box was a Kevin Koslofski hot box!

 As it turns out, Koslofski is from the hometown of the original owner of the collection.

Oh, and for what it's worth, I sent one of the Koslofski cards to gcrl for his help! Thanks again, gcrl!

The final box, can best be described as a long file folder box. It housed many 800-count boxes and some other oddly shaped boxes.

My sister came over and helped me unpack and search this one and she saved these three boxes for last. Above Average. Above Average. And Better Cards. Okay!  The two boxes on top hold about 400 cards, but they're large enough to hold cards in top holders. Lots of cards in top loaders!

Here's a picture of my card sorting table after my sister and I had fun sifting and sorting though the contents.

 I'm  fairly certain the original owner was a fan of the Cardinals. Ugh. 

 Cardinals teams sets, anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

There was a nice little stack of 1963 Topps inside.

I like the Wally Moon card most, may he RIP. 

I also found a small stack of 1962 Topps cards.

Anyday I get my hands on a Don Mossi card is a good day!

Keeping the vintage streak alive:

Post Cereal cards from 1962. The Yogi is going in Hall of Fame binder. Woo-Hoo!

Man, I do love vintage.

The 1970 Topps card is my first vintage card of Willie Mays. Such an awesome find and another for the HOF Binder. The Ozzie rookie is tremendously off center, but it'll do for now as I look to build the 1979 set. I haven't created a want list yet, but I think I have 400+ 1979 cards now... all from these boxes.  😀

Vintage football?

There were two copies of the Walter Payton card and one will stay in my collection. Not sure what I'll do with the rest.

Well, we might as well continue with more non-baseball cardboard.

There's a dozen or so Superman trading cards. Um, okay.

And then there's this gem:

That's right. I'm the proud owner of an unopened 1996-1997 Craftsman Tools Card pack. I didn't realize the Craftsman competitive league carried over from the end of one calendar year to the beginning of the next like the NBA and NHL.

Here's a picture of ALL the non-baseball sports cards I found within the entire collection.

Again, not sure what I'm going to do with these. I used to collect football and basketball, but I'm strictly a baseball guy these days.

I found more cards in top loaders. Sandberg and Shaquille O'Neal rookies were some of the better ones.

These two were pretty nice, as well.

I'm not one for graded cards, but I do appreciate a Mother's Cookies card when I see one!

Six autos were within the entire 14,000+ card collection. Two of them were of Kevin Koslofski and the other four were of Jim Bullinger.

 I looked, but I can't find any connection to the original owner of the collection and Jim Bullinger.

 1989 Southern League All-Star set?

Yeah, that's a bit random. No big names in there, I've already checked.

We'll end the last box with one of my favorite cards to come across.

 It's a second year card of Jim Thome, the local boy, who was recently elected to the Hall of Fame. Very nice indeed.

Thank you for joining me on this fun ride through The Collection. Nothing I can retire on, but plenty of excellent cards I can spread across the blogs.

Have a great weekend!