40 for $20 Card Show Mojo

As a coach, Saturday card shows are something I usually don't get the privilege of enjoying. But, this time of year things tend to slow down and I can afford to sit myself down at a dealer's boxes and let the rest of the world do its thing.

Yesterday was one of these days. I stopped by the monthly show in Normal, IL on my way to a wedding in Chicago. Even though there is usually only a handful of dealers present, this show is one of my favorites because I've come to know two of the dealers fairly well. Their inventory doesn't overlap too much, so I have no problem purchasing from both, but more importantly they are fun to chat with and good dudes overall. One of them hooked me up with a bunch of Packers for a return trade package and the other one sold me a 1981 Topps set for a very nice price.

This purchase actually comes from a third dealer, whom I don't know very well at all. I did get to know his "40 for $20 - Today Only Special" boxes though. He's had these boxes before, but I've never purchased much from him because they didn't contain anything I really needed and the prices were consistently more than what I'm comfortable buying for single cards. For instance, all the cards had price stickers on them and the cards I'm going to show off in this post totaled $162. No, I can't justify that, but at fifty cents each?  Yeah, I can do that! (FYI, not all 40 cards made this post because some are earmarked for surprise future mailings to my blogging brethren.)

I could only find about 25 cards that I wanted to add to my Cubs collection, so I started plucking out relics of notable players to add to my stack.

 The Molitor is my favorite of this group. White jersey swatches are very bland in my opinion.

Here are some early cards of some guys who will fit nicely in my stars box. The card in the upper-right is of Jake Arrieta.

I have no idea if these two autos are legit or not, but at fifty cents apiece I couldn't afford to not gamble on them.

Plus, I love the powder blue jersey and Buckner's thick facial hair.

Here's the last of the non-Chicago cards:

The Manny Ramirez jersey swatch actually is a dark forest green. I'm not sure where that came from. The other card is a Josh Vitters auto that I remember chasing after the Cubs drafted him in the first round. #Bust

Football?  I never buy football cards for my own collection, but I made an exception this time. The card of Walter Payton is from Roger Staubach's NFL Football set, which was made by the Ted Williams card company in 1994. I love that it has his nickname on the front, but the smile is even better.

I didn't have a Gale Sayers card in my collection until now. A fifty year old card with rounded corners and four pinholes make this an easy steal at fifty cents.

Some nice Cubs including an eTopps card from 2004:

Bring on the relics! Two Kerry Woods for my player collection:

DLee, Soriano, ARam, Big Z and The Hawk. Great stuff!

And we finish this post up with another Dawson and Amazin' Grace:

Dropping a twenty at one dealer's table, for this dime-box diver, is not an easy thing to do. But, I didn't think twice this time around.

Thanks for stopping by!

This Package Hit The Spot

A very large padded yellow mailer filled my mailbox late last week and its contents were all of the same theme: Cubs cards from years past! John, from Johnny's Trading Spot, must have needed to clear out some room in his collection. I'm always happy to help out!

In all, there were over 200 cards in the mailer . . . enough to draw the attention of Holiday, my curious cat.

 There wasn't just complete Cubs randomness. Instead, the contents were very well organized and it seemed as though there was 8 to 12 cards from about twenty different sets. Nearly all of the sets were from the 90s and the first decade of this century.

I can't show 200+ card in one post . . . well, I guess I could . . . but who wants to scroll through that?
So, instead you get the five which most caught my eye.

Howard Johnson played for the Cubs?  HoJo?

The back of this '96 Upper Deck Collector's Choice card shows him playing in 87 games and hitting 0.195. I believe this card would qualify as a sunset card. Eat your heart out, Dimebox Nick!

Milton Bradley, from the 2009 Topps Ticket to Stardom set.

When the Cubs signed Milton Bradley I thought he was the perfect fit: an outfielder who could hit for average and take a walk. Somehow I completely overlooked the fact Bradley was a complete headcase. Oy.

2009 Upper Deck card of Neal Cotts.

I remember Neal Cotts as a pretty fair lefty reliever, but one of my friends used to call him Captain Chaos.

A Molina in a Cubs uniform!

The back of this 2000 Bowman card states that Jose Molina is the brother of Benjie Molina. It makes no mention of Yadier, who would be drafted by the Cardinals that same summer.


Carlos Zambrano, 2005 Topps 1st Edition parallel.

I still have fond memories of Big Z at the plate. Still only 38, Zambrano played for the Chicago Dogs this summer and pitched in 35 games and even got 19 plate appearances in a league that has the DH.

Woo-Hoo!  There were some Brooks Kieschnick cards in the package!

Three of the four were new to my player collection of the former two-way player. I now currently have 98 different cards of his. So close to the century mark!

Last up are the only cards in the package from 2019.

The Cole Hamels is from the Topps Sticker set and has Marcus Stroman on the front. I love me some stickers! The Bote is as shiny as can be... adding another card of Bote McBoatFace to my collection makes me smile.

Thanks for the Cubs, John. I'll try to reel in some Braves to send your way before too long!

Bump and Run to the Rescue

Trevor runs the Bump and Run Football Card Blog and his latest PWE really helped me out.

As his note describes, the Cubs were absolutely dreadful in September, but the Northsiders aren't the only Chicago team struggling of late. My Bears were abysmal on Sunday and I think it's safe to say Trubisky is not the answer at QB.

Thankfully, I saved this PWE to open during the game on Sunday and it helped to take my mind off of the Bears' anemic offense.

 I built the master set of the inaugural Big League offering, but the design of the second run didn't really do it for me. I'm glad some of the Cubs singles are starting to trickle in.

This might be my favorite year of Topps Fire so far.

 I like the bright colors in the background and how the blue matches with the Cubs uniforms.

 Ooooooh!  A shiny Fire parallel of El Mago, the new cover boy for the next edition of MLB The Show.

Thanks for the great cards Trevor!  I'll look to repay the favor as soon as I have the chance to track down some cards for you.

Leveling Up My Olson Game

My first time through the hobby saw me pick dozens of Gregg Olson and Greg Olson cards. Since then I have added some Karl Olson and Matt Olson cards to my collection. To this point I've only cataloged my Karl Olson collection, because ... well ... vintage is cool!

Last week a major Zippy Zapping of a package arrived in my box. Originally, I thought it was the Sportlots order I was waiting on, but once I saw the return address was from the east coast I became very intrigued. 

Where on the east coast?  Hmm, I think the contents of the package will answer that one for you.

Game programs:

 Scorecards:

 What's this?

 Hey, the inside holds a uncut team set from the 2000 Staten Island Yankees Championship team!

 Odds and ends from the SI Yankees:

All of this was a huge head scratcher for me. I love minor league baseball, but I'm not a Yankees guy and I've never been to that part of New York. 

Then I found this gem in the middle:

 It's an 8.5" by 11" photo autographed and inscribed to yours truly!  How cool is that!?!

The SIY promotional items served perfectly as a cushion for this gem of an auto to safely travel my way.

Here's the certificate of authenticity:

Simply stated, I'm floored.

This Zippy Zapping also comes with a pack of cards:

A pre-rookie custom of the best catcher ever graced the top, but underneath I have the clues I need.
It looks like I need a couple of packs if I'm going to do a Pack War. Maybe I'll buy a pack or two of Update and see if I can't luck into a base card of The Vogelmonster. LOL

Zippy Zappy, you are the best!  Thanks for thinking of me!

These Didn't Come from the Dollar Store

Packages are starting to build up on my desk again, so here's the oldest one in the stack for your perusal. 

This one originates from north of the border. (Side note: why are shipping fees so outrageous to Canada? I feel like I'm paying for shipping in the USA and then all over again in another country. Argh.)

Douglas, from Sportscards From The Dollar Store had been squirreling Cubs cards away and I'm glad he kept me in mind. 

There was plenty of randomness in the package, but here's my favorites;

Matt Clement is a favorite here at Waiting 'til Next Year headquarters. Did you know we have a motto? "It's not ours unless it has cat hair on it." (See the left black border near the signature. Sheesh.)

I'm hoping Alzolay finds his way into the rotation for next year. First, that would mean he earned it, because he surely isn't going to be given the spot ahead of spring training. Secondly, the Cubs could really use an innings eater who is cost controlled. That roster of about to get crazy expensive.

I built the 2017 Stadium Club set, but I never was blessed with a gold Schwarber parallel. Very nice. 

More Stadium Club means more terrific photos.

Panini Chronicles is a crazy set.

 If I had the patience for it I would build this monster.

 There are so many designs and subsets it's difficult to keep track of.

I'm not even sure what I'm looking at here, but I love all of it!

Nico!

Maybe he's the second baseman in 2020? Maybe he's the lead-off hitter? 
Perhaps. But, I think he'll start the year in AAA to get a little more seasoning. 

I love Heritage High series more than the regular issued set. Who's with me on that one?

 I enjoy all the bullpen and role player guys. Kintzler, Brach, Kimbrel, Caratini and Descalso. Simply fantastic.

Lastly, we have a couple of autos.

I'm not sure what to think about Trevor Clifton, but the hour glass is about up on him making a splash with the big league roster. Caratini has carved out a role with the Cubs and I'm quite ecstatic to add this numbered orange parallel to my autograph collection. 

Thanks for the cards, Douglas! A package just left P-town for you today.  😀

Send Me Your 2019 US296

The first images of Topps Update are appearing on the interwebs.  No need to go anywhere else, I have the image of the card everyone will be chasing!

In all seriousness, I thought about buying into a 2-case player break for Daniel Vogelbach's 2019 Topps Update card.

 Then I was like, "What am I going to with 45 base cards when one will do the trick?".

So, if you pull a Vogelmonster base or a parallel or one of the relics, then please let me know!  I'll make it worth your while by sending you some cardboard in a good old swap!

I like the picture on the front, but I'm disappointed the back didn't include stats. I guess a summary with a bunch of "..." will do in a pinch though.

Woo-Hoo!  Let the chase begin!

Ogle Those Vogels: Deep Stat Dive

The 2019 MLB regular season has concluded and the playoffs are in full swing. I'm paying attention to the post season, but I'm more intrigued by the Cubs' managerial search and everything Daniel Vogelbach.

I was listening to ESPN radio and the Nats vs. Dodgers series and the announcers were talking about Max Muncy's position versatility and his patience at the plate. As it turns out, Muncy was third all of baseball this past season in pitches seen per plate appearance.

Here's a screenshot of the Top 10 in MLB from baseballreference.com:

Look at who's #2!  Wow, that's some solid company Vogelbach is keeping!

I'm pretty ecstatic The Vogelmonster is so accomplished at fouling off pitches and taking balls just off the plate. As a high school baseball coach, who has to watch pitch count limits during a game, I'm constantly preaching patience at the plate so we can get into the other team's bullpen sooner.

To celebrate Vogelbach's first 30-home campaign and his eagle eye, let me drop some super Vogel-mojo on you.

I believe I have completed the 2018 Panini National Treasures Daniel Vogelbach rainbow!

Vogelbach was granted one spot on the checklist, but that meant seven cards, with each featuring a jersey swatch and autograph. Above is the "silver" version numbered to /25.

Here's the "gold" numbered to /10.

This is my favorite card of the group, the "one-of-one " laundry tag!

Behold, the printing plates!

 Yellow.

 Black.

Cyan.

Magenta.

Here's a picture of all four at once.

The magenta just arrived the other day and I still haven't had a chance to package it up like the rest.

All I need now is a Vogelbach jersey to cut up and some auto'd stickers and I can start producing my own Vogelmonster cards. Woo-Hoo!

Thanks for stopping by today!