Juan Comes to Roost

I never took the time to enter Thorzul's Nightmares on Cardboard Contest in the past.  But, I decided with the break between my coaching duties, fall middle school softball season and winter high school girls basketball, that it would be a good way to make use of time.

This year's contest was titled, "Fear the Fleer."  To my surprise, I had very little Fleer product in my collection.  I made off for my LCS and purchased some '88 wax packs, found my wife's glue gun, and got to work.  Just check out those wax pack wrappers!  They make great wings!

Yep, I created the first, to my knowledge, Cardosaurus in history.  Pretty epic!  I have to give Thorzul credit for the species name.  I was trying to make a dragon, but dragons aren't far removed from the prehistoric beasts.  So, Cardosaurus it is.

Here's a close up of Juan smiling for the camera.

Notice his eyes are Milwaukee Brewers logos from '88 Fleer cards.  Hey, you have to play to your judge!

In all, Juan was created from six baseball cards, four wax pack wrappers, quite a few team logo stickers, and three mini boxes of those limited edition all-star sets that Fleer made so many of in 1980s.   All of it was Fleer products.  Well, except for the hot glue and some wire to create a spine and the structure of Juan's wings.

Why did I name him Juan?  Well, I needed something to cover up his vertebrae.  You know, where everything connected: head, body, wings.  So I found another Brewers card and cut him to fit the delicate area.  The card? #158, Juan Castillo.  You can see about two-thirds of the card in the picture below.

What's Juan up to now?  Well, he's protecting my man room, of course!

Above is a picture of Nomar Garciaparra and Jason Giambi being chomped on by Juan.  Juan's favorite treats are players of American League East powerhouse franchises (Garciaparra of the Red Sox) and noted steroid users (Giambi). I try to keep him well fed.

Here's one last snapshot of Jaun flying around my man room.  He looks right at home!

Sometimes I need a fun creative outlet, and Thorzul's Nightmare on Cardboard VI Contest certainly provided that!  I was even awarded runner-up!  How cool is that?

Odds? Yeah, I Beat 'Em.

I ripped into the Topps Archives 8-pack blaster during Game 6 of the World Series the other night.  This was the last blaster from the prize winnings of Once A Cub's fantasy baseball league. In retrospect, it seems only fitting to crack the blaster during the last baseball game of the year.

I always like to a look at the odds on the side of a box before opening even one pack.  I calculate what is expected from the box and keep a mental checklist of what's been opened and what should be coming as I continue to shred through packs.  Yep, it's akin to counting cards in poker, and for this self-proclaimed math nerd it's a ton of fun...

... especially when I beat the odds!

First let's get through some of the inserts.

Here are the two 1983 All-Star cards.  Funny thing is I didn't purchase any Archives this year after collecting the set in 2012.  I did, however, participate in a group break and was randomized the Tigers in addition to my Cubs.

Yep, you guessed it, I've had both of these cards in my possession already.  I traded them away the first time, and maybe I can do it again!

These "Tall Boys" inserts are different.  They're similar to minis in their width, but they're the same 3.5 inches tall as normal cards.  The design of the cards is pretty clean.  I appreciate clean.

I guess I'm too young to think of Don Baylor as an outfielder.  He's also the only representative from the American League on this sticker card.  If I had to play a round of "Which one of these is not like the others?", then Don Baylor would be my choice.

Short Prints?  Yep, another Tiger I've already owned, and a pitcher who has recorded the most wins in a single season in the last 45 years.  Bob Welch earned 27 wins in 1990, which is the most since Denny McClain had 31 wins in 1968.  What an ironically paired couple of short prints!

 There is one Gallery of Heroes card in every 34 packs.  Me?  I had eight packs and out popped this slick stained glass looking Lou Gehrig. I love beating the odds, especially when it involves one of Topps best looking cards in recent memory.

 Seeded at 1 in every 42 packs is a 1960 relic card.

Odds: 0
Me: 2

In my first pack I pulled this Andre Either game used jersey card.  I'm not a Dodger fan, but I know of a couple that might be interested in this one.

Another fun box of cards to bust into.  Thanks again to Matt, from Once a Cub, for running a terrific fantasy league this year. The prizes were awesome.  I have two more repack boxes to break into yet, but I may wait until I really need a baseball fix sometime during the winter months.

I think my favorite is the Gehrig card above, but I love opening packs with cards of past baseball stars.  So, I'll leave you with my favorite four base cards from the blaster, one from each of the four main designs in this year's Archives product.  The Griffey? Yeah, it's one sweet piece of cardboard.

Local Card Show - A Cure for What Ails Ya, Part 2

Time to show off my cards from what I refer to as the other half of my card show haul from last weekend.  You see, I spent a good hour doing my best impersonation of a pinball as I bounced from dealer to dealer, then I set anchor at one table for another hour.

What would cause one to suddenly become so sedentary at a card show?  Dime Boxes of course!  1 card for $0.10 or 15 for $1.00.  By a quick scan I figured there was just under 10,000 cards in the boxes, which included baseball, football, basketball, hockey, racing, and wrestling.  Yikes.

I used to dabble in football and basketball, but I'm a baseball only guy anymore.  From what I could tell it seemed as though this vendor would buy a blaster, rip it, take what he thought he could sell, and then dump the remaining in the monster boxes.  There were little pockets of like cards throughout, but otherwise no rhyme or reason to the order.  Overall, it wasn't too difficult to avoid the other sports.

When it was all said and done I threw a fiver on the table and walked away happy with 75 cards and little bit of a crick in my neck.

Much of what I found will wind up in trade packages.  I've found it much more fiscally responsible to acquire the Cubs I want through trade rather than paying the mark-ups at local shows.  I already have a trading partner in mind for most of what's below, but if you see something you gotta have just give me a holler.

Let's delay no further!

A 1956 Topps Chuck Diering was easily the oldest card in the box.  Mine for less than a dime.  Nice.

I was happy to find local boys in the monster boxes.  Jim Thome graduated from Limestone High School 1988, Ben Zobrist from Eureka High School in 1999 (I think), and Zac McAllister graduated from Illinois Valley Central High School in 2006.  Sparkly, shiny, and shiny.  Right up my alley.

 I picked up fourteen of these Action packed cards from 1993.  Pictured below are Willy Stargell, Lou Brock, Billy Williams, Warren Spahn, Yogi Berra, Bob Gibson, Al Kaline, and Willie Mays.

I love the storied players of the past.  How about some more?  These are from the 2009 Goodwin's Champions set: Bo Jackson, Nolan Ryan, Mike Schmidt, and Johnny Bench.  My favorite is the Bo Jackson card by far, but the others may be the best pitcher, third baseman, and catcher of all-time.

I have a small stack of some 2013 Panini Cooperstown, including a few parallels, but I've only pictured the Jackie Robinson card.  This is my first card of him in a Kansas City Monarchs uniform.

 Jackie is joined by a Donruss puzzle of Stan the Man, a 2013 Panini USA Baseball card of Jim Abbott, and a 2012 Topps Mickey Mantle.

Here's a few more cards from the USA Baseball set: Bubba Starling and Gerritt Cole.  Also a couple of nice prospects in Gary Sanchez and Miguel Sano from last year's Bowman's Best set.

 These are trade bait for sure:  Nelson Cruz, Carlos Gonzalez, Dave Kingman, and Tim Salmon.

And some for my collection: Xander, The Kid, Cingrani, and a Cespedes gold rookie.  Nice.

More trade bait!  A ton of 2013 Panini Prizm and some 2013 Topps Finest.  Cards don't get much shinier than this!

Okay, enough shiny.  A 1980 Mike Schmidt in "okay" condition?  Less than a dime?  Thank you.

 Here's a card of a kid that I've never heard of before, but he shares my last name.  So, what the heck?  For the record, I think he's still in school.  Oh well, the price was right!

I found a couple of Cubs minor leaguers and pounced.  How about a really sweet Andre Dawson?

 I have a feeling the Dawson card won't stay in my collection for long... it all depends on how long it takes my sister to read this post.

I've saved the best for last.
The Giancarlo Stanton was a nice get from 2013 Chrome, as was the green parallel of Prince, and the "Crush" Davis from 2012 Chrome.

I'm hoping the top right card will help pay for my entire day at the card show, including what I bought during the first half of the show.  I'm not sure what this pink parallel of Jose Fernandez was doing in the dime box, but the vendor didn't say anything about it when I settled up and paid.  It's numbered 17 out of 50 and is in great condition.  Hopefully, Mr. Fernandez will beat out Puig and win the National League Rookie of the Year award, and if he does then I'll strike while the iron is hot and place this pink parallel up on eBay. 

Overall, that's the best of the 75 cards I found within the thousands that I searched.  I don't see anything wrong with paying five bucks for that haul.  Do you?

Local Card Show - A Cure for What Ails Ya, Part I

I've been very much on the wrong side of "meh" lately and I needed a pick-me-up. It just so happened my doldrums happen to coincide with the weekend of the one "big" annual card show and charity auction which is sponsored by the local park district. 

A one dollar entry free for the best show within a hundred mile radius?  No problem.  I was pleased to pay it.  When I first walked in there were many items available for silent auction and I put bids on two: a Ron Cey autographed baseball card and an Albert Almora autographed baseball.  We'll see if I get lucky and finish as the top bidder, but I left the show early so I'm not holding my breath.  I figure if they haven't called me by now I probably missed out.  C'est la vie.

I did a little reconnaissance around the large gymnasium before quickly formulating an attack plan.

Bargain tables first.  I've saved these for last in the past and been burned.  This time, it was my turn to strike first!  And strike I did!

On the left is a unopened box of 1989 Swell Baseball Greats.  I had never seen these before today, and that's saying a lot because I grew up in the junk wax era.  There's one box listed on eBay for $31.50 with shipping included.  I took home this one for five bucks. It should make for a fun break during the cold months of winter!

On the above right is my quick $4 version of Stonehenge. A dollar each for some of the update sets of my youth.  I could never find the strength to purchase these during my middle school days.  Ponying up $15 for 132 cards was a tough pill to swallow back then, especially when I could purchase 9 wax packs for a third of the price of an update set AND have the joy of opening packs.  Good things come to those who wait.  Right?

Next I made my way to a minor league vendor.  I've seen him at a couple of different Midwest League parks doing the autograph hound thing with his son.  I had to sneak a peak at his inventory. On his table was a huge stack of signed baseballs and a few really nice team signed bats.  I found his Cubs prospects binder and purchased these two for my collection. 

These were by far my priciest purchases of the day at $5 each, but I didn't have a Matt Szczur autograph yet and I'm a sucker for anything Albert Almora. The pricing of his autos was a little out of whack.  A 2013 Bowman Chrome Carlos Correa was $5 and a 2012 Peoria Chiefs Kenny Socorro was also $5.  Everything was $5.  I'm kicking myself over passing on both Correa and Socorro.  For one, I think Correa for $5 would have been a steal. Secondly, I'm mad that I didn't offer him a buck for Socorro, the former Peoria Chiefs first base coach that my friends and I would cheer for in 2011 & 2012.  Yes, we cheer for the first base coach.  Moving on.

Right around the corner was a gentleman who had a pile of 2013 Bowman parallels and I picked up nine more toward the completion of my FrankenSet.  I only need about a half dozen more cards and I'm always looking to update my set.  If you have any Bowman Chrome that you're looking to get rid of I'll give you a more than fair deal.  Just drop me a line!

There were a couple of gentlemen with cases of vintage cards from the 50s and 60s.  One was selling everything at 75% off, but his sticker prices were HIGH and it smelled more like a mark up than a good deal.  The other guy was selling everything at 50% off and his price tags seemed more reasonable.  He even offered to let me go through his boxes of commons to help me finish my set.  Problem is I'm not working on a vintage set at the moment.  Man, I wish I were. He had some sweet deals.

I picked up a couple of loose Cubs cards from random tables before making my final stop.

This one is actually a business card that features Tinker, Evers, and Chance.  I don't know that I've ever paid for a business card before, but it was only a dollar.  But hey, it's a card show two hours south of Chicago, the card features three players from the last World Championship team, and I'm a Cubs fan.  Sold.

Another buck for the Bowman Chrome mini of the Vogelmonster.  I think it's official.  Yes, it is.  My man crush on Dan Vogelbach is just stronger than my crush on Albert Almora.  Don't judge.

A quarter for a nice card of Wrigley Field!  This one is going straight to my binders.

A 1993 Topps Stadium Club Ryne Sandberg, I believe it's a promotional card, and a 2013 Wrigley Field giveaway Sandberg were my last purchases before I settled in at the only dime box at the venue. 

The Stadium Club card was two bucks and the Archives giveaway was only a dollar.  I was pleased with both purchases and I'm now sitting 689 different Sandbergs in my player collection.  Nice.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with my finds and purchases.  It took great amounts of restraint to not open up my wallet further while stopping by the vintage tables, but I didn't succumb to the voices in my head.  Yes, you know the voices I'm talking about...  the ones that make you buy cards.  Again, don't judge.

Stay tuned and you'll get to see my real finds of the show.  Dime boxes!  Wait.  I'm sorry.  They weren't dime boxes after all.  15 cards for $1.00 would be a more accurate description. 

Thanks for stopping by and checking out half of my card show haul!

Topps Series 2: Am I too late to the party?

I ripped into my Topps Series 2 blaster, which was one of the prizes from Once A Cub's fantasy baseball league, and I feel I'm a little behind the times here.

I believe I bought one pack of Series 1 when it first hit the big box stores, but nothing from Topps' flagship product since.  The design is fair, the photo shopped cards are a turn off, and all the inserts and short prints are much too gimmicky for me.  Perhaps that assessment isn't really fair, but my collecting went in a different direction this year... Bowman.  Yeah, I know.  I'm different.

Nonetheless, the blaster was a fun bust, but it wasn't enough to convince to jump on the flagship band wagon anytime soon.  By now you've seen all the base cards, so I'll keep them to a minimum while flashing all the inserts from the ten packs.  Trade bait perhaps?

Each pack contained two blue parallels.  I guess we all know where Matt buys his blasters from!  Ha!

Above are the only two Cubs cards from the eighty-one card blaster.  Two?  Really?  Also, please note that neither are members of the Cubs any longer.  Sigh.
The Marmol card is the only base card I'm going to make you suffer through and the Garza is an example of the aforementioned blue parallels.

"Chase it Down" and "Chasing History" are two insert sets I could do without.

On the left we have Alex Gordon and Mike Trout both in mid-dive.  Dustin Pedroia, Stephen Strasburg, and Troy Tuolwitzki are all chasing history.  Next.

"Making Their Mark" is another insert set that is kind of weak in my estimation.

 I'm not a Cardinal fan so Lance Lynn is "bleck" worthy, and Todd Frazier receives a "meh."

 I really like these World Baseball Classic cards.  I traded for the Anthony Rizzo earlier this summer and it's pretty sharp looking as well.  I like how Topps incorporated the WBC logo into the design of the card.  Well done.  Adrian Gonzalez is a nice pull.  I'm happy.

Speaking of happy...

 Green sparkly parallel! I've always found it amusing how Topps highlights the player and everything else around him is ghost-like.  I wish I could photo-shop a corn dog or something into Jason Kubel's left hand.  Rather than fist-bumping his teammates, it would then look as though he's about to chow down!

I have a knack for pulling cards of Harper and Trout.  Not a bad problem to have.  Here's my one serial numbered gold parallel from the box:  

Wait.  You don't believe that I can pull my fair share of Trout cards?

 

Two inserts and a base card (not shown) from one blaster.  Yep, I have skills.

Minis!  Wait, I mean mmmmmiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnniiiiiiiissss!  I wanted to make sure those in the blogosphere knew what I was referring to. 

 Yep, I love minis as well, but I'm not as crazy about them as some.  I love, and I do mean love the orange jersey on Altuve.  Big Papi?  Yeah, I guess being a one-man wrecking crew in the World Series means you're the man. Nice job, Mr. Ortiz!

Everything above is available for trade, even the two Cubs, but I'm keeping the card below.

 There were only a handful of players on the checklist that I was hoping to get in my included manu-relic pack.  Most of them were Cubs, but one was not.  I got the "not" and it's beautiful.

I still haven't seen the movie 42 yet, but I'm a huge Jackie Robinson fan.  Jackie and Branch Rickey were the focus of my senior term paper back in high school and the more I learned about the man the more I came to admire him.  I have a mini player collection of Jackie and it might be at ten cards now.  The above framed silk card is without a doubt the highlight of my humble little collection of one of baseball's true heroes.

Overall, the Series 2 box was a fun rip and it kept me occupied during commercial breaks of Game 5 of the World Series.  Still two more repacks and one more blaster to go from my prize haul.  Stay tuned!