Snow Day

 
Ruby's first snow day! This is probably the best out of the many photos I snapped of her today.

I wanted to get another post out after last posting in a bad mood. I'm doing ok now.. was just having a bit of the ol' "baseball card breakdown" that gives this blog its name. lol. (and also stress from work and the other dumb stuff weighing on me.) Thanks for all the well wishes.. You all are the best!

Let's pull a couple cards off the "To be posted" stack to take a look at. I've got a lot of stuff in that stack, but most of it is just waiting for me to muster up the drive to tackle the stuff that'll be time-consuming to write about. A lot of these cards I feel so strongly about that I don't want to half-ass a post for them, but then I just keep putting it off because lately it's hard for me to find the energy needed to put into a big post like that. But here are some cards that I don't have too much to say about!

But first, a baseball trivia question for ya... 

Only two outfielders have won a Gold Glove in their final season. One is Roberto Clemente. Who is the other?

this guy...

Maybe you remember a few months back when I posted my Alex Gordon PC and lamented the fact that the only auto I had of his was an unlicensed stickergraph and that I wanted to score a better one someday? Well, I did! I got this early Bowman Chrome refractor auto. Love it! This is his first Bowman auto, even if it doesn't carry the 1st Bowman designation (I guess he had a base card in 2006 Bowman, but this auto is from 2006 Bowman Chrome?)

21/500. Nice cherry on top of my little Gordon collection.

Wally Joyner doesn't have many autographs featuring him from his Padres days. I liked him well enough during his stint in San Diego and figured I'd score a cool card to commemorate it. Don't mind an excuse to add another framed Ginter mini to my collection. They're adorable.

I bought this Ted Simmons 2013 Panini Golden Age auto way back in the carefree days of January 2020 but just never got around to posting about it. I suppose I don't have to post about every card I add to my collection, but there's something procedural about doing so that I appreciate. Simmons has surprisingly few certified autographs on the market for a guy of his stature (fan favorite, recent HOF veterans committee inductee). I thought this was the best looking of his couple autos available. The catchers gear picture mitigates it being unlicensed. Was it Jon (Penny Sleeves) who was working on this auto checklist? I think it's a great design. Great to get Simba representing in my collection with a sharp auto.

Let's close out the post with my first wallet card photo of the year. Looks like I'll be spending my 3-day weekend relaxing at home. Stay warm, guys!

Alex Gordon PC

Aw man, just read that Alex Gordon announced he's retiring. I was out of the hobby back when he was a big deal as the 2nd overall pick in 2005 so I wasn't tainted by all the hype and following bust, but then when I was paying attention around 2014, 2015 when the Royals were really good, Alex Gordon found his way onto my wantlist and I put together a modest player collection of the guy. In recent years, his stats declined (offensively, at least-- he remained an excellent defensive outfielder) and he found his way off my wantlist.. but I haven't disbanded the PC, and still don't mind adding to it when his cards fall into my lap.

I saw a cool Andrew McCutchen 2015 Panini Prizm Diamond Marshals "Flash Prizms" parallel on Collecting Cutch a month or two back that caught my eye and wanted one of the things in my personal collection, and so I took a look for a cheap one of a guy I collect and ended up scoring this one above for a couple bucks. It's kinda silly in the grand scheme of things, but the diecut badge is cool and the streaky rainbow shine blasting on the parallel is pretty sweet if you're into that sort of thing as I am. They are numbered out of 100, so not super plentiful.

And as long as I'm showing that off, let's check out my Alex Gordon PC as it stands on this, the day he announced his retirement. While it's kinda sad that he's "turning in his badge", it's cool that he's riding off into the sunset as a career Royal, like George Brett and Frank White before him.

Here are the other Panini cards I've got of him.

These days, you know a baseball player has been around a long time when he has Upper Deck cards. A few rookies here.

Bowman on display here. Not too shabby.

Here is Alex Gordon on some old Topps designs. Looks like a Chrome parallel in there.

Some cool Topps cards and a Bowman that I missed in the previous picture. That RC is a Sy's Best reprint. I was thinking about now that I didn't have an actual Topps flagship rookie of his, but stay tuned.

More various cards from The Topps Company.

My only real "hit" of his is this unlicensed stickergraph [sad trombone], but someday I wouldn't mind upgrading to a nicer card as the "best" in the PC.

Oh hey, I went looking in my stack of cards of "Active guys I collect that need to be sorted into the PCs" and found these two, and hey, that RC is a real one. Turns out this is the relatively scarce "No Facsimile Signature" variation. Cool! Must've got it in a recent trade that I'm already spacing on. I'm usually not great at remembering which trader sent me what unless it's something really special like the time Daniel sent me a Paul Goldschmidt Christmas Card auto.

Here are the dupes I was able to sort out of the PC while putting this post together. Available for trade if anyone needs any of them. A couple rookies plus--- get excited basketball fans!!!-- his first Prizm card! $$$$

Thank you for coming to my blog today, kind readers. And wishing all the best to Alex Gordon in his life after marshalling the diamond.

Card Show Cacophony

Ya'll ready for a bunch more card show pickups? The cost of each of these ranged from a dime to a quarter.

Pujols refractor. Beltre framed #/99. Big Hurt #/699.

These crazy Metal Universe cards are a trip. Where is Wade going with that bee hive? Gonna put some honey on his chicken? And is Rickey running underwater? Bizarre!

1993 Topps Gold. Carter (+ McGriff), Thome, Pedro.

Michael Jordan & Friends oddballs.

The backs. I think these are basically semi-professional customs from the early 90s. Anybody have more info on their origin?

More 90s craziness. Pacific loved to get as shiny as possible. And love the wooden-textured Piazza.

Cards of big guys back before they... um, expanded. That's Bartolo on the end, if you have trouble reading it.

A couple O's. It's a rare day that I pay money for a Rafael Palmeiro card, but it's #'d 090/100 and was only 10¢ (or maybe it was a quarter.. can't remember) so I reluctantly threw it on my stack as future trade fodder.

I don't collect Alex Gordon very passionately these days now that he sucks, but couldn't say no to these 2 refractors.

Here are some young dudes. Strasburg had a solid outing in his first start off the DL the other day.

Here are more cards. Among the cards I passed up at the show after much deliberating was a Stargell bat relic #/99 for $4. It was very tempting, but it was a tiny piece of bat and an unlicensed Panini card. Still though, I've got some minor regret letting that one slip away. When I think about it, I make an expression like Willie has in this Heritage flashback insert.

I showed off most of my vintage pickups yesterday, but here are a couple I picked up from a different dealer. Pretty sure I already have that '74 Vida, but this might be an upgrade. Such a classic "happy card" from the 70s. And I don't collect Elston Howard, but couldn't pass up that '67 for a quarter, even with it being miscut.

I know all that glitters isn't Goldschmidt, but I like these shiny refractors.

Boggs doing his thing.

Parallels. The rainbow foil Bryant for 20¢ was a pretty good score. Cheapest on COMC right now is $5.50.

2016 Archives "Super" inserts for a dime each.

Let's stick a fork in today's post with Vlad & Son. The Fleer card is a gold parallel, #/150.

Thanks for reading. Still more from this weekend's haul to show another day.

Cards from the Big Folder

Here're some recent pickups I haven't gotten around to posting about yet, soundtracked by the songs of Tears For Fears.

"Everybody Loves a Happy Ending"

For Padres fans, a happy ending to the 2017 season would be to capture a NL ROY award. They've got a few young guys getting an opportunity to play, so who knows. Last I checked, Manuel Margot was leading rookies in several offensive categories, so fingers crossed he keeps it up. I was very happy to land this Christmas Card auto off eBay a month or two ago for a good price.

"Laid So Low"

Feels like the moment has passed, but I'd still like to one day get all the Gallery of Greats inserts from 2015 Chrome/Series 1. These were a couple cheap ones of guys I collect from Just Commons. Both these guys have been laid pretty low lately, with Josh Donaldson having injury issues so far this season. And the tears roll down Royals' fans faces as Alex Gordon continues to slip further away from his all-star form of the past.
Still though, sharp looking cards!

"Change"

I've got several Brooks Kieschnick cards, but those were all from his days as an upcoming slugger with the Cubs. This is my first card from after he made the change into a pitcher who could also be called on to pinch hit or make a spot start in the outfield or at DH. Love the versatility.

And here's the back so you can see the pitching stats. He would spend all 2005 in Houston's minor leagues before hanging up his cleats, so this is a sunset card, featuring complete career stats.. well, pitching stats, at least. Pity there's no batting stats or write up trumpeting his "2-way player" feat. It's not super uncommon for guys to switch in the minors, but to get into over 100 MLB games as a position player, then take up pitching and make it back to the majors? Pretty exceptional. This card balances out my lil BK PC: I have 14 of his cards, and half of those are certified autos, which is kinda crazy. But hey, he has many inexpensive autos out there, so I pick them up when I can.

"Head Over Heals"

(Heads behind borders?) Panini seemed to throw a bunch of ideas out at collectors around 2013 to see what would stick. Select was one of the ideas that didn't stick. It wasn't even on my radar back then. But years later I wound up with a Brian Wilson card from it that I strangely was head over heals for even though I very much dislike Brian Wilson. I thought about finding a hobby box to bust, but after learning that all the autos in the product are stickers (Nooooo!!), I quickly dropped that idea and understood why the reboot failed. Instead I picked up a few cheap singles of guys I collect on Just Commons, including a Beltre refractor.. er "prizm".

(Different Brian Wilson.)

"Shout"

I'm trying to build up my Minnie Minoso PC a bit, so I added these couple cards to my Just Commons cart. It makes me want to shout when I think about the injustice of him not being in the Hall of Fame. Cold as ice.

"Pale Shelter"

Here's a card I bought to add another Jabari Blash to my Blashlection. (I also kinda collect AJ Reed.)

Blash is a guy who launches many massive dingers in spring training, making those stadiums look like pale shelter, but once the season starts, he gives me cold hands. Hopefully he can deliver this season when the Padres ask for more and more out of him.

"Everybody Wants to Rule the World"

I'll never forget that day in the mid 80s when I was a kid at Aquaris Roller Rink for a friend's birthday party and "Everybody Wants to Rule The World" came on over the sound system. For the first time in my young life I realized what an amazing thing music was. The song just really connected with me, as I skated ovals under the light bouncing off the mirror ball. Ever since that moment, Tears For Fears have been one of my favorite bands.

So when I saw an autograph card of singer Curt Smith featured on Sport Card Collectors not long ago, I made it a mission to land myself a copy. It didn't take too long for me to snag one at a decent price (under $7 shipped) on eBay. I've never seen the show Psych, a guest spot on which brought about the card, but I'm interested in checking it out, so hopefully it comes (back) to Netflix streaming one of these days. And I'd love it if Roland Orzabal eventually got a certified autograph card too so I could complete the central duo of the band, but it doesn't look like he's got any official autos out there at the moment.

I was gonna end this post there, but let's have one more...

"Sowing the Seeds of Love"

Hey, speaking of Netflix, Mystery Science Theater 3000 is back today! Sowing the seeds of love up on the Satellite of Love. Good enough excuse to repost a favorite piece of my autograph collection, my DVD signed by Joel, originally posted about back in October 2014. The new version of the show actually premiered last night at midnight, and I even stayed up late but forgot to watch it. Luckily my work closes for Good Friday since the stock market's closed, so I have the day off. Had a fun day bowling with my wife and hanging out.. and now just about to check out the first episode.

Thanks for reading! Have a great weekend. TFF 4EVER!

Dimebox Dynamite

Here's the 2nd half of my card show haul from this weekend. Found a pretty solid dimebox and dug out 120 cards.

Some 2016 Bowman prospects, Chrome rookies, and a Rizzo.

I know Alex Gordon had a down year last season, but was still a little surprised to find these for 10¢.

Those text-only cards from Cooperstown sure are ugly, but adding a new Clemente to my collection for a dime always sounds good to me.

There was a bunch of Griffey in there, mostly overproduced oddballs, and I caved to a few. In retrospect I should have left that card on the left since it's not in very good condition. And the '89 Bowman is bent a little, but that's '89 Bowman for you.

Nice selection of Mookies.. I think I needed a couple of these.

There was a little bit of vintage in the there, and I found some 78s of guys I collect.

Rickey. Grabbed an extra of the '82 LL for the Tim Raines collection.

I like these George Brett cards.

Love these Fleer Greats of the Game cards. Pretty sure I already have most of these, but couldn't resist.

Accidentally grabbed an extra Solarte Rated Rookie, if anyone needs one.

There was a healthy amount of Hometown Heroes in there, and I grabbed a few insert parallels. The black borders are kinda rare (happy to score that Mr. October), with the brown "gold" borders being the most plentiful parallel. (I also tried to check card numbers looking for any pesky SPs but didn't find any.)

More HH parallels. These above are trade bait, so let me know if any interest you. The gold Kerry Wood was picked up with P-town Tom in mind, but turns out he already has it.

McGriff. I think those zip code parallels are the rarest of the HH base card parallels. I probably already have that '87 Topps Traded card, but for a dime, why not grab it just in case.

A couple football cards. Don't be fooled by that LaDainian Tomlinson "rookie" as it's actually from 2010. It marks the first Chargers card I've bought since they officially moved to LA. I don't anticipate there being much more. But I still like LT.
I have a little Marshall Faulk collection due to his SDSU ties.

Decent amount of Prizm in the dimebox, and I picked out a few Prizm Prizms aka refractors.

Not a bad lot of Vlad, with a minor league card, neat textured insert, a diecut, and a #'d gold parallel.

And a pretty sweet lot of Wil Myers parallels. I'm sure he's been my fastest growing PC over the past year or so, with many cards coming in via trades plus a few pickups such as these. The Padres just gave him a huge contract, so I sure hope he can consistently produce and help keep our heads above water during this rebuilding.

These Contenders cards are kinda cool, mixing old-timers from their college days with young guys.

Mid 80s Fleer always seems to be strangely light in my collection for whatever reason. Funny how the Bench and Seaver are both somewhat unflattering photos of them throwing. Hell, all these photos are pretty blah. Come on, Fleer!

Some more young guys.

Pairs of Larry Walker and Giancarlo Stanton cards.

Ah, the glory days of Gold Label. That product Topps put out under the name last year did the brand a disservice. With real Gold Label, each card is like a hefty Chrome refractor. (Jeff, do you need that Konerko?)

Here are a couple fun Pacific cards that have a translucent area around the inset headshot. I don't even like Juan Gonzalez, but it was just too cool of a card to pass up.

Here are some more cards.

Some Padres. Jake Peavy / Dan Haren #'d 244/799 was a nice score for a dime, I thought. Peavy is still unsigned for 2017, with talks with San Diego apparently stalled. Would be nice to see him make a return, but whatever.

I need to find a Mark Teixeira collector to trade with, as I seem to come across plenty of his parallels at this card show, with these 2 being the latest additions to my reluctant PC. I don't really want them, but they're too cool/cheap for me to pass up.
Nice to find that Caminiti from his final season. Beltre insert.

Hard to pass up a Mike Trout card for 10¢.

Let's close with this pair. I'm a fan of the band Sleater-Kinney and the show Portlandia, so I had been hoping to eventually land this Carrie Brownstein First Pitch insert.
The Drew Stubbs refractor fills a slot in my 2011 Topps parallel frankenset.

So that wraps it up, besides a few cards already set aside for trader buddies.

Not a bad dimebox haul. Maybe I've become spoiled, but to be honest, I'm not sure I'll go back to this dealer. He seemed like kind of a douche and left for several minutes at a time. I ended up standing there for a few minutes while he came back from the pizza place in the mall. When I told him I had 117 cards and was ready to pay, I was expecting him to round down and just ask me for an even $10, like most of the cool dealers would do, but instead he asked if I could pick out 3 more cards to bring it to $12 (no discount). So that kinda rubbed me the wrong way, but then again, it was a solid haul of cards for cheap, so I probably shouldn't complain.