Ziploc cards

Cardboard Mania has a poll up right now asking what is the best card set of 2008 now that we're at the midpoint of the season. As I looked over the list I realized something: I AM COMPLETELY BORED WITH THIS YEAR'S PRODUCTS RIGHT NOW. A third of the products are out of my price range, a third are flat out ugly and the last third I've been focused on for about 6 months now. I mean, Upper Deck is a great looking set, and so is Heritage, and even Topps is a decent set despite the flaws, but come on already, I'm really starting to get sick of them. It doesn't help that the dollar brand products are almost exact duplicates of base UD and Topps. Oh what I'd give for a Bazooka or a Topps Total or a UD Victory right now. Or, hello? Lets get some Donruss back up in here! I guess Goudey and Allen & Ginter are approaching fast, but right this second I'm wracked with ennui. There is of course a surefire cure for the base set blues and that's ODDBALL CARDS.

Here's a couple of great oddballs to help pass the time. These are cards that were inserted into packages of Ziploc bags. The copyright date says 1992 but the design screams 80's. The three sizes too big corporate logo, the primary colors, the generic font, the three stars for no readily apparent reason... that's a quintessential '80s design there. It's definitely from 1992 though, I remember seeing the packages advertising them in the stores back then. Too bad a broke college student with a dining hall pass had no use for Ziploc bags and no money with which to pay for them at any rate. No worries. I got these two for a buck, which is less than a pack of bags cost anyway.

If I could chose any battery throughout history to start a team with, it would be these two. The Greatest lefty and the greatest catcher of all time. This is where Joe jumps in screaming Johnny Bench. Johnny bench is a great, great, wonderful catcher, but he is not a Zen Master and Spiritual Leader for our times. Yogi called a better game too, he coaxed a perfect game out of Don Larson fer crying out loud. Besides, I'll take this single Geico commercial over all of the Baseball Bunch.

The backs are pretty sweet too, lots of text to read and best year and career stat lines in elegant two color print. Ahhh, so refreshing... Oddball cards, thank you for taking me away from all the new product drudgery!