Vote You Fools!!!

Collective Troll's contest is almost up and Robbie Alomar is about to get in the Hall of Fame!!!

Get over there now and vote, people! I don't care if you voted already, vote again! Vote for

Andre Dawson
Barry Larkin
Tim Raines
Fred McGriff
and

BUCK

O'

NEIL

Anybody but Robbie Alomar! ACK! You can win somethin' out of it too, so start making those fake accounts and hurry! Time is running out!

One Card Reviews - 2009 SPX

SHINY

BORING

It Came From The Oddball Box: Part 5

You guys all thought I was Mr. Bulldog fan, right? Gooooooooo Dawgs Sic 'Em WoofWoofWoofWoofWoof and all that rot? Well take a gander at these:

Georgia Tech schedules. Well worn ones, like they had spent time in a wallet. In the Oddball Junk box. How can this be?

Growing up, I was a Tech fan. Hardcore Tech fan. The first College football game I ever went to was Tech vs. Duke back when Spurrier was a coordinator. I had a Tech pennant hanging up on my wall. I got a bumpersticker from a friend of mine that said "Have you stung your Bulldog today?" I also proudly wore the ugliest Georgia Tech mesh trucker hat that has ever been seen on this earth.

Then one day I was deciding what college to go to, realized that Advanced Calculus was one of the easiest math classes at Tech and decided the Universtiy of Georgia wasn't all that bad.


Here's the schedules for 1989 Yellow Jacket Football and '90-91 Basketball. The football schedule features running back Jerry Mays who played two games for the Chargers in Tech's Championship year in 1990. The basketball schedule shows the infamous pain in the keister Kenny Anderson the year after the Jackets made it to the Final Four. I picked up the '90-91 hoops schedule about the same time I was getting my acceptance letter from Georgia, so that was the end of Tech schedules for me. I still have a soft spot for Tech though, except when they play Georgia in football. Then I wish them only heartbreaking agonizing failure. The other 364 days of the year, Wooooo, go Tech!

It Came From The Oddball Box - part 4: Revenge of the Son of Sticky Saturday

You knew in the oddball junk box there'd be some stickers. You didn't know that they'd be HOCKEY stickers through, didja? That's what I thought!


'78 Topps Hockey Stickers. I remember where I got these things. Waaay back in the day I went to Atlanta Sports Cards (not this one, the original one) and picked up a brick of these stickers. I was hoping to get a Flames sticker but ended up with a huge amount of other team stickers instead. I can't even call it doubles because there were a couple dozen each of some teams. If I am not mistaken, they were inserts inside hockey packs that year. As you can see the stickers are split in half with a team logo on one side and a helmet number, position and hockey picture on the other. Four stickers per card ain't bad at all...


Here is my vote for worst logo evar: The Vancouver Canucks. Blue and green that don't go together at all shaped vaguely like a hockey rink with a negative space hockey stick that I guess kinda sorta makes a C if you have a good imagination*. Hockey sticks are bent, so you could also conceivably argue that it is a V for Vancouver just with one side gone limp. It's still awful. I'd normally make fun of the Vancouver team name as well, but I live in a state who once rooted for a team named the Atlanta Crackers so I'll let it slide.

Here's the coolest sticker of the bunch, a Jason-style goalie mask two years before a movie would make them world famous. I'm almost tempted to stick this on something and spoil a Minnesota North Stars card. If anyone needs some hockey stickers, let me know, I've got a ton. I'll try to get them to you before Christmas, but I make no promises. Also, FleerFan gets first dibs if he needs some, 'cause he is the King of the Stickers and everyone knows that kings get jus primae noctis.

It's good to be da king.

* You know what it kind of reminds me of? Remember the Rocky and Bullwinkle episode with the Pottsylvania Creeper plant that smiled real big when it ate people? Those creepy smiling blue plants? You don't? Well, never mind then....

My new favorite painting

I found this while clicking through various goodies on this Reddit thread. I had no idea it existed before last night.

Joseph Ducreux - Self Portrait ca. 1793

Awesomeness.

(context for the bewildered)

It Came From The Oddball Box - part 3: Potential Blasphemy

You people have been steadfastly ignoring the non-sports posts so far, but I have a feeling I'll get angry comments on this one.

Ok, let me explain this card... No, there is too much. Let me sum up. You see folks, I don't like Kiss.

Just never got into 'em I guess. They were really big when I was a kid, and I sure knew of them but I was far more into Star Wars at the time and my mom was listening to stuff like The Beatles and the Stones and Floyd and my uncle had a Zeppelin LP lying around amongst the Zappa and I never did really hear Detroit Rock City at an impressionable age. I mean, like, I knew who they were and all. I recognized the makeup. I knew the names... Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley, Peter Criss and The Other Guy. I could even point out Simmons in a crowd. They just didn't appeal to me all that much as a kid and when I started listening to '70s rock designed to make your parents mad I preferred The Sex Pistols and the Buzzcocks and The Ramones and The Damned. So that's why I used this Kiss card of, um, Not Gene Simmons as a divider for my Topps Football card sets. Yeah, football. I used about 8 inches of tape on the thing too. I really just didn't care a flip about that card.

Ok, I know some of you out there Luuuuuuurve Kiss and to you, I apologize. The 20 year old tape is now permanently stuck and the one part where I tried to rip it off about a decade ago took some of the card with it. I just really didn't like this card.

It may be because of the back. There is a puzzle piece on the back and when I looked at it after all these years... well, have any of you seen the episode of Red Dwarf where Kryten becomes human, takes photos of a part of his anatomy and gives them to Lister to see if it's supposed to look like that? That was my reaction.

What the smeg?

?????

OH DEAR GOD

Seriously, why the hell would I want a card with a hairy gut hanging over a freakin' plate armor codpiece on the back? Ugh. Sorry. Ijustdon'tlikeKiss.

Ted's dead, baby. Ted's dead.

I pulled this card out of a pack of Philadelphia and now I'm gonna post it. The guy was in the Senate for 800 years and actually did a little bit of good while he was in there so take your Chappaquiddick jokes and blow 'em out yer arse. RIP, Lion dude.

It Came From The Oddball Box - Part 2: Trivia

The Parade of Strange continues... Here's a couple of obscure Topps non-sport cards from '84.

This is a game board from the Topps Trivia Battle set. When the Trivial Pursuit craze hit in the early '80s, Topps cashed in with this scratch-off knock-off. Being a smartypants dork who liked such things, I picked up a pack or two of the stuff from McCrory's five & dime at Northlake Mall. I seem to remember the non-sports cards were segregated from the baseball cards so it's a wonder I found them at all.

The backs of the cards have the game rules for 2 player or solitare play. All those scratch-off dots on the front of the card have a color underneath them. The color you scratch is the type of question you have to answer. The subjects are a little less difficult than original Trivial Pursuit for the kiddie audience. The packs had several tear-apart question cards in there, but all those cards from my packs have been lost to the ravages of time. You can play head to head in a game that wasn't much different from the original, or do a solo game where you try to get a good score my missing a few questions as possible. Topps is ruthless in their scoring system, all the dumb kids had to peel themselves a LOSER Sticker.

Here are the sticker prizes. I don't know about you, but my 12 year old self would probably have stuck the loser sticker on a notebook long before professing my nerddom with a Doctor of Trivia diploma for all to see. Of course I exhibited great self control back then, neither scratching nor sticking these cards. Kind of a waste, now that I come to think of it.

One other thing...

Contest! Giveaway! Coolio! Enter!

It Came From The Oddball Box - part 1

I had an epiphany this weekend and came to the conclusion that I am Burned Out. Pretty much in all aspects of my life. Unfortunately in the next two weeks, things will be getting Much Worse and not better. As a result, I have decided to take off from serious blogging until after Labor Day.

I don't want to drop off the face of the earth through, so I've pulled out two weeks' worth of goodies out of an old box of junk cards I found in the basement this weekend. I don't think I've seriously looked through this box in well over a decade if not two. Warning: very little baseball content follows so find alternate means of fueling your hardball card fix 'till after the holiday. This card is tangentially related to baseball, as Jim Bouton was the founder of the card company.

Leading off is a Big League Cards promo for the DeKalb County, Georgia Fire Department. This robot looking thing went to schools and told kids not to burn the house down too much or some such wisdom. There's sort of an unholy lovechild of Robbie the Robot and Fireman Sam theme going on here. Love does what it will, I shall not judge. I don't recall ever seeing this refugee from a Dr. Who episode in person, but the card ended up in my possession somehow.

The back shows where the metallic monster got its name. A local furrier helped bring it online on 1/1/86. Thus, Captain Avanti. Oddly the copyright on the card is 1985. There's some kind of Skynet Terminator schtuff goin' on right here, I know it. Since it only weighs 120 pounds there's probably a lot of futuristic lightweight alloys in the frame of this fire fighting killing machine. Most frightening is the listing of two of his favorite things: children and breakdancing. I'm sure there was a lot of breaking going on during that dance, especially if children got a little too close.

Return of Son of Sticky Saturday

Yeah, I know it's Sunday. I'm lazy on the weekend so sometimes these things get a little delayed. Sticky Saturday is catchy and alliterative, Sticky Weekend just sounds disgusting. Here's yer weekend sticker courtesy of FleerFan.

Wooooo! Dale Murphy album sticker! Whammo! He's whackin' the ball!


This was supposed to be a big fat hairy post about how Upper Deck can fill a niche in the market in 2010 that is currently being neglected by bringing back the album sticker set since they own the Fleer brand and they did a basketball sticker set in the '90s, but screw 'em. Let' Upper Deck sink or swim on their own. I ain't getting a consulting fee.

Now if you'll excuse me I have tickets to the Braves vs. Marlins game and it's time to get on the road. Wooooooo Braves! Lets eat some fishies!

Topps Has Lapped Itself

2002-2003

2009

2009 Topps206

Of course they have to release this the year I'm Dead Broke. Thanks, Topps.

Friday Night Contests

First things first. Matt P. And Matt G. You two won contests from me back in 1985 and I've finally got the packages together. They will be in the mail tomorrow.

Ok, now that is taken care of, here's a bunch of current going on right now contests for you to check out.

Thorzul Will Rule: Trade And Win

This is year two of 'zul's "Send Thorzul stuff and maybe you'll get something cool in return" annual contest. He wiped me out of Brewers last year and I almost immediately got my ass kicked by Chris Harris, who didn't even win if I remember correctly. Now's your turn to get in on the action! No one's beating me this year though, I swear...

The Collective Troll: Vote for the Hall of Fame

Here's how the e-mail started out:

dayf,

this is my once a month plea for traffic assistance... just posted another contest, can you help get me some entries?

Aaiight... Go traffic it up folks! The rules of the thing are too dang complicated, but it involves voting and following and stuff. They voted in freakin' AFGHANISTAN today, you can do it too. You don't even have angry Taliban goon trying to kill you while you vote for Dale Murphy either so there's no excuse.

Card Cache: A&G Giveaway

Once again, someone went A&G crazy and bought 87 cases of the stuff. Now Ryan is ditching his doubles. So get in on the action already! Again with the following. Why does everyone want followers? I found out about this from Lake Effect, who is promising his own contest. No pressure Greg!

Ok, that's enough contests for now. I've got one in the works, I just need to figure out how it will work. If I figure it out this weekend, look for it on Monday. If not, it'll be a Labor Day contest. Here's a preview:

I know for a fact at least one reader recognizes this...

Callahan Hall of Fame

I haven't forgotten you guys want to see old cards, the poll results are right over there ---> I'm writing this up quick before work though so you all have something to amuse you on a Friday. When you think about Hall of Fame cards, the first thing that comes to mind is probably those Yellow postcards with the Player's Hall Plaque on them, right? Well these are what they had before them...

This is a 1950 Callahan card of Matty. The cards were sold at the Hall of Fame from 1950 to 1956. They are pretty small, no bigger than an old Bowman mini card, and are glossy on thin white stock. They feature drawings from artist Mario DeMarco on the front and a nice long bio on the back in teensy little print. There's 82 cards in the set, one for every Hall of Fame inductee at the time.I picked up this one off of eBay surprisingly cheap a few years ago. Vintage oddballs like this one are often a good way to find some inexpensive stars.

2009 Philadelphia National Chicle

Yesterday Ineeded to break a twenty to pay the babysitter so I stopped off at Target. The were slap out of Allen & Ginter packs. I almost decided to get a Sprite instead of a pack but I opted for a pack of Philadelphia. And found this:

CARGASM

Holy crap these National Chicle inserts are cool! After I pulled a McGovern I was thinking about hunting down a checklist of the buggers but got lazy. The Thunderbird actually got me to do it. In case you're interested, the '35 National Chicle insert set is 100 cards and is half football players and half weirdness. If you're not familiar with the '35 National Chicles, think '34-36 Diamond Stars, just with football instead of baseball. If you have no idea what that is, think 2007 Goudey. I found a couple of reprints to scan and show off, but due to a poorly planned and badly executed reorganization of my desk I have no clue where they are. They are with my first pack of Philadelphia actually, which is why I still haven't posted the thing.

The checklist can be found here on UD's website assuming the link works because I didn't test it before I posted. Here's a breakdown of the subsets within the set.

NC1-NC19: Political figures (must get: Spiro Agnew)

NC20-NC29: Muscle cars (must get: entire set)

NC30-NC39: Fighter Planes (must get: Curtiss P-40 Warhawk)

NC40-NC49: Trains (must get: Super Chief)

NC50-NC75: NFL Vets (must get: Hines Ward)

NC76-NC100: NFL Rooks (must get: Stafford & Moreno)

I think I like the non-sports stuff better than the football players. I am kind of ticked that there's no Matt Ryan in the set. What the hell, Upper Deck? I think this insert set is going to force me to buy a little more Philadelphia than I originally planned. The actual Philly set sort of meh though. Yeah the 200 card base set is nice, but there's 100 football SPs plus some weird short printed subsets like the Election card I posted before, A Woodstock tribute that I don't want, a Vietnam tribute that I REALLY don't want, a Barack Obama 25 card subset that Topps did about 6 or 7 months ago and 49 "In Action" cards. Yes, Virginia, there are as many short printed cards in this set as frickin' BASE cards. Double-you Tee Effing Eff, Upper Deck??? How the smeg is anyone supposed to collect this damn thing?

So that's my dilemma. I like the National Chicles but the shortprints are just utterly preposterous. Why can't this hobby be easy for once??

Heritage from A Cardboard Problem

Ok, time to catch up on some packages I received long, long ago. I sent one of the gals* over at A Cardboard Problem (I get 'em mixed up, pretty sure it was Sooz) a mess of O-Pee-Chee and some A-Rod Rod to 500 cards that were cluttering up my collection. In return I got a pile 'o Heritage. Here's some of the highlights:

A good trade indeed...

Scary looking Youk

Griff before he was a fink

Crawford with da shades

And Smilin' Johan

It knocked out a good chunk of my wantlist which I lost so I can't post it until a go back through my set which I don't have time for right now so oh well. If you'd like to make a Deal with A Cardboard Problem, there's a bunch of relics on the block right now and the O-Pee-Chee sets need finishing. I need to see if I can find anything to swap for that McCann card...

* Is gals the accepted nomenclature for female card bloggers? Replace gals with dudettes if it's not.

How Upper Deck Can Thrive in 2010 - Part 2

So how the heck is Upper Deck going to sell cards without an MLB license anyway?

Ok, I've thrown out the obvious Retro idea already and I still have no clue how they can ceep their bease Upper Deck set together without it looking like garbage. It doesn't mean I'm out of ideas on how UD can make a splash in 2010. And with all good ideas, there's a little bit of borrowing involved.

Upper Deck has a license with the Players' Union so they can print up as many cards of Major League players as their heart desires. But they can't show any logos or the Laywers Shall Feast. Now how do you put together a good card set featuring players but where logos are not necessary. Something distinctive and attractive and unique in the market. I can think of a brand of cards that did that. A brand from loong loong time ago. This brand:

Upper Deck: STEAL STUDIO.

Donruss sure ain't doing anything with it. Hell, I don't think the ham-fisted designers over at Playoffnini could even pull off a set like Studio anymore. It's the perfect concept for cards that has to focus on people and not embroidered uniform adornments.

See? A couple of logos snuck through there, but you could kick 'em out and noone would notice. Of course, some Studio sets have logos as a central theme but Upper Deck doesn't need to steal mimic borrow pay homage to the exect design of one of those Studio sets, they can just use the concept of a well done artsy set that focuses on the player. Upper Deck hasn't had much luck borrowing designs lately anyway.

Upper Deck doesn't really need to steal the concept anyway, they had a pretty good set in '07 and '08 that was kind of artsy fartsy. Masterpieces, maybe you've heard of it? Turn it into a base set from of, ahem, studio portrait cards and then add in a subset/SP/insert set of art cards like the good 'ol Masterpieces we love so well and Upper Deck might just have a winner there. It's not like they haven't done this before...

Remember the Iooss Collection?

Perhaps the V.J Lovero showcase?

Upper Deck can do the exact same thing for a 2010 set. Hire a big shot photographer or even a bunch of 'em and feature their logoless photographs in a set. I hear Annie Leibovitz is looking to make some quick cash....

Note - I haven't had any time to check all the other blogs out there lately so if anyone else proposed this.... HAHA!!! I JUST STOLE IT!!! See how easy that is, Upper Deck?

Lineup for Yesterday

A is for Alex
The great Alexander;
More Goose eggs he pitched
Than a popular gander.

B is for Bresnahan
Back of the plate;
The Cubs were his love,
and McGraw his hate.

C is for Cobb,
Who grew spikes and not corn,
And made all the basemen
Wish they weren't born.

D is for Dean,
The grammatical Diz,
When the asked, Who's the tops?
Said correctly, I is.

E is for Evers,
His jaw in advance;
Never afraid
To Tinker with Chance.

F is for Fordham
And Frankie and Frisch;
I wish he were back
With the Giants, I wish.

G is for Gehrig,
The Pride of the Stadium;
His record pure gold,
His courage, pure radium.

H is for Hornsby;
When pitching to Rog,
The pitcher would pitch,
Then the pitcher would dodge.

I is for Me,
Not a hard-hitting man,
But an outstanding all-time
Incurable fan.

J is for Johnson
The Big Train in his prime
Was so fast he could throw
Three strikes at a time.

K is for Keeler,
As fresh as green paint,
The fastest and mostest
To hit where they ain't.

L is for Lajoie
Whom Clevelanders love,
Napolean himself,
With glue in his glove.

M is for Matty,
Who carried a charm
In the form of an extra
brain in his arm.

N is for Newsom,
Bobo's favorite kin.
You ask how he's here,
He talked himself in.

O is for Ott
Of the restless right foot.
When he leaned on the pellet,
The pellet stayed put.

P is for Plank,
The arm of the A's;
When he tangled with Matty
Games lasted for days.

Q is for Don Quixote
Cornelius Mack;
Neither Yankees nor years
Can halt his attack.

R is for Ruth.
To tell you the truth,
There's just no more to be said,
Just R is for Ruth.

S is for Speaker,
Swift center-field tender,
When the ball saw him coming,
It yelled, "I surrender."

T is for Terry
The Giant from Memphis
Whose .400 average
You can't overemphis.

U would be 'Ubell
if Carl were a cockney;
We say Hubbell and Baseball
Like Football and Rockne.

V is for Vance
The Dodger's very own Dazzy;
None of his rivals
Could throw as fast as he.

W, Wagner,
The bowlegged beauty;
Short was closed to all traffic
With Honus on duty.

X is the first
of two x's in Foxx
Who was right behind Ruth
with his powerful soxx.

Y is for Young
The magnificent Cy;
People battled against him,
But I never knew why.

Z is for Zenith
The summit of fame.
These men are up there.
These men are the game.

Happy Birthday Ogden Nash!

(I was going to post cards of each of the players, but Dinged Corners beat me to it)

A look at 2009 Topps Football

Topps football is live. Eighteen other blogs have probably already posted this by now, but it was news to me and I felt it had to be shared. I'm so out of the loop I fully expect to wander dazed and confused into the card aisle at Target one of these days and find Goodwin Champions. In the $1.59 box.

At any rate, I saw a gravity feed of '09 football at the Wally World and picked one up. Why, I don't know. I don't have the time or money to build a set and it's just going to be a rehash of the baseball design anyway, right? Still, I picked up a pack out of habit and ripped in. And found something wonderful....

CAVEMAN JESUS

You know, this might be a pretty nice little set after all!

Mostly Live A&G blaster break

Ok, this is exactly why I said the live break would be at 8:30ish.

My PC has crashed, the enter key broke causing it to crash again, on the third reboot Firefox started acting wonky, my firewall turned itself off and on causing me much concern, and my switch box is broke so the Linux box wasn't available as a backup. Oy Gevalt.

I've got things slightly under control however and I've already ripped the first four packs so we're going on as planned. One note for anyone out there following along - this box is a MUTANT. You'll see what I mean. I haven't even opened the crazy thick pack yet, that's #5... Ok, with no further ado...

Pack 1:

215 Jed Lowrie

231 David Murphy

15 Mike Pelfrey

339 Jordan Schafer RC SP

171 Brett Anderson mini

297 Kolan McConiughey Not National Pride

Code Ad

No National Pride card in this pack... odd. The Bowling card is nifty though, as is Jordan

AAAAAH Now the Scanner's gone Wonky

Pack 2:

147 Coco Crisp

143 Robbie MAddison

25 Evan Longoria

66 Grumpy A-Rod

245 Todd Helton mini

76 Brandon Phillips

woo stars

Pack 3:

229 Mark Ellis

37 Andre Ethier

132 Anna Tunnicliffe

309 Kosuke Fukudome SP

197 Jhonny Peralta mini A&G back

62 Dan Uggla

Where the heck are my National Prides??

Pack 4:

196 Joey Votto

45 Derrek Lee

224 Tim Lincecum

204 Casey Blake Heiroglyphics

213 Stephanie Brown Trafton mini A&G back

300 David Ortiz

Tribe Cards coined the code cards 'heiroglyphics' moniker.

ok, now for the thick pack...

ZOMG

DOUBLES

Pack 5

50 Pat Neshek

15 Alfred Nobel

Carlos Quentin Jersey

Rocco Baldelli Jersey

Milos Oblic National Heroes

189 Casey Kotchman

Not complainin' 'bout National Prides no mo

Pack 6

293 Ian Snell

279 John Lester

76 Brandon Phillips

322 Chris Volstad SP

Milky Way fun size dark

49 Ubaldo Jimenez

Why can't I get normal blasters...

Pack 7:

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

YOYOJO

205 Ryan Braun
162 Shane Victorino
297 Bowling Dude agin
AGH56 Josh Beckett
John Higby Yoyo string relic
230 Torii Hunter mini A&G
106 Mike Jacobs

gotta get this last one done quick, Big Bang Theory's almost on

Pack 8:

Eric Byrnes

263 Brian Duensing

49 Ubaldo Jimenez

331 Jeff Smrdjzjknsjnxqxjzz SP

LMT8 Sphinx

141 Carlos Zambrano

Code ad.

Ok, that was the most ridiculous blaster I have ever opened. A full recap after Big Bang Theory is over.

The Final Tally:

29 base cards

4 SPs - Fukudome, Volstad, Samardzija, Schafer

1 Code PArallel - Blake

3 doubles

2 minis - Helton, Anderson

3 mini A&G backs - Peralta, Brown Trafton, Hunter

1 mini black border - Milky Way

Inserts:

NH24 Milos Obilic National Heroes

LMT8 Sphinx Creatures of Legends Myth & Terror

AGHS6 Josh Beckett sketch

National Pride - ZIPPO

Relics:

Rocco Baldelli jersey

Carlos Quentin Jersey

John Higby SP string relic

The lack of National Pride cards is... odd. I was under the impression that these were one a pack. Of course, three relics (including one I have already drooled over) and a one-in-two-boxes mini insert is a good trade-off for a lack of National Pride cards. Plus that's 8 more base cards for the set (although three were duplicates right off the bat). I'm sort of scared to buy another A&G Blaster, not that I can afford it right now. After pulling four relics in two boxes I'm not sure my luck can stay this good.

One quick announcement for anyone out there who is actually reading this... Starting today, the blog goes on less of a Wax Heaven schedule and more of a Stale Gum one instead. That is, I'm still gonna post, but it's not going to be nearly as often for the forseeable future. I'll post when a) I have something to say, b) I have time to say it and c) I can say it coherently. The days of 3 sleep deprived posts by 7am are over for a while. I'll keep on truckin' though.

Thanks for your support.