UUUUH ONLINE DIME BOX CARDS PART 2

I SHOULD PROBABLY BE DOING STUFF AROUND THE HOUSE OR CATCHING UP ON WORK OR EVEN JUST RELAXING WITH A VIDEO GAME OR SOMETHING BUT I'M GOING TO TRY TO DO ANOTHER BLOGE POAST BECAUSE I GOTTA DO SOMETHING OTHER THAN STARE ANXIOUSLY INTO SPACE. HONESTLY I'M STILL DOING A LOT OF THAT BECAUSE I AM HAVING A HARD TIME FINDING SOME BACKGROUND NOISE THAT WILL HELP ME TYPE AND NOT DISTRACT ME. IRON CHEF ON TWITCH USUALLY WORKS BUT THEY ARE SHOWING A SPECIAL RIGHT NOW AND NOT A REGULAR EPISODE WITH THAT WONDERFUL DRONING COMMENTARY. BOB ROSS IS GREAT FOR CLEANING UP THE HOUSE BUT NOT FOR TYPING AS I KEEP LOOKING AT THE PRETTY PICTURE. I BURNED THRU MY GO-TO PODCASTS AT WORK THIS WEEKEND AND A VIDEO GAME LET'S PLAY AIN'T GONNA WORK RIGHT NOW. FUCK IT, GONNA LEAN ON THE OLD STAND BY - GAME GRUMPS COMPILATION

UPDATE: GAME GRUMPS DID NOT WORK AT ALL BUT I LAUGHED A LOT. MOST OF THE POST WAS WRITTEN WITH HELP FROM A WITCH HOUSE MIX AND THE ARSENAL-LEICESTER MATCH AUDIO

THIS BATCH OF CARD HAS SOME INTERESTING ODDITIES BUT WE'RE GOING TO SEE A LOT OF THE MAJOR THEMES OF MY CARD PURCHASING CHOICES. A WARNING IF YOU CHOOSE TO DELVE INTO THE ONLINE DIME BOX WORLD: THIS IS NOT A SUPER USER FRIENDLY WEBSITE. YOU GOTTA WORK TO FIND COOL CARDS. IF COMC IS SOMETHING LIKE SUPER MARIO MAKER WITH TONS OF OPTIONS THAT LETS YOU DO WHATEVER YOU WANT, THIS IS MORE LIKE A SUPER MARIO TEXT ADVENTURE YOU PLAY BY ENTERING TEXT COMMANDS ON AN OLD VAX TERMINAL IN A GOVERNMENT FACILITY THAT'S STILL RUNNING A MAINFRAME FROM THE 70S BECAUSE THE PROGRAMMERS ARE ALL DEAD AND THEY CAN'T CONVERT THE DATA SINCE THE BUDGET GOT CUT

IE, PRETTY FUN IF YOU KNOW WHAT COMMANDS YOU WANT TO USE AND CAN AVOID THE GUARDS WHO WILL SHOOT YOU BECAUSE YOU BROKE INTO A RESTRICTED GOVERNMENT BUILDING IN ORDER TO PLAY A SUPER MARIO TEXT ADVENTURE GAME THAT DOESN'T EXIST. IN OTHER WORDS, I'M ABSOLUTELY NOT TRYING TO DISSUADE YOU FROM GOING TO BASEBALLCARDSTORE.CA AND BUYING UP ALL THE CARDS I WANT BUT CAN'T BUY RIGHT NOW

ANYWAY HERES SUM CRADZ

2015 TOPPS GOLD PREMIER LEAGUE MESUT OZIL

ARSENAL IS MY TEAM AND MESUT IS MY FAVORITE PLAYER AT LEAST UNTIL HE LEAVES ARSENAL AND JOINS THE MLS WITH A TEAM I DESPISE LIKE DC UNITED OR WHATEVER THE HELL THAT MIAMI TEAM IS. MY JOURNEY TO ENJOYING PROPER FOOTBALL OVER NFL FOOTBALL HAS BEEN A LONG ONE BUT TWO PIVOTAL MOMENTS INVOLVE MESUT. EVER SINCE THE WORLD CUP WAS HELD IN THE U.S. IN 1994 I'VE TRIED TO WATCH AT LEAST A COUPLE GAMES EVEN THOUGH I DIDN'T REALLY KNOW WTF WAS GOING ON. THE FIRST WORLD CUP WHERE I WATCHED A TON OF THE GAMES WAS THE 2010 CUP IN SOUTH AFRICA. I CAN STILL HEAR THAT ANNOUNCER BEGGING EVERYONE TO BUY A HYUNDAI EVERY SINGLE COMMERCIAL BREAK IN MY MIND. THE THING THAT REALLY STRUCK ME ABOUT THE 2010 CUP WAS WATCHING GERMANY MATCHES AND SEEING THIS DUDE WHO LOOKED LIKE A SUPER FIT PETER LORRE RUNNING ALL OVER THE DAMN PLACE MAKING PLAYS. I DIDN'T HAVE THE SLIGHTEST CLUE WHAT HE WAS DOING BUT I KNEW IT WAS AMAZING AND HE BECAME MY FAVORITE PLAYER FROM THE TOURNAMENT.

A COUPLE YEARS LATER I STARTED FOLLOWING THE PREMIER LEAGUE  BECAUSE A COWORKER WAS A HUGE LIVERPOOL FAN. I FOLLOWED ARSENAL FOR THREE MAIN REASONS: 1) WHEN I PLAYED EA SOCCER '96 I COULDN'T FIND THE TEAM FOR LONDON* IN THE ENGLISH LEAGUE SO I CHOSE THE TEAM WITH THE BIG-ASS GUN FOR A LOGO 2) THE IT CROWD EPISODE WITH THE LINE 'THE THING WITH ARSENAL IS THEY ALWAYS TRY TO WALK IT IN' 3) I REALLY LIKED THE MOVIE FEVER PITCH WITH COLIN FIRTH. NOT THE OTHER ONE, FORGET THE OTHER ONE. THE FIRST TIME I GOT TO EXPERIENCE THE INSANITY CALLED THE PREMIER LEAGUE TRANSFER WINDOW WAS THE SUMMER OF 2013. IT WAS AN ABSOLUTE SHITSHOW. I WAS WHOLLY UNPREPARED FOR THE SHEER AMOUNT OF BULLSHIT RUMORS THAT WOULD BE FLYING AROUND AND I GOT CAUGHT UP IN THE GONZALO HIGUAIN DRAMA. HIS SIGNING TO ARSENAL WAS IMMINENT EVERY SINGLE DAY FOR TWO MONTHS AND THEN HE SIGNED WITH NAPOLI AT THE LAST SECOND. I WAS SAD AND THE INTERNET HAD A GOOD LAUGH AT WENGER AND THEN AT THE LAST POSSIBLE MOMENT ARSENE PULLED A MADNESS AND MY FAVORITE PLAYER JOINED MY FAVORITE TEAM, NEITHER OF WHICH I KNEW A DAMN THING ABOUT 3 YEARS EARLIER

ARSENAL SUCKS NOW AND MESUT'S CAREER IS WINDING DOWN BUT I DON'T CARE. MAINLY BECAUSE I HAVE ATLANTA UNITED AND JOSEF MARTINEZ TO ROOT FOR. THIS CARD FILLED UP A FULL PAGE OF MESUTS IN MY SOCCER BINDER, A GRAND ACHIEVEMENT IN A TOWN WHERE LOCAL CARD SELLERS ACTIVELY AVOIDED SOCCER CARDS FOR YEARS

2015 PANINI PRIZM JASON HEYWARD PASSION INSERT

PRIZM INSERTS. SOMEHOW EVEN MORE GENERIC LOOKING THAN PRISM BASE CARDS. AT LEAST IN BASEBALL WHERE EVERYONE HAS TO LOOK LIKE THE NO-BRAND WHITE LABEL BEER CANS THEY USE IN MOVIES. HAVE THOSE EVER ACTUALLY BEEN USED IN MOVIES? OTHER THAN THE TIMES THEY WERE USED IRONICALLY. I SWEAR THAT PRISM FOOTBALL AND BASKETBALL CARDS ACTUALLY HAVE COLORS ON THEM WHILE BASEBALL IS STUCK WITH THIS CALL OF DUTY COLOR PALATE. IT'S EVEN WORSE ON THE BACK WHERE THEY TAKE THIS EXACT PHOTO AND MAKE IT MONOCHROME BLUE. DOESN'T MATTER THOUGH BECAUSE HHEEYYWWAARRDDDDD. I HAVE A PASSION FOR J-HEY WHILE THE BRAVES TOOK A LOOK AT THE UNFORTUNATE PLACEMENT OF THAT LEFT FOOT AND DECIDED TO PASS ON. OH WELL HEYWARD DIED SO DANSBY COULD LIVE. THANKS DAVE STEWART! THIS IS THE SECOND HEYWARD CARD OF THE BUNCH I'VE HAD TO PUT IN THE WRONG SHEET OF THE BINDER BECAUSE I RAN OUT OF PAGES. I'M GOING TO HAVE TO EVICT AN OLD RETRO SET OUT OF THEIR BINDER AT THIS RATE JUST TO RECLAIM SOME SHEETS

2019 ALLEN & GINTER INCREDIBLE EQUIPMENT POSEIDON'S TRIDENT

HERE WE GOOOOOOOOOOOO
ALLEN & GINTER INSERTS
THIS IS MY FIRST FROM 2019. MAYBE MY FIRST 2019 GINTER CARD?? I HAVE VAGUE RECOLLECTIONS OF SNAGGING THE BASE CARD OF THAT GARY V GUY OUT OF THE DIME BOX AT THE LOCAL CARD SHOP BUT I CAN'T REMEMBER IF I DID OR NOT AND THAT WAS SEVEN THOUSAND YEARS AGO ANYWAY.

IN 2018 ONE OF THE INSERT SETS WAS BASEBALL EQUIPMENT LIKE BASEBALLS AND GLOVES AND WHATNOT SO IN 2019 TOPPS JUST RIFFED ON THAT AND DID A SET OF SIGNATURE ACCESSORIES FOR A COLLECTION OF MYTHOLOGICAL HEROES AND HISTORICAL LEGENDS. LIKE A LARGE CHUNK OF GINTER INSERTS THIS LOOKS LIKE AN INTERN GOT A SET CHECKLIST AND WAS TOLD TO SCRAPE PUBLIC DOMAIN IMAGES OFF WIKIPEDIA. I ALSO APPRECIATE THE PALM TREE MOTIF IN THE BACKGROUND, BRINGING BACK THE CLASSICS FROM THE EARLY DAYS OF GINTER. I HAD A GOOD CHUCKLE WHEN I SAW THIS CARD BECAUSE WHEN I THINK OF POSEIDON I THINK THE FATHER OF JOE THESEUS, THE ANTAGONIST IN EDDIE CAMPBELL'S COMIC BACCHUS. THIS IS A FANTASTIC COMIC FOR ANYONE WHO LOVES COMICS BUT DOESN'T GIVE A SHIT ABOUT STUPID SUPERHEROES. WHO NEEDS 'EM WHEN YOU HAVE STUPID GODS

WHEN I THINK OF TRIDENT I DO NOT THINK OF GUM, ONLY THIS ENTERS MY ROTTEN MIND:

2016 ALLEN & GINTER FELIX HERNANDEZ MINI

ALL I WANTED FROM THE 2020 SEASON WAS ONE START BY FELIX HERNANDEZ IN A BRAVES UNIFORM. PRE-COVID, SPRING TRAINING, MY ONLY WISH WAS TO SEE FELIX MAKE THAT OPENING DAY ROSTER AND GET THAT START. EVEN A RELIEF APPEARANCE WOULD HAVE BEEN FINE. JUST ONE OFFICIAL APPEARANCE. THAT WAS ALL I DESIRED, THAT LINE IN HERNANDEZ'S STATS THAT SAID 2020 - ATLANTA. THAT AND THAT ALONE WOULD HAVE MEANT A SUCCESSFUL BRAVES SEASON TO ME. NOW THE SEASON IS A COMPLETE DISASTER AND HERNANDEZ HAS WISELY OPTED OUT.

OH WELL, KING FELIX MINI CARD FOR A DIME! LET'S SEE WHO IT BUMPS OUT OF MY MINI FRANKENSET

oh.

AWW YEAH FIRST CARD FOR MY FELIX HERNANDEZ PLAYER COLLECTION. NEXT POST YOU SEE ON HERE WILL PROBABLY BE A FRANKENSET NEED LIST

2019 ALLEN & GINTER FRED MCGRIFF

FIRST BASE CARD FOR MY 2019 GINTER SET! IF I DID BUY THAT GARY V CARD IMA RIP IT UP, HE'S NOT WORTHY OF A FIRST CARD. FRED MCGRIFF IS A BRAVES LEGEND AND SHOULD BE HALL OF FAMER. I PREDICT HE FINALLY GETS IN AFTER THE 2020-2022 CORONA/LOCKDOWN/STRIKE SHUTDOWN ENDS A BUNCH OF CAREERS PREMATURELY AND STEALS A COUPLE PRIME YEARS OF STATS FROM OTHER PLAYERS AND ALL THOSE "'BORDERLINE'" PLAYERS FROM THE 90S GET A SECOND LOOK. I REALLY LIKE THE 2019 DESIGN. NICE BIG PICTURE THAT STILL USES THAT FAKE LITHOGRAPH GIMMICK THAT APES THE ORIGINALS. THE LOGO IS WELL DESIGNED BUT DOESN'T EAT UP A TON OF REAL ESTATE. THE BKNY NONSENSE CLUTTER CAN GO FUCK OFF BUT NOTHING'S PERFECT. SEEING HOW I GET THE MAJORITY OF MY GINTER OUT OF DIME BOXES AND JUNK BOXES AND I HAVE NO CONFIDENCE THAT I WILL BE ABLE TO GO TO THE CARD SHOW OR LOCAL SHOP ANYTIME SOON I FEEL MY DAYS OF BUILDING THIS SET ARE COMING TO A PREMATURE CLOSE, JUST LIKE NICK MARKAKIS' CAREER

2010 TOPPS 1961 CARL YASTRZEMSKI YO MOMMA INSERT

JUST NOW NOTICING THE GUNK ON MY SCANNER THAT'S MAKING THIS CARD LOOK MORE VINTAGE THAN IT IS. I SHOULD PROBABLY CLEAN IT BEFORE SCANNING THE REST OF THE CARDS BUT I PROBABLY WON'T

I WAS A LITTLE SURPRISED TO DISCOVER THAT THE 1961 YAZ WAS RELEGATED TO THE UPDATE SERIES OF YO MOMMA CARDS AS I ALWAYS THOUGHT IT WAS A REALLY ICONIC CARD FROM THAT SET. HOWEVER, THE FIRST SERIES HAS THE 1960 YAZ ROOKIE AND ROGER MARIS' 1961 CARD WHICH IS VERY APPROPRIATE. SERIES TWO HAS BROOKS ROBINSON AS THE 1961 EXAMPLE AND YAZ'S '65 CARD. NOW I'M WONDERING HOW MANY PLAYERS HAVE CARDS IN ALL THREE SERIES. THEY NEED AT LEAST TWO MORE SERIES OF YO MOMMA CARDS SO WE CAN GET REPRINTS OF THE INFAMOUS 1973 CARD WITH THE COOL SIDEBURNS AND MY PERSONAL FAVORITE YAZ CARD FROM 1978. THAT SOUND YOU HEAR IS STALE GUM CURSING MY VERY NAME FOR ENCOURAGING TOPPS TO CONTINUE BEATING THE EXTREMELY DEAD HORSE THAT IS REPRINT INSERTS

GO AHEAD AND YELL AT ME, I STILL LIKE 'EM

2018 ALLEN & GINTER MIRANDA MAGNIFICENT MOONS 

JUST LIKE 2019'S EQUIPMENT SET RIFFING ON A PREVIOUS GINTER INSERT SET, 2018'S MAGNIFICENT MOONS IS A SEQUEL TO 2013'S ONE LITTLE CORNER SET WHICH FEATURED SIGNIFICANT CELESTIAL BODIES IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM. LIKE MOST SEQUELS IT IS INFERIOR TO THE ORIGINAL AND ONLY FEATURES 10 MOONS. TO BE FAIR, THEY ARE A GREATEST HITS LIST OF MOONS. MIRANDA IS THE ONLY MOON FROM URANUS TO MAKE THE CUT, MOST LIKELY DUE TO ITS DISTINCTIVE TOPOGRAPHY. I WAS UNAWARE THAT ALL OF URANUS' MOONS WERE NAMED AFTER SHAKESPEARE CHARACTERS. AFTER DISCOVERING MIRANDA WAS NAMED AFTER PROSPERO'S DAUGHTER IN THE TEMPEST AND LOOKING UP A SYNOPSIS I REALLY NEED TO LOOK INTO FINDING A PRODUCTION OF THAT PLAY TO WATCH. THE PLOT IS BATSHIT CRAZY AND WOULD HAVE MADE A FANTASTIC RAY HARRYHAUSEN FILM. HOWEVER NOW I SUDDENLY HOPE THAT THE THEORIZED PLANET X IS NEVER DISCOVERED IN MY LIFETIME BECAUSE YOU JUST KNOW THEY'D NAME ANY MOONS THE THING HAS AFTER MARVEL SUPERHEROES OR SOME SUCH DUMBASSERY

OK THEY CAN NAME ONE MOON AFTER MOON KNIGHT, I'LL ALLOW THAT

1992 UPPER DECK DAVE WINFIELD HOMERUN HEROES INSERT

I LOVE THE FIRST FIVE YEARS OF UPPER DECK. IT'S CHEAP, THERE'S A CLEAR AESTHETIC GOING ON, THERE ARE FUN INEXPENSIVE INSERTS THAT ARE FAIRLY EASY TO FIND. THEN 1994 HAPPENED AND THE SET GOT DARK AND CORRUPTED WITH PARALLELS. 1992 IS THE LAST YEAR OF THAT WONDERFUL THIN PLASTICKY CARD STOCK THAT HAS MORE IN COMMON WITH GASOLINE THAN WOOD AND WHILE I ADORE THE 1993 SET I FEEL THE CARD STOCK CHANGE WAS THE BEGINNING OF THE END OF THE FUN JUNK WAX ERA. WHILE MY FOCUS IS ABSOLUTELY ON PICKING UP 1993 INSERTS I DO ALWAYS KEEP MY EYE OUT FOR THIS SET. IN 1991 UPPER DECK INTRODUCED A SILVER SLUGGERS SET THAT LOOKED ALMOST IDENTICAL TO THIS ONE EXCEPT FOR A SILVER BAT. THE 1993 VERSION OF HOMERUN HEROES HAD AN EMBOSSED BAT FOR SOME REASON IN A SHOW OF WANTON EXCESS. I LIKE THIS SET THE BEST. SIMPLE DESIGN, GOLD BAT. PLUS DAVE WINFIELD IS AWESOME  AND ONE OF MY FAVORITE PLAYERS. I WOULD HAVE PICKED THIS CARD UP EVEN IF I WASN'T TRYING TO BUILD THE SET

1998-99 PANINI NHL HOCKEY STICKER CHRIS CHELIOS

FUCK THE NHL, FUCK HOCKEY, FUCK GARY BETTMAN, FUCK PUCKS, FUCK STICKS, FUCK SKATES, FUCK ICE

THERE I GOT THAT OUT OF MY SYSTEM. CHRIS CHELIOS IS THE BEST AND IS MAYBE THE LAST HOCKEY THING I ENJOY COLLECTING. I DON'T HAVE HIS CARDS IN A BINDER YET BUT I DO HAVE A SMALL BOX PUT ASIDE SEPARATE FROM THE GIANT PILE OF HOCKEY CARDS ABANDONED IN THE BASEMENT. WHILE I HAVE NO IDEA WHICH CHELIOS CARDS I HAVE OR DON'T HAVE I KNEW I HAD NEVER SEEN THIS PANINI STICKER BEFORE. IT'S A NEAT LOOKING DESIGN WHAT WITH THE BLUE BORDER AND SILVER NAME. FUN FACT - CHRIS RETIRED AS A THRASHER AS HE WAS CALLED UP FROM THE CHICAGO WOLVES AT THE END OF THE 2010 SEASON. WAIT - THRASHERS

AAAAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHHHHHH

FUCK HOCKEY, FUCK WINNIPEG, FUCK THE ATLANTA SPIRIT GROUP, FUCK STEVE BELKIN, FUCK ARIZONA IN PARTICULAR FUCK GARY FUCKING BETTMAN!!!!!!!!!

2015 DONRUSS ICHIRO DONRUSS PREFERRED INSERT

ICHIRO FOR A DIME. THIS SHOULD BE ILLEGAL. I ALWAYS FIND A TON OF DONRUSS INSERTS IN DIME BOXES BECAUSE NO ONE GIVES A FLYING FRANKENSTEIN ABOUT NEW DONRUSS CARDS BUT THE PRODUCT ALWAYS COMES OUT IN THAT WEIRD LATE-WINTER PERIOD WHERE EVERYONE HAS ALREADY ENGORGED THEMSELVES ON TOPPS SERIES ONE AND THEY WANT TO OPEN NEW STUFF BUT THERE'S NOTHING ELSE BUT DONRUSS SO THEY BUY IT TO GET THEIR RIPPING FIX AND THEN COMPLETELY FORGET ABOUT IT BY APRIL WHEN THERE ARE A DOZEN OTHER NEW SHINY THINGS TO OPEN AND OBSESS OVER FOR A WEEK. THIS IS ANOTHER CARD I MIGHT ALREADY HAVE AS I PICKED UP A TON OF THESE OUT OF A DIME BOX BACK IN 2015. THEY'RE NOT GREAT CARDS TO BE HONEST. THEY ARE PLAIN FOIL BOARD WITHOUT THE ETCHING THAT MADE THE ORIGINAL 1998 SET LOOK DECENT. THEY ARE NOT VERY COLORFUL AND THE LITTLE BLACK AND WHITE PHOTO IN THE CORNER DOES NOT POP AT ALL. BUT--- ICHIRO. ALL ICHIRO CARDS ARE GOOD. EVEN THE SUPER DEPRESSING ONES WHERE HE'S IN A YANKEES UNI

TWO POSTS DOWN AND I HAVEN'T DELETED MY ENTIRE GOOGLE ACCOUNT YET, THAT'S A GOOD SIGN. THE NEXT BATCH OF 10 ARE SUPER INTERESTING, I REALLY HOPE I WRITE ABOUT THEM BEFORE NEXT MAY

*BUT MANCHESTER HAD TWO TEAMS?? WHAT BULLSHIT