The authorities take down another troublemaker

40 years ago today.

Let's set the mood with a little CSN&Y.



What, you thought I meant this? Nope.

Flea Market Finds part 1

The flea market dud was back for the first time in months today. I've been tryign to be good about buying cards, but this opportunity may not happen again for months, if ever. I was reasonably good and didn't spend too much. I still managed to get some neat stuff that I'll show off this week. First up, two bucks worth of 5 for a dollar cards.

2008 Razor Gordon Beckham

This was the steal of the day. I've been wanting a card of Gordon in a Dawgs uni for months, but most of them were short printed autographed nonsense that were too expensive. Now I got one for two dines. Brilliant!

2009 Topps George Sisler Turkey Red

I love the Turkey Red cards of subjects that could have plausibly been in the original set. George middes it by a few years since he debuted in 1915, but it's close enough. Sisler finished his career with the Braves (hitting over .300 all three years) so I've claimed him as a Braves even though he did his best work with the St. Louis Browns.

2009 Topps Duke Snider Ring of Honor

This card of Duke honors the Dodgers' first World Series victory in Los Angeles. Duke hit his last World Series home run against the White Sox that year. Is it just me or does his jersey look a bit green? It looks like Ted Turner colorized this card.

2009 Topps Carl Yastrzemski Legends

I can never pass up a Yaz cards when sideburns are involved.

2009 Topps Garret Anderson Turkey Red

Now that I'm home I somewhat regret not getting a few more Turkey Red cards. I can't remember which ones I had already so I probably would have ended up with a bunch of doubles. I'm happy with Garret though. He's finally back in the Braves' lineup and none too soon. Chipper can't carry the team by himself.

2009 Topps Francisco Cervelli Bleck Border #19/58

I know the card market is somewhat depressed right now, and parallel cards aren't what they used to be but twenty cents for a black border numbered to 58?? Heck, I'll take it. Thanks to injuries, Francisco is up with the big club and got his first major league hit yesterday.

2008 Topps Ichiro WBC

Any Ichiro card is good, but a WBC Ichiro in the Japan uni is better.

2008 Timelines Alexei Ramirez 2004 subset

I wasn't sure if I needed this card or not, but it turned out that I didn't have it yet. I don't mind cards from certain teams (Both Sox, Indians, Royals, Reds, Mets among others) because I know that I can get rid of them very easily.

2009 Topps American Heritage Benjamin Latrobe & Treaty of Versailles

These two cards complete my American Heritage short set. I don't have all the SPs, but I don't really need a few more variations on Obama and McCain anyway. If they come to me they'll have a home in my binder, otherwise I won't miss 'em.

Not bad for two bucks, eh? I got at least one other bargain to show off later this week.

Cards Of the Week 04/20/09

American Heritage Holiday edition!!!

Patriot's Day




Earth Day




4/20

REMEMBER, KIDS:

You make the call

I just completed a long delayed trade with reader Howard today when I dropped off his package at the post office. Lo and behold, the cards he sent were waiting for me when I got home. The trade was a little strange, it started out as a swap of American Heritage cards we both needed to finish off our sets and it ended up including some jersey and autograph cards.

The base cards that were swapped were just about even. He sent six cards off my want list* including Houdini, Edgar Allen Poe, George Washington and an Obama SP. He got three cards from American Heritage and a healthy pile of Cubs cards. Two relics and an autograph were swapped as well. Here's a comparison of what was sent and what I received:

I sent:
A 2008 Allen & Ginter relic of Carlos Zambrano. I got this from Tribe Cards in his Scratch Off Tournament contest. I love A&G, The swatch is a pretty blue, Zambrano is a good pitcher, but Howard will enjoy this a heck of a lot more than me.

I received:

A 2008 Spectrum A Piece of Hollywood jacket swatch from Capote. I already pulled a bit of Austin Powers' pants from a pack so I'm familiar with these cards. It's a nice gray wool swatch, no pinstripes. A nice touch with these cards is that Upper Deck shows the original pre-chopped-up jacket:

Unfortunately Upper Deck didn't bother to pony up the license fee to put a photo of the actual actor the cloth was wrapped around on the card. The writeup signed by Dick McDouble-U does indicate that the jacket was worn by "Philip" in the movie. We all know who Philip is, and I'm actually pretty thrilled to have a bit of memorabilia from one of my favorite actors, Philip Lockwood.

I know, I know. It's supposed to be Philip Seymour Hoffman. The man was in Lebowski and I worship him for that. He was also pretty cool in Charlie Wilson's War, check it out**. My point is that it could be Philip Lockwood for all we know, because Upper Deck half-assed the driving gimmick in their crummy set. Still, I like the movie, I like the actor and therefore like the card.

I also sent:

A 2003 Topps Pristine Sammy Sosa bat card. High end set, funky chromey design, thick as a brick, 600 home run hitter, bat piece without any cork, what's not to like about this card? This is a very nice card, I just have over a half dozen Sosa relics. Time to let someone else appreciate one. I think I got this as the bonus in a repack box anyway. I know for a fact I've never bought a pack of Pristine in my life.

I received:

A 2009 American Heritage Franklin Pierce Letter patch #28/50. I know manufactured patches are cheesy, and this is a pretty contrived set, and Franklin Pierce is one of the most disasterously inept Presidents in history (including the bumbling batch of bubble brained buffoons we've had in my lifetime), and the concept of an 18th century president wearing a baseball jersey is ridiculous at best, but the card is kinda nice looking. The red and black/very dark blue letter just plain looks good. I can see why Joe Collectors go nuts over these things. And now I have an example of one to put in my American Heritage binder. You know how I dig the type cards.

Now to the autographs. I sent:

A 1996 Old Judge autograph of Ed Larregui. Ed never made the bigs, sadly. Actually two years after this card came out, he was out of baseball. Ed never got a major league prospect card, but he's on about a dozen or so minor league cards. This guy wants seven bucks for a copy, so it has to be worth something, right? If you're a really hard core Cubs collector this is a check off of the "every Cubs card ever made" checklist at least.

I received:

A 2009 Upper Deck Chris Resop Inkredible autograph. Since these are the first two cards that can be directly compared let's do so.

Ed: minor league set, Chris: major league set. Ed 0, Chris 1
Ed: on card autograph, Chris: sticker auto. Ed 1, Chris 1
Ed: clear, legible autograph, Chris: epileptic chicken scratching in an earthquake***. Ed 2, Chris 1
Ed: peaked at Double A, Chris: 4 years in the bigs before being sold to the Hanshin Tigers. Ed 2, Chris 2.
Ed: mini retro card, Chris: generic autograph insert with a goofy name. Ed 3, Chris 2
Ed: airbrushed minor league Cubs uniform, Chris: Braves spring training uni with full tomahawk visible. Ed 3, Chris 3.

Dang, a tie! So, who do you think got the better of this deal? Or as is the case in many transactions, is the beauty of the cards ultimately in the eye of the beholder?

* I just noticed that Hookman posted that he needed a bunch of cards from that set. If you still need 'em, e-mail me if I don't e-mail you first. I have a lot of doubles.

** Great acting, stuff blowing up and Tom Hanks in a hot tub surrounded by nekkid ladies. What more could you want in a movie?

*** Per Night Owl's request, an artist's rendition of a typical Upper Deck signing session:

Lucky American Heritage pack

I had a pretty productive week last week  so on Friday I treated myself to a pack of '09 Topps American Heritage. I did pretty well for myself even though I only needed two cards out of the pack. Here are the doubles in the pack:

5 Nathaniel Hawthorne and his amazing mustache

60 Elizabeth Jennings Graham and her weirdly grainy picture

73 Robert Kennedy and his bullhorn

113 Completeion of the First Transcontinental Railroad

29 Nathaniel Greene who retreated to victory

42 Orville and Wilbur Wright and their flying contraption

58 W.E.B. Du Bois and his exquisite Van Dyke mustache

Not a bad pack even though I have them all already. This is the coolness:

This is one of the American Legends insert cards that drops at 1:200 packs. The Legends (and the even more hard to get American Icons) were where Topps snuck in their exclusive baseball player cards into the American Heritage set. With the long odds I didn't count on pulling one, but it appears I got lucky. This pack was errantly put in the $1.59 cheapo bin for some reason which is where I found it.

 

The card is pretty nice looking, a sepia photo with dark brown borders. You can actually see the serial number due to fortunate placement on a white background on this card. Double X doesn't have a logo on his cap. I'm not sure if it was like that on the original photo or was photochopped out. Cool card of a great player though. I love finding Hall of Fame players in current products. Here's the other card I was happy to see in the pack:

Checklist one of three. Now I've finally got all the checklists. Don't laugh, these things are almost impossible to find when you need them!

Paging Jesse and Matt P.- American Heritage trade

UPDATE: Just contacted Matt P. still trying to track down Jesse.

You two left comments on my American Heritage want list post offering me these:

Jesse:
AP 4,
AP 25
9 F. Scott Fitzgerald
50 Elisha Otis
64 Gilbert Stuart
84 Harry Houdini
106 George Washington's Farewell Address
114 The Treaty of Versailles
117 The End of Prohibition

Matt P:
45 Samuel Morse
AC8 David Cross

I need all of these, but I'm not sure how to contact you. Please click on my profile and e-mail me if you are still interested in trading.

Jesse: I only have the one Penn & Teller card, but I do have short prints 135 and 145 and an extra Jesse Ventura if you're interested. I can also throw in some of the base cards or baseball stuff if you want. Matt P: I have Bow and Keaton for you. I'll also throw in a bunch of Obama cards. I could also use that Braves Team card if you have it.

Also: Matt from Scarlet and White, Paul, HookMan - e-mail sent.

Also also: everyone else who has sent me a trade offer in the past month, I'm trying to sort through them. I think I'm going to get a separate e-mail account for trades, because what I'm doing now obviously isn't working. Thanks for your patience.

Thanks guys!

American Heritage Wantlist

Ok, I have enough cards to make it worthwhile to post a want list. Help me finish this set before I start buying blasters until I pull a Presidential Patch card. (Note - I got a patch card from Howard B. Thanks bro!)

4 Edgar Allen Poe
9 F. Scott Fitzgerald
45 Samuel Morse
50 Elisha Otis
64 Gilbert Stuart
65 Benjamin Latrobe
84 Harry Houdini
106 George Washington's Farewell Address
111 The Treaty of Appoamattox Courthouse
114 The Treaty of Versailles

SPs:
127 Barack Obama
134 John McCain
137 John McCain
139 Barack Obama
140 Barack Obama
142 John McCain
144 Joe Biden/Sarah Palin
146 Barack Obama/John McCain
148 Barack Obama
149 Joe Biden

Celebrities:
AC1 Jackie Mason
AC2 BB King
AC3 Erik Estrada
AC5 Rip Torn
AC8 David Cross

'52 Presidents (have)
AP10 John Tyler
AP26 Teddy Roosevelt
AP29 Warren Harding
AP41 George HW Bush
AP42 Bill Clinton

Chrome (have)
C6
C7
C34
C49
C56
C67
C88

2009 Topps Obama set
17 Pioneer at Harvard Law
24 Mr. Obama Goes To Washington
28 "I'm Running For President"
32 Victory's Within Reach
36 Rocky Mountain Highlight
37 Greek Theater, Denver Style
40 Hello, Michigan!
42 Cheering For Change
45 Thank You For Your Service
50 Hall of a Debate
59 The "O" Street Band
61 Kennedys For Obama
64 Obama Wins!
65 Not Your Typical Family Anymore
66 "Hello Chicago"
72 I Like It Here!
73 One President at a Time, But...
80 Burying The Hatchet
83 Life, Liberty, Happiness
84 Land of Opportunity
87 All Hands On Deck

Stickers
2
10
11
13
15

Anyone working on these sets or interested in specific cards, just let me know. I have tons of doubles...

Thanks to: Matt P., Duane G. Howard B.

2009 American Heritage Blaster

I'm pretty much sleepwalking through this this week and blasters are easy posts. Here's an extra-easy one since I've already reviewed the set. The American Heritage blaster has 7 packs and one 'half-pack' of four cards as a bonus. I'm not sure why Topps didn't just throw in another pack, but it's still cheaper than individual packs and there is no danger of the pack scratcher striking. Here's what I got:

Bonus Pack:
55 Barbara Rose Johns
29 Nathanael Greene
42 Orville & Wilbur Wright
124 Man Walks on the Moon

I'm not sure why Lewis and Clark got their own cards but Orville & Wilbur had to share. The Event cards can be boring, but this moonwalk card is one of my favorites in the set so far.

Pack 1:
39 Peyton Randolph
30 George Meade
21 John Paul Jones
116 Mount Rushmore is Completed
AP26 Theodore Roosevelt 1952 Topps
97 John Deere
8 Henry David Thoreau
15 Zebulon Pike

You know how on my Mayo blaster, I knew things would go badly after the first pack? Well this was the opposite. This pack was so awesome I had to just scan the whole thing. I like all the Revolutionary War cards just for the '62 design. General Meade and his beard defeated Lee at Gettysburg and probably saved the Union in doing so. John Paul Jones was a colossal pain in the English Navy's ass during the Revolution and also was a pretty good bassist. John Deere is the tractor dude. Well, he actually invented a better plow but his name is now all over green tractors. Thoreau's a nice philosopher and all, but he had an EPIC neckbeard. Zebulon is a perfect name for an explorer, General or Alien Warlord. Teddy makes the box though. I honestly didn't care what else I got, because I got the case hit with the '52 Bull Moose. Rushmore was an extra TR bonus. EXTRA COOL: I didn't get one card I already had in the pack. Not one.

Pack 2:
13 Robert Peary
5 Nathaniel Hawthorne
60 Elizabeth Jennings Graham
107 The Louisiana Purchase
131 Barack Obama SP
29 Nathanael Greene
42 Orville & Wilbur Wright
69 Thomas Nast

Another pretty nice pack here, headlined by an Obama short print. The bonus pack quickly becomes the doubles pack though and Greene and the Wrights make a second appearance. This is an amazing pack for mustaches. Hawthorne's walrus 'stache is thick and bold and doesn't even medal. Orville Wright's classic handlebar is good for the bronze. Thomas Nast is the godfather of cartooning and sports a killer goatee to go along with his copstashe. The undisputed champion has to be Robert Peary's monster with a two foot wingspan. Those handlebars belong on a Harley.

Pack 3:
73 Robert Kennedy
77 Charles Sumner
93 John Paul Getty
118 V-E Day
109 The Lincoln-Douglas Debates
58 W.E.B. Du Bois
80 Henry Cabot Lodge
90 Clara Bow

I didn't know RFK was in this set... I just realized that if Topps wanted to, they could make this a yearly cash cow like their baseball Heritage brand. There's no limit to subjects. When I was in 6th grade everyone in our class had to pick a civil rights leader to do a report on for Black History Month. Half the Class wanted MLK, the other half wanted Malcom X. We ended up picking names out of a hat and I got W.E.B. Du Bois. The founder of the NAACP turned out to be a pretty interesting dude. He sure knows how to wear a 'stache! The V-E day card is the first one where the picture had me thinking WTF. It's a picture of a crowd in London with Churchill smoking a stogie and giving the V sign. Unfortunately the picture was taken from behind Winston. I've also just realized that if I want to reference a photo on a card but don't want to scan it, I can just link to the picture on Wikipedia. No fooling, half the pictures from this set are straight from Wikipedia.

Pack 4:
99 Frank Woolworth
38 Patrick Henry
28 David Farragut
104 The Constitution is Ratified
121 Hawaii becomes the 50th State
57 Cesar Chavez
49 Clarence Birdseye
46 Philo Farnsworth

It had to happen sooner or later, but I finally got my first pack of nothing but doubles. But good news, everyone! I got Philo Farnsworth!

Pack 5:
22 Davy Crockett
14 Daniel Boone
6 Emily Dickinson
113 Completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad
136 John McCain SP
37 Crispus Attucks
23 George Marshall
12 William Clark

Wow, Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett back to back in the pack! Man how can I choose between them to scan for the post. The heck with it, here's Emily Dickinson instead. I was going to pull a "Who was Crispus Attucks" trivia question on ya, but another blogger beat me to it. John McCain sure does look happy here!

Pack 6:
35 John Hancock
63 Frederic Remington
74 Daniel Webster
105 The Treaty of Paris
C56 Susan B. Anthony Chrome #128/1776
2 Harriet Beecher Stowe
19 Amelia Earhart
25 Winfield Scott
Checklist 3 of 3

The ladies are well represented in this pack, led by a Chrome Susan B. Chromes drop 1:7 packs so expect to see one per blaster. I got a checklist card, but I still don't have the first one with all the actual cards in the set. I know what all the cut sigs are in the set though, woo-hoo. The Treaty of Paris card is cool for the signatures down at the bottom. John Jay, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin. Just you wait, Razor will buy that sucker up and slice and dice it one of these days. Treaty Used sealing wax card, anyone?

Pack 7:
85 Buster Keaton
11 Meriweather Lewis
17 John Wesley Powell
122 First Televised Presidential Debate
AP14 Franklin Pierce 1952 Topps
36 Samuel Adams
44 Alexander Graham Bell
56 Susan B. Anthony

Here's the downside of a set of American Presidents in every dang set. For every cool president like Teddy Roosevelt, there are 2 dogs like Franklin Pierce. He was one of the most ineffective and tragic presidents ever. His Presidency started two months after he watched his only surviving son get crushed to death in a railway accident. His wishy washy stand on slavery won him the southern states needed to get elected, and his subsequent support of the Kansas-Nebraska act split the nation. A chief adviser and Secretary of War was Jefferson Davis. Yes, that Jefferson Davis. He completely alienated northerners and did not win his party's nomination in 1856. He left the Presidency despised and it only got worse from there. He fell into alcoholism and eventually died of cirrhosis of the liver. He ran over an old lady while driveing a carriage drunk. He actually supported the Confederacy and was a correspondent with Jefferson Davis. He was so hated by everyone that when Lincoln was assassinated, he tried to just keep his mouth shut and lie low. Instead an angry mob protested outside his house because he didn't condemn the act. This was a terrible president. He was responsible for the Gadsden purchase however, so all you Tuscon residents do owe him a bit of gratitude.

Ok, here's the final totals.

Base Cards - 53/125 (42.4%)
Short prints - 2/25 ( 8%)
doubles - 2
Damaged cards - 1 (RFK has a bump on the bottom of the card)

Chrome (1:7) - 1 Susan B. Anthony
'52 Topps Presidents (1:6) - 2 Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Pierce
Celebrities (1:12) - 0
Relics, Autos, Patches, Icons, Legends - 0

If you like American Heritage, one blaster will knock out a very big chunk the set. You can also expect a couple of short prints and a Chrome in the box. You'll also probably find a couple of inserts in there too. It's a pretty fun rip for twenty bucks if you're a history buff.

Four Quick Retail Packs of American Heritage

The main difference between Hobby and retail packs are that retail packs are at least a buck cheaper per pack, but the odds of pulling a chrome, relic, auto or patch are significantly harder. Chrome cards are 1:7 instead of 1:2 packs. Presidential Patch cards aren't that much harder at 1:44 instead of 1:36, but you know the vultures will have picked those out of retail before they even hit the shelves. There are a whole ton of odds for the relics and cuts and autos and such, just trust me that they are harder in retail. Still, they are about 33% cheaper for the same amount of cards, even if you will be getting mostly base cards. Here's four retail packs I picked up that turned out to be rather interesting. (* means I actually needed the card. wheee!)

Pack 1

55 Barbara Rose Johns*
66 Norman Rockwell
72 John C. Calhoun
101 The Landing at Plymouth Rock*
AC6 Jesse Ventura
70 Frederic Edwin Church
79 William Jennings Bryan
88 Tony Pastor

Not a heck of a lot I needed out of here. I did get a Celebrity card of Jesse the Body.

Pack 2

76 Robert Livingston
87 Joe Namath
94 J.P. Morgan*
100 Andrew Carnegie*

Uh oh...

I see blue...

Oh heck a redemption card...

A Certified American Celebrity...

Relic?!? They have redemption cards for Relics?!?

Jesse Ventura again! This goddamn better be a feather boa relic.

19 Amelia Earhart*
25 Winfield Scott*
36 Samuel Adams*

Ok, the irony of this pack? It was heavily searched. There are deep thumbnail grooves all over the Livingston card from where some assclown was feeling up the pack. I got a few cards I needed though. The redemption card kills me. It doesn't expire until 2012. I could be dead before I get my Jesse Ventura sportscoat swatch. I need a beer.

Pack 3

63 Frederic Remington*
74 Daniel Webster*
85 Buster Keaton*
104 The Constitution is ratified
AC9 Keith Olbermann
80 Henry Cabot Lodge*
90 Clara Bow*
57 Cesar Chavez*

This is one of the better packs I've gotten even though the Remington card is damaged. Lots of interesting characters in here. The Buster Keaton card will end up being one of my absolute favorites in the set, if not the favorite. "It Girl" Clara bow is pretty nifty too. There's also Daniel Webster of short story fame, union activist Chavez and right-wing bigot Henry Cabot Lodge. Then there's Keith. I know half of you out there like him and the other half despises him. You have to give him credit though, the man knows his baseball cards. He does not know, however, how to dress for a photo shoot to avoid looking like a dork on a trading card.

Pack 4

75 John Jay
83 George and Ira Gershwin*
78 Thurgood Marshall*
113 Completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad*
132 John McCain SP*
23 George Marshall
12 William Clark
2 Herriet Beecher Stowe
David Wright Topps of the Class card. No, really.

Ok, here's a tip: do not buy any of these packs from the Target on the corner of Johnson Ferry and Upper Roswell in Marietta. Some fucktard completely ruined the John Jay card scrubbing the pack with his nail. It's so bad I'm just throwing the sucker away even though I need it. I went back and checked the Barbara Rose Johns card and there's a scrape on that one too. Pack searchers don't infuriate me like they do a lot of other bloggers out there, but they can at least learn how to do it without destroying the damn cards! A nifty card of Thurgood Marshall saves the pack for me. Here's some interesting lazyness from Topps though. Here's the John McCain SP I pulled:

And here's another SP card I have:

Oy. Well, the set is so good there had to be a little of the Topps lazyness popping up in there somewhere.