CUSTOMS BLASTER - PART 2: CAN'T PASS 'EM UP BASEBALL STARS

I'VE BEEN VERY GOOD ABOUT MOSTLY PICKING UP WANTLIST CARDS ON THE SITE EXCEPT WHEN I NAB AN OLD COMIC IMAGES CARD OF A DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS LADY WITH ENORMOUS BOOBLES BUT SOMETIMES I SEE A SUPER DUPER MEGA STAR CARD AND I CAN'T LET IT PASS BY. HERE'S THREE BASEBALL GUYS I KEEP GETTING DESPITE THERE BEING NO WANTLISTS

CATEGORY - SUPERSTARS

FIRST GUY IS SOMEONE I ACTUALLY COLLECT 

1992 SCORE RICKEY HENDERSON

WHEN I WAS FIRST COLLECTING CARDS I TRADED A 1981 TOPPS RICKEY HENDERSON AT SCHOOL FOR SOME NONSENSE. I QUICKLY FIGURED OUT HOW BADLY I GOT CHEATED AND HAVE SPENT 40 YEARS MAKING UP FOR LOST TIME. I ALREADY HAVE A PILE OF BASE CARDS FOR ALL THESE GUYS SO WHEN I PICK UP STAR CARDS LIKE A MAGPIE I TEND TO GRAVITATE TOWARDS HIGH END OR ODDBALL CARDS. BUT SOMETIMES A BASE CARD BEATS OUT THE FANCY STUFF

1998 SPX FINITE RICKEY HENDERSON

HERE'S ONE OF THOSE HIGH END ONES. SPX IS BEST KNOWN FOR THEIR HOLOGRAMS BUT IN 1998 UPPER DECK GOT TIRED OF DEALING WITH THAT MESS AND SPX TURNED FINITE WITH A LITTLE FOIL STAMPED WINDOW FOR A GIMMICK. THIS ONE'S A LITTLE OFF CENTER WHICH HAPPENED QUITE A BIT AND ADDS A BIT OF CHARM TO THE CARD. THAT'S NOT THE ONLY GIMMICK THO

SERIAL NUMBAZ! THAT'S THE ACTUAL FINITE GIMMICK AS EACH CARD WAS FINITED WITH THAT NUMBER PLASTERED ON IT. THIS ONE'S A BASE CARD NUMBERED TO 9000 BUT SUBSETS COULD BE NUMBERED ANYWHERE FROM 2000 TO 7000. YOU CAN SEE ALL THAT MESS FOR YOURSELF. I'M ACTIVELY COLLECTING THE HOLOGRAM VERSIONS OF SPX BUT THIS NUMBERED SET IS MORE A CURIOSITY FOR ME. I'D KINDA LIKE TO PICK UP AT LEAST ONE FROM EACH SUBSET BUT THAT IS WAAAAAAY DOWN THE PRIORITY LIST 

1998 PINNACLE PERFORMERS RICKEY HENDERSON

HERE'S A SOMEWHAT OBSCURE ODDBALL SET IN THAT IT'S A REIMAGINING OF THE PREVIOUS YEAR'S PINNACLE XPRESS SET THAT ALSO CAME OUT AS ONE OF THE LAST RELEASES BEFORE PINNACLE WENT BELLY UP. THE GIMMICK WITH THIS SET IS THERE WAS A SWING FOR THE FENCES CONTEST WHERE YOU COULD MATCH A CARD WITH THE LEAGUE LEADER FOR HOME RUNS WITH A CARD WITH THE NUMBER OF HOME RUNS THEY HIT AND WIN A SPECIAL INSERT SET. UNFORTUNATELY PINNACLE WAS OVER BEFORE THE SEASON WAS SO THE WINNER CARDS ARE OUT THERE BUT NOT TERRIBLY EASY TO FIND. I JUST LIKE THE DESIGN OF THIS ONE, IT'S VERY COLORFUL AND WORKS WELL WITH RICKY SPEEDING THROUGH THE CARD

1998 SPORTS ILLUSTRATED RICKEY HENDERSON

I LOVE THESE SPORTS ILLUSTRATED CARDS BUT THEY'RE NOT A SET I'M EVER GOING TO BOTHER COMPLETING. THERE'S USUALLY SOME GREAT PHOTOGRAPHY ON THEM LIKE RICKEY DOING SOME FIELDING DRILLS HERE

1998 SPORTS ILLUSTRATED THEN AND NOW RICKEY HENDERSON A PLACE IN HISTORY

THIS ONE'S A SUBSET FEATURING RICKEY AT THE TOP OF SOME ALL TIME LEADERBOARDS. RICKEY IS OBVIOUSLY AT THE TOP OF THE STEALS CATEGORY BUT IS ALSO FAR AND ABOVE EVERYONE ELSE ON MOST LEADOFF HOME RUNS. THIS SET IS ANOTHER REASON WHY I DON'T BOTHER WITH FLEER SPORTS ILLUSTRATED, IT'S ONE OF THREE SI SETS RELEASED IN 1998 AND IT'S NOT EASY TO TELL ANY OF THEM APART. POSSIBLE FUTURE FRANKENSET PERHAPS?

1993 FLAIR RICKEY HENDERSON

I DIDN'T APPRECIATE FLAIR AT THE TIME BUT DANG IT'S A BEAUTIFUL LOOKING SET. ELEGANT DESIGN, GOOD PHOTOGRAPHY AND JUST A TOUCH OF FOIL STAMPING. THEY'RE JUST PRETTY! IT'S ANOTHER SET I'LL NEVER COMPLETE BUT THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH HOARDING SOME STARS

THE NEXT GUY I DON'T OFFICIALLY COLLECT BUT I MIGHT AS WELL AT THIS POINT

1996 ZENITH BARRY BONDS

'GOOD OL' BARRY BONDS, HOW I HATE HIM' SEEMS TO BE THE HOBBY'S OPINION ON OUR DEAR HOME RUN KING AT THE MOMENT. THIS IS FINE WITH ME BECAUSE I CAN PICK UP BONDS CARDS EASILY ALMOST ANYWHERE. AND I DO, OH BOY I DO. ZENITH IS A WEIRD BUT ATTRACTIVE SET AND POKES MY 90S NOSTALGIA BUTTON WHEN I SEE IT. OH I MISS THE DAYS WHEN HIGH END CARDS WERE MERELY THREE TIMES AS THICK AS REGULAR CARDS AND DOUSED WITH FOIL AND A THICK GLOSSY CLEAR COAT INSTEAD OF BEING SOLD IN BOXES OF THREE CARDS FOR FOUR THOUSAND DOLLARS

1998 FLAIR SHOWCASE BARRY BONDS

FLAIR SHOWCASE IS ONE OF THOSE MULTI-LEVEL FRACTURED SETS WITH SEVERAL TIERS OF PARALLEL CARDS THAT ALL JUMBLE TOGETHER IN MY MIND. I THINK THIS IS ONE OF THE LOWEST LEVEL BASE CARDS BUT WHO KNOWS REALLY. IT'S EXTREMELY SHINY AND THAT'S ALL THAT MATTERS

1998 SPORTS ILLUSTRATED THEN AND NOW BARRY BONDS LEGENDS OF TODAY

THIS IS FROM THE SAME SET AS RICKEY ABOVE BUT THERE'S NO WAY OF TELLING THAT. MOST OF THE OTHER CARDS IN THE SET HAVE 'LEGENDS' PLASTERED ON THEM BUT NOT THE PLACE IN HISTORY CARDS! MY POOR BRAIN CAN'T COMPREHEND ALL THIS 90S WEIRDNESS BUT BARRY ABOUT TO MURDER A BASEBALL I UNDERSTAND

1998 FINEST  BARRY BONDS

FINEST! THIS STUFF I DO COLLECT ALTHOUGH I DON'T REALLY HAVE A HANDLE ON WHAT EXACTLY I'M COLLECTING YET. I'VE BEEN PICKING OUT RANDOM FINEST OUT OF DIME BOXES WHEN I SEE IT FOR YEARS AND THERE'S NO NEED TO STOP NOW. THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST LOOKING FINEST DESIGNS AND I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO PEELING THIS CARD ONE OF THESE DAYS

1997 PACIFIC BARRY BONDS

I'M MILDLY OBSESSED WITH PACIFIC CARDS FOR THEIR WILD BASE CARDS AND EVEN WILDER INSERT CARDS. THE 1997 SET HAS A HEALTHY SLAB OF FOIL ACROSS THE LEFT BORDER WHICH IS A TAD AWKWARD ON MOST CARDS BUT LOOKS AMAZING ON THE HORIZONAL ONES. BARRY IS MASHING DINGERS IN A 3D FOIL MATRIX ON THIS CARD. IT LOOKS LIKE SOMEONE GILDED SOME OLD-SCHOOL COMPUTER GRAPHICS

1997 ULTRA BARRY BONDS

GREAT GOOGLEY MOOGELY CARDS LOOKED SO GOOD IN 1997. A WATER LEAK BRICKED MOST OF MY 97 ULTRA CARDS SO GETTING SOME REPLACEMENTS IS ALWAYS NICE

1996 STADIUM CLUB BARRY BONDS TEAM TSC

I HAVEN'T BEEN FOCUSING ON STADIUM CLUB CARDS RECENTLY BUT SHORT PRINTS ARE ALWAYS ON MY RADAR. THESE TEAM TSC CARDS WERE INSERTED ONE PER PACK AND FEATURE TWO LEVELS OF FANCY FOIL. RAINBOW FOIL FOR THE NAME AND HOLOFOIL FOR THE BORDER. THEY LOOK VERY SNAZZY AND THE RAINBOW FOIL CAN VARY FROM CARD TO CARD 

1997 STADIUM CLUB BARRY BONDS STADIUM SLUGGER

1997 STADIUM CLUB SNUCK IN SOME SHORT PRINTS AS WELL. SERIES ONE HAD A TSC 2000 SUBSET FEATURING SOME YOUNG STARS WHILE SERIES TWO HAD THESE STADIUM SLUGGERS FEATURING THE HOME RUN HITTING USUAL SUSPECTS OF THE MID-90S. THEY DON'T LOOK AS GOOD AS THE TEAM TSC CARDS BUT THEY'RE ONLY A THIRD THE SIZE OF THE 96 SHORT PRINT SET SO IT'S NOT AS HARD A SET TO BUILD

THE LAST GUY NEEDS NO INTRODUCTION

1993 FLAIR KEN GRIFFEY JR. 

IF YOU SEE A GOOD GRIFFEY CARD YOU GRAB IT. PROBLEM IS THE GOOD ONES ARE USUALLY ALREADY PRE-GRABBED. THAT JUST MAKES THE ONES YOU GET ALL THE MORE SPECIAL. HERE'S ANOTHER FLAIR CARD I MANAGED TO GET WHEN A LIST OF THEM WERE POSTED THAT I MANAGED TO GET TO FIRST

1997 PACIFIC PRISM INVINCIBLE KEN GRIFFEY JR. GEMS OF THE DIAMOND

WEIRDO PACIFIC CARD ALERT! THESE WERE INSERTED INTO PRISM INVINCIBLE PACKS SO YOU WOULDN'T KNOW THERE WAS ONLY ONE OF THE WEIRD FOILY ACETATE WINDOW CARDS IN THE PACK. THE WORDS PRISM, INVICIBLE, GEMS AND DIAMOND ARE NOWHERE TO BE FOUND ON THIS CARD SO I HAD A HELL OF A TIME FIGURING OUT WHAT IT WAS FROM FOR THIS POST AND I SHALL GO ON TO IMMEDIATELY FORGET ONCE I HIT PUBLISH. THERE IS A LITTLE GEM AT THE BOTTOM OF THE CARD THOUGH. THE ONLY REASON I WAS ABLE TO WIN THIS CARD IS BECAUSE THIS WAS THE SECOND ONE POSTED. GRIFFEYS ARE TOUGH, MAN!

1997 STADIUM CLUB KEN GRIFFEY JR. STADIUM SLUGGER

WE END OUR JOURNEY WITH ANOTHER STADIUM SLUGGER SHORT PRINT. THESE WERE ONE PER THREE PACKS SO THE WHOLE SET WAS POSSIBLE OUT OF A COUPLE HOBBY BOXES WHICH AIN'T BAD AS FAR AS SHORT PRINTS GO. I LOOKED THROUGH MY STADIUM CLUB BOX TO SEE WHICH ONES I ALREADY HAD AND SOMEHOW I HAVE NONE?? WHICH IS ABSURD BECAUSE I KNOW I PULLED SOME FROM PACKS BACK IN THE DAY. SO NOW I HAVE TO FIGURE OUT IF THEY ARE HIDING IN MY INSERT BOX OR A DOUBLES BOX SOMEWHERE. AT LEAST I HAVE TWO OF THE BEST NOW

UP NEXT: OUR FIRST TASTE OF CHAOS

BIRTHDAY BOOLSHEET BLASTER: PART 4 - GIANTS

BACK TO THE TEAM LOTS. UP NEXT IS THE GIANTS, THERE'S A WHOPPING 85 CARDS IN THIS PILE. LET'S DIVE RIGHT IN

THERE'S A TON OF 87 TRADED THIS TIME INCLUDING THE SURPRISING MATT WILLIAMS XRC. I FIGURED GUYS LIKE HIM WOULD BE PICKED OUT OF THIS BOX BUT SEEING HIM IN HERE MAKES ME THINK I MIGHT GET EVERYONE BUT MADDUX. KEVIN MITCHELL'S ANOTHER GUY I'M SOMEHAT SURPRISED TO SEE. POOR MATT REALLY GOT KNEECAPPED BY THE STRIKE. WHO KNOWS IF HE HITS 61 BUT HE MIGHT NOT BE AS FORGOTTEN NOWADAYS IF HE MADE A RUN. ALSO: ALL THESE CARDS LOOK GREAT IN THEIR OWN WAY. I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S THE BETTER CARD STOCK OR THE FACT THAT I HAVEN'T SEEN ALL THESE PICTURES A HUNDRED TIMES ALREADY BUT ALL THESE CARDS LOOK PRETTY SLICK. JIM GOTT SPECIFICALLY LOOKS LIKE HE'S BECOME TRAPPED IN A TRON-LIKE CYBER WORLD. MEANWHILE CHRIS SPEIER JUST LAUGHS AS IF TO SAY "FIRST TIME?"

1987 TOPPS TRADED COUNT: 7/132

OUR LARGE WAD OF 2002 TOPPS NETS US 19 MORE CARDS FOR THE SET. EVEN THIS EARLY ON IT IS OBVIOUS I WILL NOT COME ANYWHERE NEAR A COMPLETE SET BUT I'M STILL INTERESTED IN JUST HOW CLOSE I CAN GET. HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE ERIC DAVIS, JASON SCHMIDT AND A BOOF BONSER PROSPECT CARD

2002 TOPPS COUNT: 40/718

HERE'S THE GOOD CARDS. WE WILL START WITH 2000 PACIFIC BECAUSE ALL PACIFIC CARDS ARE GOOD CARDS. THIS ONE OF MARVIN BENARD IS A PARALLEL WITH RUBY RED FOIL. THIS WAS NOT AN INSERT, THIS WAS A BASE CARD IN A SPECIAL PACK YOU COULD ONLY GET AT 7-ELEVEN STORES. SOMEONE BOUGHT ONE OF THESE PACKS AND THEY ALL ENDED UP IN THIS BOX. YES, YOU WILL SEE THEM ALL BECAUSE ALL PACIFIC CARDS ARE GOOD CARDS. PROVE ME WRONG.IT TOOK ME A WHILE TO REALIZE THE NY LOGO IN THE BACKGROUND WAS METS, NOT GIANTS. I THOUHGT WE WENT BACK IN TIME FOR A MOMENT

I KNOW I SAID IN THE LAST POST I WOULD ONLY BE SHOWING OFF ONE OF THESE VICTORY CARDS BUT THE LOOK ON JT SNOW'S FACE IS TOO GOOD. HE IS PONDERING A DEEP MYSTERY. SOMETHING LIKE, "WHY DOES UPPER DECK VICTORY EXIST"

HELL YEAH PRISM SHINY CARD. THIS IS ONE OF THE BETTER PRISM DESIGNS WITH THE LIGHTNING SHATTER EXPLOSION TEXTURE BEHIND ROBB NEN. THIS IS ALSO A GOOD EXAMPLE OF ONE OF THE PITFALLS OF LATE 90S CARDS: HOLOFOIL MANGE. A LOT OF 25 YEAR OLD CARDS WITH HOLOFOIL ON THEM HAVE STARTED TO EITHER SHED FOIL OR THE FOIL HAS STARTED TO BECOME CORRUPTED AND TURN BLACK. THIS IS NOT JUST A PACIFIC ISSUE IT'S ALL OVER THE PLACE ESPECIALLY ON FLEER AND PLAYOFF CARDS. IT DOES GIVE THE CARD A LITTLE PERSONALITY THOUGH

CHROME. I DON'T LIKE CHROME. I LIKE FINEST, THEY HAVE WEIRD DESIGNS. CHROME IS BORING. IT'S TOPPS BUT CHROME. AND TOPPS WAS CHICKENSHIT ON THE 2002 DESIGN AND GAVE IT SILVER INSTEAD OF GOLD BORDERS. EXTRA BORING

FLEER ULTRA ISN'T BORING ALTHOUGH THIS IS NOT ONE OF THEIR BETTER DESIGNS. THAT FOIL STAMP ON THE BOTTOM WITH THE NAME AND TEAM LOGO IS JUST AS HARD TO READ IN REAL LIFE AS IT IS IN A PHOTO. THE PICTURE IS GREAT THOUGH. JT SNOW UNDERHANDS A RELAY IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DESERT. ALL THAT PONDERING ON THE VICTORY CARD DEVELOPED THE MENTAL TOUGHNESS NEEDED TO SURVIVE IN SUCH HARSH CONDITIONS

EVERY BOX HAS A HIT AND THIS IS OUR BEEG MOJO HITZ OF THE BULLSHIT BLASTER. A BARRY BONDS 2001 UPPER DECK TWIZZLERS BIG LEAGUE CHALLENGE ODDBALL. BIG LEAGUE CHALLENGE WAS SOME MADE FOR TV THING THAT IS LONG FORGOTTEN AND UPPER DECK COMMEMORATED IT BY INSERTING ONE CARD IN SPECIALLY MARKED PACKS OF TWIZZLERS. A LOT OF FOOD ODDBALL CARDS HAVE ROUGH EXISTENCES DUE TO BEING STUFFED IN PACKAGING WITH OTHER MORE ROBUST ITEMS BUT TWIZZLERS ARE PRETTY FLAT AND STIFF SO THAT DOESN'T EXPLAIN HOW THIS CARD GOT MULTIPLE CREASES ON IT. I THINK THIS IS JAMMED IN A BACK POCKET DAMAGE RATHER THAN JOSTLED BY A WAXY ROPELIKE TREAT DAMAGE. NEVERTHELESS IT IS AN ODDBALL CARD OF BARRY BONDS FROM A SET I PREVIOUSLY HAD NO CARDS FROM. SPOILER ALERT: I'M PRETTY SURE THIS REALLY IS THE BEST CARD IN THE BOX.  THERE'S STILL A LOTTA COOL STUFF TO COME BUT YOU HAVE MY PERMISSION TO GO DO OTHER THINGS FOR ABOUT SIX MONTHS WHEN I'LL BE DONE WITH ALL THESE POSTS

GOOD LOOKIN 80S'S CARDS ARE JUST GOOD LOOKIN 80S CARDS. 1983 TOPPS IS THE BEST OF THE DECADE AND THAT JIM WOHLFORD PORTAIT WITH A BACKGROUND OF PURE AZURE IS WONDERFUL. 1986 TOPPS IS JUST GORGEOUS AND JOSE URIBE IS CONFIDENT ABOUT HOW GOOD HIS CARD LOOKS. FINALLY WE HAVE THE ETERNALLY UNDERRATED 1988 SET FEATURING DAVE DRAVECKY AND HIS GIGANTIC HAT. IS IT A REAL HAT? IS IT A REMBRANDT? NO MATTER, IT IS SURELY A MAJESTIC HAT FOR A MAJESTIC CARD

AND NOW THE RANDOM JUNKWAX CARDS. YOU WILL NOTICE THE 1987 TOPPS CARD IN THERE. THIS IS A PURPOSEFUL CHOICE. THERE IS A TON OF 1992 UPPER DECK IN HERE WHICH IS ODD BECAUSE THERE WAS NONE IN THE METS PILE. SADLY NONE OF THE 92 UPPER DECK CARDS WERE NEEDED AS MY WANTLISTS FOR MOST 88-95 SETS ARE GETTING PRETTY SMALL BUT WE DIDN'T GET SHUT OUT THIS TIME! BEHOLD: A CARD I DIDN'T HAVE YET - 

1988 FLEER UPDATE DONNELL NIXON. UPDATE SETS ARE THE BANE OF MY EXISTENCE. AS MUCH OF A MESS AS MY TOPPS TRADED SETS ARE THE DONRUSS FLEER AND SCORE UPDATE SETS ARE EVEN WORSE. AT LEAST THE TOPPS CARDS HAVE A WANTLIST. AND A BOX TO GO IN. I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE THE REST OF MY FLEER UPDATE CARDS ARE. OH WELL, THERE'S NEVER AN END TO SORTING ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU KEEP PICKING UP LARGE PILES OF GARBAGE

Five cards I found while sorting my Braves box

I have no idea what these were doing in a Braves box. I also have no idea why I'm so unorganized. I also have no idea what to write about today so here ya go.

Here's a Wall Climbers card of Ichiro from 2011 Gypsy Queen. This set may have been the beginning into my descent into Cardboard Ennui. I had been wanting a proper Gypsy Queen/Old Judge set for years (although I originally thought Upper Deck would be the one to do it) (No, 2005 Origins was NOT what I wanted) but when it came out I didn't go quite as crazy for it as I thought I would. Don't get me wrong, I still bought up a bunch of rack packs and blasters, I just didn't go completely overboard like I usually did. I didn't even put the set into a binder. That reminds me, my 2011 Allen & Ginter set is STILL not bindered. What the hell happened to me?

Of note - The stealth Best Buy ad up in the corner. I wonder if Topps is getting kickbacks for that?

Blast Blew Ribbon Beer! The beer that made Milwaukee burp! Considering I practically learned to read on Mad Magazine it's somewhat surprising I don't have a gigantic pile of Wacky Packages cards in my collection. It was just a matter of timing for me. I was too young to collect cards in the '70s and when I was in full cardboard hoarding mode in the '80s, Garbage Pail Kids were the ones to have. The one time I came across some old Wacky Packages cards when I was a kid, the dealer wanted a quarter a pop for them, which was way too much for me back then. Now they just sort of pop up in random trade packages here and there. I could use a case of BBR right now to guzzle while I listen to In My G4 Over Da Sea to earn my screwball hipster badge.

Here's a 1990 Classic card of Slammin' Sammy Sosa. This set is in the running for most early '90sish card design ever. I'm not sure if this is an 'official' rookie or not. There's a 1989 Donruss Baseball's Best card of Sammy which is just as legitimate a set as Classic is. Remember, Classic is a trivia game, not a baseball card set somehow. Yes, shenanigans also abounded in the trading card industry 20 years ago. To a much greater extent than today if you can believe it. It doesn't really matter because this card got creased all to hell in an *ahem* cleaning accident of which I shall not speak of in this forum. I'm going to make the best of it by turning it into an art card. I just need to figure out how to turn Sammy into a pony.

I have no idea how this card got into my collection I SWEAR. Actually I do, it was inside one of the weirder grab bags I've ever seen. A mixture of junk, vintage, promos and bootleg cards. This was one of the promos. Apparently there was a 1993 Portfolio set featuring purdy gurls in bikinis. Is there an online collecting community for these types of cards like with baseball cards? Actually I don't even wanna know. I've been around the interwebs long enough to know it can't possibly be a good idea to go looking for that.

Yep, random 1987 Donruss Opening Day Barry Bonds rookie in the middle of a Braves box for no discernible reason. I don't know what that is on his cap, must have been a toenail on the scanner or something. This one got put into a toploader or else it would have suffered the same fate as the Sammy. Which is almost a shame, because I can actually think of a couple ways to deface this one and turn it into an art card. It's only like a three dollar card now anyway, maybe I should just go for it.

Blaster League Prize Pool - MMosley's Contribution

First off: I know about the bad link in the teams post. I goofed when making the link and I'll have it fixed by Monday.

Second: Ernest of Canada is in. I got his e-mail yesterday and I haven't gotten around to posting it yet.

Third: if you are wondering how to ante your cards to get in the Prize division, look at the previous post. I can't link it yet, so you'll have to find it yourself. You can do it, you're all smart people. 

Mark from Stats on the back sent in a pile of stuff to ante, here's what I picked out:

2009 Goodwin Jeremy Bloom Auto

This one is kind of interesting... Jeremy is the Olympic skier who was banned by the NCAA from playing football because he had to have a sponsorship to be on the US Olympic team. Because the NCAA is an evil Satanic organization dedicated to the overthrow of all that is good and pure and American. think I'm overreacting? Three words: Bee See Ass. 'Nuff Said.

2003 Playoff Absolute Josh Phelps Hat #115/125

Josh doesn't appear to be in the majors right now, but it's a HAT card! How many hat cards do you have?

1986 Donruss The Rookies Barry Bonds

Matt may have gone overboard with this card. My old-ass price lists it as a $25 card, but I'm guessing it may have dropped a tad since 2001. If you're going to try to sneak a junk wax card into your ante make sure it's something someone might actually want like this. Good rule of thumb for Vintage cards: If you were to pull the card in the Yo Momma Transmogrifier, don't send it if you would be disappointed.

Bowman Scout Mark Wilson Auto

This was thrown in for good measure. Mark worked with Joe Mauer, so it's a decent prize for whoever wins the Mauer jersey. You only need to send three cards, but you can throw in extra if you want. I'll even send this back to Mark if he's desperate to have it back.

Stumped

I asked you to stump me and you succeeded. Goch432 sent me some images of a weird Barry Bonds card he's having trouble identifying.

Looks like a normal '88 Donruss back right? Hmm... that's a big shadow under the card.

Here's the front. Another strange shadow above his name. What's going on here? Let's look at the side:
Well there's your problem! This isn't a 1988 Donruss card at all! It actually looks like an 88 Donruss card stuck to the back of some plexiglass, then a cut out of Barry off another 88 Donruss card pasted on top of more plexiglass making a 3D kind of effect. I have no idea who made these things. My best guess is that they were sold as a novelty as a 3D baseball card by some third party. I'd wager if I looked through a bunch of old baseball card magazines from the late 80's and early '90s that I might find an ad for one of these things. I don't have time for that now though, so can anyone out there help us out? Who manufactured these things? Did a company do it? Was it a one-off art project? It's pretty unique at any rate.

Johan Santana is going to be a helluva pitcher

But really, who didn't see this coming? It's one thing to have old decrepit geezers in the rotation, they can go back to their rocking chairs four out of five days. In the outfield? Running about all the time chasing after fly balls? Not a great idea. At least the Mets have Lastings Milledge ready to go- Oh wait. Now you New York fans know how I felt when Betemit was traded. The Mets are in some dire straights, almost everyone on their outfield depth chart is hurting and the Braves and Phillies are champing at the bit. There's an easy solution though...

Go get him Omar! Do it! You know you want to........... Wide open spot in left field. Two hungry rivals breathing down your neck. Do it Omar. Come over to the Dark Side. You know you want to. Unlimited Power! Otherwise you'll just have to live with your current roster.



(I know I've just totally jinxed the Braves, and someone important will go down for the year with a terrible injury soon due to my atrocious Karma, but it was worth it for the chance to post a Weird Al video)

Indicted

Here we go into the abyss.

Bang, zoom, straight to the moon!

The Barry Bonds ball has been sold. Luckily, unlike The Card it didn't vanish in a behind door transaction to some anonymous buyer who will flip it to another guy with too damn much money on his hands in a year or two. Nope, Like McGwire's #70 the ball went to an artist who wants to make a statement and get a little publicity on the side. Fashion designer and graffiti enthusiast Mark Ecko is the lucky bidder who won the ball. He's the guy from the viral video spraying graffiti onto Air Force One. Unlike McFarlane, Ecko has no intentions of keeping the ball. He has a website where you can vote on what happens to the ball. Here are the choices:

1) Give it to Cooperstown

2) Give it to Cooperstown after branding it with an Asterisk

3) Shoot it off into space

I've been pretty conciliatory towards Bonds in his home run chase considering I damn near worship Hank. No matter what he did 5 years ago it's still incredibly hard to hit home runs when you're in your 40s. Besides, the record was going to fall eventually anyway and at least Hank got some well deserved accolades. I don't think the ball should be branded with an asterisk. It's time to let it go and move on.

Thing is, I've been a fan of the space program longer than I've been a baseball fan. Shooting the thing up into space would give much needed publicity to the space program. Besides, I want to see how he's going to get the ball up there. Forget the steroid scandal, how shameful would it be if America had to shoot the home run record ball up into space on a Russian or Chinese rocket because our own space program has been so woefully neglected? I say send that sucker to the moon. Maybe the Home Run Derby champ up there will assist. I'm so committed to this cause I'm willing to obnoxiously embed video into my blog to support it.




If you're not an Eva fan, here's some other moon music to enjoy.

Dean & Britta: Moonshot

Tom Waits: Drunk on the Moon

B52s: There's a Moon in the Sky Called the Moon

Don't be like this guy, go out and vote!

Finally, in the immortal words of Allan Sherman:

My name is Mr. Bloom, and I'm from New Rochelle,
And I sing this happy tune,
Because my son, the astronaut, young Harvey Bloom,
Has landed on the moon.
My wife and I, we miss our little Harvey so,
Back here in New Rochelle,
That every single night,
In the pale moonlight,
We walk out on the patio and yell:

Shine on, shine on, Harvey Bloom-- up in the sky.
You have been in orbit since January, February, June and July.
Don't come back too soon, we rented out your room.
So shine on, shine on, Harvey Bloom-- up there on the moon.

We'll miss you on the holidays, this year they're coming later.
We hope you have a very lovely seder in your crater.
Your mama sent the astronauts some chicken soup at school.
They're using it instead of rocket fuel.

If you like outer space, you oughta see your sister Janet.
She came in with a hairdo that is from another planet.
Your girl friend Shirley misses you, the Air Force says she had
A temper tantrum on the launching pad.

Shine on, shine on, Harvey Bloom-- up in the sky.
Under separate cover, I'm sending you some pickles and a corned beef on rye.
You brought Bromo Seltzer with you, I presume.
So shine on, shine on, Harvey Bloom.

Harvey Bloom Barry's ball is on the moon, oh yeah!