2023 COMC BINGE - PART 19: FLAMING PHIL

HERE'S THE SECOND AND WEIRDLY, LAST ADDITION TO A VINTAGE TEAM SET. I DECIDED TO POST THE BRAVES PICKUP NEXT WEEK BUT THERE WASN'T ONE. NOT SURPRISING SINCE PRETTY MUCH EVERY CARD I NEED FOR VINTAGE TEAM SETS NOW IS EITHER A HALL OF FAMER OR A HIGH NUMBER OR BOTH. NOT SOMETHING GOOD FOR A PICK UP AS MANY COOL CHEAP CARDS AS POSSIBLE BINGE. THIS ONE IS QUITE CHEAP AND COOL HOWEVER AS IT COMPLETED THE FIRST TOPPS ATLANTA FLAMES TEAM SET

1972-73 TOPPS #109 PHIL MYRE

I HAVE BEEN TO HOME GAMES FOR ALL THREE OF ATLANTA'S FORMER HOCKEY TEAMS. THE FIRST FLAMES GAME I WAS AT WAS IRONICALLY AGAINST WINNIPEG. THERE ARE RUMBLINGS OF A POSSIBLE EXPANSION TEAM COMING TO THE METRO AREA IN ALPHARETTA OF ALL PLACES BUT I THINK I'LL PASS ON THAT ONE. FOOL ME ONCE, SHAME ON YOU, FOOL ME TWICE, SHAME ON ME, FOOL ME THREE TIMES, YEP I'M A STILL A FOOL, FOOL ME FOUR TIMES? CAN'T GET FOOLED AGAIN. I STILL LIKE THE VINTAGE CARDS THO AND WAS LOOKING THRU MY FLAMES/1974-75 SET BINDER LAST YEAR AND WAS SURPRISED THE 72-73 TEAM SET WAS MISSING A CARD. I CHECKED COMC, IT COST FORTY-THREE CENTS, TEAM SET COMPLETE. HOORAY! THERE'S SEVEN MORE PLAYERS I DON'T HAVE (INCLUDING MY FAVORITE FLAMES PLAYER DAN BOUCHARD'S ROOKIE CARD) IN THE O-PEE-CHEE SET THAT I DON'T HAVE I WILL ENJOY THIS WIN FOR NOW

MYRE WAS THE FLAMES' FIRST PICK IN THE EXPANSION DRAFT AND SHARED GOALTENDING DUTIES WITH BOUCHARD UNTIL HE WAS TRADED TO ST. LOUIS IN 1977. LATER IN 1980 HE PLAYED FOR PHILLY IN A CUP FINAL WITH HIS FORMER TEAMMATE PAT QUINN AS HIS COACH. I'M HAPPY FOR PHIL BECAUSE THERE WAS NOT A LOT OF PLAYOFF SUCCESS IN ATLANTA

HERE'S THE WHOLE TEAM SET PLUS A 73-74 CAMEO. THIS IS AN ODD BUT FAIRLY ATTRACTIVE DESIGN. I LIKE THAT 'GRANDFATHER OF COMIC-SANS' TYPE FOR THE TEAM NAME. SINCE THE FLAMES WERA AN EXPANSION TEAM ALL THE PLAYERS ARE IN THEIR ORIGINAL TEAMS' SWEATERS WITH THE LOGOS TACTFULLY REMOVED. I ORIGINALLY COLLECTED ONLY TOPPS VINTAGE HOCKEY BECAUSE QUITE HONESTLY THAT WAS THE ONLY THING I COULD FIND EASILY WAY DOWN SOUTH. I KIND OF REGRET THIS NOW AS THE O-PEE-CHEE SET NOT ONLY HAS MORE PLAYERS BUT HAS PICTURES OF THE GUYS IN A FLAMES SWEATER INSTEAD OF THESE AIRBRUSH JOBS. THEY LOOK REALLY GOOD! THESE ARE WAY MORE NOSTALGIC FOR ME THOUGH AS MOST OF THEM WERE PICKED UP IN THE 80S OR 90S

The Twelve Days of Setsmas: Day 6 - Coolness

Ten years ago yesterday I was happy and carefree and content with my life and then the next day I started a blog about baseball cards and everything's been all downhill since

In honor of this auspicious date where I not only ruined my life but inspired many others to engage in self-destructive behavior as well (remember kids, do drugs, not cards*) here's an achievement I don't think I thought I would ever do 10 years ago when I was squandering my short-lived riches on new product.

1959 Topps Braves Team Set

Now I'm miserable and broke and old and sick and let a once-mildly-successful-in-a-tiny-niche-market blog go to shit without ever really monetizing it but dammit, I finally tracked down one of the three versions of that Warren Spahn card and finished a team set from the 50s. Four Hall of Famers. Four different cards of Hank Aaron. Five high-numbered All-Star cards. AND most of the set is yellow, which is not my preferred border color to say the least. But I strived and endured and now it's done and it's beautiful.

Kinda like this shitty blog. Will the blog last ten more years? Absolutely not. I'll probably purge my entire online presence once The Purges begin sometime next year. Flush! Right down the memory hole while I obliviate myself with Victory Gin. Enjoy the set while it lasts.

 Tomorrow: Nothing! I'm working!

*drugs are way cheaper and less addictive

The Twelve Days of Setsmas - Day 2: Buzzz

Two posts in a row holy shiiiii

Fun fact about Uncle Junkie... those of you who follow me on the twittahs know I am a Jawja Bulldawg fan woof woof woof woof woof.

BUT, when I was a wee little Junkling I was actually a bigger fan of Georgia Tech. Then I grew up and realized I would have to take calculus if I went to school at Tech and packed off to Athens to get my degree. Sporting times were good for Tech in the late '80s and I still get nostalgic for those teams like this one right here:

1988-89 Nike Georgia Tech Basketball

I know nothing about this set, I'm guessing it was team issued. I found it in a dollar box at a card show very tightly shrink wrapped. Not even sure why I picked it up, just got hit with that nostalgia bug I guess. It more or less inspired this series of posts so it's caused me a bunch of damn work! Got Bobby Cremins, Tommy Hammond and Brian Oliver cards now though. This was the season before the Lethal Weapon 3 team that went to the Final Four so no Kenny Anderson. I don't care, my favorite was Dennis Scott anyway. 3-D!

Tomorrow: I'll figure it out!
I hope!

Joy of a Completed Team Set - 1990 Topps

Equal parts joy and frustration in this one as after searching forever for a %E^@#&!! Tyler Houston rookie card I finally had to bite the bullet and buy it from the dude at the flea market who prices all his stuff according to his 1993 Beckett with Mike Piazza on the cover. A buck and a quarter for a Tyler Houston rookie! Egads! I'm not even all that crazy about 1990 Topps although at least the design is interesting unlike most of the other sets that came out that year. The set is also intriguing because you can see the Championship team slowly starting to gel together after years of dismalness in the late '80s. You can see all the pieces coming into place especially with the Traded cards and the probably mostly incomplete Pro Debut cards I threw on the sheet for the hell of it. Two Hall of Famers, two more potential Hall of Famers and Mark Lemke. Not bad for a team set from the Dismal years.

Hope you enjoy the Joy of a Completed X posts 'cuz I got a lot more where that came from.
(and not much else, sadly)

Joy of a Completed Team Set - 1989 Topps

Who needs those newfangled die-cuts with the oddly colored borders? Let's have some of the real thing. Key card: LEMMER ROOOOOOOOKIE

Gotta figure out something to fill all those empty pockets...

Joy of a Completed Completed Set - 1956 Topps

I completed this one a while ago, but Night Owl sent me the last Team Card variation I needed. So I may as well show it off again. This time with card backs!

 I think there might be some card stock variations out there too. Oh well, they'll just give me another excuse to post this set again once I find 'em. Gotta fill that last empty pocket with something.

7 year itch

How the heck have I been doing this so long?

The original card scanner is still alive, although the computer used to create the first post recently died.

To be honest, I'm not sure how the blog ain't dead too... bloggery is waning thanks to Tumblrs and Facebooks and Twittahs and Pinterests and probably a few other things I'm not cool enough to know about.

Luckily I'm old and lazy and still feel like talking nonsense about cardboard every so often.

So here's the Frenchy anniversary post. Think I can make it to Yogi?

While you're mulling that over have a completed 1991 Topps Braves team set with traded set and bonus Avery.

And, oh why the hell not. Bonus Pony.

*goes to sleep*

*why was my first post so early in the morning*